How Changing Lives Through Literature Works
By Carolyn Labun (profile)

I have now facilitated two sections of Changing Lives Through Literature, and loved every second of it. It amazes me to come to class after teaching freshman students all day at my "day job" and meet students who regard sitting in a circle and discussing a work of literature as a joy and a privilege. I knew before I began working in this program what difficult lives these women have had and how complicated their present circumstances are. What I did not know was how enthusiastic they would be about participating in these groups, and how much they would affirm my conviction that reading and thinking about great works of literature offers real opportunities to reflect purposefully on our own lives.

I have found that, like my day students, these women do not always enjoy the texts when they read them on their own; but I have also discovered that after we discuss the reading in class, they invariably grasp it and enjoy it in ways beyond the reach of my younger, academically more advanced, students. As students, the women in the CLTL program bring much to the table: a real desire to connect with the texts and each other; an appreciation of the academic setting; a willingness to let the words of the text touch them and to share their responses.

I have found two readings that can work well in the first class. It is important to establish the right environment immediately in a small group, so what happens in the first class is truly critical, especially since each group meets only 8 to 10 times. The first of these readings that I would like to share is My Name Is Margaret, by Maya Angelou. This is a short story (it is a few pages long and could be read during class time, if necessary). Furthermore, its vocabulary, sentence structure, and plot are all easily accessible.

Perhaps it is a familiar story and doesn't need repeating, but it was new to me so I will summarize it: Angelou tells the story of how, when she was about 12 years old, she began to work as a maid in the home of a childless woman, Mrs. Viola Cullinan. For her childlessness, the young Maya pities her employer. However, one day as Maya (ironically, then called Margaret) serves her employer and her guests, one of the guests criticizes Mrs. Cullinan for using such a long name as Margaret, and tells Mrs. Cullinan, "'I'd call her Mary if I was you.'" So eager is Mrs. Cullinan to ingratiate herself with her friends that she does indeed begin to call Margaret "Mary." As Mrs. Cullinan continues to refer to Margaret as Mary, all of the young girl's pity vanishes and is replaced by a deep anger. The narrator (presumably the adult Angelou) comments:

"It was a dangerous practice to call a Negro anything that could be loosely construed as insulting because of the centuries of their having been called niggers, jigs, dinges, blackbirds, crows, boots and spooks."

Margaret's anger is deep and righteous. She yearns to quit but dares not; instead, she arrives late and leaves early and works as poorly as she can. Mrs. Cullinan ignores her insubordination and persists in calling her Mary. The climax occurs at the next tea party, when Margaret is called upon to bring out the lunch, presented in a treasured "casserole shaped like a fish." Upon hearing her false name called, Margaret picks up the tray bearing this treasured object (and two equally esteemed "green glass coffee cups") and as Mrs. Cullinan "rounded the kitchen door I let them fall on the tiled floor." Predictably, Mrs. Cullinan is devastated and collapses in hysterics, while Margaret flees through the front door, leaving the door "wide open so all the neighbors could hear" the screaming. The story concludes: "Mrs. Cullinan was right about one thing. My name wasn't Mary."

I use this story in several ways. First, as I always do, I invite participants to share their immediate reaction to the story. These vary, but students are universally sympathetic to Margaret. Then, we go around the table, and each member of the group shares whatever she knows about her own name and naming. We share nicknames we've had, common errors that people make with our names, even names we've been called. This is a non-threatening activity in that the sharing can be as intimate or simple as each participant desires. But everyone has something to say, and everyone likes to talk about her name.

After that, we discuss the story in more detail, and this discussion raises issues that will recur throughout our meetings. These are issues of identity, race, power, and gender, obviously. But less obvious, and perhaps more important, the story also raises issues of anger, retaliation, violence, and self-knowledge. The clearly adult narrator, Maya, seems to endorse the violent action of the child Margaret. The story also raises the issue of pity (as opposed to mercy) and the nature of justice, punishment, and forgiveness. Students have engaged in interesting debates as to whether the punishment Margaret inflicts on Mrs. Cullinan fits her crime.

That it is a true story adds to its power as an opening text and can provide the basis for asking students to write a narrative exploring a similar moment in their own lives. The emphasis on sharing names and naming stories works as both an icebreaker and a great mnemonic tool, but better yet, gives insight for all of us as to who we are and where we've come from. The issues raised are central to many of the texts we read in later meetings; that they are present in this story in such an accessible and non-threatening form helps set the stage for later discussion of more difficult works.