Dickens Is Missing

I’ll make this one short and sweet.

Where the hell is Dickens?

My son is now a senior in high school, and all this time I’ve been waiting with anticipation each year to see which books have been selected for the high school English classes for the year. I am sad to report that now, for four straight years, we’ve had no Dickens on the list.

I’m not a fan of Common Core, but I am a fan of Dickens.

When I was in high school, I read Great Expectations. I read A Christmas Carol on my own. Now, Dickens’ novels are missing from high school reading lists. When I took MFA courses from 2009-2011 in creative writing, I took a WHOLE COURSE in Dickens. I reread Great Expectations with vigor and experienced it in a whole new way than I did when I was in high school. It was so much better and much more meaningful. I read the 800-page Bleak House and loved it.

My love affair with this man’s creativity continues.

I love his writing.

I love everything about it.

His writing has taught me much, and I’ve learned so much from his technique. I was hoping my kids would be prompted to do the same through school.

It would be my wish that Dickens returns. There’s so much to gain from every aspect of his storytelling.

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest.

Stephanie

Stephanie Verni is Professor of Business Communication at Stevenson University and is the author of Inn Significant, Baseball Girl, and Beneath the Mimosa Tree. Along with her colleagues Leeanne Bell McManus and Chip Rouse, she is a co-author of Event Planning: Communicating Theory and Practice, published by Kendall-Hunt.

Filed under: On Life Tagged: A Christmas Carol, Bleak House, Charles Dickens, Dickens, Great Expectations, high school reading, high school reading lists, reading and writing, writing, writing mentors and idols