My Literacy Career by Haitham Jawad

My Literacy Career

It is not enough to simply teach people how to write; people should be taught to write logically and coherently, because that is what separates a regular paper from a work of art. Writing is a skill taken for granted by most and, often times, I found myself one of them. Writing, for as long as I could remember, was my Achilles Heel; I dreaded every essay, every summary, and every journal entry. I drudged through high school paper to paper, receiving no fulfillment from my writing experiences. I was among those who tended to overlook the joy of writing. However, this transcendental belief of joy in writing was later instilled in me by the man who shaped me as a writer, my twelfth grade English teacher, Mr. Bobis. Mr. Bobis is unlike any other teacher I have encountered in my previous years of education. He improved my writing skills by emphasizing being relevant to modern times, focusing on enhancing my critical thinking skills, mentoring my style of writing, and above all enjoying the process along the way.

Relating to worldly topics requires a teacher who can do so effectively. Personally speaking, I find unconventional teachers more entertaining and intriguing to learn from in contrast to those who live by the book. Several may argue that teachers who incorporate modern methods of teaching, such as PowerPoint presentations, are more organized, planned, and overall better educators; I strongly disagree. A teacher worth remembering highlights the behind-the-scenes of a book, details real life situations, holds a strong character, and meanwhile leaves room for some fun in the class, making learning an enjoyable experience for everyone. This, as opposed to lectures who put numerous students to sleep, is the difference between learning something that you’ll advantage from for the rest of your life and simply memorizing subjects for the sake of passing a test. Mr. Bobis was one to joke with his students, relating masterpieces to everyday life such as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to “how to holler at a girl in ye olden days.” Establishing a connection between Beowulf, the oldest piece of literature, and the movie 300, made in 2009, comparing the two protagonists in terms of pride, bravery, and strength showcases another example of his ability of keeping up with the times. Teachers who maintain valiant efforts to make the school a safe haven rather than a hell on Earth are the ones who possess the ability to make readers become leaders. 

Developing a high school student’s critical thinking and analysis skills is no easy task. Generally, teachers view a classroom setting as one where the instructor tells the students facts and the students do all the learning. My experience in Room 134 in Crestwood High School vastly differs from and contradicts that viewpoint. Mr. Bobis thought of his classroom to be a “dojo of knowledge,” knowledge that we can pass on to him to make him a better teacher, and knowledge that he would pass on to us to make us accomplished writers. Rather than accepting getting marked off on a paper, Mr. Bobis would encourage us to evaluate his reasons for the point deductions he made, which indirectly develops a constructively and a logically critical frame of mind. Since everything in literature is open to opinion, every now and then he would award points based upon showing something through a new lens. Although countless may claim that it is immoral for a student to step out of his or her place and teach someone much wiser than their own self, others suggest that everyone has something to bring to the table of wisdom. More often than not, we, the students, would become teachers, explaining our own thoughts to our peers, and proving there is never a right or wrong answer in literature; what we understood from the prompt is what we would write about. All in all, it was those little things that, once focused on, made us more confident and bold writers, ones who wrote strongly-worded essays with raw emotion and depth.

Many people don’t often feel devoted towards their writing causing it to lack emotions. The devotion here could be thought of as a synonym for “profound dedication,” dedication that is truly defined by seeing it, not reading it. Although numerous naysayers may think that an overly-dedicated teacher is too controlling or too commanding, it often works out to the students’ advantage. In my case, Mr. Bobis showed dedication beyond what I thought conceivable. Death of a loved one is something that takes us by surprise. The grief, the misery, and the anguish that comes along with it cannot be described to someone who has not experienced it. On a depressing Thursday morning, Mr. Bobis stood before the class and explained to us that his absence three days prior was due to the death of his wife, who lost her life to cancer only a mere four days earlier. He had the strength to tell us, with the tears in his big brown eyes, standing before us limp and weak, in a small quivering voice, that he was sorry. He was sorry because he felt as though he cheated us out of a learning experience in order to attain to his wife’s needs. This prompted him to promise to take better care of us and ensure a better learning environment from then and on. At that moment, I learned a life lesson that would not be taught in any other classroom; when life is at its lowest, and everything once held dear is taken in a blink of an eye; always keep your head up. Despite what you may think, it could always be worse. And it was that moment, as well, that made me appreciate pathos, or the art of appealing to one’s emotions through a literary means. I knew that if I could write anything that came straight from the heart, much like Mr. Bobis’ explanation, I could capture the ears and hearts of anyone who reads my writing. Mr. Bobis held a weight no man could bare and for that he was awarded with a strength all men envy.

All in all, it is better to have a teacher who touches your life rather than one who complements you with a grade. Too many people are concerned on passing the class with an A when they should really be focusing on learning the content at hand. Allow yourself to be touched by a teacher and the grade will surely follow, not by force or spite but rather by your will and eagerness to learn. Through Mr. Bobis’ teachings, not only did he help me do exceptionally well in the class, but he also set me up to become a much more articulate and powerful writer for future classes. Mr. Bobis taught me that a page is a canvas ready to be painted with brilliant colors of thoughts and ideas. Now, writing to me is a way of self-expression. AP Literature was more than just a regular class; it was a reawakening to an art I thought was dead. I took writing, molded it, and shaped it into something worth reading, and that to me is better than any grade.