January Man Reflection

I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this book. The vernacular was difficult to understand at times but I found myself getting more and more used to it the further I read. The contextual clues were usually enough to help me understand the slang terms being used, although I wouldn't be surprised if I have to look a few things up before the end of the book. The main character is very average and the narrative has a very Holden Caulfield vibe, although I find Jason Taylor to be much more likeable. The author does a great job bringing you into Taylor's world including all the nuances of young teenage social hierarchy. He also does a great job of pulling you into the story quickly with hints of things to come, ie. the strange phone calls to his dad's office and the old lady in the woods. I also really like the alter-egos of the narrator and the way they were introduced, casually without a lot of explanation but in a way that makes it clear to the reader through their varying voices what their purpose is in the mind of Jason Taylor. So far, it seems like a great book for young adults, so far it's realistic and uncontrived; the author doesn't sound like an adult trying to sound like a kid. The underlying self-deprecating humor makes it an easy read for adults, entertaining without being boring. It might be a bit more difficult for American students to understand because of all the British slang and pop culture references to Britain in the eighties but I think it would still be a good book to use in the classroom with the expectation of a little added explanation on the part of the teacher in regard to references made in the book that students may not understand.

Thoughts on Chapter 1

Black Swan Green is a hard book to get into. I say that as both me and “teacher me” thinking about my students reading the text. Mitchell asks the (American? 21^st Century?) reader to acquaint himself with the totally unfamiliar dialect and idioms of a British village circa 1982. I found myself having to use context clues time and again to try to understand what the characters were saying. This kind of reading asks you to be active, engaged. We don’t have “sixth form” (15) as a grade level in the U.S., for instance. As a reader, I had to use the clue that Julia, Jason’s sister, is 18 to guess what that meant. (I actually Googled it to remind me about the British schooling system. I could only hope students would try to be resourceful in this situation.) By chapter’s end, I found myself much more comfortable reading. And I appreciated the fast-flying 80s pop culture references throughout. They leant an authenticity to the story and character—from musical references to the Human League to movie references to Superman II.

Mitchell also asks us to become familiar with the terminology and characteristics of Jason’s interior world. So far, we know that he has three inner voices guiding him: Hangman (who seems to control his speech for fear of his impediment), Unborn Twin (a source of self-deprecation and social anxiety), and Maggot (a kind of superego). I really liked the casualness with which these voices were introduced. It was up to the reader to discern their purpose and place in the story. I also think they may be a useful tool to track Jason’s growth over the course of the novel. Which voices take prominence? Why? How will and do the power dynamics shift?

Finally, one theme I predict may be explored in the text—and that I think would be interesting to keep in mind when teaching this to a class—is Jason’s (and maybe the village’s) idea of social hierarchy. He’s thought a lot about what makes someone accepted. For example, Jason tells us that “names aren’t just names” (5). Rather, whether a child in Black Swan Green has a nickname, is called by his last name, is referred to by his first name, or so on, all reflects his social standing. There’s a code these children abide by and to Jason, at least, it ultimately defines people as being either important or unimportant. I wonder how his conceptions of these classifications will change during the course of the narrative. What factors will contribute to these changes and what will be the signifiers?

chapter 1

My first impression of Black Swan Green was that it had a Catcher in the Rye vibe. The struggles of a junior high school/ high school student who is going through a lot in his life. He experiments with how to behave around his peers, although Jason doesn't seem nearly as self destructive as Holden. Jason is afraid to show his peers how smart he is for fear of how ostracized he will be. He also (like Holden) seemed to have one family member that seemed to care about him, his grandfather, and he keeps his grandfather's watch in a safe place just as Holden does with Allie's glove. I'm probably think along the lines of Cather because my hope is that if I were to teach Black Swan Green I would be pairing it with Catcher.
My prediction is that Jason has a traumatic past that he will have to deal with with some professional help. His father seems to have a separate life from the family he lives with.
My difficulties with the text so far arose from my thinking about how I would teach this. The British lingo, and references, slang, games etc... are all things I circled and have to/ had to look up. There are so many that part of me doesn't know if it will turn students off. It's like that old saying, a joke isn't a joke if it has to be explained. How much will an explanation of all of these terms take away from the text. I'm picturing my students rolling their eyes at all the explaining. All the slang and references also make me wonder how I can make it relatable and tangible to their lives. Jason and his friends play on a frozen pond in the woods. Not many of my students will have experiences like that. Playing stick ball or basketball in their neighborhood would be comparable, but I feel like I may be reaching.

January Man

I found myself having to reread the first several pages of “Black Swan Green” because of the colloquial language and Mitchell’s play with punctuation/form. I was asking myself who is this narrator and why I am having so much difficulty with this text? The novel is written in English but I am learning new words and idioms. In addition, there are many political and British pop culture references that I’m completely ignorant about. I felt similar to when I read Salman Rushdie for the first time because I was completely oblivious to a specific culture and its history. Nor am I familiar with how teenagers speak from England, specifically the West Midlands of England. But after reading the text aloud, I’m growing accustomed to Jason’s vernacular and slang.

I slowly warmed up to Mitchell’s novel. Jason resonated with me because of how funny and ordinary his life is. His bland and unremarkable name, Jason Taylor, says it all. I enjoyed Jason’s monologue when he decides not to correct Ross Wilcox: “I was dying to tell that prat that actually, if the Japanese hadn’t bombed Pearl Harbor, America’d never’ve come into the war, Britain’d’ve been starved into surrender, and Winston’s Churchill’d’ve been executed as a war criminal. But I knew I couldn’t (10). Jason feels somewhat ostracized, caught in limbo between the ‘cool’ kids and the ‘losers.’ I am reminded of Holden Caulfield in “Catcher in the Rye.” But I have a feeling that I’ll enjoy Black Swan Green more. I’m intrigued and curious about Jason’s father’s secret and who is calling him? And who is this enigmatic, old lady and her cryptic brother living in a cottage in the woods?