6.2. Giver Big Discussion RL8.

This week in Periods 1 and 2, we're having a big literary discussion about The Giver. Notice that they are a few levels at which you can talk about books and stories:

1. The NON-READER level - This level of talking about reading a book isn't even about the book - it deals with the sort of things, like, "This book was too hard/too easy to read," or "It's so long." This kind of talk about books is about the reader. I find it useful to listen to, but I never do it myself.

 2. The BOOK CLUB level - This level of talking is very natural and normal - it involves talking about the characters as though they were real people and what is happening is really going on. This is normal in a story, it's called "suspension of disbelief," meaning that a person will agree to act as though something is really going on, even if the know, deep down, that it isn't. Saying things like, "I was so mad when character X did this," or "I really wanted her to marry Jesse" are talking about books on the STORY level. This is a perfectly healthy way to use books as entertainment. People all over the world join real or virtual book clubs and talk about stories together this way, and English class up through the middle also often operates on this level.

 3. The LITERATURE level - While the BOOK CLUB level is always important, since understanding the story is a basic requirement, the LITERATURE level is the next deeper level that a person can talk about a book. At this level, it is less desirable to talk about the characters or plot as actually happening, because the LITERATURE level tries to read the book as something written by a person. It's much more concerned with artistic technique than the other one.

 To tell the difference between levels 2 and 3, I often think of a magic show. The BOOK CLUB level is the same as sitting in the audience at a magic show, watching all the tricks, and thinking about whether you enjoy them or not. The LITERATURE level is much more like standing behind the magic and watching how the tricks are done, in order to understand how the thing works. Both ways are fine ways to think about books, it's my job as your eighth grade teacher to try and start to show that level beneath, and to think about a books as something made by a person.

 I should mention that a lot of people might naturally assume that the BOOK CLUB level is more entertaining that the LITERATURE level - that that's the main difference. I totally disagree with that. I feel that trying to get a deep understanding of how something works in just as entertaining as using the thing itself. I enjoy using my coffee making to make coffee, but I also enjoy opening it up to see how it heats up and releases the water, and what happens if I run it without any coffee in it. Trying to figure out how things work, to me, is just another fun way to use them. Giver Big Discussion