The Power of the Discworld · Tue Sep 12, 21:08 by Eleri Straker
I discovered the joys of Terry Pratchett’s novels a long time ago. Through the colour of Magic and the light of the Fantastic, I was sucked into the Discworld and have stayed there ever since.
I found in his wonderful character, the redoubtable Granny Weatherwax a superb female role model, and in his finely crafted Commander Samuel Vimes, a character of ‘infinite jest’.
I read Pratchett for pleasure. He makes me laugh with his skilful spoofing of the traditional sword and sorcery fantasy genre and pause to think when I read the philosophical musings and astute social comment of the later books. I never thought however, that in the Discworld I would find a teaching aid.
While working in the special needs department I found myself dealing with teenage boys who were disaffected and bored. Some could not read, at least, not very well. So one day, struggling with one particularly recalcitrant student, I dug into my bag and drew out my battered copy of Johnny and the Dead. (OK, not a Discworld novel, but a story full of the usual Pratchett wit and warmth). I put the book down in front of the boy and began to read.
Gradually the boy was reading alternate paragraphs with me. It was slow and painful, but he actually began to smile at the endless jokes and I knew that half the battle was won.
Over the next few years, Johnny turned up regularly for lessons and the magic continued to work.
I then introduced Wyrd Sisters to a fast pace year nine group. It’s the story of Macbeth and the brighter students find the links with the Bard fascinating and funny. When they read:
“When shall we three meet again?”
“Well I can do next Tuesday,” they see the humour and the fun begins as they start Macbeth-spotting in the novel.
What is really interesting is that I have found that the students that read Pratchett, are often the ones who do well in English. This is probably because reading Pratchett requires imagination and a willingness to not only suspend ‘unbelief’, but to kick it into touch! Pratchett’s prose is closely packed with wit and wisdom and it is only too easy to miss out on the fun by attempting to skim read. Every word needs to be read, as the language is rich with metaphor and magic. The student that manages to read a Discworld novel learns about the use of figurative and metaphorical language, about the stories in literature (Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Phantom of the Opera etc etc…) and all about true storytelling. In fact, one of the books, Witches Abroad, is a fascinating and very funny meander into the essence of stories and how they are created (I can’t read Dracula now without grinning madly when I remember what Pratchett did with garlic and a very angry tomcat).
Of late I’ve taught one of Pratchett’s more ‘child friendly’ books, (The Amazing Maurice and his educated rodents) to year 7 classes. It’s a re-telling of the story of The Pied Piper of Hamelin and works very well along side that poem. But there’s a darker edge to the Pratchett tale. On the surface it’s an enjoyable romp for children, but it’s also a rather edgy, dark tale, sinister enough to appeal to adults. And of course, the fact that the book appeals to both adults and children is the mark of a well-crafted novel.
I’ve read somewhere that the author himself finds it rather bizarre that his work is sometimes accused of being literature, but whatever it is, it’s a good read and a really useful teaching tool and I shall always be grateful that once upon a time I found the Discworld.
In praise of ‘trash’ The long and the short and the tall - part 2
