There is Nothing Intelligent About a Massacre
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| Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Random House, 1969 |
You know - that "list" we all have. Things to do. Books to read. Places to see (Voltlage). All of his are on mine, as well as a few more from Kozol, and Salinger - but for now, the focus is on this book - (thank you Half Price Books of Bridgewater).
I am not offering a literary analysis of this book, far from it. This blog is nothing more than an excuse to write out loud, and to make some words form sentences and paragraphs and hopefully a point, but the point is neither here nor there. Instead, I want to write about reflections of my past as they come to mind while reading the book - tangential thoughts and narrative musings I can hopefully string together into some semblance of a story, while also making note of his ideas, words, and the style. I am sure I could write for days about my joy in reading words like "flibbertigibbet" or phrases such as "legs like an Edwardian piano," but I won't - at least I may not plan on it. See, I was recently reminded of the importance of writing every day, providing an outlet for thoughts and ideas that are bundled up in our brains - tied down by a lack of an exit - emergency or otherwise. Writing as more than an exercise, but a processing of the day, week - or longer. - and an outlet for creativity and curiosity. A way for one to make some sense of what's going on.
I have tried this before. I am the proud author/owner of at least four failed "blogs" - including a Live Journal account where the name comes from - Way Out of Context. I once surmised I was clever, and I can't recall why I thought that was - but I was very proud of that blog title. (So I am keeping it. I also started a blog about the adventures that surrounded different shot glasses in my collection, as inherited by a friend... I'll tell you what, grade school gave me the opportunity to explore my creativity through the whole language approach. I mean, I can't diagram a sentence or really tell you what an adverb does, but I can make a bunch of stuff up. I love telling stories.
Storytelling as Understanding
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| Currere Model |
It's useful to share stories, so to provide some background and context, my stories will be from the perspective of a 38 year old social studies teacher - a child of the 80s - and that's what I plan to do- tell parts of my story. For the moment anyway, I mean it could of course change.
Yes, less analysis of the text and more storytelling - tangentially bouncing around in time - "unstuck" in time (oh! Look here, I am jumping chapters already - shame on me) to tell my stories as I remember them. My preferred investigation of life is via a currere model from William Pinar (1975) (represented above in a nice little diagram) - who challenges us to understand our past, future and present within the larger sociocultural experience of the world - taking four turns and painting vivid pictures as we share.
At least, that's how I see it, anyway. I could be wrong. Either way - here we go.
Reading is Fun!
Revisiting my past and thinking about how my background has informed who I am today as a professor and reader - my currere - my curriculum as lived experience - takes me back to my high school experience where I read some of the books that I return to often.
Reading the first chapter of Slaughterhouse Five and finding myself immediately enthralled, I do wonder about how much of who we are is shaped by where we are born, and the schools we attend which then influence the books we may read. My middle class suburban blue/white collar family provided me with opportunities so many do not have - there were some books around the house- growing up tone I remember seeing around the house was Clan of the Cave Bear (immediately ripped from my hand because it was not suitable for me at that age) and Rogue Warrior, by Richard Marcinko (I once brought this book to church with me in a coat pocket, much to the dismay of my Father who said don't do that again - but obviously I did like to read). Most of my self selected books were of the Science Fantasy collection - specifically Terry Brooks and his Shannara chronicles - starting with the Elfstones, moving into the Sword and then Wishsong. Stories and books for another time. Seems ill also share links to books I like here too - but I did enjoy reading. Eventually reading and my music choices overlapped in Jimmy Buffett - again a story for another time.
I liked to read - how did I miss a classic like Slaughterhouse Five?
Why did I not read this in high school - or before this week? Had I read this in high school - would I have developed a different perspective or view - on war maybe? Or the concept of what it means to be alive or dead (spoilers)- time and existence itself? Can't be sure, but what I can talk about is how my high school reading list and foundation was shaped by Mr. Renneker, my senior English teacher, who I was fortunate to learn from, reading great books from Salinger, Uris, and Capote but - no Vonnegut. I suppose Vonnegut had fallen out of vogue in the late 90s, and with so many options I have a lot of catching up to do.
Mr. Renneker was an amazing and dynamic teacher - who I often mimic in my own classroom on occasion. He would write a single letter on the board, then go back to his podium, sit down look up and say "what. you know that, right? Wait, you DON'T?" Here, the act would pick up steam, well, we are moving on - wait, you DON'T know? Well, obviously (name) knows - right? Tell me what this is..." He would engage the class, he knew the books he taught - including Shakespeare which he played on tape for us (King Lear will forever be played by Obi Wan Kenobi in my mind) stopping and starting the tape so rapidly you had to wonder how many dubs he had ready to go, because there was no way the tapes could last the assault of his index finger slamming down while he would suddenly snap at the class "what did he say? Did you HEAR that? Oh I guess we should hear it again . . . " Rewind. Repeat. This was advanced college prep. My friends were in Honors.
He brought in a piece of wood that had been shot with a shotgun to demonstrate what Capote was telling us while we read In Cold Blood - he didn't just want us to visualize it, he wanted us to see it. The entry wound, and the exit - the difference in the mark left by the shotgun. He made the class engaging, from a traditional perspective anyway. His personality made it fun, and by default the books became a part of me.
High School: Tracked Catholic Confinement
My school was - good. It was fine, I wish it had more social studies electives, but I survived. It served the purpose it existed for - provide a Catholic education and a way forward into college! As I said, I was in Advanced College Prep classes - we were tracked - and while I had friends in honors, and friends in college prep - I was safely in the middle but that also meant the selection of books provided to me differed - as well as the speed with which we were encouraged to read. I'd like to go back to my school - and see how things are now. See if there is institutional memory of my time in the building - still the same canon of books? Still the same projects? I want to go back and see what they read at the Honors level, and the CP level- I remember they were different. They read more.
I cannot help but wonder how many minds are stunted, or miss out on great stories in our educational system because they are not provided the opportunities to read books they deserve to read - due to a score on a test, or an assumption of a teacher towards a student's intellectual capabilities. Mr. Renneker, I don't think he did that - but in the bigger scheme tracking creates assumptions, and different approaches to the classes- if teachers are not careful and think about their positionality, htey can fall easily to the mindset of "good enough." Why do we hold back from students. I think I was fortunate because while I was tracked and I think I could've had a great experience in Honors, I received an engaging education from Mr. Renneker. He taught us well based on what he felt was worthwhile and valuable, but I recall my peers in Honors reading more. Getting more? Maybe it's an illusion of past memories blending with too many critical theory books. I am of course fresh off a week or re-reading Jean Anyon, Bowles and Gintis- and the correspondence reproduction theory found in a hidden curriculum of work in the long shadow cast by capitalism- that I also find not only in different schools, but within schools across different tracked classes. Good teachers can challenge this - and I think Renneker did, because I truly did learn much and read quality books, but could it have been more? I think I could've done it. I think all students can do it. I really think faith in tracking ruins education, and those who want to become teachers.
Chapter One: Drunk Dialing and Trying to Remember
Vonnegut tells the story of his inability to write his great book about the Fire Bombing of Dresden that he survived - I am also reminded of Salinger coming home from World War II and what I will say is the greatest short story ever written, A Perfect Day for Banana Fish. That's a story to write about for another time - just make sure you read it too- it is ... moving, capturing so much in such a small work.
This first chapter shows some of who Vonnegut is, his predilections, his trips - his thinking that feeds into the book as it exists - he is setting the stage for the book he is delivering - providing context for us, the reader, to become familiar with as we embark on the narrative journey. Hey, I have been trying to tell this story for a long time, and I can't seem to figure it out - see what I have been through? Here's my story of the story. Or something like that - its a good start. Made me feel comfortable to read the process.
We are all trying to tell our stories, to make sense of them in the best way we possibly can while also putting ourselves in the best light - on the right side of our face. Get the right angle - the right vantage point - the right look. So much work goes into curating our existence that sometimes I think we forget to stop and just enjoy the moment - enjoy the book - we can be both digital and unplugged, we can be both. (BTW - you can follow me on Instagram if you'd like, but I probably wont follow back). The lines are blurred, and speaking of lines -
There truly is nothing intelligent about a massacre - that line. I was recently at a conference session, where a peer of mine was discussing the importance of providing students with a moral purpose in social studies - that we have to have a PURPOSE as social studies teachers. We cannot just be "a guide for thinking" in the classroom, allowing them to "argue anything" so long as they have evidence. There is nothing intelligent about a massacre. You cant argue for the Holocaust. You cant argue for Hitler - or the Armenian Genocide. There is no good start or purpose to those arguments - but so often social studies teachers say we want our students to develop their own points of view- their own understandings, what is the line between critical thinking and learning an answer that is based on the wrong question being asked. Racist scientists for decades have asked the wrong question about race - trying to prove the difference and inferiority - they are asking the wrong question. White Supremacy is wrong, there is not good argument for it. White Nationalism is wrong. Have social studies teachers failed? We have to have a bias - a bias for critical thinking and democratic citizenship. A push agains narrow, and for the broader.
There is nothing intelligent about a massacre.
Vonnegut gives us the first and last words of his story. I suppose that I can do that too - why not. I think I'll read a few books, and see where the chapters take me - and book end each with an introduction and a conclusion. So, it begins like this:
So it goes.
It ends with:
Thank you, next.
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