Scenario 1 Student Letter

For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. Albert Einstein In defense of the literature youve recently banned from your class, I would like to express my views to why and how Naked Lunch is appropriate for the classroom and a necessary read for all students learning English literature. First and foremost, as a student I morally have the right to learn and as a human, the freedom to explore. Naked Lunch is a novel that offers readers both a true literary challenge and the opportunity to exercise ones imagination. The novel deconstructs social boundaries and vividly recreates reality through the eyes of a torn conscious, weighted and shaved by the relentless tensions of modern civilization. To read Naked Lunch is to embark on an investigation of the political and cultural experience of America from angles too often left in the shadows that is as wandering as the culture itself. The explicit treatment of sexuality, drug use, and power is a crucial and longawaited method that engages the reader, allowing them to interact with disorder and speak the language it births. As a result: a bloom. Sometimes gentle and sometimes sharp, the rich text promises a firework that may catch your eye or may start a fire. In the following letter I will explain two major ways Naked Lunch serves well in your English class: the piece 1) broadens the intelligent mind and 2) frees the captive one, constructing an equipped writer capable of critical analysis.

Naked Lunch presents a healthy challenge and is a unique insight into the approach of a multi-dimensional author. Most authors play the role of the magnifying glass: closely focusing in and studying the microscopic details of story and characters. Burroughs does this, yes, however hes more like a child burning an ant with the sun, curiously playing with speech and diligently flaming his own creative contexts. The loose standards held together by a heavy purpose mashes into a wonderful prospect for the reader; a view through the keyhole of meaning and questionable forms of communication ending with the encouragement of total transformation of structure. But like a high, it doesnt last long and wildly I find that the average reader, frustrated or fascinated, may come out of this experience in fact a better writer with refined structure! (And maybe a poet.) The amount of concentration, patience, and keeping up this book requires is an exercise of the brain and a relief from standard form of practice. The challenge builds capacity to read and write and inspires students to revolutionize varieties of expression. With that said, on the professional end of things, universities and professions that value literature benefit and indeed search for students who are versatile with their skills and talents, words and wisdom alike. Naked Lunch is an experience no writer should miss simply because content is explicit or obscene. Such a decision would be obscene itself. Simultaneously the book embodies both a stream of consciousness and an ongoing commentary; each pushing the other along, unafraid to enter the most undiscovered ideas. To follow this thought process, accompanied by a

flow of opinions stabbing out at the reader left and right, seems at first revolting and uncomfortable. However, there is something great to be said about taking the ride with your hands up and eyes closed. The books tragic deviation of perspective can be surprisingly clearing and inspirational. For the lost, lonely, searching, unheard, tormented, disengaged, bored, unexcitable, or subjugated readers (English teachers know these folks as high schoolers), the entire operation of Naked Lunch is a colorful awakening and a giant paint splatter across the face of English literatures Mona Lisa. The intellectual impact is arousing and causes sparks into the readers own imagination and vibrant paths of thought; often a simple expectation in English courses but yet a hard deed to achieve. Lastly, the alternative direction of Naked Lunch aligns with the very values of Garza IHS itself; as in Naked Lunch is a non-traditional opportunity. In reading my letter I hope that you have found that Naked Lunch is in fact beneficial to ones education. Encouraging analysis of social customs and affirming a catalyst for honest self-expression beyond content and into format, the piece teaches us crucial life and literature based lessons. Naked Lunch essential teaches us to value critical thinking, open-minded discovery, and the ability to construct your medium as you convey your message. Please consider my conclusions and make available this unique book as an option of study for your students.

Sincerely, Gabi Padilla Dope Garza Student