Red Room Where the Writers Are

Remember when your 9th or 10th grade English teacher asked, “what do you think Phineus symbolizes in A Separate Peace? Or, “what do the witches in Macbeth symbolize?”  Then, you took her literally and responded with what you thought and heard, “wrong.”

I remember that.

Now, I’m a junior high school English teacher who hasn’t studied grammar since the 8th grade. 

You see, my core test scores in 1980-something (I’m guessing about ’83) placed me in Mr. Williams 9th grade Gifted/Talented English class.  Gifted/Talented practice back then dictated that if you were smart enough to pass the core test with a certain score, you no longer had to bother with grammar and spelling. 

Instead, students began a “rigorous” study of literature.  Within the first semester of Honors English at Skyline High School, I figured out that MY thoughts on symbolism were wrong and Mrs. Jacobs (which were remarkably similar to the bright yellow Cliffs Notes) were RIGHT.

Still considered “gifted” (perhaps because I had my parents gift me Cliffs Notes for each classroom novel), I started producing the RIGHT answers rather than what I thought, earned A’s, and proceeded to AP English.

Well, now I’m teaching English and yesterday, my students really schooled me in symbolism – thanks to David Sedaris.

Years ago, traveling between LA and Park City to see the love of my life, I came across, or he came across, Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.  Flight attendants raised their eyebrows as I laughed literally until I cried.  (My students would identify that as a cliché, but it’s true.)  I’d laugh so hard my Biscoff cookies sprayed from my nose.

At the time, I taught 7th grade English.  Whenever I assigned a short story, my students started off telling me about the entire day – from the time they woke up until they went to bed. 

So, I read Big Boy, an excerpt from Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris to them.  They laughed.

I read it because in about 700 words, Sedaris describes an event that took place in about five minutes.  I read it to demonstrate that a story can be very few words, but still have a beginning, a middle, and an end.  I read it to show them how to write concisely.

This year, once again, I read Big Boy to my students.  But, since I’d just given a lecture on the elements of a short story, my students analyzed Sedaris’ work.

Climax = when Janet knocks on the bathroom door

Resolution = when David breaks the giant turd into “manageable pieces” and it finally flushes

External Conflict = David fighting with the turd

Internal Conflict = David’s angst over having to take “credit” for the giant turd

Symbol = the turd symbolizes a lack of responsibility

Theme = sometimes you have to clean up messes that others leave

I started to think about David Sedaris.  Did he write Big Boy thinking that the turd “as thick as a burrito” represented irresponsibility?  Did he write it to teach a lesson?  When he was writing his short story, did he map it out and plan the climax?

Regardless, thank you David Sedaris for teaching my students about symbolism and theme in a way I never learned.