I'll start with a phrase.."An endless flow of experiences"
Sum it up, define it, direct it, dissect it, transform it, adapt to it, affect it, be affected by it...live it. And what is "it'? "It" is life, the endless flow of experiences that constitute our existence. Each one of us exist to experience. There are those who lived amazing lives, they laugh and cried, struggled and endured and we may never know the details of their lives but we know what elation and degradation are, we know the difference between the burning sting of tear and tears of joy and we know not just of our own path but the path of our brothers and sisters because of the stories we read. Life is our (mankind's) story. Everything is a story. When we can understand that life is our story then we can greater appreciate the value of good literature. Good literature changes the world in the way that it connects the reader to experiences and identities that they may otherwise never have a chance to connect to at the same to making the reader's personal experiences less solitary. "When a story is so convincingly written that readers feel as though they have lived through an experience or been in the place and time of that story, the book has given them a valuable personal experience that takes them beyond the constraints of their current lives." (Lynch-Brown et al., p. 7).
My name may not be Gatsby and I surely was not around in the 1920's but I do know how it feels to be gossiped about and can account for many hours wasted trying to impress the wrong crowd. So when I read the story of the tragic Gatsby I empathize with him, as many loyal Fitzgerald readers would. I read the story many times and over and over, I try in mind to convince him to take another course of action even though I know that words written are not meant to change.
But those words can change me and I saw myself in him through the story, my life on a whole other scale still emulating his and I become empowered with knowledge and insight. Then I take that story, that life tale, fiction or real it doesn't always matter, and I share it with my students and my sons and watch them as they read and mouth "No, don't" to our friend Gatsby and then we share. We share. The word: "Universality". Connecting, referencing, remembering. Good stories strengthen our bonds. "Literature helps children gain an appreciation of the universality of human needs across history, which makes it possible for them to understand what connects all of us as human beings as well as what makes each of unique." (Lynch-Brown, et al. p. 7). As an educator, I try to select texts that are rich in quality and content. When I taught high school I wanted my students to relate to the frustration and drive Kino of The Pearl feels as he tries to protect his precious pearl and his family. In kindergarten, I want my students to relate to the frustration and drive the Pigeon feels as he continuously yearns for objects out of his reach in the Pigeon series books by Moe Willems.
Therefore, a sentence worth repeating is "The best children's books offer readers enjoyment as well a memorable characters and situations an valuable insights into the human condition." (Lynch-Brown et al., p. 5). It's with books like these that promote the reader to connect to the character that literature can be used across the curriculum. When reading The Pearl students also learn about the time period, social injustice and degradation of the oppressed people Kino represents. When reading the Pigeon series the class talks about the physiology of a Pigeon and whether or not a Pigeon could drive a bus or should eat a hot dog. As readers read their connections grow. The more stories they read the more stories they have to tell and this in turn improves their writing. With exposure to quality text they are more likely able to produce quality text. The benefits of reading are boundless and yet so many schools struggle with building literacy scores, reading comprehension and fluency. This may in fact be due to an increase amongst our entire population in the use electronics or time spent on social media. Although enticing much of the time spent using these devices leaves the user void of any substantial experience worth sharing. A society where people spend more time watching big screen televisions and less time reading or sharing their experiences is reminiscent of the set up in Fahrenheit 451. The tragedy of that stories characters were that so many of their lives were empty because they didn't read and so didn't have stories.
