I think the problem is that (in my experience) a lot of pre-university level teachers accepted only one "right" answer which was either theirs or written in the teacher's manual. The first time I've encountered an atmosphere where my own interpretations were welcomed was university.
Thanks for this, Willow. I homeschool my daughter, and we’re actually going through a critical thinking curriculum because I know that skill is more crucial now than ever before. I hadn’t thought of teaching it through the books we read as well, but that makes so much sense. I’ll have to put more thought into how to do this, but I’m excited to try.
This reminds me of an interview Justin Torres did with otherppl on Blackouts: “I wanted to make space for reader interpretation. This entire book is about what you do as a reader. It's a puzzle. There's so much ambiguity, it becomes the theme of the book. You get a little vignette and then you get an image - it might be an erasure poem, it might be from a children's book, it might be a photograph of a naked man. Sometimes the relationship between text and image is so clear but a lot of the time it's not. You as a reader get to read it how you want. It's not that you're allowed to: you have to. This book becomes about reading and what you bring to it and how you choose to read the relationship between the texts and images. Different texts as well, it keeps jumping around in time. I wanted it to be a different book for everybody. That's what fiction can do.” reply | flag
Another homeschooling mom here, and we have been working on these integral critical thinking skills as well. Feel so fortunate for Willow’s thoughts that we can utilize. All the best to you!
Additionally, even if an author didn’t have a particular interpretation in mind when they wrote it, a text is still art that YOU are interpreting. How did the author’s choice impact YOUR reading of the text? Maybe if we expressed these things less as an absolute form of mind reading and more as a dynamic individualistic experience of a work of art, people would be less prone to complaining.
Yes! Thank you for saying this. Reading and analyzing philosophy gives students similar skills when dealing with weaponized ideas. Learning where specific ideas originate and how they're employed disarms them.
Yes! I teach my students reader response theory on the first day of English class. The reader and the author create the experience of reading together, and any analysis is correct if they can back up their assertions with text evidence. Critical thinking is so important, and it is no coincidence that the right is pushing so hard to remove books from our libraries in the US now.
Thank you! So many voices in media criticism nowadays display this loud and proud lack of curiosity. It's so refreshing to hear a more thoughtful perspective!
I am 36 years old and you just changed my whole way of thinking with this video! When I was at school we studied Carol Ann Duffy and it was fed to us what every line of her poem meant. There was no imagination or critical thinking involved and so I’ve had nothing but disdain for the skill as a whole. But you’re right, that’s such a dangerous perspective to have! When my kids go to senior school I’ll make sure they understand why they’re analysing literature, and hopefully they have a teacher like you who gives them room to think and explore
I'm from America, so the way this was taught to me may be different. I think lot of us think "the curtains are just blue" is because we're not taught to analyze media at all. When we're asked to analyze we're told we're 'wrong' because it doesn't fit into what the test says. We're not given the space or freedom to come to our own conclusions. If a multiple choice question is "Why are the curtains blue" and your analysis isn't on there you're meant to feel like you're wrong. We end up just studying what the test says the right answer is instead of thinking for ourselves. Most of my teachers had this attitude of "How could the experts who made the test possibly be wrong? This is what tons of people think it means. You're the one who's wrong." And the teachers who didn't think that way were largely discouraged from encouraging free analysis. "How can analysis be free when we have to test it? We need high test scores for money!" It all feels kind of forced. Like we're conditioned to limit ourselves. "Be an individual! Question what the book says - but not like that because it's weird."
This is a great explanation of how reading stimulates deeper understanding of the world around us. I detest the argument that reading fiction is a waste of time and solely exist to escape the "real" life. Reading is a building block of critical thinking. People usually say that humanities and science are somehow opposed. But you can never be able to understand the context in which raw scientific data relate to our lives if you never learned how to critically evaluate the way they are used to create narrative that is sold as "the truth". I would also argue that the way we force generation after generation to read the same canon literature without reevaluating its relevance is critically souring general interest in reading and therefore turning kids away from even wanting to engage in critical thinking.
Great video. Keep your good work on. It is crazy how people make fun of critical thinking these days. All this rise of straight to the point, no bias, end of ideology ,neutral dogma is responsible for all the bigotry we are facing today. This embrace of ignorance over knowledge is scary. ( Sorry for grammar)
I love this video. When i was in school, during language classes the teachers used to "teach" by writing down the question and its answer down on the chalkboard for the students to copy and later reproduce in exams. I disliked the method even then, back in 6th or 7th grade when i didn't even know what critical analysis was- i just felt a lack in the way the material was taught to us. There is so much to glean from a poem let alone an entire novel- why would anyone intentionally not try to dig deeper when it can be so rewarding? Please make more content like this. I'd also love to see your analysis of literature as well, if you're comfortable with that. Have a lovely rest of your day!
Oh, this is fantastically important. Critical thinking is _so_ much more vital online, with instant news and Hot Takes and people making 'what you need to know' threads et al. I was a hyper-literal kid (I've long assumed I'm on the spectrum) and I've had to teach myself critical thinking. I'm still not too good at it, but I can attribute pretty much all progress I've made to books and RPGs. Sometimes the curtains are blue, but they can also be a totally different thing at the same time. As many different things as there are readers, perhaps. I'm 100% going to come back to this when I need a reminder that I'm not reading too deeply, or feel I'm not reading deeply enough. Thanks a million for making this, and I would personally love to see other videos on literary analysis and criticism in the future. 💚
I really appreciate that you emphasized the importance of personal interpretation and development of critical thinking skills for the self here, especially nowadays that some authors or creatives themselves will claim a certain apoliticism, or general lack of intentional theming on their part in works. Nothing exists in a vacuum so there’s still always things to analyze and take away meaning in works that exist within a certain context, independent of what the author may or may not even have intended
This video made me feel so seen! Thank you for this amazing video! (For several years now, the country that I live in has been in a terrible state with how the freedom of the press has been curtailed, particularly concerning government and religious matters. The decline in media integrity and journalistic standards means that a significant portion of the reported information is distorted, occasionally bordering on complete falsehood. And it is genuinely disheartening to witness a widespread lack of comprehension or effort from so many people to see through the misinformation being presented to them. A disconcerting atmosphere has emerged where critical thinking appears to be in such a short supply, precisely when it is needed most in navigating the complexities of our current circumstances. Sorry for the rant... I think I got a little carried away here because discussing the issue irl is difficult sometimes...) But really, Thank you for making a video discussing such an important topic and sharing it with us!!
I think we might be living in the same country because your words perfectly describe what’s happening in my country ... 🤭😅 either that or just the fact that these tendencies are really getting momentum in many places 🥴☹️
Ouch! I did this once in my high school Science Fiction class. We were discussing "The Martian Chronicles," and our teacher was dissecting one of the stories about the Martians on their dying planet. Towards the end of a whole class-time on this, he read a line about the swirling Martian sand and put it to the class... "Why sand?" My hand shot up and he called on me with enthusiasm. But I launched in on him with sheer frustration. I couldn't believe Bradbury was sweating over every little word. It's Mars. There is sand. That's all there is to it! The consensus of the class seemed to be on my side, and I left for my next class with a sense of victory. But the next year, my first in college, we read and discussed Moby-Dick. Damn. The bandages were removed from my eyes. I had been missing out on one of the greatest pleasures and purposes in reading. I finally understood, immediately flashed back to that day in my SF class, and felt an overwhelming regret. I was compelled to go back after school one afternoon and apologize to my former high school teacher. I still feel bad about it. I've carried that sand in my shoe for 50 years.
Here I am at the end of life's spectrum and I am just now hearing about the value of analyzing words and doing my own critical thinking? How much differently might I have engaged with life had I gone beyond the requirements of a high school education! Thank you so much for this new-to-me education. I hope to discover more education and reading insights from you!
As always, great video! In my view, there has been no greater tool for discouraging curiosity and interest in critical reading among young people, at least in so-called North America, than the book report. I come from a family of teachers and, time and again, they encountered students who loved reading as children before seeing it as an irritating chore by the time they reached adolescence. For them, reading was no longer something fun but instead another source of homework and it sucked out any interest they would have otherwise had in the activity.
This was a good argument. I have never heard (or seen) the meme - and might be inclined to say ‘The curtains are just blue’ myself. But the greater point is correct, and you can’t have over-analysis without analysis. This made me realize that - on the contrary - it was my father that taught me critical thinking skills, at least some anyway. Whenever we would declare, repeating the latest thing going around among our peers, ‘They say… (fill in the blank)’ he would shoot back ‘Who’s they?’ Your experience breaks my heart, but I suppose it’s a common one, like when Richard Feynman reached a stage in physics when he realized he had surpassed his father’s understanding.
Great topic!!!! We have a lack of critical thinking almost everywhere in the West nowadays and I also think it starts very early to disappear or be brushed off. Literature classes in other countries have the exact same problem and I always resented the fact that nobody explained children WHY reading and analysing would contribute to their lives in the future. All I remember is bored faces, stupid comments on the books and students who really tried (and god forbid liked something) and frustrated teachers. And I often wonder, whether any of those former class mates found a way to navigate the complexity of our world.
What an incredible discussion topic! I remember in high school never understanding why we were doing what we were doing but retrospectively I do! I agree that it would have been more effective teaching to specify XXX will teach you critical thinking.
It's such a great point that text analysis appeals to the imagination of the reader. I think where literary sciences often fail, or more specifically, where it is not taught well (in my case, German classes), is that text analysis often feels too much like learning vocabulary. Words have meaning and purpose, but sometimes there is intentional ambiguity in the way they can be decoded, and ambiguity and education don't seem to work very well together. I think it's more important to critically engage with a text than to memorize standard interpretations. Bad teaching just opens the door for "the curtain is just blue" argument. It's not black and white. I guess engaging with literature also involves teaching about genres and author's intentions. Because maybe in a Grisham novel the curtain is indeed just blue.
As a writer this meme truly drives me crazy. Sometimes the curtains are "just blue" but theres usually still some info about the character or the environment that im trying to communicate- if I meantion it, im trying to let the readers know something!!! And its very frustrating to think a reader could just scan over and miss so much by not giving any more thought. (Example: I had a character who usually dresses in practical dark greys and blues have a childishly pink and frilly bedroom. This wasnt an oversight of my characters style and taste, and no other character ever comments on the different aesthetics. But I would hope the reader would take these two facts and understand theres some kind of story there. And how that mini story connects to the greater story/themes)
Excellent video, Willow. My natural inclination is towards curiosity and critical thinking. I remember asking an author about the books in a bookshelf which he had chosen to describe at length in a scene in his novel set in Spain. I couldn’t see a link to his themes, but guessed that the books, all of which were in translation to Spanish, might reveal something about the character whose home it was. The author’s response: “I just picked some books from my own shelves that I thought were likely to have been translated into Spanish.” Even though, in that case, I guess you could say sometimes the curtains are just blue, I don’t regret puzzling over the possible meaning. And I learned something about the author.
I love the way you explain the importance of learning to think critically through literary analysis and how it relates to critical thinking in other areas of real world issues. As a literature teacher myself, I now feel even more validated in my focus on literary analysis with my students.
I had a small handful of American public school English teachers from age 12-17 that challenged me to use my brain and the first authority that I remember seeing through was the Catholic Church. Two of the scariest English words in the world are Rupert Murdoch.
This is important and brilliantly argued. It's not just the education system...and I expect there are tons of English teachers that would be upset by the suggestion there; I think there are more difficult issues now, with social media making what used to be the odd random comment from the class clown becoming a national meme with millions of views. I have also seen, in the 15 years that I've been a teacher, a huge change in cynicism in the students and they now make judgements about whether their lessons are "worth it" in a way they never did before.
Ooooo, thank you for talking about this! I’ve been writing for decades and before I start my newest project, I’m really trying to take the time to hone my craft. There’s so much richness and depth to add to a story, and many miss the opportunity to discover that. (Am I betraying that I got so excited at the title that I jumped straight to the comments first? Because that is what I did.)
I love this video so much, and I am so glad I found out your channel earlier this week. It's escalated quickly as one of my favorite youtube channels. And this video is just brilliant. I genuinely wish I had someone like you as teacher in high school. You are genuinely so passionate about this, and it is obvious in all of your videos. Keep up the good work.
I like how you create these kinds of content. Critical content is crucial as it extends beyond our personal lives. However, since I started watching your videos, my critical thinking skills have plummeted when choosing books. I used to inspect every book and every review and weigh themes before purchasing books. But now, whatever you recommend, I automatically purchase lol. Now my wallet is crying, why are your points so good :(
Thank you, Willow. This is so important. In America, the schools have been dumbed down by design. This has been happening slowly over decades. The advent of social media and the opportunity to spread misinformation was just an accidental boon for people seeking to ensure they stay in power.
I feel like they just refuse to give school a slight restructure . Like, I feel we would benefit HUGELY from a mandatory emotional intelligence class. But the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell is more important ☠️ of course I support school and it’s teaching us to learn, but damn. It’s just not that helpful for this day and age anymore .
Once again, louder, for the people in the back👏 Willow, this is such a necessary conversation & i thank you for starting it so honestly & articulately in this video.
A great argument. Here's another thing though It is good to encourage people to think why the curtains are blue, but so often in schools we are told "The curtains are blue cause the author was sad and if you're reading it differently you're doing it wrong!" Which is just the same thing as saying "The curtains are just blue!"
@@WillowTalksBooks Of course, but bad teachers do exist! I'm saying, that at least some of the pushback to the idea of "reading too much into it" comes from the fact that some readings are pushed as more correct than others. Both things are bad, obviously.
i discovered your channel a few months ago. I really enjoy your content but this video was incredible. I'm watching you from Argentina, today is election day and we are facing an important social/political moment full with democratic issues and misinformation. this video is all we need. thank you!!!
I love this argument, as an art historian I face this dilemma when analyzing a work of art, of course art is a field full of bullshit (specially contemporary art) but the importance of interpretation isn’t the ‘veracity’ of it but how much one can explain of the historical context, cultural practices, economics, dynamics of oppression and resistance or any other dynamics in play, which ultimately reveals a blurred mirror image of our own world and lives
I have to say...I'm not sure I ever had an English class in middle or highschool (in the US in the '90s) that did this properly. What tended to happen was that the teacher would TELL you what the curtains or the rosebush (or whatever it was) meant, and you'd have to repeat that back on the quiz. Meanwhile completely leaving out stuff that would be interesting to students like, say, that Shakespeare plays are full of dirty jokes! So OF COURSE this type of finding symbolism sounds silly to students when, in fact, the only way they CAN exercise their critical thinking is by questioning the teacher...who also sounds like they are just parroting things. I'd already read stuff like Ursula Le Guin's essays on science fiction (and also my dad did this this thing when I was about 4 where we would analyze the commercials on TV, to the point that little me was going "But you can't 'own the road' - the road belongs to everybody!"), so I knew there was more to it than that, which college courses bore out. But if you didn't have such outside sources modeling what literary analysis is really supposed to look like, you probably would have walked away thinking it is useless nonsense. I LOVED books as a kid, as much as I love them now. But I often HATED English class...for that exact reason.
This is one of the reasons why I disliked my high school education but loved my college education. In high school, we weren't taught a lot of critical thinking skills. Most of the tests only showed how good you are at rote memorization. If your interpretation or solution is different from the curriculum or teacher's interpretation, you get a lower score. I struggled in college because of this since I was used to just memorizing and copy-pasting the teacher's words. Imagine my shock when a college history exam I took was essay-based and was asking for my interpretation and reaction to a historical event.
Agree! Literature is also art and the authors' medium is words, how/why those words are put together and how we, the reader, respond to them. Saying that it is foolish to appreciate an author's effort through personal critical analysis is also inferring that we should never analyze a painting and an artists choice of colors and style or how a musician constructs and plays a piece of music. Not all literature is great, but it is an art form.
When someone unironically uses the blue curtains argument against subjectivity in art, it tells me that they are a deeply uncreative and uncritical person that see art as below them and unimportant. Even if they were just blue, that doesn't make the previous interpretation of the blue curtains invalid. A certain person's interpretation and critique of a certain piece of art tells a lot about that person and their experiences, even their philosophy, and when you label their interpretation as "invalid", you are essentially rejecting their personal experience of that art. And this particular argument also states that we should only accept the author's interpretation and meaning behind their art as the true and objective of that art. I disagree with this notion, if we only accepted the meaning from the author, that art would become less interesting as a result, and besides the author's interpretation is just another opinion, it's their subjective meaning of their own work, this is why i love it when artists usually don't give meanings to their art and it's left to the viewer to decide. Amazing video breaking down this uncreative and hollow argument ❤.
I was not educated and was not taught critical thinking skills. I was just to fall in line and follow. It is so dangerous to be in this position. It allows you to be manipulated on so many levels.
I got flashback from "Ferdydurke" and Polish language lesson, which exactly shows how education system doesn't teach you critical thinking. It unfortunately haven't got much better between Gombrowicz's experience and mine.
I do agree with your broad point about critical thinking, and how it's a crucial skill. And that the education system needs to teach these skills to everyone. However, too much analysis is often counter productive especially when it bogs us down. I understand that you're coming at this from a mostly academic perspective, and in that regard I'm sure you're correct. Even in critical thinking, confirmation biases can and do arise (I know we're getting into the territory of metacognition but that's a matter for another time). On the broad left (which I'm part of) getting bogged down in the weeds is a common failing. And that does take up a lot of energy that could be better used for wider campaigning, educating, fund raising etc. Sometimes the curtains really are just blue with no greater significance. I was a researcher in media for many years, and I grant you most media is written to give a particular message (or reinforce a particular view), there are outlets that do largely succeed in delivering straight facts and information as possible. These are the major newswire services ie Reuters and AP. But unfortunately most people don't read these. I don't want to come accross as being too critical, because I'm not. I like this channel a great deal, and so much of it is very resonant with me. This is a good video, Willow. I'm glad that you made it.
This is wonderful Willow, thank you for the clear explanation - I just fear you might be 'preaching to the choir' with people who watch your work. Nevertheless, it needed saying, and you said it well ❤
i dunnnooo, has anyone really seen blue or curtains? do they fill up the whole wall? droop opulently onto the floor? or just fall short? velvet? linen? polyester? do they block out the light?, or does the light shine through? do people even notice that the house was designed with windows tall enough allowing the curtains to exist there in the first place? as opposed to basement windows which are more suited to roman blinds? what percentage of the color could be cobalt blue? or lapis lazuli (ultramarine)? or prussian blue? or dupont's blue of the skies or of shadows or even of Niko's hair? what could be sadder?, sad beige or augustinus bader blue? what could be more practical?, mechanic's blue? medical supply blue? hospital scrubs blue? or the scandinavian pine? mid-century mahogany? modern oak? what could be more identifiable? the specific color and texture of an ikea blahaj? the eyesearing pure RGB blue on a computer screen? or the primary blue of superman's suit? what could be more natural? the rustic texture of a honed travertine? the clean strike of a polished onyx? the weighty thumps from a house deep in nature? why are the curtains blue? between you and me the sky and the sea its more than we could have ever knew
I spent a short while tutoring children on english and literary analysis. I hate prepping kids for the "one right answer" that are exams. Sometimes by doing a thing, we can begin to understand it. Even primary school kids learning "show don't tell" writing skills is a critical foundation of understanding how to analyze text later on. It doesn't help that high school has a distinct lack of creative writing. It's almost like they don't want kids to keep their imagination and creativity going into adulthood 🤔 "The curtain is just blue" is unfortunately a byproduct of the regime out to destroy the immense cultural value of artists.
Fantastic video, Willow. I always hated this in secondary school, particularly when it came to poetry 🤔 I always felt as though I wasn't smart enough. Thank you for this x Editing to say I wish I'd had a teacher like you 😢
I WOULD PAY IF YOU CHOSE TO CONDUCT CLASSES ON THIS..HOW TO WHEN IT COMES TO LITERATURE ANALYSIS...OR HOW TO REVIEW A BOOK.. SORRY ABOUT CAPS..I LOST MY GLASSES❤
So I studied in an Indian curriculum all my life. English was never a priority- it was always Math and Science. And so even teachers digging deep into text and analyzing them were brushed off. Even today, someone studying literature or arts is not taken seriously. Not enough people in India read unless it's a tech-bro regurgitating age old wisdom that can be learnt by rote. I've always felt uncomfortable minimizing language- I mean what else makes us more human than the ability to communicate? So, yeah, here I am, still defending the same things you're defending. That colors and words don't just fall into the laps of writers to be turned into words. There's a lot of designing, trial and error and sweat into creating a cohesive and unforgettable story. so, yes, thank you for pointing out the harms of not reading critically.
Sorry Willow but I have always questioned every word of the Daily Mail never mind a whole article . Problem is can no longer criticise the Mail because I can no longer bear to read it and maybe this can also be bad for critical thinking.
I teach English (Cambridge BA) privately, and am horrified at how a “laissez-faire” approach is encouraged by many schoolteachers, and how author’s intent is often seen as meaningless. Animal Farm as possible vegetarian propaganda? I think not. The Merchant of Venice is only antisemitic ironically? Rubbish. And Arthur Miller tells a story in his autobiography about how a student once told him he believed The Crucible was written as a warning against the evils of witchcraft, so McCarthyism was irrelevant. So sometimes reading what you want to read into a text is just as dangerous as reading nothing at all.
I am generally in agreement with much of what you say. But - and this may be a US vs. UK difference - I'm not sure I could be as vehement as you are that the education system failed. In the US, what I see in the classroom is teachers working with creative and patient commitment to lead their students in development of critical thinking in literature (and other subjects), just to hear them parrot out what their parents have said to them. In essence, the caretakers of students are actively counteracting attempts by anyone (teacher or otherwise) who seeks to build critical thinking skills in their children. Sure, yes, media offers few good examples and often works purposely to set up obstacles to critical thinking - at least far edges of either conservative or liberal outlets. But when the adults in a student's life prevent the practice of questioning, the education system is shackled.
Ok I agreed 110% in my freshman lit class (in America) people would fully just not read the short books or fail to analyze Margaret Atwood (a lovely and BLUNT author) and I was just like 👁️👄👁️
How are you old enough to be able to say "back when I was a high school teacher" - LOL - you look like a high school student to me. I'm guessing you were fabulous as a high school teacher, and I fortunately had more than one who similarly taught me critical thinking skills
There’s this movie Room 237, a documentary about The Shining which argues (among other things) that many of the minor details in the film are intended as hidden messages about Kubrick’s involvement in faking the moon landing footage. I think the guy making that argument may have had his “imagination and critical thinking” dial turned up a little TOO high, wouldn’t you say? So, sure you don’t want to accept everything you are presented with uncritically, but go too far in the other direction and you end up in a conspiracy theory mindset where all information is deceptive and everything you see gets reinterpreted to support some off the wall pet theory. Educators should be aiming for a middle ground, imo.
@@WillowTalksBooksIt’s good that you recognize that about yourself. My son’s first grade teacher was awful but she had been there a long time so the administration did nothing about it. It was a mixed classroom with kids who were special needs and some who were gifted and some who were somewhere in the middle. She focused on the special needs kids and ignored everybody else. There was no homework (building policy) which meant everything was classwork. At the parent-teacher conference in late February she hands me a stack of incomplete papers that he had stuffed in his desk since fall. He is a smart kid but being gifted means he has his own issues with prioritizing what to do first. He didn’t turn things in unless he finished them. And she took months to say anything about it.
Alright, you may not see this, but I wrote a Sci-fi book that you may love. If you would be willing to check it out, and possibly review it, I would be over the freaking moooon!
I used to think the homeless chose their fates until I was walking around downtown my home town one evening and my ex boyfriend stopped my now boyfriend and asked him for change. I then found out he is homeless and struggling with addiction, as are a lot of my old friends.. I view it very differently now .
I really love this topic. I just had this discussion with someone about a politician's speech. It's very difficult to explain why some speeches are evil if they refuse to read this way or question why certain words are used and what they evoke. On the other side, I have a formation in politics, not literature, so some meanings behind the classic escape me because I don't know the context, for example. I would love if you want to keep reading classics to us!
I think the problem is that (in my experience) a lot of pre-university level teachers accepted only one "right" answer which was either theirs or written in the teacher's manual. The first time I've encountered an atmosphere where my own interpretations were welcomed was university.
100% agree
Thanks for this, Willow. I homeschool my daughter, and we’re actually going through a critical thinking curriculum because I know that skill is more crucial now than ever before. I hadn’t thought of teaching it through the books we read as well, but that makes so much sense. I’ll have to put more thought into how to do this, but I’m excited to try.
This reminds me of an interview Justin Torres did with otherppl on Blackouts: “I wanted to make space for reader interpretation. This entire book is about what you do as a reader. It's a puzzle. There's so much ambiguity, it becomes the theme of the book. You get a little vignette and then you get an image - it might be an erasure poem, it might be from a children's book, it might be a photograph of a naked man. Sometimes the relationship between text and image is so clear but a lot of the time it's not. You as a reader get to read it how you want. It's not that you're allowed to: you have to. This book becomes about reading and what you bring to it and how you choose to read the relationship between the texts and images. Different texts as well, it keeps jumping around in time. I wanted it to be a different book for everybody. That's what fiction can do.”
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Another homeschooling mom here, and we have been working on these integral critical thinking skills as well. Feel so fortunate for Willow’s thoughts that we can utilize. All the best to you!
Additionally, even if an author didn’t have a particular interpretation in mind when they wrote it, a text is still art that YOU are interpreting. How did the author’s choice impact YOUR reading of the text? Maybe if we expressed these things less as an absolute form of mind reading and more as a dynamic individualistic experience of a work of art, people would be less prone to complaining.
Absolutely! An author only writes half a book. The other half is written by each reader as they interpret and bond with the text.
Yes! Thank you for saying this. Reading and analyzing philosophy gives students similar skills when dealing with weaponized ideas. Learning where specific ideas originate and how they're employed disarms them.
A brilliant and important point!
Yes! I teach my students reader response theory on the first day of English class. The reader and the author create the experience of reading together, and any analysis is correct if they can back up their assertions with text evidence. Critical thinking is so important, and it is no coincidence that the right is pushing so hard to remove books from our libraries in the US now.
Thank you! So many voices in media criticism nowadays display this loud and proud lack of curiosity. It's so refreshing to hear a more thoughtful perspective!
I am 36 years old and you just changed my whole way of thinking with this video! When I was at school we studied Carol Ann Duffy and it was fed to us what every line of her poem meant. There was no imagination or critical thinking involved and so I’ve had nothing but disdain for the skill as a whole. But you’re right, that’s such a dangerous perspective to have! When my kids go to senior school I’ll make sure they understand why they’re analysing literature, and hopefully they have a teacher like you who gives them room to think and explore
This makes me so, so happy 💜
I hope you do more videos like this Willow. They're fun and educational. This makes me miss my English lit classes.
I'm from America, so the way this was taught to me may be different. I think lot of us think "the curtains are just blue" is because we're not taught to analyze media at all. When we're asked to analyze we're told we're 'wrong' because it doesn't fit into what the test says. We're not given the space or freedom to come to our own conclusions. If a multiple choice question is "Why are the curtains blue" and your analysis isn't on there you're meant to feel like you're wrong. We end up just studying what the test says the right answer is instead of thinking for ourselves. Most of my teachers had this attitude of "How could the experts who made the test possibly be wrong? This is what tons of people think it means. You're the one who's wrong." And the teachers who didn't think that way were largely discouraged from encouraging free analysis. "How can analysis be free when we have to test it? We need high test scores for money!" It all feels kind of forced. Like we're conditioned to limit ourselves. "Be an individual! Question what the book says - but not like that because it's weird."
This is a great explanation of how reading stimulates deeper understanding of the world around us. I detest the argument that reading fiction is a waste of time and solely exist to escape the "real" life. Reading is a building block of critical thinking. People usually say that humanities and science are somehow opposed. But you can never be able to understand the context in which raw scientific data relate to our lives if you never learned how to critically evaluate the way they are used to create narrative that is sold as "the truth". I would also argue that the way we force generation after generation to read the same canon literature without reevaluating its relevance is critically souring general interest in reading and therefore turning kids away from even wanting to engage in critical thinking.
Great points!
Great video. Keep your good work on.
It is crazy how people make fun of critical thinking these days. All this rise of straight to the point, no bias, end of ideology ,neutral dogma is responsible for all the bigotry we are facing today.
This embrace of ignorance over knowledge is scary.
( Sorry for grammar)
I teach high school English, and I’m thinking about showing this to my students. Thank you for this excellent video! Bravo!
I love this video. When i was in school, during language classes the teachers used to "teach" by writing down the question and its answer down on the chalkboard for the students to copy and later reproduce in exams. I disliked the method even then, back in 6th or 7th grade when i didn't even know what critical analysis was- i just felt a lack in the way the material was taught to us. There is so much to glean from a poem let alone an entire novel- why would anyone intentionally not try to dig deeper when it can be so rewarding? Please make more content like this. I'd also love to see your analysis of literature as well, if you're comfortable with that. Have a lovely rest of your day!
Oh, this is fantastically important. Critical thinking is _so_ much more vital online, with instant news and Hot Takes and people making 'what you need to know' threads et al. I was a hyper-literal kid (I've long assumed I'm on the spectrum) and I've had to teach myself critical thinking. I'm still not too good at it, but I can attribute pretty much all progress I've made to books and RPGs. Sometimes the curtains are blue, but they can also be a totally different thing at the same time. As many different things as there are readers, perhaps.
I'm 100% going to come back to this when I need a reminder that I'm not reading too deeply, or feel I'm not reading deeply enough. Thanks a million for making this, and I would personally love to see other videos on literary analysis and criticism in the future. 💚
I really appreciate that you emphasized the importance of personal interpretation and development of critical thinking skills for the self here, especially nowadays that some authors or creatives themselves will claim a certain apoliticism, or general lack of intentional theming on their part in works. Nothing exists in a vacuum so there’s still always things to analyze and take away meaning in works that exist within a certain context, independent of what the author may or may not even have intended
This video made me feel so seen! Thank you for this amazing video!
(For several years now, the country that I live in has been in a terrible state with how the freedom of the press has been curtailed, particularly concerning government and religious matters. The decline in media integrity and journalistic standards means that a significant portion of the reported information is distorted, occasionally bordering on complete falsehood. And it is genuinely disheartening to witness a widespread lack of comprehension or effort from so many people to see through the misinformation being presented to them. A disconcerting atmosphere has emerged where critical thinking appears to be in such a short supply, precisely when it is needed most in navigating the complexities of our current circumstances.
Sorry for the rant... I think I got a little carried away here because discussing the issue irl is difficult sometimes...)
But really, Thank you for making a video discussing such an important topic and sharing it with us!!
I think we might be living in the same country because your words perfectly describe what’s happening in my country ... 🤭😅 either that or just the fact that these tendencies are really getting momentum in many places 🥴☹️
Ouch! I did this once in my high school Science Fiction class. We were discussing "The Martian Chronicles," and our teacher was dissecting one of the stories about the Martians on their dying planet. Towards the end of a whole class-time on this, he read a line about the swirling Martian sand and put it to the class... "Why sand?" My hand shot up and he called on me with enthusiasm. But I launched in on him with sheer frustration. I couldn't believe Bradbury was sweating over every little word. It's Mars. There is sand. That's all there is to it! The consensus of the class seemed to be on my side, and I left for my next class with a sense of victory.
But the next year, my first in college, we read and discussed Moby-Dick. Damn. The bandages were removed from my eyes. I had been missing out on one of the greatest pleasures and purposes in reading. I finally understood, immediately flashed back to that day in my SF class, and felt an overwhelming regret. I was compelled to go back after school one afternoon and apologize to my former high school teacher. I still feel bad about it. I've carried that sand in my shoe for 50 years.
Here I am at the end of life's spectrum and I am just now hearing about the value of analyzing words and doing my own critical thinking? How much differently might I have engaged with life had I gone beyond the requirements of a high school education! Thank you so much for this new-to-me education. I hope to discover more education and reading insights from you!
Wow, thank you so much for welcoming and enjoying everything I had to say!
Genius video, I had a Spanish teacher who would give us creative and imaginative lessons like this, best teacher I ever had!
This is an incredibly important topic that more people, young and old, should be aware of
As always, great video!
In my view, there has been no greater tool for discouraging curiosity and interest in critical reading among young people, at least in so-called North America, than the book report. I come from a family of teachers and, time and again, they encountered students who loved reading as children before seeing it as an irritating chore by the time they reached adolescence. For them, reading was no longer something fun but instead another source of homework and it sucked out any interest they would have otherwise had in the activity.
I thought book reports were only in cartoons lol heartbreaking to know they’re a real thing
This video is amazing. My brain is buzzing from this.
This was a good argument.
I have never heard (or seen) the meme - and might be inclined to say ‘The curtains are just blue’ myself. But the greater point is correct, and you can’t have over-analysis without analysis.
This made me realize that - on the contrary - it was my father that taught me critical thinking skills, at least some anyway.
Whenever we would declare, repeating the latest thing going around among our peers, ‘They say… (fill in the blank)’ he would shoot back ‘Who’s they?’
Your experience breaks my heart, but I suppose it’s a common one, like when Richard Feynman reached a stage in physics when he realized he had surpassed his father’s understanding.
Great topic!!!! We have a lack of critical thinking almost everywhere in the West nowadays and I also think it starts very early to disappear or be brushed off. Literature classes in other countries have the exact same problem and I always resented the fact that nobody explained children WHY reading and analysing would contribute to their lives in the future. All I remember is bored faces, stupid comments on the books and students who really tried (and god forbid liked something) and frustrated teachers. And I often wonder, whether any of those former class mates found a way to navigate the complexity of our world.
What an incredible discussion topic! I remember in high school never understanding why we were doing what we were doing but retrospectively I do! I agree that it would have been more effective teaching to specify XXX will teach you critical thinking.
This reminds me of another brilliant meme: Ian McEwan helped his son write an essay about his own novel. His son got a C+
Omg yes I’ve heard that too
It's such a great point that text analysis appeals to the imagination of the reader. I think where literary sciences often fail, or more specifically, where it is not taught well (in my case, German classes), is that text analysis often feels too much like learning vocabulary. Words have meaning and purpose, but sometimes there is intentional ambiguity in the way they can be decoded, and ambiguity and education don't seem to work very well together. I think it's more important to critically engage with a text than to memorize standard interpretations. Bad teaching just opens the door for "the curtain is just blue" argument. It's not black and white. I guess engaging with literature also involves teaching about genres and author's intentions. Because maybe in a Grisham novel the curtain is indeed just blue.
As a writer this meme truly drives me crazy. Sometimes the curtains are "just blue" but theres usually still some info about the character or the environment that im trying to communicate- if I meantion it, im trying to let the readers know something!!! And its very frustrating to think a reader could just scan over and miss so much by not giving any more thought.
(Example: I had a character who usually dresses in practical dark greys and blues have a childishly pink and frilly bedroom. This wasnt an oversight of my characters style and taste, and no other character ever comments on the different aesthetics. But I would hope the reader would take these two facts and understand theres some kind of story there. And how that mini story connects to the greater story/themes)
Excellent video, Willow. My natural inclination is towards curiosity and critical thinking. I remember asking an author about the books in a bookshelf which he had chosen to describe at length in a scene in his novel set in Spain. I couldn’t see a link to his themes, but guessed that the books, all of which were in translation to Spanish, might reveal something about the character whose home it was. The author’s response: “I just picked some books from my own shelves that I thought were likely to have been translated into Spanish.” Even though, in that case, I guess you could say sometimes the curtains are just blue, I don’t regret puzzling over the possible meaning. And I learned something about the author.
I love the way you explain the importance of learning to think critically through literary analysis and how it relates to critical thinking in other areas of real world issues. As a literature teacher myself, I now feel even more validated in my focus on literary analysis with my students.
I had a small handful of American public school English teachers from age 12-17 that challenged me to use my brain and the first authority that I remember seeing through was the Catholic Church.
Two of the scariest English words in the world are Rupert Murdoch.
Thank you for taking the time to address this.
This was amazing, possibly the best video I've seen on your channel, Bravo 👏
This is what needed to be said!
This is important and brilliantly argued. It's not just the education system...and I expect there are tons of English teachers that would be upset by the suggestion there; I think there are more difficult issues now, with social media making what used to be the odd random comment from the class clown becoming a national meme with millions of views. I have also seen, in the 15 years that I've been a teacher, a huge change in cynicism in the students and they now make judgements about whether their lessons are "worth it" in a way they never did before.
Ooooo, thank you for talking about this!
I’ve been writing for decades and before I start my newest project, I’m really trying to take the time to hone my craft. There’s so much richness and depth to add to a story, and many miss the opportunity to discover that.
(Am I betraying that I got so excited at the title that I jumped straight to the comments first? Because that is what I did.)
I love this video so much, and I am so glad I found out your channel earlier this week. It's escalated quickly as one of my favorite youtube channels. And this video is just brilliant. I genuinely wish I had someone like you as teacher in high school. You are genuinely so passionate about this, and it is obvious in all of your videos. Keep up the good work.
Thanks so much :)
My favourite part is how the plague dr plush looks equal parts shocked and intrigued 😂
I like how you create these kinds of content. Critical content is crucial as it extends beyond our personal lives. However, since I started watching your videos, my critical thinking skills have plummeted when choosing books. I used to inspect every book and every review and weigh themes before purchasing books. But now, whatever you recommend, I automatically purchase lol. Now my wallet is crying, why are your points so good :(
Haha thank you but also I’m sorry
Thank you, Willow. This is so important. In America, the schools have been dumbed down by design. This has been happening slowly over decades. The advent of social media and the opportunity to spread misinformation was just an accidental boon for people seeking to ensure they stay in power.
I feel like they just refuse to give school a slight restructure . Like, I feel we would benefit HUGELY from a mandatory emotional intelligence class. But the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell is more important ☠️ of course I support school and it’s teaching us to learn, but damn. It’s just not that helpful for this day and age anymore .
Wow. Great video and advice! Thank you!
Once again, louder, for the people in the back👏 Willow, this is such a necessary conversation & i thank you for starting it so honestly & articulately in this video.
Thanks for this Willow, this is such an important video!
A great argument. Here's another thing though It is good to encourage people to think why the curtains are blue, but so often in schools we are told "The curtains are blue cause the author was sad and if you're reading it differently you're doing it wrong!" Which is just the same thing as saying "The curtains are just blue!"
Sounds like bad teaching 🤷🏻♀️
@@WillowTalksBooks Of course, but bad teachers do exist! I'm saying, that at least some of the pushback to the idea of "reading too much into it" comes from the fact that some readings are pushed as more correct than others. Both things are bad, obviously.
@@konstantinkondratyev7826that was my experience at schools (before university) too!
This is such an important video. Thank you
i discovered your channel a few months ago. I really enjoy your content but this video was incredible. I'm watching you from Argentina, today is election day and we are facing an important social/political moment full with democratic issues and misinformation. this video is all we need. thank you!!!
Oh the election is today! All the luck in the world to a country I adore 💜
thank you 💜
Such a fantastic video. I'm constantly trying to improve my critical thinking skills, and watching your videos has helped tremendously. Thank you.
👏 Bravo! Thank you!
The equivalent in STEM is "I never learned how to pay my taxes, but I know that mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell"
I love this argument, as an art historian I face this dilemma when analyzing a work of art, of course art is a field full of bullshit (specially contemporary art) but the importance of interpretation isn’t the ‘veracity’ of it but how much one can explain of the historical context, cultural practices, economics, dynamics of oppression and resistance or any other dynamics in play, which ultimately reveals a blurred mirror image of our own world and lives
I have to say...I'm not sure I ever had an English class in middle or highschool (in the US in the '90s) that did this properly. What tended to happen was that the teacher would TELL you what the curtains or the rosebush (or whatever it was) meant, and you'd have to repeat that back on the quiz. Meanwhile completely leaving out stuff that would be interesting to students like, say, that Shakespeare plays are full of dirty jokes! So OF COURSE this type of finding symbolism sounds silly to students when, in fact, the only way they CAN exercise their critical thinking is by questioning the teacher...who also sounds like they are just parroting things.
I'd already read stuff like Ursula Le Guin's essays on science fiction (and also my dad did this this thing when I was about 4 where we would analyze the commercials on TV, to the point that little me was going "But you can't 'own the road' - the road belongs to everybody!"), so I knew there was more to it than that, which college courses bore out. But if you didn't have such outside sources modeling what literary analysis is really supposed to look like, you probably would have walked away thinking it is useless nonsense.
I LOVED books as a kid, as much as I love them now. But I often HATED English class...for that exact reason.
This is one of the reasons why I disliked my high school education but loved my college education. In high school, we weren't taught a lot of critical thinking skills. Most of the tests only showed how good you are at rote memorization. If your interpretation or solution is different from the curriculum or teacher's interpretation, you get a lower score. I struggled in college because of this since I was used to just memorizing and copy-pasting the teacher's words. Imagine my shock when a college history exam I took was essay-based and was asking for my interpretation and reaction to a historical event.
To add. Thanks so much, Willow! You are one of the main reasons I started reading again after so many years.
Agree! Literature is also art and the authors' medium is words, how/why those words are put together and how we, the reader, respond to them. Saying that it is foolish to appreciate an author's effort through personal critical analysis is also inferring that we should never analyze a painting and an artists choice of colors and style or how a musician constructs and plays a piece of music. Not all literature is great, but it is an art form.
When someone unironically uses the blue curtains argument against subjectivity in art, it tells me that they are a deeply uncreative and uncritical person that see art as below them and unimportant.
Even if they were just blue, that doesn't make the previous interpretation of the blue curtains invalid. A certain person's interpretation and critique of a certain piece of art tells a lot about that person and their experiences, even their philosophy, and when you label their interpretation as "invalid", you are essentially rejecting their personal experience of that art.
And this particular argument also states that we should only accept the author's interpretation and meaning behind their art as the true and objective of that art. I disagree with this notion, if we only accepted the meaning from the author, that art would become less interesting as a result, and besides the author's interpretation is just another opinion, it's their subjective meaning of their own work, this is why i love it when artists usually don't give meanings to their art and it's left to the viewer to decide.
Amazing video breaking down this uncreative and hollow argument ❤.
Really important video!
I was not educated and was not taught critical thinking skills. I was just to fall in line and follow. It is so dangerous to be in this position. It allows you to be manipulated on so many levels.
Brilliant video!! This is such an important topic to discuss. Thank you so much for making a video on this!
I got flashback from "Ferdydurke" and Polish language lesson, which exactly shows how education system doesn't teach you critical thinking. It unfortunately haven't got much better between Gombrowicz's experience and mine.
I do agree with your broad point about critical thinking, and how it's a crucial skill. And that the education system needs to teach these skills to everyone.
However, too much analysis is often counter productive especially when it bogs us down. I understand that you're coming at this from a mostly academic perspective, and in that regard I'm sure you're correct. Even in critical thinking, confirmation biases can and do arise (I know we're getting into the territory of metacognition but that's a matter for another time).
On the broad left (which I'm part of) getting bogged down in the weeds is a common failing. And that does take up a lot of energy that could be better used for wider campaigning, educating, fund raising etc. Sometimes the curtains really are just blue with no greater significance.
I was a researcher in media for many years, and I grant you most media is written to give a particular message (or reinforce a particular view), there are outlets that do largely succeed in delivering straight facts and information as possible. These are the major newswire services ie Reuters and AP. But unfortunately most people don't read these.
I don't want to come accross as being too critical, because I'm not. I like this channel a great deal, and so much of it is very resonant with me.
This is a good video, Willow. I'm glad that you made it.
This is wonderful Willow, thank you for the clear explanation - I just fear you might be 'preaching to the choir' with people who watch your work. Nevertheless, it needed saying, and you said it well ❤
Fantastic! Thank you for this.
Rupert Murdock intellectually corrupting people? Never!
(sorry if my sarchasm curdled the milk)
This is brilliant
Brilliant video, thank you Willow ❤
i dunnnooo, has anyone really seen blue or curtains?
do they fill up the whole wall? droop opulently onto the floor? or just fall short? velvet? linen? polyester? do they block out the light?, or does the light shine through? do people even notice that the house was designed with windows tall enough allowing the curtains to exist there in the first place? as opposed to basement windows which are more suited to roman blinds? what percentage of the color could be cobalt blue? or lapis lazuli (ultramarine)? or prussian blue? or dupont's blue of the skies or of shadows or even of Niko's hair?
what could be sadder?, sad beige or augustinus bader blue? what could be more practical?, mechanic's blue? medical supply blue? hospital scrubs blue? or the scandinavian pine? mid-century mahogany? modern oak? what could be more identifiable? the specific color and texture of an ikea blahaj? the eyesearing pure RGB blue on a computer screen? or the primary blue of superman's suit?
what could be more natural? the rustic texture of a honed travertine? the clean strike of a polished onyx? the weighty thumps from a house deep in nature?
why are the curtains blue? between you and me the sky and the sea its more than we could have ever knew
I spent a short while tutoring children on english and literary analysis. I hate prepping kids for the "one right answer" that are exams.
Sometimes by doing a thing, we can begin to understand it. Even primary school kids learning "show don't tell" writing skills is a critical foundation of understanding how to analyze text later on.
It doesn't help that high school has a distinct lack of creative writing. It's almost like they don't want kids to keep their imagination and creativity going into adulthood 🤔 "The curtain is just blue" is unfortunately a byproduct of the regime out to destroy the immense cultural value of artists.
I subscribed because of this brilliant video. I hope a lot of people will watch it.
Aw thank you!
Fantastic video, Willow. I always hated this in secondary school, particularly when it came to poetry 🤔 I always felt as though I wasn't smart enough. Thank you for this x
Editing to say I wish I'd had a teacher like you 😢
Wow really good video
Excellent video Willow!
I WOULD PAY IF YOU CHOSE TO CONDUCT CLASSES ON THIS..HOW TO WHEN IT COMES TO LITERATURE ANALYSIS...OR HOW TO REVIEW A BOOK..
SORRY ABOUT CAPS..I LOST MY GLASSES❤
So I studied in an Indian curriculum all my life. English was never a priority- it was always Math and Science. And so even teachers digging deep into text and analyzing them were brushed off. Even today, someone studying literature or arts is not taken seriously. Not enough people in India read unless it's a tech-bro regurgitating age old wisdom that can be learnt by rote. I've always felt uncomfortable minimizing language- I mean what else makes us more human than the ability to communicate? So, yeah, here I am, still defending the same things you're defending. That colors and words don't just fall into the laps of writers to be turned into words. There's a lot of designing, trial and error and sweat into creating a cohesive and unforgettable story. so, yes, thank you for pointing out the harms of not reading critically.
Also love that you're going in-depth with texts. Pure GOLD.
Best. 🤘🏻
Sorry Willow but I have always questioned every word of the Daily Mail never mind a whole article . Problem is can no longer criticise the Mail because I can no longer bear to read it and maybe this can also be bad for critical thinking.
This is a brilliant video 💯🤘
Great video.
I teach English (Cambridge BA) privately, and am horrified at how a “laissez-faire” approach is encouraged by many schoolteachers, and how author’s intent is often seen as meaningless. Animal Farm as possible vegetarian propaganda? I think not. The Merchant of Venice is only antisemitic ironically? Rubbish. And Arthur Miller tells a story in his autobiography about how a student once told him he believed The Crucible was written as a warning against the evils of witchcraft, so McCarthyism was irrelevant. So sometimes reading what you want to read into a text is just as dangerous as reading nothing at all.
Really good video 👏
I am generally in agreement with much of what you say. But - and this may be a US vs. UK difference - I'm not sure I could be as vehement as you are that the education system failed. In the US, what I see in the classroom is teachers working with creative and patient commitment to lead their students in development of critical thinking in literature (and other subjects), just to hear them parrot out what their parents have said to them. In essence, the caretakers of students are actively counteracting attempts by anyone (teacher or otherwise) who seeks to build critical thinking skills in their children. Sure, yes, media offers few good examples and often works purposely to set up obstacles to critical thinking - at least far edges of either conservative or liberal outlets. But when the adults in a student's life prevent the practice of questioning, the education system is shackled.
Ok I agreed 110% in my freshman lit class (in America) people would fully just not read the short books or fail to analyze Margaret Atwood (a lovely and BLUNT author) and I was just like 👁️👄👁️
How are you old enough to be able to say "back when I was a high school teacher" - LOL - you look like a high school student to me. I'm guessing you were fabulous as a high school teacher, and I fortunately had more than one who similarly taught me critical thinking skills
I’m extremely flattered, thank you 💜 I’m 33 :)
There’s this movie Room 237, a documentary about The Shining which argues (among other things) that many of the minor details in the film are intended as hidden messages about Kubrick’s involvement in faking the moon landing footage. I think the guy making that argument may have had his “imagination and critical thinking” dial turned up a little TOO high, wouldn’t you say? So, sure you don’t want to accept everything you are presented with uncritically, but go too far in the other direction and you end up in a conspiracy theory mindset where all information is deceptive and everything you see gets reinterpreted to support some off the wall pet theory. Educators should be aiming for a middle ground, imo.
Nah, what you’re describing isn’t a spectrum. It’s two separate things entirely.
I have curtains which are blue. Feel free to judge and analyze
Please don’t invite strangers round your house to be weird
i wish you were my highschool teacher
I was a very bad teacher lol
@@WillowTalksBooksIt’s good that you recognize that about yourself.
My son’s first grade teacher was awful but she had been there a long time so the administration did nothing about it. It was a mixed classroom with kids who were special needs and some who were gifted and some who were somewhere in the middle. She focused on the special needs kids and ignored everybody else. There was no homework (building policy) which meant everything was classwork. At the parent-teacher conference in late February she hands me a stack of incomplete papers that he had stuffed in his desk since fall. He is a smart kid but being gifted means he has his own issues with prioritizing what to do first. He didn’t turn things in unless he finished them. And she took months to say anything about it.
@@WillowTalksBooksAHAHAHAHAH
❤👏🏼❤👏🏼❤
Alright, you may not see this, but I wrote a Sci-fi book that you may love. If you would be willing to check it out, and possibly review it, I would be over the freaking moooon!
I used to think the homeless chose their fates until I was walking around downtown my home town one evening and my ex boyfriend stopped my now boyfriend and asked him for change. I then found out he is homeless and struggling with addiction, as are a lot of my old friends.. I view it very differently now .
I really love this topic. I just had this discussion with someone about a politician's speech. It's very difficult to explain why some speeches are evil if they refuse to read this way or question why certain words are used and what they evoke. On the other side, I have a formation in politics, not literature, so some meanings behind the classic escape me because I don't know the context, for example. I would love if you want to keep reading classics to us!