Making A Difference In The World Through Literature

Toby and readers,

     I tend to be a background player. A barely there character. A fairly unnoticed team member. Sure, I have four or five close friends and my classmates sometimes talk to me in the hall if they notice me... but they usually don't. I'm not invisible, I guess. I just tend to keep quiet and try to blend in. However, I will always speak up in class to share my thoughts, if our topic interests me and our opinions are asked for. Take today, for example.

     Today, in my American literature class we discussed a cool topic. Social issues. Not very literature-y, I know, but it will be soon. We are going to read Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, so our teacher had us discussing social issues, such as the one in the book, racism and slavery. Women's rights, abortion, LGBT rights, immigration and deportation, social class differences, and religious rights are some of the other social issues we discussed.

     Each student had to pick one of these topics and write down several ways to stop the issue. I selected women's rights for my topic, as it is something I feel very strongly about. Thinking about all of these issues and hearing my peers solutions to them made me realize how easy it could be to make a difference. I can't single-handedly put an end to any of these, but with the help of my peers we can make a difference.

I want to make a difference.
I can make a difference.
So, I will.

      I want to make a difference by encouraging youth to read and write much more. Through experiences in my life and looking at history, I've seen how important books are and how much of an impact they can make.  Uncle Tom's Cabin made a huge impact against slavery, and is still an insanely large staple in the American battle against racism.

     I plan to ask some of my peers to help me gather books to give one book each to a class of third and fourth graders every month. If each child reads their book, and themselves or their parents write a short description of what the child thought of the book, then returns it to me to show that they read it, they will receive a prize such as a toy or an ice cream sundae party at the end of the month. I figure, if the kids have a reason to start reading and writing, they just might enjoy it enough that they will begin to read and write on their own, without the promise of a prize.

     I don't know that my plan will work, or that my peers will be willing to help, but I'll never know if I don't try. I'm going to ask my American Literature teacher if I may have 5-10 minutes in her class next week to pitch my idea to the class to see if they're willing to help. And even if they don't want to help, I'll still go through with the plan and try to inspire the kids.

     Well, time to pitch my idea to the president of the school and see if I can have some time to present in class.

Until next time my dear reader,

              Anna

~To be expected in the next post: A list of some of my favourite books and stories, and some that I'd love to have the youth read.