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If I wrote what I know then I’d talk about Shakespeare. I’d tell you about Hamlet and why you should care about him and why he’s more like you than you know. My eyes would be fire while I explain that the play is written in modern English and not old English like people say. 1/8
You’d ask me about The Canterbury Tales and I’d want to go on forever about the fact that Chaucer made the fetters on Palamon’s shins both literal and figurative and that realizing this detail made my week. 2/8
The Little Prince is the most beautifully heartbreaking allegory for our world and it is both sad and wonderful and that I will always read it out loud to my class no matter their age and will always cry at the end. I would share why it’s such an important story. 3/8
I’d tell you that as I get older, Holden Caulfield becomes less relatable. I’d say of course you can write a personal essay about him, though, because I much prefer them to the more formal literary essay. 4/8
I’d ask if you knew the etymology of the word ‘reck’ and tell you about the line from Hopkins’ poem ‘God’s Grandeur’ that made me look it up and research it, “Why do men then now not reck his rod?” 5/8
And then I’d tell you the words in the next line, “have trod, have trod, have trod;” mimic trodding itself and how gorgeous it is that words can do that. 6/8
I’d try to explain that I don’t love Victorian literature, and have never read The Odyssey. You’d wonder why and I’d confess that it was always too intimidating and I wanted to read short poems about love instead. 7/8
I’d say all these things. Because these are the things I know. These are the things I want to share, but am always afraid to show. 8/8
