A penny for your thoughts. This simple saying got stuck in my head the other day and I rashly decided to act upon it. I asked my students on the first day of History classes at IUSB to write down their responses to the following questions:
1. what is the last thing you’ve read that you really liked?
2. what is the last really good movie you have seen?
3. what music are you listening to these days?
4. if you were President of the U.S. what would you try to accomplish?
5. why are you taking this History course?
After reading the responses, I now understand that other truism, “ignorance is bliss” a bit better. But all is not woe. Concerning the favorite book question, there were lots of Harry Potter, something called Someone Moved My Cheese, and more serious fare like the superb and searing book about race and poverty in Chicago by Alex Kotlowitz, There are No Children Here. My personal favorite was the student who said Evaluations of Orthopedic and Sports Injuries had changed his life. He helpfully noted that he was still reading it, so I suppose second thoughts are a possibility.
As for the movie question, a whole lot thought Pearl Harbor was superb. This might be interpreted as the classic suck-up to a History professor, but if so, it was in vain. I haven’t seen it, the critics said it was god-awful because the director cared far more about explosions and computer graphics than the plot, and it had lots of silly wooden acting in it beginning with Ben Affleck. To add insult to injury, the sneak attack takes longer on film than the real battle ever did. Besides, if I wanted to see a Pearl Harbor film I would always choose From Here to Eternity. Oh those waves crashing around Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr as they co-mingle, and oh that Sinatra getting his just desserts. Finally, one student wisely chose Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca. Amazing! “Why don’t you leave Manderlay” says that ever helpful and sinister housekeeper, as she tells Joan Fontaine to jump out the window. “Yes, why don’t you...”
But onto more responses. Answers to the music question depressed me no end. Many of our youth believe that a band called “Nickelback” rivals the Beatles or the Stones. Yes, just what the world needs, another angry white boy band railing against the phoniness of the world. Happily, students also voted for the new “Pink” CD with its super catchy song “Let’s Get the Party Started.” Pink’s crossover appeal and her tons of attitude should delight all, and speaks to the simple power of how a well-timed single can get lodged in your head for days on end. Given the age demographics of IUSB students, there was plenty of Barbara Streisand on this list as well. Babs is, if nothing else, a resilient force, one who will easily outlive and overwhelm everything in her path. Why oh why couldn’t Osama have put her on his fatwa list?
Speaking of Osama, a number of students thought that if they were to become President turning Afghanistan into a parking lot would be a swell idea. Others also spoke of getting the government more involved in health care and education, issues that speak to the daily concerns of IUSB’s students. One student even said that he or she was going to become President! Well, that gets my vote! There was another concern that a few of my students believed needed the attention of the President as well: legalizing marijuana. While that might win the prize for the issue least likely to be on President Bush’s agenda, you never know. As Bush liked to say when he was on the campaign trail and some uppity reporter asked him about his youthful indiscretions: “when I was young and irresponsible I was young and irresponsible.” Whichever of his aides wrote that line deserves a raise, but party on George, and really, how did you get that bruise above your eye?
But now I come to the responses that continue to haunt me...the “why are you taking this class” question. Student after student wrote the same, exact thing: “I am taking this class because it is part of the general education requirements at IUSB.” After this sentence many added, “but I like History.” One student even said that she “honestly” liked History courses. No doubt another feeble attempt to reassure me. The thing that keeps me putting one foot in front of the other is the knowledge that many students actually will come to like learning about their country’s history and their relationship to the past--honestly. Still, I think I have my work cut out for me.