Using Modern Literature in the Language Arts Classroom

The book lists in schools are full of the "Classics." These are books written over a hundred years ago and have a great deal of literary merit, but when it comes to modern students, sometimes they are lacking the relevance that some students relate to. As an English teacher, I love the classics and know that there are many lessons and themes that relate to modern times, but selling that to the kids may be a little bit more difficult. Often times students are caught up in the language and unknown vocabulary and miss the true beauty in classic literature. And so, you lose them altogether.

A great way to reach students is to look into the world of modern literature. A lot of teachers discount "popular" or modern literature because it takes them away from what they've always known as great literature, but modern literature has several things that the classics never will. And so, I present the argument that modern literature has a definite place in the classroom.

The first reason that modern literature is great, particularly for reluctant readers, is the immediacy of the subject matter. Modern literature addresses similar feelings, situations, and life-styles of today's students. Students may not be able to relate to Asher Lev and his religious identity crisis, but they may relate to the internal struggle of Steve Haromon in Walter Dean Meyer's Monster, as he struggles with the idea of going to prison over the shooting of a convenience clerk. Students may be able to get into the beautiful story of Anne Frank, but from experience, it loses many. They may, however, be able to get into the modern writing and witty narration of Death in The Book Thief, as they learn about the Holocaust and its victims.

Another reason that modern fiction may be better for readers is that they follow modern styles and language that your students might be more familiar with. Many students have a difficult time with older English, or just English at all. If you pull out Dickens, Austen, or Shakespeare, you may lose them immediately as they give up before they get it past the first "thee" or long, complex description of Victorian England. I'm not saying that your students are not capable of reading these works of fiction, and perhaps it is something that you should build up to, but reading the thoughts of Esperanza in The House on Mango Street or Maleeka's insightful, if sometimes rough, narration in The Skin I'm In brings students to a more comfortable place that allows them to not focus on the actual words, but the beauty that they create. This is especially important for struggling or reluctant readers who will feel inadequate and give up if the level and style of the language is completely foreign, or deemed out of their range.

Another reason to choose modern literature is that it tends to be more multicultural and crosses more boundaries than classical literature. Students get to see more varied world views than that of Western European culture that we generally study. A lot of the classics are based around imperial Britain when it comes to world perspectives and using modern literature will help students to be less ethnocentric and more open to different points of view. A good example is the view of a little Korean girl during WWII, during Japanese occupation in When My Name was Keoko, a perspective that students often aren't exposed to. There are a lot of modern, multicultural perspectives to be found.

Modern literature has a lot of wonderful uses in the English classroom. Adding modern novels to your tried and true classics will help to reach all students and also help to develop more well-rounded students with a modern perspective on life. So, when you evaluate your book closet, think about ordering a few modern novels.