I would not hesitate to teach Obasan to high school students. In fact, my first exposure to Joy Kogawa’s work was in my grade 12 English class. We read only an excerpt from Obasan and it was my – and many of my classmates – first exposure to the disturbing treatment of Japanese-Canadians during WWII. For many years I actually wasn’t aware that the text we had read in class was only an excerpt, so I admit that I was quite excited to read the full novel.

My personal enjoyment of literature stems not just from the stories that are told or the entertainment of going on journeys with the characters. In my mind, literature is a great teacher of social, cultural, and political history. I’m a big supporter of integrating subject areas and feel that Obasan is a wonderful text to use in this way.

Obasan can be studied not just from a literature viewpoint, but also from a social studies and social justice view. History becomes more personalized and arguably more accessible for learners when it is presented in a narrative form. If a person becomes invested in the story, they are more likely to become invested in the events that motivated the story’s conception.

Kogawa’s novel could also be an interesting piece to use when talking about fiction versus non-fiction. Though Obasan is fiction, it reads very much like non-fiction. I would enjoy using this text as the basis for a discussion on using life experience in a creative way, as well as examining what elements make it feel like a true, historical account.

On a practical level, this discussion could be related back to essay writing. I believe that Kogawa’s novel is so compelling because she provides details and does not leave readers guessing or trying to puzzle their way through. This concept could be applied to essay writing in the form of gathering supporting evidence to back-up any points that are made in the essay. By providing relevant information, the author’s authenticity and knowledge do not come into question.

I’ve had to mull over Pi for quite a while as I’ve found myself going back and forth between whether I would teach the book, or wouldn’t teach the book. I think it’s a great novel to recommend if a student asks for an idea, but teaching it to a whole class? I’ve had quite the internal debate about it.

My hesitation stems from the amount of religious content. It’s well written and informative content, but it brings up so many issues that I’m not sure I would be able to answer in class. Specifically, I have a fear of being asked why Martel chose these particular religions. I don’t feel that I know enough about any of the religions to appropriately answer that question.

As a new teacher, I’m also hesitant to teach what could be viewed as a controversial text due to its religious content. At this point in my fledgling career, I would not want to jeopardize a chance at continued employment by teaching a text that could get a parent up in arms. Call it residual fear from childhood, but angering parents isn’t on my to-do list as a new teacher. That being said, my opinion changed the more that I thought about it. Would I teach this book while on a short term contract, trying to network and impress my way into a continuing contract? No, I wouldn’t. However, I think I would teach it as an established teacher.

I came to this decision while pondering the purpose of religion in the text and how it would have changed the novel had it not been included. Before concentrating my thought on it, the religious content seemed superfluous. I wondered if Martel could have chosen only one religion for Pi, thereby making the pious sections more concentrated and less weighty.

What changed my mind was the equal consideration that Pi gives to atheism. Martel did not dwell on this belief system as much as he did the others, but it is made clear that the only belief system that Pi does not believe in is that of the agnostics, since they have no belief at all. The conversation regarding passports to Heaven that Pi has with his mother speaks to this. Pi’s concern is knowing where he’s going – not the path he takes to get there. All the religions he practices offer a ticket to heaven, so why must he choose one if they all lead to the same place? In the same way, Pi believes that atheists will find a similar peace at death, due to their beliefs that they know what happens after death; believing in nothing is still believing in something.

Pi’s distaste for agnosticism is that it’s a belief in not having a belief, and it’s this notion that I believe makes the excessive pages on religion more palatable and meaningful as a teachable text. To me, the underlying theme of Pi is the importance of believing in something – whatever it may be. Pi doesn’t choose just one religion when he’s told that he must. Instead, he questions the necessity and reasoning behind the idea, forming his own beliefs as a result. With a group of teenagers who are being bombarded with conflicting messages from home, school, and the media, I think that development of this theme would be in line with the critical thinking learning objective required by the IRP.