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Author
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Comment
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LornaYnot
Registered User
(10/5/03 9:11 pm)
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Has anyone here read The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce?
Hello. I am new here and quite glad to have been directed to SurLaLune by one of my professors. I am a student teacher of high school English and am currently planning a short lesson based on Angela Carter's "The Courtship Of Mr. Lyon," though I'd originally planned to cover "The Company Of Wolves." My professor mentioned that she thought the latter story too "iffy" because I am teaching in a rather conservative school. Also, with the short amount of time I have to cover a story, I could not do justice to all the foreshadowing and symbolism.
All that is by way of introduction. I have been reading as many threads in this forum and the archives as I can. They are fascinating and I want to give them my full attention so it is rather slow going. In a thread begun in August, a question was posted regarding fairy novels. I didn't see any references to Graham Joyce's The Tooth Fairy. It is one of my favorite works and I wonder if anyone here has read it? TTF is usually classified as a horror novel, though I believe it to be more of a traditional fairy tale that I, in my untutored way, refer to as "when bad fairies happen to good people," though that is rather inaccurate since the title character represents capricious Nature and as such is neither "good" nor "bad." TTF is also a coming of age story. It seems a shame that so fine a work of literature is relegated to horror and is not better known. Well, it is best to veer away from my views on what constitutes literature and the shortsightedness of those who shunt "genre fiction" aside ... once I get on my soap box, I have trouble climbing down.
I would love to plan a unit around this novel yet have been told by several people (including the author himself) that such a unit would be problematic (in other words, I might get fired or at the least, burned in effigy by angry parents) due to sexual situations, strong language, and a host of other "inappropriate" elements found in TTF. If anyone here has read this work, I would be interested in your views and any suggestions on ways in which I could present it to senior high school students. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Lorna
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janeyolen
Registered User
(10/6/03 4:37 am)
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I read it
Joyce is a favorite of mine, and THE TOOTH FAIRY is a wonderful novel--dark, brooding, violent, mythic. But I wouldn't teach it in a conservative high school and expect to keep my job.
Jane
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LornaYnot
Registered User
(10/6/03 8:55 am)
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thank you
Dear Jane Yolen,
Yes, I wouldn't expect it either. Of course, I am student teaching now and haven't a job teaching as of yet. Though I imagine, given my geographic location (the Mid Hudson Valley in NY) that most schools around here would be fairly conservative. I do find myself a bit puzzled in regard to what is considered acceptable literature for older adolescents. For instance, A Streetcar Named Desire is often taught and that certainly has very adult themes. Then again, the sex and violence is implied rather than stated. Goodness knows, there is plenty of sex and violence in Romeo And Juliet and Hamlet (and lets not even discuss subtext in the latter play) yet few school balk at teaching these works. I am still trying to understand this (to me) peculiar shyness in regard to adult issues and why it applies to some works but not others.
Graham Joyce wrote to me and gave me permission to take as many "appropriate" exerpts from TTF as I like or to even "clean it up" if I want ... as if I would mess around with such elegant prose! However, I am considering ways to work little parts of the novel into lesson plans. By "little" I mean a few sentences here or there to illustrate foreshadowing or symbolism.
Thank you for your reply.
Sincerely,
Lorna Younger
PS. One piece of writing I shall use in my "beauty and the beast" unit is your haunting poem, "Beauty and the Beast: An Anniversary."
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RymRytr1
Registered User
(10/6/03 1:27 pm)
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Re: Conservation
As an "old man", let me voice my opinion (again!?!?!?)
When you enter employment, you agree to certain rules. When you accept your pay, it is for preformance of specifics. If a group decides that course A is best for their children, and band together to preserve that idea, than you, as an employee, must honor their moral standards. This is noting more than common acknowledgement of their rights under that certain document that arose after many men and women gave up their lives to gain the freedom for others to be able to choose how they would live, to whom they would and would not pay tribute and where they would spend their hard-earned remunirations.
I was complaining to my Grandfather, back in the late 60's about how hard I had to work, stacking 60 lb boxes of apples, when a friend of mine rode around all day on a Fork-Lift! After several times of hearing this, he said "Bud, let me tell you something. When you agree to work for a man, you have to be a good Hand. It don't matter if you are sweeping the floor or inking the books, you agreed to a set wage. It's his right to tell you what to do to earn it!"
And he is right... So, teach what they want. When you get into a position where the restrictions are less, you can teach what that will allow.
{all this is written with a gentle voice, a smile on my face and a compasionate spirit.}
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LornaYnot
Registered User
(10/6/03 3:38 pm)
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thank you
Thank you for the reminder! I feel like hitting myself on the side of the head (not too hard, don't want to shake anything loose). I have always gone to work with the knowledge that I am paid to do a job and I'll meet the requirements of the job description. If I disagree, I either stay and comply or quit - my choice. When I managed a fast food restaurant years ago, I remember telling one of my adolescent workers that if he didn't feel he was getting paid enough to do the job he was hired to do, he might consider looking for other employment. I then showed him that I never asked him to do something I was unwilling to do myself.
My difficulty with teaching arises in contradictory messages received. I am supposed to help students develop a foundation of both communications and analytic skills that will allow them to go on from high school and be successful at what they choose to do, be it attending college or going into a trade. I believe the function of public education is to help students become productive members of society. That is a cliche, but I can think of no other way to state it. However, the definition of "productive" is not clear cut. I don't want to encourage my students to become automatons. Nor do I want to encourage them to become anarchists. I do want them to be free thinkers. I want them to be open minded but not to the point where they fall into a trap of moral relativism. I want them to not be snookered by advertising, and to be able to read and listen to political speeches objectively so that they can be informed voters. Granted, these are part of my own vision for what teaching "ought" to be. However, I know I am not alone in my beliefs regarding the function of public education.
I have learned that as a teacher today, I must reach students by making lessons meaningful so they may relate to them. Here's where things start getting fuzzy for me. That which is not sanctioned by the schools is often not an issue at home. For example, in school students may not listen to music with "offensive" or "explicit" lyrics yet their parents do not prohibit them from listening to such music outside of school. Words that, if uttered by a high school student, would get that kid suspended are present in the works of Chaucer. If students are on a "college track" (though such tracking has officially been done away with) and part of my job is that I teach them how to analyze literature, do I skim literature and edit out the more risque passages or words?
I am reminded of Huckleberry Finn. The sole focus of one of my African-American students was the use of the (as he put it) "N bomb." This student was offended by a word to the extent that he had a difficult time seeing the deeper meaning of the work.
Offensive language, violence, and sexuality are considered acceptable in works of literary merit. I see novels such as Lord Of The Flies, The Chocolate War, To Kill A Mockingbird being taught. I see plays such as A Streetcar Named Desire, Romeo And Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, and The Merchant of Venice being taught. I see poems such as "The Passionate Shepherd To His Love," "To His Coy Mistress," and "The Eve Of Saint Agnes" being taught. Upon reading a passage from The Chocolate War, I found myself wondering why it is doubtful I shall ever be able to teach a work of genuine literary merit for fear of offending parents when there is a good deal in The Chocolate War at which parents might take offense. I think that if there were more time for teachers to interact with parents in a meaningful way, many misunderstandings would not arise (No, Ma'am, I'm not trying to corrupt your child and turn him into a pervert).
When I was teaching a lesson on the ideals of courtly love giving way to cynical sophistry in Elizabethan times, I wanted to bring in a recording of a hip hop song with which the students are quite familiar in order to illustrate my point. Although there were no "bad" words in the song, I was told that this would be frowned upon because the lyrics are suggestive. Rather than having a concrete example to which students could relate, I had to present my point in a rather dry manner and I still question whether they understood.
When I first read The Tooth Fairy in a college course on contemporary literature, I thought it was an amazing work of fiction with genuine merit. I still think so. Adolescents to whom I have loaned the book have said it is wonderful but I would "so get fired" were I to teach it, and I am having some difficulty understanding why this would be the case after examining the works (some of which have seemingly less literary merit) that are OK for use in the classroom. I am having similar difficulty in choosing which texts to use in my Beauty And The Beast lesson. I initially wanted to teach a lesson on Little Red Riding Hood but, after consulting my professor, decided to (in the words of my students) not even go there. I can only hope that my judgment regarding what is "appropriate" will improve over time!
Once again, thank you for your thoughtful response.
Sincerely,
Lorna
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RymRytr1
Registered User
(10/7/03 1:16 pm)
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Re: thank you
Based upon your response, I gotta say that I'd hire you in a moment!!
One of the troubles with the Internet is generalization. We can't see each other, we can't hear tonal inflections or read body language. So then, we resume to express judgments upon others, based upon a single paragraph in a post.
I perceive that you will do well as you continue in your profession. Each of us must preserve our personal integrity, even in the midst of the restrictions of others. Sometimes, being the rock in the middle of the stream causes changes which need to be made.
Parents have one serious flaw: they are Humans. What we want for our children is not always what we allow, and often is not the best application, over the long-haul. We have to deal with life, based upon our own experiences and then presume to guide the life of our family and often, others. It's a tough row to hoe indeed.
Speaking of Hamlet, I often use him as an illustration of Depression, and the choices of Suicidal Thoughts. He, the Biblical Job and others, voiced their opinion that life is not wroth living, but I bring the point around to say "look what the result of continuing is...". Life is like the Lotto. If you don't play, you can't win. I will tell them "if you kill yourself today, what would you miss out on tomorrow?" And I use "Dyin' ain't difficult, it's the livin' that's tough. Any fool can kill himself, it takes guts to hang in there!".
I often find that most of these kids (young adults) are just looking for someone to listen. It's the ones that never say anything, that are the most dangerous to themselves.
Rym Rytr
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janeyolen
Registered User
(10/8/03 6:20 am)
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Of sandtraps and other teacher problems
If in 50 years THE TOOTH FAIRY by Joyce is still around, it might be legitimately taught in every day English classes. But as a pop (genre) novel, it is suspect in a school situation and will receive more eyeballing by would-be censors than a Hamlet or a Chaucer which have been canon-ized.
I am not saying whether this is good or bad, just that it is true.
A teacher, especially a young teacher without tenure, has an interesting fine line to walk.
Perhaps you could make TF an extra credit report for now. Or ask to teach a Banned Books course for which kids would need parental consent. Or do another specialty class in, say, Telling and Retelling in which literature from Midsummer's Night Dreams to TF would be used as examples of pieces that reuse folk/fairy literature. But the kids who take the course would be self-selected, not the general run of kids in English 101.
There are always ways to get around those kinds of sandtraps. No need to walk right in.
Jane, who writes banned books on occasion
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Jess
Unregistered User
(10/8/03 8:14 am)
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Banned books
I love Jane's idea about having a list of books. My high school did this. It actually split into units with each of the four teachers making lists of four genres. We were to select two. I am sure some of the books might have been on "banned" lists. Then again, for the unit on poetry we had a teacher, an ex-playboy bunny, who could read Shelley and make it feel downright pornographic. lol As for Huckleberry Finn, some schools have banned it.
I wonder if you could have a "further readings" list.
The other issue with banned books is social maturity - something you hopefully don't have to deal with in the upper grades, but depending upon the school and environment you might. I had to "ban" a book for my son in the second grade. The book, "A Bridge to Tarabitha", dealt too directly with death and he had issues with that, but also, it made it clear there was no Santa Claus. I think that it was a poor choice for that age level. A couple of years later it will be fine.
Some of the books on the "non-banned list" and some of the books on the "banned" list may or may not really be understood by the age level. Streetcar for instance is probably waaaay beyond comprehension of most high schoolers except at a superficial level. Ditto for Scarlet Letter, Ethan Frome, and even the Grapes of Wrath. Still they are "taught". Whereas "The Cruicible", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Romeo and Juliet" and "Frankestein" are easily comprehended. I guess part of it is that we hope the kids will go back to these books as adults when there is some real understanding of the themes. The study of fairy tales seems so appropriate to me because you begin with something at least vaguely familiar and then move to discover the hidden "more mature" side of them. Oh well, will the schools ever learn.
Did you discuss your proposal with the teaching staff? You might be surprised.
Jess
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LornaYnot
Registered User
(10/8/03 7:22 pm)
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Thank you
Thank you for your advice. I would write more at the moment but I am bleary eyed and it is past my bedtime. I'll write more when I can see straight. I appreciate any opinions and ideas - I am quite open minded (or I suppose this issue would not have come up at all).
Sincerely,
Lorna
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Gregor9
Registered User
(10/10/03 2:49 pm)
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Joyce and Black
I love Graham's novel, and can see the arguments for it being considered a dark work that might not suit some HS teaching. But...then I think of Holly Black's magnificent TITHE, which is specifically being marketed to the youth market, unlike TF, and I have to wonder about the very idea of Graham's novel being too dark or edgy to teach at all.
Makes me wonder exactly how one can draw a line beyond which point there lie monsters...
Greg
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