There's Nothing Like a Good Book

            That there is nothing like a good book is a truth my students at Rogue Community College didn't always know. One of the most important things I did during my teaching career was create an assignment that taught them that truth.

            One spring term, when I was reading The Fate of the Elephant, by Chadwick Douglas, a most excellent book, I couldn't help talking about it in my class on argumentative writing, in which students write about socio-political issues. Students listened, enthralled partly by the book and partly by the fact that anyone could be so fervent about a book. Suddenly I said, "I just had a great idea. I'll make a list of books, really good books, about various issues. Students can choose a book to read and make an oral report to the class."

            The students groaned. They thought that was a terrible idea. "What? Read a book? NO!" they said. Immediately, for that reason, I determined to do it.

            I spent my summer reading books about issues. My goal was to have a variety of issues, so each student would find a book on a topic of interest, and to make sure that each book on the list was of the can't-put-it-down sort. I ended up with thirty books covering five issues: environmental, judicial, cultural, political, and women's and gender issues. Books ranged from the very long (500 pages for A Civil Action, by Jonathan Carr) to the short but powerful (164 pages for Ultimate Punishment, Scott Turow's book about the death penalty. The latter was more popular than the former.) A few, like Orwell's 1984 and J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace, about apartheid in South Africa, were novels. Some, like The Dream of the Earth, by Thomas Berry, presented challenging ideas. Some, like Wendy Kaminer's Sleeping with Extraterrestrials, had deceptively lightweight titles. Topics ranged from genocide, as in We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families, to issues closer to my students' personal experience, such as Reviving Ophelia, about the difficulties preadolescent girls face as they grow up in today's society. John McPhee, David Brower, T. C. Boyle, Alice Walker; Eric Schlosser on marijuana issues, Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed, Samantha Powers's A Problem from Hell, Anne Fadiman's great book, The Sprit Catches You and You Fall Down, about culture clashes between the Hmong and the American ways of treating epilepsy – famous books, great writers, good reading, and plenty of variety, in topic, reading level, and writing style. There was a lot to choose from, and it was all good. 

            I used this assignment for years, until the curriculum changed and I didn't have room for it in my syllabus. I would hand out the book list at the beginning of term, explaining that no two students could read the same book, that the books were on the "reserved" shelf in the library, and that after finishing the book, the student would give an oral report to the class.

            Inevitably students resisted this assignment with groans and unhappy faces. Then, just as inevitably, they would open their reports by saying, "I didn't want to read this book, but it's so good. You should all read this book." Their enthusiasm was the measure of my success. Certainly they learned something about the issues, and certainly their perspectives were broadened and they were made to think more deeply, but the more important lesson, the impetus for creating the assignment, was also ingrained: There's nothing like a good book.

        Sometimes, when I tell this story, friends ask for copies of the list. The books are as good as ever, but many other excellent books about issues have come out since I made this list, and some issues, like terrorism, have become important that weren't important then. I sometimes think I should update the list, but the compilation took enormous work, and, of course, since I'm no longer teaching, motivation has dwindled. But to look at the list brings back such good memories, not only of the books themselves, but also of my students, who learned, through it, one of the best lessons I ever taught.