If I were a American Literature teacher today and I was teaching Huckleberry Finn I would teach it one of two ways. I would make it optional to say it or I would encourage the students to say it. However I would not make anyone say it against their will. Also I think the lack of the use of the N-word today shows how far the African-american people have come since the 1800s.
If I were to make it optional it would be in a class that was ethnically diverse. This would allow the group to hear it some and become somewhat accustomed to it, but it would allow them to still have the exposure to it. If a student came to the n-word and did not want to say it the would not replace it with anything, they would just skip over it. This would allow for the presentation of a teaching point but it would not make students overly uncomfortable.
If I were to encourage saying the n-word it would be in a class that is mostly not African-american. This would allow the other nationalities to hear it and become accustomed to it with out offending any or many the students. This method would also allow for plenty of teaching moments. Again in this scenario if a student did not feel comfortable saying the word, then they would simply skip over it allowing for everyone to "hear" the word in their own minds.
No comments:
Post a Comment