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!