My Spring 2013 experiment is drawing to a close...with inconclusive results, I might add. I had two sections of ENG 120: Composition this semester, so I assigned one to read The Hunger Games and the other to read Ender's Game. Both classes wrote weekly journals on the chapters they completed each week, had weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) discussions in class, and wrote novel-related essays throughout the semester. The carrot dangled in front of both classes was a week of watching The Hunger Games film (starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen) while they were completing work on their research papers. (The film version of Ender's Game comes out this November, otherwise I would obviously have show it to the class reading Card's novel).
All of my students have completed their "Exit Journals," in which they detail (rather openly, as I encourage them to be) 1) What they expected the course to be like, 2) What the course was really like, 3) How they felt about the course, and 4) What suggestions they might have to me for future classes. Here is where the conclusions come into play...the class reading The Hunger Games was consistently more on top of life than the section reading Ender's Game (and I mean from Day 1). The HG section was consistently on-time, in class, and attentive. The EG section was rarely more than half full, usually very late, and hit-or-miss attentive. While some students in the EG section did genuinely enjoy the sci-fi classic, the majority (I'm fairly certain) flat-out did not read it; ergo, I can't really use their feedback.
I can, however, report that the feedback from my second group of students to read The Hunger Games was overwhelmingly positive. So positive, in fact, that a number of students recommended that future classes read the entire trilogy! Color me shocked: College students who ask for more reading. What is becoming of the world of academia?!
I will have to do some soul-searching as to whether I will include Ender's Game in my Fall readings for ENG 120, but I will absolutely use The Hunger Games a third time. Perhaps I will even orchestrate a class field trip to see Catching Fire in theater when it releases! (I know, I know--I'm on the edge of insanity!) I do intend to poll my HG section to see how many students would honestly have read all three books if they had been assigned. And, if I do assign the trilogy, I will need to consider actually making students buy the books from the bookstore, as opposed to buying them myself and lending them to students (which, by the way, I have about a 98% return rate on).
Overall, including a novel in my ENG 120 course has absolutely been a success!
I'm not surprised as to the reaction of the classes.. Popular culture definitely plays a part in what they are interested in in a classroom situation. I think the class will be more interested in Ender's Game when the film comes out. Have you thought about any other recent releases? The Host (the book) is amazing, though the movie left quite a bit to be desired. The Percy Jackson series is a lot of fun. Even though the characters are younger, the addition of mythology raises the difficulty of the texts.
ReplyDeleteI have railed so often on Stephenie Myer's god-awful writing in the Twilight series in class that I think my students would think I'd had a psychotic break if I assigned The Host! I have not read it, though, so I can't truly judge the book yet. I wasn't terribly surprised by the reaction to Ender, but it's always a bit saddening when students don't find one of my favorite books as awesome as I find it. I will have to look at the Percy Jackson books again--most of my students have little to no knowledge of mythology and the class doesn't have enough time to build in mini-mythology lessons, so that might be tough. I also recall the books being a bit younger even than the Hunger Games trilogy, but it's been a few years since I cracked one. I know that a number of my students have expressed their intent to go see Ender's Game when the film releases, and I'm sure that would have made a difference--oh well. Thanks for the thoughts!
ReplyDeleteYes The Host is miles above the Twilight series, but I completely understand any resistance. Also, this might be a good inspiration to you : http://2busybrunettes.com/2012/03/23/25-series-to-read-if-you-love-the-hunger-games/
Delete