Today's guest blogger is Carmelita Seufert. Carmelita is a teacher in a New York high school. She has a very interesting perspective on using the works of Stephen King in the classroom and we are happy to welcome her to WORD.

My very first encounter with the terrifying world of Stephen King was about 25 years ago. My much older cousins decided that 'Salem's Lot was an appropriate film to view while babysitting four-year olds. Needless to say, I viewed most of the film from behind my aunt's couch cushions. The image of that vampire floating up into the open bedroom window haunted me and my brother's imaginations to the point where we convinced my mother that a crucifix in our window would be our only salvation.

Cut to today. I am on the phone with a parent who is beside herself because I have just assigned her daughter, a student in my 9th grade Honors English class, an essay on King's short story, "Suffer the Little Children" (from the book Nightmares and Dreamscapes).  The woman is distraught that I am teaching such a "disturbing" story, yet when I remind her that I am using it in conjunction with Edgar Allan Poe, she claims to approve Poe's work because he is "a classic." 

She has just stepped on sacred ground. 

I am one of those individuals who grows furious when King is denied a spot on the shelf with Poe and the rest of the "classics" gang.  From a teacher's perspective, King is one of the most "teachable" modern writers we have.  While there are some issues with mature language and sexual content, many of King's novels and stories feature characters and themes that adolescents can easily relate to and become excited writing about--which is one of my main goals each year.

Last year, I became determined to include King's writing in my classroom.  I began with excerpts from his memoir, On Writing.  I think this is a wonderful way to start with King because it gives the students some insight into who he is and what it means to have a "writing voice." I have the students do a lot of writing about themselves throughout the year and I enjoy sharing King's personal stories with them as an example of this style of writing.  I also use this book to teach editing. My students keep portfolios of all the work they do and they edit, revise, and reflect on many of their essays and creative pieces.  King offers some truly practical and useful ideas for editing and revising that I use as a teaching tool, just like I would with Elements of Style or any other fancy-shmancy writing book.  That's just the thing about King, though--there's nothing fancy-shmancy about him. The kids know this and that's one reason they are all anxious to read his fiction once they get a taste of him in On Writing.

Much to the aforementioned nervous Mommy's dismay, I choose to teach "Suffer The Little Children" as a companion piece to Poe. One thing I like to focus on is the technique of telling a good, scary story.  Using a hodgepodge of different definitions from various authors, including King, I provide the students with the criteria for telling a horror story.  One aspect I stress is the "boo" moment. This is the moment at the end of the story that stops your breath, makes the hairs stand up on your neck, and compels you to sleep with the lights on for a week.  Poe is a master at this.  King is too.  "Suffer the Little Children" is one of the many great examples of use of the "boo" moment.  If you have ever read this story, the last two lines probably still ring in your ears and cause you to shiver. 

Other works by King that I hope to use in the future include Different Seasons and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.  Let me just say that it's a crime that "The Body," which is a novella in Different Seasons, isn't a standard work in all 8th grade English classes.  So many English teachers complain that young men are more reluctant to read than young women. This story is loaded with matters that adolescent boys can relate to.  "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" is another novella in Different Seasons that I believe would work great in a classroom.  Certainly, any 9th grade student, faced with the long, challenging journey of high school can relate to the protagonist in his unrelenting day to day prison life.  Not to mention that it is one of the most perfectly written stories I have ever read.

Stephen King has said this himself in an interview with Writing magazine, and I agree: that if any one of his stories most fits the criteria for a young adult novel, it is The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.  What a wonderful female hero he created in the protagonist, Trisha.  It is rare in the selection of literature taught in public schools that young female students get to see a really complex and interesting female character.  King writes amazing female characters--always fierce, strong, and somehow full of nurturing maternal grace.  As a woman and a teacher I believe it is so important to offer our female students characters they can find themselves in.

I believe that Stephen King is a "new classic."  He should be taught in our schools along side Poe, Shakespeare, and Tolkien because like them, he offers rich characters, classic themes, and thrilling tales that will get students excited and talking and writing about literature.

Recently, I offered my students an opportunity for Independent Reading Projects.  Students may, for extra credit, read a King novel that I have in the classroom and then complete an assignment that has them discuss character, themes, and various literary elements. Down the road, I hope to apply for a mini-grant from my district for my project: The King Challenge. I will fill my classroom with as many King books as the grant will afford me, then I will challenge at least 100 of my 150 students to read one King book over the course of a semester. Then we will follow with various projects and send letters to the author (something I am very excited about).  My hope is that parents, students, and our school community will see the value in King’s work. I like to think of Stephen King as the literary equivalent of Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan. He is our great contemporary American storyteller. Behind the monsters, ghosts, and boogeymen, lies a collection of stories about family, love, the magic of friendship, and the joys and sorrows of everyday life.

When I look back over Mr. King's extensive collection, I can't help but feel sad for the young lady in my class whose mother has banned her from reading his words (and many other wonderful books as well, I’m sure).  She will certainly discover at some point, that no matter how hard her mother tries to protect her, the "evils" of the world inevitably have nothing to do with great writing. It is certainly a shame, though, that she will not be able to escape into the world of a Stephen King novel to find that for all the evils in this world, there is also joy, comfort, courage, and love. In my book, the only real suffering children are the ones who do not know their King.