The Atlantic Did Me Dirty
An English teacher who contributed to an Atlantic article on students struggling with long assigned readings claims the magazine distorted her views, reigniting arguments over how journalism fits sources into prewritten narratives. Commenters use her critique to probe deeper questions: whether smartphones and social media are eroding attention spans, if schools should still center the traditional (largely white, male) literary canon, and how much curricula should prioritize texts that reflect students’ own identities versus works that challenge them with older language, distant contexts, and canonical status.
Framing of the Atlantic Piece and the Substack Response
- Many see the Substack title (“did me dirty”) as misleading; the Atlantic article barely features the teacher, so some call it a bait‑and‑switch.
- Several argue high‑prestige outlets often start from a thesis and cherry‑pick quotes, but others think in this case the Atlantic did not obviously misrepresent the source.
- There’s broader criticism that modern journalism favors pre‑ordained narratives over open‑ended reporting.
Causes of Students’ Reading Difficulties
- One camp: smartphones/social media have clearly damaged attention spans; dismissing them as “old news” is seen as absurd.
- Another camp: phones matter, but curriculum, pedagogy, and culture (low value on reading, test pressure) are at least as important.
- Some note that any assigned reading schedule can drain joy, regardless of book choice.
Canon vs Contemporary and Representation
- Strong split over replacing or supplementing the “canon” (long, older, mostly white and male works) with newer, identity‑focused texts.
- Supporters say modern, demographically varied books better hook today’s students and still can be complex.
- Critics argue this devalues enduring works, weakens shared cultural reference points, and sometimes crosses into race/sex/age essentialism.
- Multiple commenters stress literature as a “door” to other lives, not a mirror; over‑insisting on characters “like me” is seen by some as narrowing.
Difficulty, Length, and Pedagogical Aims
- Debate over assigning very long 19th‑century novels: some love the digressions (sewers, whaling), others find them punishing and counterproductive.
- One side: struggling through hard, dense texts trains close reading and doing hard things you don’t choose.
- Other side: hitting kids with maximal difficulty too soon turns them off reading entirely; better to build stamina and pleasure first.
Language Change and Shakespeare / Older Texts
- Disagreement on how far adolescent dialect has drifted: some compare teens reading Shakespeare today to adults reading Middle English; others call this wildly overstated.
- Many note that glossed editions and classroom guidance have long been standard; some suggest modern translations for very old works.
Book Bans and School Libraries
- A long subthread disputes how serious U.S. school “book bans” are.
- One side: most bans target “pornographic” or graphic sexual content and are just curation.
- Other side: data suggest only a minority of targeted books are explicitly sexual; bans and vague laws chill access, especially for less‑privileged kids.
- Extent, sexual content definitions, and impact magnitude remain contested and largely “unclear” from available evidence.