My students studied The Giver when our school went to distance learning, and if it taught them anything—if Lowry, Orwell, Bradbury, Burgess, and the like teach us anything—it’s that words matter. And while dystopias can speak to that reality with a sharp, incisive voice, other great works also teach us this lesson. Look beyond literature and you’ll still hear the truth. Music, movies, presidential debates, global addresses, the voices of the famous, the TikTok stars, the influencers—they all shout the central fact that words are central to who we are, though the message may come through at a different tone or a different frequency depending on the medium. Despite these variances, however, the fact remains: words matter.
Newberry winning author Madeline L’Engle says it this way: “We think because we have words, not the other way around.” I would go on to argue that we think what we think because of the words we have. They are a crucial part of how we perceive and interact with the world around us, which raises some important questions about our students and their lexicons. What language are they incorporating into their vocabulary? Who are they getting it from? Where are they using these words in their daily life? Why do they need that language in the first place?
Obviously each of those questions could be written about extensively by people with more and higher degrees than what I have, but I think they’re important questions for us—specifically English teachers, but also parents, administration, etc.—to consider as we give our students the gift of vocabulary, especially when that vocabulary comes primarily in the form of books. What do we do with Twain’s use of derogatory language when describing Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? Or Lee’s use of the same word in To Kill a Mockingbird? Alternatively, are we introducing students to positive words like Kwame Alexander does when he contextualizes the word “pulchritudinous” in his knockout book, The Crossover. We are shaping our students’ minds in a multitude of ways simply by giving them one book over another, not to mention how we then go about discussing those books with our own value-laden language. We must think about the words we give to future generations, weigh them carefully and thoughtfully as we teach them how to do the same.
So let me encourage you, then, as the school year unfolds, to think about the language you are giving your students; be careful, too, to teach them how to think about the language they’ve been given. You are giving them the tools they need to craft their language into something beautiful, precise, and applicable to their own lives, but you are also providing them with bucketfuls of words, wonderful and powerful. Remember them. Give, generously.
If you’re curious…
One of the ways I like to teach my students about the how people use language is by analyzing famous speeches. With proper context, this can give students a strong sense of the power that words have for shaping beliefs and spurring action. Some of the resources I use can be found here.
Write with a Point 