One section I loved was talking about literature as being more than taking apart of a piece of writing but is also about how that piece of writing connect to us in the 21st Century and our everyday lives. This interaction with text can help students to understand more about themselves but it is also amazing at how learning about people in the past can connect us today. This is from the article and I think there is no better way to explain the power of writing: "Nothing promotes border crossing or tolerance more than helping students to arrive at an implicit understanding of what they have in common with those they have been taught to perceive as different."
When thinking about literature across years I think about the Broadway musical Hamilton. The creator read an autobiography about Alexander Hamilton while on vacation and his mind was able to connect this story of a founder father to that of rappers like Tupac! He then created a rap musical epic starring a diverse ethnic cast telling the life and story of an "old dead white guy". The cast recording of the musical was at one time the #1 album on the Billboard Rap Top 100! Lin-Manuel Miranda (the shows creator) was able to take the literature he read about Hamilton and transfer that to a stage musical that had the whole country talking about the creator of our national banking system. That is the power of literature and I hope one day to show that power to my students.
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