Reevaluating the Classics

If I could go back and tell my elementary and high school English teachers anything it would be: thank you for helping me fall in love with the classics.

Too many times we focus so heavily on the future that we forget that wealth of information and inspiration dwelling in the past. The past is the foundation in which we build our edifices of politics, religion, and ART.

This summer I'm taking a literature course: City Images in Literature. I found myself, when I went to reread   the Great Gatsby for instance, so enthusiastic about the language and the characterization! I felt like I found a gem that had been hidden somewhere in the deepest Earth of the African desert. My first experience with most contemporary authors came in my youth. The seeds were planted and now that I've experienced so much more in my life and in my life as a writer from the seeds come forth as trees bearing great fruit.

 I find myself full of inspiration because the classics are classics for a reason. They embody the development of American cities, gender roles, sexual exploration, socioeconomic advancement and disintegration, and religion. So much of what we're still writing about today come from the shadows of our literary past!

So 'thank you' isn't deep enough or long enough to cover my gratitude when it comes to the amazing professors, teachers, book lovers, and peers I've had in my life that have contributed to me falling back in love with classic literature.