Consider This: Mango
I have been told by my HSC son that there will be a new, enduring meme for his generation that involves mangoes. He introduced me to the poem Mango by Ellen Van Neerven and the controversy surrounding the ensuing memes and criticism the use of the poem in the HSC English Exam gained. The first of the meme images apparently appeared on the HSC Facebook group only 10 minutes after the students walked out of the exam room. There was a lot of anger.
Most of the controversy has circled around claims of racism, but I asked my son if students were even aware the poet was indigenous. And then if the poet, herself, had given authority for the poem's use - especially since she then received so much criticism from students.
But why the anger? Students didn't understand the poem. They didn't see its relevance. They couldn't interpret it the way the examiners expected in the limited time given. Their teachers had not prepared them properly. They were STEM students... There are many reasons. I'm sure there were some students who loved this poem and could wax lyrical about it and relate it to any topic given to them. But what about those who see not the grey of life but the black and white? Those STEM students.
When I read the poem (which was supposed to be linked with the Area of Study: Discovery) I wondered how the poem related to the topic. I believe the poet herself when asked (in what I thought was a very polite tweet) how she thought it related to Discovery replied "IDK LOL" [I don't know. Laugh Out Loud].
So the poem: Mango by Ellen van Neerven
eight years old
walking under the bridge
scrub, swamp
abandoned machinery
insides of tennis balls
bits of fences
meeting the boys
at the dam
bikes in a pile
skater shoe soles
not cold in
never is
boys talking about mangoes
slapping water
some have never had one
listen to the taste
the squeeze of a cheek
dripping chins
a dog jumps in
they pull on tufts of hair
fill ears with mud
breeze full
clouds break
they remember my birthday
is tomorrow
While I am no poet and don't really appreciate poetry, as such, I can sort of appreciate this poem. I can see the imagery and the scenes it describes. BUT I don't really see it in the context of an exam question on Discovery. It does, though highlight, for me, the disconnect that STEM students feel when it comes to reading and interpreting English texts.
My son couldn't appreciate this at all. To him (as it was to me for SO long) this is not a poem. It has no grammar, no punctuation, no rhyme. Fair enough. This is true. So what are teachers doing in trying to help students understand and appreciate all forms of poetry? I really don't like free form poetry and find it, myself, an excuse for poor grammar and poor rhyme, because I know there is another art going on - one that I cannot see, nor understand. Having just read another person raving about how wonderful this poem is in terms of imagery and rhythm, I still can't find the poem to my liking. And all poetry is like that. Thankfully I don't need to subject myself to poetry unless I choose to. HSC students have it thrust upon them and usually in a way where they are expected to "get it".
Discussing the need for English in the HSC with my sister-in-law, I lamented that students who are good at English don't have to take Maths (although they will soon) and, if they do, it doesn't have to count in their ATAR (entrance mark for Uni). But those who are STEM students and not good at English have to not only take English (at quite a sophisticated level) but also HAVE to count it in the ATAR. This is not fair.
My SIL commented that there needs to be some sort of English level that equates to General Maths (my son says there is such a subject but it is not an ATAR subject - which makes me think What the...?).
It always brings me back to the same thing... we are teaching English to STEM students in the WRONG WAY! It's like this diagram:
https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg...
"For fair selection everyone has to sit the same exam: everyone climb that tree." And there is a monkey, penguin, elephant, goldfish, seal and dog all lined up to take the test.
For a fair system, everyone has to take the same course and everyone has to count it. But only in English.
We also need to examine the way we teach English AND the teachers who present it to STEM students. English teachers don't think the same way as STEM students. Find some really gifted STEM teachers, train them as English teachers and set them loose!
Most of the controversy has circled around claims of racism, but I asked my son if students were even aware the poet was indigenous. And then if the poet, herself, had given authority for the poem's use - especially since she then received so much criticism from students.
But why the anger? Students didn't understand the poem. They didn't see its relevance. They couldn't interpret it the way the examiners expected in the limited time given. Their teachers had not prepared them properly. They were STEM students... There are many reasons. I'm sure there were some students who loved this poem and could wax lyrical about it and relate it to any topic given to them. But what about those who see not the grey of life but the black and white? Those STEM students.
When I read the poem (which was supposed to be linked with the Area of Study: Discovery) I wondered how the poem related to the topic. I believe the poet herself when asked (in what I thought was a very polite tweet) how she thought it related to Discovery replied "IDK LOL" [I don't know. Laugh Out Loud].
So the poem: Mango by Ellen van Neerven
eight years old
walking under the bridge
scrub, swamp
abandoned machinery
insides of tennis balls
bits of fences
meeting the boys
at the dam
bikes in a pile
skater shoe soles
not cold in
never is
boys talking about mangoes
slapping water
some have never had one
listen to the taste
the squeeze of a cheek
dripping chins
a dog jumps in
they pull on tufts of hair
fill ears with mud
breeze full
clouds break
they remember my birthday
is tomorrow
While I am no poet and don't really appreciate poetry, as such, I can sort of appreciate this poem. I can see the imagery and the scenes it describes. BUT I don't really see it in the context of an exam question on Discovery. It does, though highlight, for me, the disconnect that STEM students feel when it comes to reading and interpreting English texts.
My son couldn't appreciate this at all. To him (as it was to me for SO long) this is not a poem. It has no grammar, no punctuation, no rhyme. Fair enough. This is true. So what are teachers doing in trying to help students understand and appreciate all forms of poetry? I really don't like free form poetry and find it, myself, an excuse for poor grammar and poor rhyme, because I know there is another art going on - one that I cannot see, nor understand. Having just read another person raving about how wonderful this poem is in terms of imagery and rhythm, I still can't find the poem to my liking. And all poetry is like that. Thankfully I don't need to subject myself to poetry unless I choose to. HSC students have it thrust upon them and usually in a way where they are expected to "get it".
Discussing the need for English in the HSC with my sister-in-law, I lamented that students who are good at English don't have to take Maths (although they will soon) and, if they do, it doesn't have to count in their ATAR (entrance mark for Uni). But those who are STEM students and not good at English have to not only take English (at quite a sophisticated level) but also HAVE to count it in the ATAR. This is not fair.
My SIL commented that there needs to be some sort of English level that equates to General Maths (my son says there is such a subject but it is not an ATAR subject - which makes me think What the...?).
It always brings me back to the same thing... we are teaching English to STEM students in the WRONG WAY! It's like this diagram:
https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg...
"For fair selection everyone has to sit the same exam: everyone climb that tree." And there is a monkey, penguin, elephant, goldfish, seal and dog all lined up to take the test.
For a fair system, everyone has to take the same course and everyone has to count it. But only in English.
We also need to examine the way we teach English AND the teachers who present it to STEM students. English teachers don't think the same way as STEM students. Find some really gifted STEM teachers, train them as English teachers and set them loose!
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Consider This
Read about the exploits of an Emerging Writer and insights into writing.
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https://www.spectator.com.au/2017/10/...
I will copy and paste just a few lines of this post above, in case it disappears from the interweb:
Madi Haynes says... "the poem is supposedly based on the sexual assault of an eight-year-old child, and HSC students are being asked to explore the ‘delightful discovery’ within the text."
Then says: "Evelyn Araluen created a live video on another platform and explained the entire poem and thesis behind it, so it’s not actually my analysis of the poem that alludes to the sexual assault, it’s Evelyn’s."
Mark Powell, the author of the internet piece then goes on, "Evelyn Araluen, herself a literary academic, as well as a close personal friend of the author, does clearly confirm that the poem is comprised of sexual innuendo and hence the assault of an eight-year-old child."
So, did the academic as NESA who chose this poem fully appreciate:
1. the context of the poem (van Neerven is indigenous and she identifies as queer - not that the latter is perhaps relevant, but maybe)
2. the meaning of the poem (mango is an indeigneous euphemism for sex)?
Did they understand the poem?
The fact that the author was not told the poem was being used and in what context makes this even more reprehensible.
1. If the author had been contacted and her permission sought once the context of use was explained, would she have indicated how inappropriate it would have been to ask students to find the "delightful discovery" in her words? I would hope so.
2. It left the author open to the anger, frustration and abuse that followed. Again, I don't condone it, but find it understandable under the circumstances.
3. It left vulnerable students who may have fully appreciated the meaning of the poem very exposed and perhaps traumatised!
The poem in the exam was given no context, no indication of the author and her context NOR any reason the poem was penned. These are all key to the full understanding of the poem.
AND HENCE should NESA/BOSTES be allowing the use of unseen texts in the HSC exams? Students should be allowed to understand the full history and meaning of a poem before they are left to comment on it.
I'm thankful my son decided that of the three unseen texts he could choose from to comment on he did not choose this one.