The Connection between Teaching Literature and the “Real World”

          If someone were to say to me that English Language Arts teachers don’t live or work in the “real world,” I would tell this person that I think E.L.A. lessons can have more to do with the “real world” than any other subject’s lessons.  For example, the literature ELA teachers expose their students to can have a very positive, lasting effect on their students’ lives.          

           A few years ago I tutored my then landlord and landlady’s son, whom I will call ‘Chris.’ Soon after our tutoring sessions started I learned not only that Chris’ dad was an alcoholic, but that this man had a habit of physically abusing his wife and that he occasionally physically abused Chris.  I quickly realized that I harbored a strong desire to pass on to Chris (and others) what I already knew- that literature can transport a person out of what could be a very unpleasant present and that it can help to heal a person’s wounds because of its beauty, life lessons, or simply because it is full of characters one can relate to. 

          Wouldn’t it be wonderful to cause even one student a year to turn to literature (instead of Marijuana or video games that involve virtual guns and bombs) in an effort to find peace?

          Chris and I read Life of Pi and Into Thin Air together- two novels that showcase humans literally striving to survive.  I hope he learned from and enjoyed these books but, much more importantly, I hope that in the future he tries reading or writing literature as a way of searching for  solace during the hard times we all experience while living day to day in the “real world.”