Prose
Teaching Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat
This particular story is short enough to be covered fairly swiftly in an overcrowded English curriculum, and has the added advantages of being generally attractive to older pupils, dating from before 1900, and being from another culture (American). Inclusion of this story here, however, does raise important questions about suitability of texts, with the corollary of what amounts to teachers' censorship of pupils' reading. This issue is likely to surface particularly with regard to pupils' personal reading, time for which is widely given (if, unfortunately, often withdrawn when the pressure mounts) within the English curriculum. Certainly, however, some reading matter could not be tolerated during lesson time, and each teacher or department – and, for that matter, school, including the library – must draw the line somewhere. The difficulties, though, are several: no English teacher wishes to seem intrusive or judgemental, or to deter possibly reluctant readers from texts which at least inspire some enthusiasm. Our own view is that such issues should be openly discussed within each class in the context of debate about the whole nature of reading and development of reading habits. In terms of texts chosen by the teacher for class study – including, possibly, The Black Cat – we must perhaps be still more careful, in that our choice may be taken to mean unqualified approval. Any text may offend somebody in the class, and we must be sensitive to this possibility. The important point is to plan a coherent and varied reading curriculum which then may include books dealing explicitly with violence or other potentially controversial themes. The violence in Poe's story, in fact, is not more lurid or disturbing than that found in Macbeth or King Lear, and it certainly raises significant, relevant issues about the world young people are growing up in. The story itself, featuring a nightmarish avenging return of the ghost of a murdered cat, is eminently suitable for class use for all sorts of positive reasons: not least its enduring popularity and its fertile possibilities for adventurous teaching and learning.
Nevertheless, the good English teacher must introduce the story carefully and sensitively. At only seven pages long, the story probably benefits from a thoroughly prepared 'performance' reading from the teacher, especially as, despite its several advantages, the story poses significant difficulties for pupils in terms of accessibility of language. There are many good reasons for making plans for textual study explicit and clear to pupils from the start. The teacher (and pupils, for that matter) may wish to deviate from the plan, and there should always be scope for improvisation in the English curriculum; if necessary, this sense of flexibility may itself need careful stating, and may involve a degree of negotiation with pupils. If one of the over-arching aims of any good teaching is to foster a sense of responsibility for learning in pupils themselves then this sort of negotiation can only be positive. A scheme of work for The Black Cat, then, for a Year 10 mixed ability group may look something like this, although the pre-reading activities, for obvious reasons, may be better addressed separately. Clearly, the English teacher will need to organise the activities appropriately to the needs of a particular group in terms of balance of activity and different ways of learning, and in the context of the overall English curriculum.
