THE MEASURE: Would AP English Students Look at Their Strings?

Confession: I would throw my unopened box into 

a large body of water. 

I am currently teaching The Measure by Nikki Erlick to both AP Lit and AP Lang. We received the books free from the community college connected to our dual-enrollment classes.  The novels are part of a great One Book, One Campus program, and DMACC gives copies to all instructors of DMACC English classes in the state. 

I'm no fool--it's very hard to get our school to buy full class sets of novels or nonfiction texts for 3-4 sections. So I snag these every year. This year's book, The Measure, is impressively current: published in 2022, it was likely written during the pandemic and absolutely has a "before and after" situation at its core. If you want a copy from the library, you'll still be on a waiting list (at least in DSM). It's definitely got that "book club " kind of appeal with an interesting premise and a variety of relationships to explore.

This is not a spoiler: Erlick's book opens with an explanation of how everyone in the world (22 and over) magically receives an unbreakable box with an unalterable  string inside it--all on the same night . The inscription says, "Inside is the measure of your life." Well, we quickly find out that the length of your string indicates WHEN  you will die (eventually the mathematicians can get it down to the exact month). From there, the text goes on to explore the experiences of 8 different "main" characters responding to their string's length (the knowledge of their approaching death).

I am using it with AP Lit, and they are reading the last 100 pages for next Wednesday. They have embraced it pretty well.  Some feared that after an opening two pages that disclose this phenomenon of the boxes ubiquitously and almost simultaneously appearing on everyone's doormat or outside their tent in the desert or in front of a homeless person's space, that it would be hard to top that reveal in the following 350 pages.  Like Kafkas' The Metamorphosis, it kind of seems to start with the climax. But most of the AP Lit kids stuck with it, and they've had great full-class discussions, small group discussions, and written responses--just ultimately pretty strong buy in. (Spoiler alert: the book includes profanity--lots of the "f" word. Two girls jumped ship early due to the profanity, and I'm guessing  their  disapproval of a central lesbian relationship. Boo! )

Now I have also started it with my AP Lang seniors, and we discussed the first 50 pages today. The discussion went well, and  though they didn't completely pan the book, many had disparaging comments: it felt a bit YA, a bit repetitive, and had far too many POVs (8 eventually). Because of all this, though they all appreciated the fantastic initial situation and the questions it provokes, most were not loving the novel.  I was surprised. 

We still had a good discussion, starting with, "Would you open your box?" (About half would and half wouldn't).  Interesting issues come up as everyone in the novel tries to solve the mystery of where the boxes came from and who could and how could anyone (or anything) KNOW this information for every human. The book gets a bit political: I think it definitely leans to the left though the kids agreed it is not an agenda text. 

The most interesting part to me is the quick prejudice that spreads concerning short stringers--though they initially evoke pity, eventually, after two public shootings by short stringers, they become a "dangerous" sector of society and ALL kinds of precautions, restrictions, and discrimination are well established by 6 months after the strings' arrival.

Along with prejudice, the book deals with everything from the intimately personal experience of death, and the privilege that comes with the mystery of our mortality, to the insidious political gain by a long stringer. 

Just as I'm allowing two kids in AP Lit read another novel, I'm letting two students in AP Lang read Take My Hand (also a DMACC free book from a prior year) instead of finishing The Measure. 

I'm giving a presentation on teaching this novel at the upcoming ICTE conference. (Here's hoping someone comes!) While I originally thought I would be shouting its praises as a classroom text and its impact on students, I think I will have to take a more nuanced approach.

What I think is that if you haven't read the book, it's worth the 350 page commitment!  And it's worth considering several of the philosophical questions naturally connected to Erlick's premise.

Again, I so would not open my box. For the most part, I hate mysteries and a lack of control, but my death? Like most people, I'll just continue to wait and occasionally wonder (grateful for my ignorance). 

YEAH: We get to go hear Erlick speak in November at the campus! 

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PERK: I have created materials--discussion questions, a quiz, and instructions for a final formal reader-response essay! You can message me here and I will send them to you! 

I am the master of their fate! Starting the year with "Invictus"

I kind of like the beginning of the school year because I kind of like beginnings in general. But the loss of summer is for real, and getting back into the full day plus 50-minute commute routine is tough. ( It's tough for all of us, I think, even if you can walk to the school.) I don't want to share a bunch of details about how meetings with poster paper and gallery walks and discussions about our WHY are also, once again, for real. We all know it. The TicTocs prove the strategies of professional development gurus are similar across the board.

However, I am on a district leadership committee and this summer we had to read FINDING YOUR WHY by Simon Sinek.  I probably would have enjoyed it more if its focus had been at all academic, if school had been mentioned, say, once. Of course, there's nothing wrong with trying to figure out the true reason we teach. But, at bottom, I'm guessing they're hoping we all basically have the same WHY. ("It's about the kids.")  The smaller whys are actually  more personally interesting. Why buy the same shirt from Amazon, just in another color? Why didn't I make a seating chart yet for my classes? 

A girl asked me a why question yesterday.  Each year out of the blocks I make my freshmen memorize either all of Henley's "Invictus" or at least the last stanza. I start with it on the first day. So, true to form, Monday on the back of their instructions for writing a letter to themselves on the first day of high school, I printed the entire poem. Instead of making it all the way through the syllabus or doing ANY kind of stressful (for me) bonding/community building activities, I spent twenty minutes on Henley's poem and forcing them to memorize the last stanza. They get points for it on Friday. I guess I am the master of their fate.

I get a kick out of hearing twenty-eight brand new freshmen losing themselves in a task--even if it's just committing something to memory or old-school recitation. It kind of works every year. I know that they will get 6 other periods of going over the syllabus and the rules and then maybe have some time for a community-building activity. Again, those are so good!!! Do them!!  

For the last few years at our faculty meetings we always had activities called "forced family fun."  I'd probably seem like an extrovert if you saw me teach, but don't we all? I dreaded going to meetings because I  was constantly anxious that we were going to have to play some stupid game and I'd be paired up with the guy from the industrial tech department (he literally rolled his eyes once when partnered with me) or another equally uncomfortable math teacher. I like everyone at my school, but I don't know them all well, and I'm OK with that.  I figure not everyone wants to know me...that well. Anyway, since I have had such awkward experiences with forced family fun the last four years, I decided that even though I know there is probably research that says getting a writing class to bond is critical to creating that safe environment where they can share their personal feelings, I'm still not going to do it.  If you do---that's great!  I can't disparage anyone for pushing through an activity that produces the beginning of relationships and is probably fun for the kids. 

Not for me. Not the first day at least. 

So we memorize the last stanza of "Invictus" instead. We finished class a little early seventh period (I wish this had not been the case.)  All the brand spanking new high school freshmen were both tired and restless, and for the most part, could recite Henley's last four lines.  While most of the class was milling around watching the construction out the window or pushing each other and laughing, three girls came up to my desk and started shooting the breeze.  Because I am awkward, I kept it pretty basic:  "So, how was your first day? Did you have a system for phone collection? Did you get "Invictus" memorized?"  They thought so.  Then one blonde freshmen said, "Why are we doing that?"  I said, :"What? Memorizing "Invictus?"  (That was it.) So I bumbled around and finally landed on "Enrichment!" with a flourish. They shook their heads like, "Ok, then."  Was that a good enough WHY?  It got me through the moment.  Technically, this activity, instead of bonding while saying two truths and a lie, gives them something to go home and show off that they learned, if there is someone who asks. 

I do not assume my 80 freshmen went home to charming sit-down dinners where they answered parents' eager questions about their first day of school. But maybe the question came up---"did you learn anything?" I can't very successfully give them an activity where we keep a beach ball up in the air or hold hands to see that energy connects all of us. But I can give them 4 cool lines of poetry,  of which I hope they remember the last two lines forever: "I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul." 

So, if you didn't have a wacky English teacher who made you memorize "Invictus" by Henley, there it is below. It means "unconquerable"--one freshman said, "invincible" which I gave him props for and he received a fist bump from a friend.  Another freshman said they write the curriculum for Harvard (I had Harvard on the board connected to AP Lang Common Apps). That kid made me laugh out loud. Here's to the beginning of the year, here's to however you start it, here's to freshmen, and also to being the  master of your own fate any time you need to be.

INVICTUS by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods my be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance,

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade.

And yet, the menace of the year

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate.

I am the captain of my soul. 

My first guest blogger: A Dog Lover and ELA Wizard...Lauren Stephens

Hi! I asked the English instructors at our school if they would write a guest entry for Trace the ELA Teacher, and I got two takers! This first piece was written by a gifted and hard-working educator, Lauren Stephens. Lauren is active in our ICTE organization, so I knew of her before she started teaching at our school, masterfully engaging the 8th graders. :) (Many of my freshmen students have credited their love for reading to Mrs. Stephens.) I really like the piece she wrote (see below). It is timely, as it acknowledges the melancholy that goes with the loss of summer's freedom and excitement about the coming year. She writes, "I am wondering...can I hold onto this sense of peace?" I hope you also enjoy's Lauren's interesting and soft reflections on this unique time of year. 

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Lauren's thoughts on the losses and gains that come with the new year approaching!

I've been sitting in my classroom for a few hours now, slowly piecing it back together in preparation for the new year. While I am always sad to see the summer go, this is one part of the school year I honestly relish. The summer months root me. I give my full attention over to the parts of my life that are usually rushed through during the school year. I read what I wanted to read for hours on the deck. I took the longest route walking my dog each morning.  I learned how to install bead board and what kinds of birdseed would attract goldfinches to my yard. It was bliss. The window of quiet helps me see my work as a teacher through a lens that I struggle to hold onto once October rolls around. 

I'm left wondering...can I hold onto this sense of peace? Do I possess the ability to filter through the noise of initiatives, emails, and the dreaded sense of comparison that comes once contract hours begin? I'm really not sure, but I know creating a list of what I hope to root my practice in as a teacher will be helpful in prompting regular reflection. 

1. I read The Stuff You Have to Know Stuff by Kelly Gallagher in June and it absolutely hit the mark for me in working toward a solution for challenges many of my students will have with lack of background knowledge. I plan to have students read a short nonfiction article most weeks and practice growing in the nonfiction reading standards throughout the year instead of designating that growth to a particular unit. 

2. If I want my students to develop an identity as writers, I have to model my own recursive process in front in of them. I don't really follow the "writing process" in a strict sense of the word. It's a helpful format to refer to, but my brain doesn't often work in a lock-step format. I jump back and forth between steps. That's ok, and it's good for our students to see the organic way ideas develop. This provides permission for branching out of the linear format into a route that feels more natural for their own voice and agency. Basically, if I am going to ask my students to write something, I will be writing that same piece alongside them and sharing my own process as we go.

3.  In a similar way, I have to model my life as a reader for my students. I have preferences. I ditch books if they don't grab me in the first fifty pages. I read some books quickly, and I slog through others. Carving out time in our week to discuss what we are reading, get recommendations, and notice the writing techniques we are trying out in the books we are reading is invaluable when it is prioritized. 

4. This final hope for my school year is the one I know I will struggle with the most. I have always struggled to share much of my personal self at work, especially with my students. This likely comes from spending my early years teaching seniors who were only a few years younger than me. I drew hard boundary lines to set myself up for successful classroom management, and it worked. It worked so well that students I had taught for three years were floored when they noticed the engagement ring on my finger. "You had a boyfriend this whole time??" the senior girls screamed when they noticed mid-lesson. I've struggled to loosen these boundaries over the years enough so students can actually know me. Age isn't really a factor anymore, and I'm much more confident managing a classroom than I was at twenty-two. I know I'll build stronger connections if I do and be a happier person throughout the school year. I'm still a little fuzzy on how I'll make it happen though.

One more sweet and slow week ahead of me before the pace picks up. For now, I'm feeling grateful for the dog snoozing peacefully next to me and the place to think and reflect meaningfully. 

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LAUREN'S info: I’ve taught for ten years, with five of those being at the high school level and five at the middle school level. I currently teach eighth graders at an Iowa middle school. I’ve taught everything from mythology to yearbook, but most of my time is spent in the general English Language Arts classroom. One thing that has surprised me most about students is their willingness to go over and above what I could have imagined for them when given choice and trust. 

Thanks for considering Lauren's reflections and strategies. Have a great year, Lauren! I hope all of you have a super school start as well. 

I'd love a couple relective GUEST BLOGGERS! Can't we all be writers, too? Suggestions below.

I know some of you HAVE to love to write!!!  What is going through your midsummer mind about teaching English, working with AP, personal reading, professional reading, writing that novel, philosophy of teaching English? If you are writing a novel or book, I'd love to hear about it! If you hate that you can't stop thinking about school, why do you do that? Write about it!  Use YOUR voice, etc. Just maybe 300-700 words--a rant, a reflection, some wisdom?

On some posts I get 2,000 views (16,000 in all so far) and on others (like my last one) about 60! But that doesn't really matter. It's that we're offering ideas and some people are looking and hopefully getting something out of it. Most of the articles in the last few English Journal publications were written most by professors and assistant professors about teaching hs/ms English. How about our own voices?

SUGGESTIONS....

1. Maybe you feel everything has been taught or written about before but "freshness is still possible." How do you keep something FRESH--what are new twists on any idea you'd like to share?  

2.  Some teachers choose to teach the SAME curriculum the SAME way every year. Of course, this is a time saver--and if it's awesome why change it? How do you feel about stability or mixing things up?  Those in a controlled curriculum, is there anyway to make it personal?

3.  One of the writers mentioned that we "write around loneliness, guilt, shame, failure, and disloyalty"-we do it to better avoid them instead of staring them in the face. Be bold! Can we give our authentic experiences and interests a structure and meaning  through controlling the narrative a bit?  Connect this to anything education and write.

4.  Write about whatever you want!! I will read it, give you feedback, and discuss if you want to be part of a guest blog posting! 

Who will see your writing? I put all my blogs on English teacher facebook sites: shout out to AP Lang and Comp, AP Lit and Comp, New Teachers of AP Lit and Comp. Teachers of High School English and High School English and Literature Teachers and one cool site from the UK! I am usually the only one with new posts on the one for those across the pond. They don't censor me. And  on stats, I get some hits from UK--if you are reading this, HELLO from Iowa in the Midwestern US! 

When students and I meet up in about four weeks, I feel I'll have some fresher fodder again for my blog posts. My summer is more about nurturing myself as both reader and writier and gardener and person who doesn't grade/work). So I write about movies like GENIUS (which was great), or books I'm reading or books I'm not finishing!  Thanks to those who have peeked at those! 

PLEASE ---contact me if you'd like to share sone writing with me! Philosophical is great but so is humorous and experience-based! Write on! (Sorry)

I promise not to share ANYTHING before getting back to you for final permission. I have been a peer editor for EJ, and if you should submit there I'll let you know how I got my writings in.

BUYING BOOKS, STARTING BOOKS and then...abandon ship!

Some people buy books and but then don't read them--you've probably heard that those are two different hobbies. I do something many readers can't: I start a book, truly invest, and then don't finish it. (NOT a humble brag) 

Are there any texts you started and then abandoned? I say never feel guilty for buying a book, spending precious time reading, or even not getting to the last page. My wise college buddy Robin threw BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY across the room. That's fair.  Phd. candidate Petra says, "Sometimes I can't finish books because I love them. Like maybe 5 pages left...It's like a cryo chamber for the characters I love so much." 

Books I've started...

MOBY DICK:  One summer I started a challenge with my friends to read it! I got 1/3 through it--the Pequod sailors had just sighted the big white whale. Who would stop THERE? I taught snippets of it from an American  Lit anthology for years at my first job in the eighties: I know who Queequeg, Tashtego, and Ishmael are, and I and how it ends--but not because I finished it with my friends. (Hats off to Donisue who did!) I did buy a cool t-shirt of Moby facing off with Ahab. In my defense, I went back to school, BUT I will finish it someday! My copy is large print--ha!

DON QUIXOTE: My brother's favorite book...I'm 60 pages in--his insanity made me uncomfortable, but I would've gotten past that--Don Quixote's, not my brother's. Sadly, I probably won't finish it. Thoughts?

WAR AND PEACE: It's entertaining and I've gotten 120 pages in this summer (that's 1/10 of the book!), but I stopped because I started reading PARABLE OF THE SOWER--which I finished!  I will finish WAR AND PEACE.

But now (because I watched GENIUS) I kind of want to start LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL. 

"There's got to be a word for people like me who start so many books," I told my husband.  

"English teacher?" he said. 

However,my guess is that would NOT be true for many of you. I do not regret reading a single page of any of those books! (It took me so many tries to read CRIME AND PUNISHMENT and BROTHERS K, but I did it!)   

I'm also about half-way through I CHEERFULLY REFUSE, and was listening to DEMON COPPERHEAD and then it got so sad. (My friend Doug IS going to finish it!) I just started WHITE TIGER! I'm listening to THE WEDDING PEOPLE (playful summer book). I promise I HAVE finished many books. I read almost every day. (Humble brag)

Please share what you are reading? 

Also, my friend Kelly needs a suggestion for a book club title? 

Doug later informed me that he did finish DEMON COPPERHEAD: "I’m glad I was able to focus long enough to do so. I thought it was amazing. I think I always finish because I’m stubborn!" He's a librarian though--special, beautiful breed.

GENIUS: A Compelling Literary Film About Thomas Wolfe (2016)

This last week, I randomly saw Genius advertised on my Facebook page a few times, was impressed by the cast, could tell it was a period piece, and from the title, assumed it was a thinker. 

So I suggested my friend Robin have friends over to watch it on her big screen in the basement. Weirdly, everyone agreed, also knowing nothing about the film. We all loved it. I won't spoil the plot. Below is a quick explanation of the who and what without giving much away.

Genius is a 2016 "four star" film looking at the lives of Thomas Wolfe (Jude Law) and his editor at Scribner, Max Perkins, (Colin Firth) during the publication of Wolfe's first and second books. I didn't know that Hemingway and Fitzgerald were also both "jumping the pond" in search of a publisher, both also landing at Scribner. (They each have cameos in the film.)  

Admitting this next part makes me sad, but while I could come up with several novels I've read of Hemingway's and Fitzgerald's (not an unusual feat for a sixty-year-old English teacher), at first I couldn't even come up with the title of Wolfe's most famous text. (I had for sure of course heard of Look Homeward, Angel, but sadly knew nothing about it.)  If you have read it, please respond and tell me what you thought of it!

Wolfe is portrayed in the film as a WILD CARD and Max as incredibly patient, brilliant and almost fatherly. The other main characters are Laura Linney (Max's wife) and Nicole Kidman (Mrs. Bernstein, Wolfe's lover and initial muse). Style-wise, I wouldn't call the movie slow, but it takes its time in that "quoting a page of literature on occasion" kind of way.  It was somehow riveting and definitely worth it if you like a literary film that you don't have to give a rat's ass about a class of seventeen year olds enjoying. This I recommend just for you. 

I am heading to the Franklin Library tomorrow to snag their copy of Look Homeward, Angel--it looks like its over 500 pages, and I certainly won't be  finishing this summer. I just plan to hang at the PLDM and read it for an hour, but right now I've got two novels and several nonfiction books going. But should I read it someday?  Like my friend Robin says, "You've got to love Southern writers." She's got a point. 

Anyway, watch the film! It's on various networks right now.--we watched it on Tubi. I told my friends, "I don't know who I'd recommend this to other than you guys." But I'm definitely recommending it to you! Genius is a compelling film filled with literary brain candy. You're the target audience. If you like this movie, we can be friends.

Retreat! Retreat to a monastery! (A non-Catholic girl's visit to the monks)

I'm not Catholic. I was brought up with a brand of Calvinism in what was called the Reformed Church. My small hometown had six different reformed churches, a Lutheran church in the country, and a Catholic church fifteen miles away. Northwest Iowa is verrrry Protestant, super conservative, and not a great fit for me anymore. (I live in our state's capital!)

However, I just got back from a two-day retreat to a monastery: New Melleray Abbey. I thought abbeys housed nuns as in, "Maria's not an asset to the abbey." However, this one is home to thirteen Trappist monks.

Monks are amazing--their lives are partly structured by the five services in the beautiful church where they line up in pews that face each other, filing in with the bells. I only went to three during the two days I was there, and now I'm wishing I'd gone to more. My friend Teresa (another English teacher) actually is Catholic and went to many of the services. Again, I should have. They were very heavy on the psalms and all were beautiful and peaceful. The upper windows were open and the birds were loud enough to almost drown out the voices at times. It was pretty magical--maybe the wrong word.

A retreat at New Melleray is a wonderful escape from everything else (I went last summer as well). It's spiritual and quiet (you are to practice silence inside the guest house and church--and you're to avoid using technology).  I took many, many books, and read and read and wrote and wrote.

If you look at my picture below you will see that several of the texts were reflective nonfiction: CS Lewis on the psalms and Thomas Merton on contemplation. I really enjoyed what I read in  the lil' book on Stoicism. I loved the writing book I took along: The Story Within, and even did some of the exercises (I had plenty of time). I got about 1/3 of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower read--it's wonderful. It was a little dark for the monastery but undoubtedly has religious themes.  

Anyway, if you can get yourself away for a spiritual retreat, or someplace quiet where you're absolutely alone a lot and required to not think about work or cleaning your house, I recommend it. I've done several read-a-thons at home, but I have to admit an experience like this is much more immersive and impactful.

I'm not trying to save anyone's soul with this entry! I hope even more so that I have not offended anyone Catholic. There were a couple of Kansas City nuns visiting there as well who assured me it was acceptable that I walked to the railing and received the blessing from a monk. I bought spiritual oil and soaps made with a little holy water for my friends and kids. And the nearby nunnery sells some remarkable caramels in the gift shop as well. 

Here's what I'm going to say: you probably deserve an escape, a reflective retreat, some time alone away from the news, and lots of time to read and write. Spiritually, for me, this was a good fit. But anywhere you can find respite for 48 hours or so--think about going there.  

These are some of the books I brought--WAR AND PEACE (not pictured)  was 

only used to elevate my fan (no air conditioning).

A cool quote on writing from Laura Oliver's 

The Story Within: New Insights and Inspiration for Writers. 

If you read this to the end, thank you!  It was a little self indulgent--as was my retreat.

(Also excuse my messy hair in the photo--obviously, I cheated and used technology a little here and there.)