My Top Ten Favorite Works of Literature

My Top Ten Favorite Works of Literature

(A work continually in progress.)

1. The Divine Comedy by Dante Aligieri, the Allen Mandelbaum translation with illustrations by Barry Moser

I think Dante is the richest literature I’ve ever read. The use of language and imagination tops almost anything else I’ve ever encountered with the possible exception of Shakespeare. You have to read the footnotes to understand what Dante’s doing. You also probably have to overcome some prejudice. Dante wrote 700 years ago. However, if you do the work, this book is amazing!

2. The Republic by Plato, the Allen Bloom translation

This book introduced me to Socrates and the art of logical thinking and academic discourse in a way that made them feel like games rather than like difficult tasks. In some of my classes and conversations, I’m still pretending to be Socrates, and I’m still having fun doing it! The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was also key for me in figuring out to do the logical thinking thing in social and academic settings. The Closing of the American Mind, virtually a commentary on The Republic, was also helpful along these lines.

3. The Journal of John Woolman, the Phillips Moulton edition

One hundred years before abolition, the Quakers no longer owned slaves, largely because of the speeches of John Woolman at their meetings and this book. As a Quaker, Woolman does not use the stylistic flourishes of a Dante or a Shakespeare, yet Woolman was a highly effective rhetorician. I read Woolman to help me think about how I can speak and live in ways that will make the world a better place.

4. Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and the Sonnets by Shakespeare

If I were going to nominate someone to win the award for the best writer in English, I think it would be Shakespeare. It’s hard to pick just one work of his for a list like this! His use of language is incredibly creative and yet remarkably accessible as well. Sometimes he writes bad plays, but the good plays definitely outweigh them. These are my favorites, but there are plenty of other good ones as well.

5. Genesis, the Robert Alter translation

I think that, regardless of whether you are a believer, certain parts of the Bible are amazing literature. (I’ve heard the Koran is also excellent poetry in the original Aramaic, though I haven’t read it myself.) The way that Genesis crafts language is truly astounding. Robert Alter, a literary critic and Hebrew scholar, brings out certain aspects of the beauty of that language in this book. Robert Alter also has an excellent translation of first and Second Samuel that are fantastic literature as well. Other nominations for good literature in the Bible include Revelation, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Romans, Isaiah, Esther and Ruth.

6. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison is not for the faint of heart. She deals with brutal issues like slavery and its repercussions. She is also an author that you may need to study to really understand. Sometimes it’s work to really get Morrison’s writing, but it’s worth it.

7. Paradise Lost by John Milton

Milton was an amazing classicist and rhetorician. He justified the killing of a king to the kings of Europe. In Paradise Lost, he writes an epic that attempts to justify the ways of God to men. I’m still thinking about whether he succeeds, but his attempt is amazing. He is the inspiration for a whole slew of poets and his writing has power and depth that allows this work to be read over and over again.

8. The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway is a master of creating powerful and complex stories using relatively simple sentences. This is one of his greatest works.

9. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Another 20^th century classic, The Great Gatsby is on my list for possible perfect novels.

10. The Earthsea Cycle  – Ursula K Le Guin

Ursula Le Guin writes amazing science fiction and fantasy. If I were going to introduce someone to Taoism, these novels would be on my list of reading alongside Le Guin’s translation of the Tao Te Ching. Plus, they are really well-told stories too!

Breaking Out of the Writing Process

I’ve been a writing teacher as well as an actual writer for a number of years, and every once in a while I catch glimpses of the gaps that sometimes occur between writing instruction and what real-world writers actually do. I had a conversation recently that really illuminated the disconnect.

Writing instruction usually includes the writing process. The writing process goes something like the list below. If you’re familiar with the writing process, then feel free to skip ahead.

1. Begin writing with some ‘prewriting.’ Make a cluster diagram, freewrite, or make a list of possible topics.
2. Next, make an outline. Plan what to say in each paragraph of the essay.
3. After the outline comes your first draft. This is not the final version, though it should be full length.
4. Once you’ve written the draft, have a peer read it and then make major changes.
5. Following your peer review, have another peer edit your paper and correct it for grammatical errors.
6. After all this is complete, then it’s time to publish, or in the case of most writing students, turn your draft in to your teacher.

The writing process is useful for many students who are just starting out with writing. However, sometimes it can just get in the way of real writing.

The other day, when I was substituting for another teacher’s class, I met a student who had written two books and was working on a third. If you’ve ever tried to write a book before, then you understand that regardless of the quality of writing, simply completing the task is a major accomplishment. One author got so excited after she completed her first novel that she actually jumped into a poorly-considered marriage. Finishing a novel can be that exciting for writers.

My student had written her first book in grade school. It was a children’s novel like the ones she had been reading. I asked the student in my class about her writing process. It went something like this:

When she writes, she sits down and begins at the beginning of her story. If she is going to write a novel, she gets a journal. When she comes back to her work after taking a break, she rereads everything she has written so far. Then when she gets to the point where she left off, she starts writing again.

This student’s process is very different from what English teachers teach about the writing process. There’s no prewriting, no outline, no multiple drafts. This process came from an elementary school student’s courage and her belief that if someone else could write a book, than so could she.

I asked this student how this usually goes for her in school. When she writes essays, she usually does not turn in outlines. Naturally, she loses points in this area. However, aside from grammatical errors, she gets good grades on essays. Her outline-free process works well both for her creative endeavors and her school work. In class, I had her write a draft of her essay, and I agree with she told me about her writing. Her essays have good structure. Her process works well for her.

While this student is obviously gifted, she’s not the first one I’ve run into who has had trouble with the writing process as taught in school. I’ve met others who have run into problems with the writing process not because it was difficult for them, but because it was not taught as something to be used with the goals of the writer in mind.

Ironically, instruction about the writing process was initially designed to get students closer to the actual process of real writers, though sometimes it can actually distance students from their own work.

This is where I get on my soapbox for a minute. The writing process should not be taught as ‘the way writers ought to do things’ but rather as a set of tools for students to use. If the standard steps in the writing process work for students, then by all means, they should use them. However, writing does not have to occur in a lockstep process.

As an English teacher, I can teach my students how to use these tools. I can show them how to freewrite, cluster, outline, and peer review. I can also give my students writing tasks and then help them find out which of the tools work best for them.

However, when my students leave my classroom, they will have to find the process that works best for them, and I feel it’s my duty somewhere along the line to tell them “these are just tools. They work well for many people. Use them if they work for you. However, if they don’t, then please set them aside.”