A. Comment by
RayS: I continue to maintain that the purpose of the English teacher
is to work with words, to communicate with words, to read words, to write and
speak with words, to create with words. I still think Joseph Conrad said it
best: "My task is by the power of the written word to make you hear, to
make you feel--it is, before all, to make you see." I maintain that
images, sound and video are most valuable when they support the words we use. I
remember reading in the book version of Civilization that Kenneth Clark
said he could not emphasize law and economics in the TV version of his survey
of the history of civilization because he could not find visuals to support
those topics. Of course not. Those topics consist almost entirely of ideas. And
words are the key to expressing ideas.
We are English teachers. And our job is to teach the use of words. I have no problem with teaching how to use other media to support words. We need to emphasize words because words are ideas. Pictures may be worth a thousand words as the cliché goes, but no picture will ever replace words as the best medium to express ideas. The NCTE and I do not agree on the centrality of multimedia. I maintain that to the degree that emphasis is taken away from words in our English classes, students' mastery of literacy will be significantly weakened.
We are English teachers. And our job is to teach the use of words. I have no problem with teaching how to use other media to support words. We need to emphasize words because words are ideas. Pictures may be worth a thousand words as the cliché goes, but no picture will ever replace words as the best medium to express ideas. The NCTE and I do not agree on the centrality of multimedia. I maintain that to the degree that emphasis is taken away from words in our English classes, students' mastery of literacy will be significantly weakened.
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