I clearly remember the "Day of the Rant." My English professor was imposing upon the class his views of what constitutes "artful" literature, and what constitutes popular literature. Without warning he began to berate society for its "obsession with Stephen King," and then turned on his own colleagues. "Some of my fellow professors are teaching Stephen King," he began, the volume of his voice reaching an uncomfortable level. "I ask them, 'Why Stephen King rather than something with value?' They say, 'It's difficult to get kids to read nowadays, and if I teach them Stephen King, at least I know they'll be reading.' I just find that offensive. The world would be a much better place without Stephen King!" I beg to differ.

Stephen King and other "popular" authors have literary value. I have been a voracious reader since I learned to read, beginning with Dr. Seuss, then moving on to The Hardy Boys, then finally to Stephen King, Frederick Forsyth, and Clive Cussler, thankfully all still alive and cranking out bestsellers. I can write. I am not the best writer in town by a long shot, but I consider my writing abilities adequate at the very least. Here's a shocking truth: I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of "artful" novels I have read voluntarily; I read the rest of them because I was required to read them. The aforementioned popular novelists satiated my thirst for reading, and contributed a great deal to the development of my writing abilities (I think so, at least). I certainly didn't get an amazing deal of instruction in school; if my writing was good, I received high marks for it, and if it wasn't good, I received low marks for it. The fact is no teacher ever attempted to teach me how to write well. I'll say it again: I firmly believe I learned more about writing from Stephen King, Frederick Forsyth, and Clive Cussler than from all my English teachers combined.

Coming from a future English teacher, this may sound like a somewhat radical theory, but I believe it: writing ability and style are first adopted, then developed. Therefore, teachers do not teach students to write; students teach themselves to write by adopting characteristics of the style of their favourite authors. Teachers guide students through the development process by encouraging them to continue using effective styles, and discouraging them from using ineffective styles. Stephen King, Frederick Forsyth, Clive Cussler, and countless other popular novelists are excellent writers who are capable of keeping the reader's attention on every word. If students are interested in the novel they are reading, they are more likely to adopt characteristics of that author's writing style. These popular writers are able to serve that purpose just as well as, if not better than, Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, or Margaret Atwood. So, what's so bad about popular literature?

Chris Marsh

5 December 2000