Teachers, Parents Argue Merits of Challenged Book 'Waterland'

Graham Swift’s Waterland had its instructional merits argued Wednesday, but its possible reinstatement into AP English classrooms might come too late for this year’s students.

The book, which was removed from the AP English syllabus in December by district superintendent Jeremy Hughes after a complaint by parents Matt and Barb Dame, underwent a public review by a committee assembled by the district.

The review allowed the Dames and the district’s AP English teachers to make arguments for and against reinstating the book before the committee, which will offer a recommendation to Hughes by Feb. 13. In the meantime, the book remains pulled from AP English classrooms. Brian Read, an AP English teacher at Salem High School, said it already is too late to continue the Waterland lesson that had been interrupted in December.

The forum was attended by a little more than 50 parents and community members, nearly half of whom sported black t-shirts with “Supporters of academic integrity” on the front in support of reinstating the book, a quote from Waterland on the back:

"Children, be curious. Nothing is worse than when curiosity stops.
Nothing is more repressive than the repression of curiosity."
— Graham Swift, Waterland

Matt and Barb Dame alleged the books were not properly vetted before being assigned in AP English classrooms, playing a video clip of a between Hughes and board trustee Mike Maloney, in which Hughes said the book hadn’t, to his knowledge, been vetted.

Read, who defended the book’s use with fellow teacher Gretchen Miller, disputed that the book hadn’t been vetted, saying he was in his second year teaching AP English when the book was reviewed by his department en route to being introduced in his classroom.

Matt Dame showed a summary from pages 50-52 of Waterland and a quote from a section of Playboy magazine, both which detailed similar sexual acts, and asked the committee why the book was appropriate for classroom use, while Playboy isn’t. He then cited Playboy interviews with noted historic figures, such as President Jimmy Carter and Walter Cronkite as potentially offering educational material.

Read said the two works couldn’t be compared in such a light.

“Does Playboy have great articles? Absolutely,” he said. “But it’s understood what Playboy’s first purpose is.”

Read said Waterland doesn’t exist in order to "arouse or titillate."

“It’s not pornography,” he said.

Former student speaks of book's impact

Lauren Crawford, a University of Michigan graduate and one of Read’s former students, came to the review as a spectator but was put in front of the committee after the Dames used part of her before the school board to argue against the book’s merits in preparing students for college.

“When I said I was the only one out of 40 students to read such literature, I found that to be a credit to Brian Read and to the AP English curriculum,” she said.

Crawford said she was 16 when she took AP English.

“This curriculum at PCEP, this is unique,” she said. “This is something we need to uphold and praise.”

Parents question why passage wasn't censored

Matt Dame questioned why an adhesive label previously covering the questionable half-page passage hadn’t been applied this year.

Read said the labels originated from a compromise with one parent who had complained years earlier, and that he had kept the labels on the book each year until this year, when new books were ordered after AP English was expanded into ’s building.

Still, Read said he would be in favor of presenting the books without the labels as a sign of mutual trust between students and teachers, but acknowledged he would discuss the sexual content with the students before they encounter that portion of the book. He said if students or parents wish to skip that portion of the book, they would be permitted to do so without missing any crucial plot points in the story.

Read and Miller both acknowledged that, in the future, further steps could be taken to ensure parents know what type of content is in each assigned book, an issue the Dames had earlier raised, and arrange an alternative in the event of students or parents objecting to the material.

Teaching history through storytelling

Read said the purpose of using Waterland, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, which also was challenged by the Dames, and Art Spiegelman’s Maus: A Survivor’s Tale was to look at historic events through the lens of a storyteller.

According to Read, Waterland emphasizes how historic events stick with people, Beloved looks at the lasting legacy of slavery and Maus details a Holocaust survivor’s son trying to make sense of what his father had encountered.

Read briefly got choked up likening these themes to hearing a radio segment telling stories of Sept. 11, 2001 victims shortly after those events happened. This, he said, helped him understand the scale of that tragedy.

“That’s what Swift talks about (in Waterland),” he said. “It’s the storytelling to help make sense of it.”

The committee, which includes teachers, parents, librarians and a college professor, went into a closed session after the arguments were made and will meet in private Feb. 13, when it will prepare its recommendation for Hughes, who has indicated he would follow the committee’s decision.