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“Pay attention to the melody inside words.”
It is literature class and we are reading a story from Greek mythology about the musician Orpheus. The story is written like a lyric and begs to be read out loud. And seated in front of my students, I am panting and breathless, jumping from paragraph to paragraph, exclaiming and sighing, reading and re-reading.
“Close your eyes and listen to this,” I ask my students. “Okay, how does it make you feel?”
Literature is a great subject to teach because it is so loaded with feeling. Feeling becomes the primary curriculum. It is a break from all other subjects that point towards a future with a reputable career or money making or stability. The gift of literature seems a lot more intangible and its pleasures are at once immediate and eternal.
Since my students are already submerged in exam oriented syllabi, I want to give them a break from studying for exams. So I tried to figure out how to let feeling precede in the classroom.
So I try out some music. Each of them brings their favorite piece of music and shares it with the rest of the class. This is followed by something that the students have written being inspired by the music they’ve brought along.
The class moves effortlessly as we alternate between listening to music and then the writings.
“You know, I’ve noticed that the you guys write a lot better when you write something you want to write,” I contemplate loudly. Each one of them gives an equally contemplative nod.
“I’ve seen that when you do essays, it seems more difficult for you. But this, this comes to you effortlessly,” I continue.
“Of course, that doesn’t meant that you only do this. You’re going to have to keep writing those tedious essays,” and they all laugh aloud. “But with enough practice you’ll get better at them too.”
My purpose in the classroom is to make sure they get those tedious, boring essays under their belt. But I also feel like there is greater meaning in encouraging them to keep at what is so close to their heart and is a reflection of their being.
“It is the desire to write that makes you write like this. And I want to make sure that you keep this desire alive. So I encourage you to keep writing.”
We end the class with another beautiful instrumental piece.
After listening, I tell them, “This piece of music seems to be telling some kind of story, doesn’t it? I hope someday, some of you will write that story down for us.”
Writing is incredibly similar to music. Once you start hearing the music inside words, you’re done for life. Whether you study it or not, you will form a life-long relationship with words.
Are my students also getting to that point? I sure hope they are.
Ms. Sumi teaches English to high school students. When she isn’t in the classroom, she likes to read novels, write poems, and spend time in the kitchen. She is also a great appreciator of wildlife and considers spiders, cockroaches and leeches as some of her favorite insects.
image source: prompt-communications.com
http://www.parakhi.com/blogs/2011/12/16/music-melody-and-words