Homework 3/21-3/22 Read This !!!!!!

If you want to teach a kid to hate writing, periodically have them respond to the hopelessly illogical prompts in an LAUSD periodic assessment. The latest asked students to find a recurring theme in a two-page excerpt from The Cay and "Birdfoot's Grampa," a poem by Joseph Bruchac.

Finding themes in novel excerpts is disorienting and usually a force. The assessor expects the reader to understand setting, situation, and characters that the author spent hundreds of pages developing. Moreover, the author usually did not intend to convey a theme with the chosen excerpt. So, the reader must assign a theme not intended by the author. I was reminded of this when a student joyfully exclaimed, "I know the theme of the The Cay, I just read the book!"

"Sorry, you are at a distinct disadvantage. Forget the theme of the novel. Concentrate on this two-page excerpt."

In The Cay excerpt, a blind boy Phillip is violently attacked by birds while walking through their nesting ground. This was to have the same theme as a poem in which a "Grampa" stops a family car trip to lead toads off a road in order to save them from cars.

If the students were just asked to compare the selections and their themes that would be acceptable perhaps, but no! They were told to find a "recurring theme" or the same theme. From the district-provided answer key, the recurring theme is "living things will protect other living things." Okay, whatever. Is that a theme? What about living things will destroy living things--Phillip blindly traipsing through the nesting ground, the birds bloodying Phillip, the cat killing the bird, and the cars squishing the toads.


What do you make of this article? Was it helpful?