British Literature Was For The Birds by Melissa

British Literature Was For The Birds by Melissa - July 2014 Scholarship Essay

Every teacher wants to make learning relatable and relevant to today’s day and age. Since the time teaching began, professors have been hard at work trying to figure out easier ways to help their students succeed. Math problems have been modified and modified again to be the quickest and most efficient. Theories in science have been tested countless times to make sure that the steps to the outcome are understandable. To change an attitude of a student’s interpretation of education, a teacher must adapt to the changing attitude of the world around the students. For me, my British Literature teacher from my junior year of high school flipped my attitude for education upside down and inside out. My view on education and the effects of it are permanently changed -- thanks to one teacher.

Zombies, monsters, vampires, super heroes; all these were interpreted into one English class. It seems unusual; does it not? To have such gore-filled or obscene things be a part of teaching young adults the culture and literature in the eighteenth and nineteenth century? A lot of people would think so. Instead of just reading the material, this teacher would have you relate the material with larger movements in today’s society.

Something so sexualized and violent as vampires in the 21st century should not be related to the original, classic Dracula, right? Wrong. The teaching style this teacher took was to incorporate popular media - True Blood, Twilight, etc. - and relate it back to some of the characteristics that Dracula incorporated in 1897. Relating a modern day topic to one that is over a century old really helps teenagers interpret and store the information for the next big test. Even relating the Gothic scenery of Dracula to the present settings in television shows and movies can help a person recall what type of emotion was being set in a scenario in the book.

It is surprising that such crude or offensive content that society revolves around now with clothing style, language, and media that you can get young students to learn from it. Comparing and contrasting certain large movements with what a professor is teaching the student helps memorization and understanding ten-folds more than just flipping through a 300 page book. My British literature teacher really helped me with current-time relations that I could have never thought to connect to the eighteen hundreds. I use this tactic for almost all my classes if possible. Relation does help with memory. My attitude toward education became thousands of times more important once I realized that I can do this. There is possible ways for me to understand the content that I’m learning. I could never give enough thanks to this teacher for getting me through my final two years of high school and beyond that to get my associate’s degree. Even if my schoolwork becomes out of hand, I’ll always keep in mind that: I can do this.

Thank you, Mr. Bachtel.