Bmeandering

Bmeandering

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Corner View: Favorite Fiction

I had the privilege of choosing the topic for corner view
this week.

So, even though I'm literally barely awake
because of only  four-hours of sleep,
I will get this post done before I head off to school.


My all-time favorite classic novel is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.
I taught it one year as evidenced by the next picture.
I told my Advanced English IV class that they didn't have to like it;
they just couldn't complain about it to me.
It took awhile for some of them to 'get into it'
and to actually understand the plot;
however, once they did. most ended up liking it.

They then had to choose a novel from my list of classics, read it,
and do a project on it.
"An Eye-Opener Assignment and Expansion of their Literature World"

The story behind me first reading this book:
The brother who is six-years-older than I am,
extremely irritated Mrs. K.--one of our eccentric English teachers.
She thought Catcher in the Rye should be banned--REALLY.

For D, that was a direct challenge.
He just had to read that book and of course bring it to school.
She couldn't do anything about it,
because our board didn't believe in censorship of books.

Oh she was livid! 
And thus he paved the way for me to be disliked by her.

I knew she had a grudge against me before the first day was over--
she just had to tell me the story of my brother and THE BOOK.

"My goose was cooked." (as the expression goes)
So when she told us we would have to choose
from the rows of books in her room,
and that the students who read the thick books
would get extra credit,
I sighed.
I knew from which rows I would be choosing.

While my friends walked around with skinny novels,
I carried a heavy, thick classic.

But something magical occurred:
I fell in love with the classics.
My life opened up into an incredible world
where I could escape
into luscious words and images.

Mrs. K. ended up 'loving' me--
"I wasn't anything like that horrid brother of mine."
(Oh D, you became folk lore!)

I ended up loving the classics
and have never fallen out of love.

The first one to make a huge impression was
Wuthering Heights.
I was fascinated by the Yorkshire moors
and the intense relationships.
The 'doomed' love affair between Cathy and Heathcliff
enthralled me.
[I liked 'the boys who weren't suitable for me' (mom's words) after that book
and created angst for my mother.]

I ended up an English teacher.
D, you did me a huge favor when you ticked off Mrs. K.!

An Excerpt.

I like this shot because it best shows the stormy skies
above the lovers as they meet in the moors.

There: "You now have the rest of the story." (Paul Harvey's famous line)

Join Francesca for more favorite fiction at corner view.

11 comments:

  1. oh sweet, you read wuthering heights to your class..
    i would have LOVED to have been your student!
    n♥

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  2. Hi Beth, I'm glad you became an English teacher... Wonder where Mrs. K is now?????

    I love Wuthering Heights... It's always been a favorite.

    Have a good day.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  3. Great story! Now I know how English teachers become English teachers. D... you are a hero!

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  4. What an intriguing turn of events!

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  5. Shame on me I haven't read it yet!

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  6. I'm with you Beth. I will occasionally read a more current book and then run back to the classics. Nothing compares. I'm rereading my Jane Austen books now - for about the sixth time!
    Love your book. That is a beautiful picture.

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  7. You sound like a great teacher! I teach English, too. I tell my students, "You don't have to like the book, just find something about it that interests you ... " Eventually they come around :) A few even love reading now!
    Thanks for choosing this theme, I've been enjoying it!

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  8. I love this story, and you told it so well. Do you know, I've never read that book, but now you make me want to...

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  9. I happened to read your comments and remember Mrs. K very well. We once had to write a commentary/theme about a book or movie and I chose to write about "A Patch of Blue" with Sidney Poitier, Elizabeth Hartman, and Shelly Winters. The movie was about an interracial relationship and was a powerful and compassionate film for that era. Mrs. K. would certainly never have gone to such a film (and certainly did not like my take on it). I can still remember her exact words as she made a point of telling the entire class - "After reading your paper I went home and washed my face, brushed my teeth, combed my hair - and I still felt dirty!" Wow, such high drama and little did she know how she 'made my day'.

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  10. Isn't it incredible how the single lives of family members intertwine? Had it not been for your elder brother, a whole written world might have been hidden from you!

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  11. your favorite fiction...and i haven't even read it! yet.

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