"It's So Boring!"

Wow! It really happened fast this year. Within two days of when I handed out copies of The Yearling, I had two people drop the class and at least ten more stop by my classroom to moan, snarl, or gag in my face: "This is sooooooooo boring! I fell asleep three times before the end of the first chapter! I'd rather chew nails than read the rest of this book! Why do you make us do this?!"

Maybe I should be glad it happened so fast; at least it shows me that you are actually trying to read the book already. (By the way, most of the significant work for this term in Honors English will be done before Christmas, so if you stay on top of it, you'll have an easy time of it in January...and you'll get most of your AR points for the term from The Yearling.) But I have to admit that I do get tired of hearing the complaints. So, for those of you who are prone to such things, I offer this:

Grow up!

Do you really think everything in life is supposed to be exciting? Do you really think that your parents go to jobs every day that involve eight solid hours of excitement and thrills? Do you truthfully think that anything meaningful is ever created by those who don't focus their attention on something and then work at it? If you are gifted enough to be in Honors English, reading The Yearling shouldn't cause you so much agony. I think you just like to hear yourselves complain. And I am unmoved. My old, black heart is untouched by your tortured cries. If you "get into it" (as some of you already have), you'll find that The Yearling is an excellent story that you will enjoy even if you can't relate to the setting or most of the characters. But in order to "get into it," you have to focus on it for more than twenty seconds at a time. Given that you've been raised on a steady diet of television that never asks you to concentrate on anything more complex than a fashionable hairstyle, it's not hard to see why you don't like to focus on reading a novel that doesn't immediately captivate you. But, trust me, the problem isn't with the book. It's in you. And you need to overcome it. You don't have to like a book to appreciate it, and I'll never ask you to like the books I assign, but you will have to give them your respectful attention long enough to make an informed decision as to their quality. (And if you think it's the worst book you'll ever encounter, you ain't seen nothin' yet! Wait until you hit high school!)

End of scolding.

If you are one of those really involved people who thinks you may not have time for Honors English, read this before you drop the class.

Write on!