Persuasions #13, 1991 Pages 104-107
Jane Austen and the MTV Generation: Teaching
Emma at a Community College MARY GAITHER MARSHALL College of DuPage, 22nd Street and Lambert
Road, Glen Ellyn, ILL 60137 Am I Crazy? “Yes!” will respond
some teachers when they learn I taught Emma seven times to community
college students during the 1990-91 academic year. But I have not been committed to a state mental hospital; rather,
I have had the pleasures of reading a book I love and successfully teaching my
students the art of writing a research paper. I have been teaching the freshman composition
sequence for five years at the College of DuPage, one of the five largest
community colleges in the United States.
We have a diverse population both in age (high school graduates to
senior citizens) and in culture (one of my recent classes had students from
eight different countries). English
103, which requires students to write a research paper, presents a major
problem for teachers. A drop-out rate
of almost fifty percent for this class causes our faculty to question “Where
have we gone wrong?” “WHAT CAN I WRITE MY RESEARCH PAPER ABOUT?” The high drop-out rate is usually the result of panicky students
trembling at the mere thought of writing a research paper. “Mrs. Marshall, I don’t know what to write about,”
is a frequent refrain. Many students
wander aimlessly through the library stacks as late as the last three weeks of
the eleven-week quarter, hoping for a book to fall on them and open to the
perfect subject. I have greatly reduced
the panic of my students, and thus the high drop-out rate, by assigning
students a subject for the research paper – Emma. With all students working on the same
project, they share information with each other – the real point of
research. The students’ initial
response to writing a research paper on a novel is a mixture of panic and
relief – panic at having to read a 300 page book; relief at having a subject
for the dreaded research paper. One
student expressed the majority opinion when she wrote after completing the paper,
“The major reason I enjoyed writing this research paper is that the topic was
all but picked out for me. In my other
103 class, I dropped because picking a subject to write on was too stressful.” Another student concluded, “I feel that it
is better to be uncomfortable with someone else’s decision than with your own.” “WHERE DO YOU BEGIN TEACHING A 19TH CENTURY
NOVEL TO STUDENTS RAISED ON MTV?” The first step was to introduce them to the late 18th and early 19th
centuries. To acquaint them with the sound
of the language, the costume, and the setting, I began with videos – a familiar
medium to them – one Jane Austen’s Life and the other the first 15
minutes of the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. Then to introduce them to both the times and
research methods, I gave them my version of Bill & Ted’s Excellent
Adventure. The students were sent
by their civilization to England on September 29, 1815, the day Jane Austen’s Emma
was published. Working in groups of two
or three, they were to learn as much as possible about an aspect of the time
(education, architecture, fashion, entertainment, food, gardens, professions,
for example) and to compose an oral and written presentation for their superior
and colleagues at the Center for Time Travel.
Many of the students became involved in the spirit of the
assignment. One group filmed a news
report, complete with weather and sports for the day. Others prepared food samples, staged a fashion show with Barbies,
and presented plays, music, and art popular in the period. Not only did the students obtain a feel for
the times, but they also learned the skills necessary for completing a research
paper: library research, documentation, summary, and organization. “WE HAVE TO READ A BOOK!” While the class was working on the “Bill and Ted” research project, they
were also reading the novel. How did I
persuade students who reluctantly plowed through fifty page assignments to read
a 300 page book? During Fall quarter, I
naively believed that students would complete the book by the due date if I
threatened to give a quiz. No such
luck! So Winter quarter, I gave
Marshall Notes – handouts with two to three sentence summaries of the chapters
in Volume One and a list and description of places and the characters who
resided there. I also placed a complete
audiotape version of the novel on reserve in the Library for those who had
trouble getting started. Surprisingly,
only a few listened to the tape version, using it as an aid rather than as a
substitute for reading. My most
successful means of helping students complete the novel was assigning a few
chapters to read each week and having the students respond to those chapters
during our weekly meeting in the computer lab.
Initially, the questions I gave were relatively simple: “1. What is your first impression of Emma? Is she like anyone you have known or read about? Would you want her for a friend? 2. Mr. Knightley and Mrs. Weston discuss Emma’s relationship with Harriet. What is your opinion of the relationship between Emma and Harriet?” By the end of the quarter, the questions were more complex, asking for
more thought and referral to the text: “Do you think Emma has changed? Write a thesis giving an assertion on this topic. Give three examples from the text to support your thesis.” These questions helped the students read more critically and discover
topics of interest. We used the Norton
Critical Edition of Emma, enabling us to have the same selection of
critical essays to read, discuss, and use as a source for learning the skills
needed for writing the research paper – reading critically, quoting,
paraphrasing, summarizing, documenting sources, and completing works
cited. Although some students struggled
to read fifty pages a week, many would agree with the student who wrote of Emma
at the end of the course, “I read it constantly, passing the recommended dates,
and couldn’t wait to see what happened next.” “DO STUDENTS HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT EMMA? OR, WILL I BE DELIVERING A MONOLOGUE TODAY?” Although we read and wrote about Emma for several weeks before
class discussion was scheduled, I was still worried about whether the students
would have anything to say. I began the
first day of discussion by asking my students to freewrite for ten minutes on
the character they liked best or least.
After the ten minutes I conducted a “Tad Poll” (similar to those Tad
Mosel gave at AGMs), first listing all the characters students wrote about and
then tabulating votes for favorite and least favorite characters. Emma and Harriet usually made both
lists. Depending on the perversity of
the class, Miss Bates and Mrs. Elton occasionally also appeared on the favorite
list. After the “Tad Poll,” we switched to a
discussion of why we liked or hated Emma by agreeing or disagreeing with: “Jane
Austen has created a character that no one but herself will much like.” After writing this statement on the board, I
had my students all stand in the center of the room, I posted one sign, “Agree,”
“Disagree,” “Strongly Agree,” or “Strongly Disagree,” on each of the four
walls. After thinking about the
statement for one minute, they moved to the side of the room that best
reflected their reaction to the statement.
From this point on, I did not comment or ask questions. The students argued their viewpoints, trying
to lure other students to their side of the room. They usually had quite heated discussions, bringing up a number
of interesting ideas that we used as basis of discussion for other days. One student, for example, thought “the main
reason for Emma remaining single is the fact that in her eyes, there is no man
quite as interesting as Emma herself.”
Another commented on Harriet’s role, “I found the novel to be very
interesting and really the only part that I felt was boring was that Harriet
fell in love with so many people that it got a bit ridiculous.” So great was the students’ enthusiasm that I
often entered the classroom at the beginning of the hour and found students
already discussing some aspect of the novel! “Just
to leave a piece, of paper on the table.” (E) Discussion frequently began with the reading
aloud of important scenes. We focussed
on the characteristics Emma shared with Mrs. Elton and Jane Fairfax, Mr.
Knightley as a “spokesman,” a comparison of the couples and their marriages,
and the “mystery” elements of the novel.
One student later wrote about the “mystery” discussion, “I enjoyed …
finding … hints throughout the novel that foreshadowed the outcome. It was interesting to see the many scenes in
which something was done or said by one of the characters that revealed what
was going to occur, but in an inconspicuous way. I realized Emma is a novel one must carefully read in
order to absorb the true meaning from a variety of passages.” After about two weeks of discussion, we ended
the quarter with a spirited trivia game, similar to Trivial Pursuit. The class was divided into teams to answer
questions in various categories: “Identify,” “Places,” and “Who Said …?” for
example. Even as we played the game, we
continued our discussion of Emma.
The students frequently argued among their team members, “No, remember
when Emma said …? The answer must be
….” The vast majority of the class gave
this game their highest rating on the course evaluation. Why do I teach Emma to a generation of
students raised on MTV? My practical
motive is that at the end of the quarter, less than 10% of my students have
dropped the course and all but a few have completed acceptable research papers. My idealistic motives are to open a new
world to my students and to make a difference in their lives. When I read anonymous student evaluations at
the end of the quarter, I learned that some students liked the novel and some
did not, as was to be expected; but, interestingly, the majority were glad they
had the opportunity to read the novel: “I guess the parental figure in me has
to say, ‘It has broadened my horizons!’ ” and “Although I didn’t like my topic,
I have to say that it was a good learning experience …,” and “I am glad I have
been exposed to one of the great literary pieces as a result of having taken
this class,” and “Everyone should have an opportunity to read classic
literature at least once in his life.”
They felt good about themselves and what they had accomplished. I knew that I had succeeded beyond my hopes
when one student wrote: “I loved reading a classic. It opened a new world of books to me. I can’t wait to read Jane Austen’s other works.” What more could a teacher ask?
† The color image has replaced the original black and white image for the on-line edition of this essay. – C. Moss, JASNA Web Site Manager |