School’s almost out for the summer, and to me, summertime is a perfect excuse to try learning and growing in new, fun ways. When I tutor students over the summer, I make a concerted effort to inject some fun into our work, so that it doesn’t feel like homework. We read fun or unusual books, or we put a twist on a project. Write a creative, narrative response to a work instead of an analytical essay, or go on a little “field trip” to find learning in unexpected places. I’ve recently devised a new fun “field trip” type activity, and I’d like to share it today.

But first, some background. I participate in a monthly “Bring Your Own Book” club, where each month we are given a topic and we each choose a book that relates to the topic to read and bring in. We always end up with a really interesting mix of genres and types of stories, all revolving around a theme (such as “books with animals as main characters” or “books that have inspired music”). Since I tutor high school English, I tend to gravitate towards the classics, and I’ve brought in such books as Watership Down and Ragtime in previous meetings.

Last month, our theme was “alcoholic writers,” and after a quick search for a list of popular writers who were alcoholic, I settled on F. Scott Fitzgerald. My initial idea was to reread The Great Gatsby, a classic I hadn’t read since high school but remembered enjoying. I headed to the library and quickly found the F’s, then found about half a shelf of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Reaching for Gatsby, my eye was suddenly drawn to the book snuggled up next to it on the shelf, a volume slightly larger than Gatsby and also by Fitzgerald. I picked it up and looked at the blurb on the back, flipped through a few pages, and took it home with me instead of Gatsby. That book was “The Crack-Up,” an anthology of essays, letters, and notebook jottings from Fitzgerald’s life. It turned out to be a much more interesting and exciting experience than simply rereading an old classic.

Fitzgerald wrote essays about living in New York during the jazz age at a time when the jazz age was scarcely even over – an essay from 1931 had the same sort of wistful tone we’d expect from a period piece written today. But by far my favorite part of the collection was “the notebooks,” a sequence of random jottings, bits and pieces, collected into categories that started with each letter of the alphabet. “C” was for “Conversations and Things Overheard,” “D” was for “Descriptions,” “E” was for “Epigrams and Wisecracks.” It struck me as an intriguing glimpse into the inner workings of an author plying his craft, and my experience as a dancer and choreographer made this behind-the-scenes look into his process resonate with me even more strongly. I know the feeling of having an inspiration strike you and feeling that “I must write this down right now or I’ll forget it!” urge. Many of the little bits and pieces had Fitzgerald’s distinctive gorgeous wording, and I could almost see the reason behind putting each piece into his notebook. Lots of them were examples of “that’s a perfect way to describe this,” or just “I like that turn of phrase.” Some of my favorites were the ones completely devoid of context, such as:

Impersonating 46 presidents at once.

I absolutely loved this collection, and the experience gave me a great idea for a new “field trip” activity. I call this one “Tangent to the Classics.” The rules are simple:

1. Head over to your nearest library and use the catalog to search for a classic novel you enjoy. It can be anything, really, so long as you enjoyed reading it.


2. Jot down the call number and head into the stacks as if you were going to check it out.


3. When you find the classic you searched for, don’t pick it up. Take a look at the books sitting to its immediate left and right. Read the blurbs on the back, flip through a few pages in the front, and choose one of those two books to check out.


4. Take it home and read it. If it’s by the same author as your classic, think about how this book changes your conception of the author and his work. If it’s by a different author, think about why it was located right next to the classic. Libraries have an organizational structure that generally puts similar books near each other. Why is this book tangent to the one you searched for?

Try this one out and let me know how it goes! I’d love to see your experiences in the comments. What are your reactions to reading a book that was tangent to a classic?