Reading nerds: The Literature Draft
A few weeks ago I was watching the NFL draft waiting to see where Johnny Football would be drafted when I started thinking (it’s a problem – it usually leads to all sorts of work for me). My initial thought was what a literature draft would look like; that is, if a group of people were drafting works of literature, who would pick what first, and how would those choices be justified? I mean, James Joyce’s Ulysses is considered by many to be the single most important work of the 20th century, but I wouldn’t take it in a draft because it’s nigh-unreadable (I tried once). Okay, maybe that’s a little unfair to Joyce, but there are other novels higher on my list.
It was this thought that led me to, on a whim, post to my “Books” Facebook group (a cadre of English teachers who post about what they’ve been reading) the following:
Silly idea: let’s have a novel draft. We could use, say, Time’s Top 100 list (or something better) and compile our own squad of books, then read them (if we haven’t already).
This might have been the end of it, as it got only 4 “likes”, but then eLaffint commented with
Yes let’s do that. But please explain more.
So eLaffint forced me to think about this some more, and closer to the end of the school year I woke up one morning with the following rules in my head:
1) There’s a $10 entry fee – this will be important later.
2) We will each choose 4 works from one of two lists: either the AP title list or the “Top 100 Works in World Literature” (http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0934958.html).
3) The four works must include a) an American author b) a female author c) an author whose original language is not English and d) a play. None of the choices may be a work taught at the school or something you have already read (you’re on your honor).
4) The draft will be done by email – the order will be pre-determined and everyone in the group will “reply all” when it’s your turn. It doesn’t matter what order you “draft” your works, but no repeats are allowed.
5) Once your list (“team”) is complete, you have pretty much the rest of the year to read them.
6) Once finished, you must write a brief essay (3-5 pages) that reflects on what you’ve read. 10 point font, Times New Roman, double spaced.
7) These essays are due to me by December 12, 2014.
8) An independent panel of three judges (three people not in the draft) will read these essays and determine the winner. All essays will be published to this site, as well as to any blogs the participants might have, with the “winning” essay designated as such.
9) The winning essay’s writer will receive all the money collected from the entry fees. There is no second place. If we have 10 people enter, the winner will receive $100.
A couple notes: I decided on the AP list because it’s quality literature and diverse. Selecting from that list could also benefit teachers who are looking for literature for their class libraries and want to branch out from young adult fiction and the more common works that most high schools already have on their reading lists (I’m looking at you, Gatsby). Plus, it’s a pleasure to read. [bonus points for identifying the allusion]. The other list I found through Google, and thought it might help find works that help fulfill requirement “c” on number 3.
The essay requirement was a bit of a worry as I thought that might turn off possible participants, but I wanted something more to happen than “I read it, and it was _____” posts on Facebook. The opportunity to reflect on what you’ve read is an important part of the reading process, and I wanted to give everyone a chance to demonstrate their writing chops. Hell, it’s something we ask of our students all the time, so, physician, heal thyself, IMO. Let’s put ourselves in our students’ shoes a bit, but also show off what we can do. We’re English teachers for a reason (okay, one of our group is not, but J-ROY’s a reader).
Eight of us decided to give this a shot. We held our draft on Saturday, and, after a bit of delay due to J-ROY’s travelling, we each have our four works selected:
I think we’re all looking forward to reading our selections, but I’m particularly anxious to read their essays.
I’ll periodically post on my progress here.
The Lower Frequencies 
June 1, 2014 at 9:07 pm
I’ll take the bonus points! Did you know the author of that novel said he is Clarisse?
I finished Equus today and found this as I was internetting about it:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/secondgraders-wow-audience-with-school-production,1883/
June 1, 2014 at 10:09 pm
That’ll be Randall’s next play. : D
June 1, 2014 at 11:27 pm
I am not going to make a joke about any school newspapers writing any articles about that.
June 2, 2014 at 1:05 am
But at least Randall wouldn’t be kowtowing to UIL judges by putting on something more traditional like “The Miracle Worker” or something like that… heh…
June 2, 2014 at 1:15 am
Yes, I am sure that it is easy to impress judges with a play they have already seen a bunch of times…
June 3, 2014 at 5:44 am
pleasure to read…pleasure to burn?
June 4, 2014 at 8:11 pm
that is correct, M
June 5, 2014 at 12:41 am
Can I be a grader??? 🙂
September 17, 2014 at 2:28 am
[…] Last May I had the brilliant idea [need sarcasm font] to enact a draft of “important” books with several other high school teachers. Read about it here. […]