Teaching Life Writing (as an Alternative to Fiction) in the Literature Classroom

Adventist English teachers have a long history of defending fiction. This is in response to challenges brought by students, parents, and church members who say Ellen G. White condemned the reading of fiction.¹ While a number of Adventist English professionals have spent many pages arguing that Ellen White’s comments on fiction have been misunderstood—as well as many pages discussing the merits of fiction—I’d like to present an alternate perspective. My aim is neither to argue for nor against fiction, since many Adventist English professionals and scholars have already shared similar arguments (see Sidebar 1). Instead, as a conscientious Adventist who still places confidence in Ellen White’s writings, I’d like to do several things: First, I’d like to revisit a few of Ellen White’s comments that once troubled a younger me, see what wisdom I can gain from them today, and urge all Adventists, but especially Adventist English teachers, to choose literature with care—whether they choose fiction or non-fiction. Second, as a (writing) professor who teaches mainly general-education literature classes—that is, I teach literature to primarily non-English majors—I want to present a type of non-fiction literature that I have found to be my best tool for creating courses that can benefit the greatest number of students: Life Writing.

Life Writing is an umbrella term encompassing autobiography, biography, memoir, diaries, letters, or any non-fiction writing about an individual’s life. In this article, I refer to the more literary and audience-focused varieties of Life Writing, such as autobiographies and memoirs. Although these genres themselves are not new, the term “Life Writing” is gaining new scholarly attention because it allows teachers to include writers of all backgrounds in the ever-changing canon.² For English teachers and scholars, a Life Writing approach opens doors to texts by many previously unknown and unstudied writers, including women, people of color, and both religious and non-religious writers throughout history—an exciting possibility for English professionals who are looking for new ways to “do” literature (see Sidebar 2).

For Adventist English professionals, an additional benefit of Life Writing is that it offers a gold mine of previously noncanonical literature, much of it written with literary beauty and also compatible with Ellen White’s comments on literature—comments that, at some point or another, are bound to challenge literature teachers in Adventist schools. For me, such challenges came even earlier than my teaching career, and I will include some of them in this article to make my argument.

A Young Adventist English Major Encounters Ellen White

My troubled thoughts on literature all started around age 20, when my mom sent me, a young English major, The Ministry of Healing by Ellen White. When I read the chapters on literature that Mom had bookmarked, I promptly became troubled.

What were Ellen White’s comments that upset me? Briefly, she stated that literature written by “infidel authors” (or non-Christians) should have no place in true education.³ Referring to Greek tragedies and other classics, she wrote that this kind of education, in requiring time to study dead languages, neglected preparation for “life’s practical duties,” such as parenthood and becoming Christlike examples in the home and public spheres.⁴ Referring to fiction at large, especially romance novels or “frivolous, exciting tales,” Ellen White wrote that such reading “encourages the habit of hasty and superficial reading merely for the story”; “creates a distaste for life’s practical duties”; and ultimately “destroys interest in the Bible,” which, for the Christian, should be the ultimate text of study.⁵

Finally, Ellen White targeted myths and fairy tales, saying that the ideas presented therein “impart false views of life and beget and foster a desire for the unreal,” thus “[diverting] the minds of old and young from the great work of character building” and “[preventing] them from obtaining a knowledge of those [biblical] truths that would be their safeguard.”⁶ A careful reading of these comments reveals that Ellen White did not claim that fiction in and of itself was wrong; rather, her foremost criticism of certain literature was that it distracted Christians from what they should be doing instead.

At my particular Adventist university, these questions were not often raised in class, so I carried them into my Master’s and doctoral degrees years later, writing a seminar paper and then a dissertation chapter on this topic, trying to figure out my stance on Adventist Christians and literature.

Some Responses to the Fiction Question

During research for my Master’s degree, I discovered that Ellen White wasn’t the only religious writer to criticize literature and that Seventh-day Adventists are not the only denomination to struggle with this issue. As I studied the topic of “Christians and Literature,” I found plenty of scholarship from other Christians.⁷ One common argument I found from these scholars was that fiction is useful because it allows us to understand the perspectives of others we, as Christians, are called to help.⁸ Another argument holds that fiction allows us to encounter and think through difficult scenarios in a safe environment.⁹ Still, another argument holds that fiction allows us to develop critical-thinking skills, including comparing a Christian worldview with other worldviews.¹⁰ In other words, these scholars make a strong case that certain forms of fiction belong in and add value to literature courses.¹¹

I completely agree that fiction can add value to English classes—and to life—by inviting readers to encounter ideas, experiences, people, and situations not available in everyday life. I am poorly traveled but well-read, yet my reading has given me a fairly broad experience of the world. However, as an adult and an Adventist English professional, even though I agree with these arguments, I find myself continuing to grapple with what literature to teach in my classes.¹²

I realize English professionals will never completely agree on what literature to teach in our classrooms. However, for professors who profess Adventist Christianity, we must, to uphold our own integrity, give a serious ear to Ellen White’s comments, as well as the biblical injunction to fill our minds with what is lovely, pure, and true (Philippians 4:8). We also ought to check in regularly with the guidelines for choosing literature provided by the Adventist Church (see Sidebar 3).¹³

My Reading Background

I developed a love for literature through reading fiction. Some of my best memories growing up come from reading “exciting stories,” some of which I’m sure Ellen White would have condemned. My parents were new Adventists still trying to figure out the mechanics of the Adventist home. It’s hard doing life in a way you’ve never done before—just like it's hard teaching differently than you were taught. So, I inherited a home full of the books, music, movies, sports, and media my parents grew up on.

Somewhere amid my profuse media exposure and mounting challenges in my home, I began to question the potency of our faith. Of course, I continued to love fiction. Good things happened in the fiction I read. Bad things happened in real life. So, I numbed myself through my coming-of-age years through fiction. In college, I quelled major depression and suicidal tendencies with mind-numbing 18-credit semesters and 30-hour workweeks. By the time I started my first job teaching high school English, I realized that I could no longer hide in fiction. I had to face some serious realities. I fell on my knees after an excruciating first year of teaching, and I begged God to give me a new mind because my mind was literally bent on self-destruction.

New and Renewing Reading Habits

As I pleaded for God to change me, He answered that I also needed to change some things. Because I struggled with self-destructive thoughts, I had to change my reading habits and my media habits at large. So, I purged music, movies, and books—including some literature anthologies from my bachelor’s degree. I turned to the Bible, and, providentially, I turned to true stories. To be more specific, I sought out autobiographies and memoirs of people (some Christian and some not) who faced hard times and who overcame them or who grew up to do great things despite traumatic childhoods. Although I didn’t know the correct technical terms at the time, I was discovering the power of Life Writing. In my case, reading true stories of real people who had surmounted depression, despair, and even death, as well as coming-of-age stories where the protagonist finds his or her purpose in life, became a lifeline to hope. I began to imagine that such was possible for me.

Of course, this was a process of trial and error over some years. Just because a story is “true” doesn’t make it uplifting. Many non-fiction books end in despair, celebrate evil, or, for many other reasons, don’t belong on the shelves of Christians. Unfortunately, in my search for answers, I also read some non-fiction books of that variety. So, I kept searching.

I started looking for true stories written by Christians. I found some, but not as many as I would have liked.¹⁴ So, I wrote and published my own.¹⁵ I decided then that a major goal of Christian English teachers should be to prepare students to write their own stories and testimonies and those of others: The world needs these stories! This is where reading and writing constitute a loop: The Bible says that by beholding, we become changed (2 Corinthians 4:18). I say that by reading and writing, we also become changed. As English teachers, we should carefully consider what literature we teach, both fiction and non-fiction, knowing it will influence the mindsets and characters of our students. Likewise, we should carefully craft our writing assignments. Who knows, we could be influencing generations of readers to come. Fortunately for me and my experimental ways of teaching, the field of English is currently changing to accommodate many new approaches, such as including more Life Writing in literature and composition courses.

Recent Trends in English Departments

The college English department is unique because there is no set course of study for each English major. Having recently completed my PhD in English, I know that what gets taught largely depends on field trends and instructor preferences. One current trend is that Western culture is out; diversity is in. The traditional canon, which includes mostly fiction—novels, short stories, plays—is not the giant it once was because these genres were historically dominated by white men from Europe and North America or those privileged with education, social status, and money. Now, the primary concern of many English professors and literary scholars is diversity, representation, and inclusion, opening the canon to ordinary, non-fiction genres—those historically available to women and people of color. This includes not only the more literary genres of autobiography and memoir, but also the lesser studied, and usually non-literary, genres of diaries, letters, and other personal documents.¹⁶ As I quickly discovered through graduate courses like Early Native American Literature, Early African American Evangelical Literature, and Early Modern Literature (in which we studied recipe books by women), Life Writing can be and has been written by anyone, no matter his or her race, class, or education level.¹⁷ As I also found out, religious Life Writing can be found in virtually any literary period one is studying—or teaching.

My graduate professors, then, were teaching Life Writing texts, including spiritual autobiographies, as a way of including minority writers.¹⁸ They were not teaching these texts to inspire faith in their students. However, as a Christian English professional searching for texts that could support my students’ faith, as well as bolster my own, I was inspired. With this new vista of Life Writing open to me, I was able to compile long reading lists of texts that were considered both “exciting” in the field of English and compatible with a Christian worldview. (View a sample Life Writing syllabus below).

Teaching Idea: What My Adventist University Is Doing

At Southwestern Adventist University, in Keene, Texas, U.S.A., we have decided to open this topic for investigation by our students through a new course called “Christians and Literature.” In the course, which I am currently teaching for the first time, students will read what Ellen White, Adventist literary scholars, and scholars of other faiths say about the topic of literature; they are also asked to articulate (“discuss and defend”) their own philosophy of reading, writing, and/or teaching literature in weekly class discussions and a 10-page capstone paper (see Supplement—insert link).

My goal as the teacher of this course is to give students the gift of time to work through some of the hard questions I was able to work through during my MA and PhD studies. In contrast with typical literature courses and literary analysis assignments, which have already decided for students what they should read, this new course asks students to go “meta”: to think about what we should really be reading in the first place. The course is designed so that my students will investigate the options, including fiction and non-fiction; think through principles for choosing literature; and support whatever they choose with an essay, much like this one, that blends research with personal experience to explain why a particular form(s) of literature holds value for them, and potentially for their own future students. For my students who are Christians, I also ask them to talk about how they will use their knowledge of literature to serve God and others throughout their lives.

Conclusion: Life Writing as an Alternative to Fiction

One of the main questions that drove my research into this topic was: What literature will be most beneficial to the greatest number of students? In response, I’ll offer a few additional questions. What would happen if Adventist English teachers could detach themselves from their formative influences, and face the question with an open mind: What should we read and teach? What if we stop looking at Ellen White’s counsel negatively (as prohibitions) and look at it in the positive? Using guidelines from Ellen White, the Adventist Church, and other Christians and scholars whom we respect, what excellent literature is available to us?

In some of her last recorded advice before she died in 1915, Ellen White wrote:

“We should advise the young . . . to take hold of such reading matter as recommends itself for the upbuilding of the Christian character. The most essential points of our faith should be stamped upon the memory of the young. . . . Our youth should read that which will have a healthful, sanctifying effect upon the mind. This they need in order to be able to discern what is true religion. There is much good reading that is not sanctifying.

“Now is our time and opportunity to labor for the young people. Tell them that we are now in a perilous crisis, and we want to know how to discern true godliness. Our young people need to be helped, uplifted, and encouraged, but in the right manner, not, perhaps, as they would desire it, but in a way that will help them to have sanctified minds. They need good, sanctifying religion more than anything else.”¹⁹

Along with Ellen White, I believe Adventist schools should have a different primary focus than secular schools. While Adventist educators share the common goals of virtually all educators to help students think critically, and to expose them to many and varied perspectives, we differ in that we place a Christian worldview at the center of our classes; we also differ in that we believe that we are not just preparing students for “service in this world” but also for “wider service in the world to come.”²⁰

In my experience so far, I have found non-fiction—specifically, uplifting true-life stories (often, but not necessarily, by Christians)—to be the most valuable to the greatest number of my general-education students. These true stories seem most likely to help students live in the real world, and true stories by Christians seem the most uplifting to me as the professor who has to live and breathe what I teach. Scholars and teachers at many public universities have already embraced Life Writing as a new way to “do” literature; maybe this is one trend from which Adventist English professionals should take inspiration.

Life Writing Sample Syllabus

This article has been peer reviewed.

Lindsey Rose Gendke

Lindsey Rose Gendke, PhD, is Associate Professor of English and Chair of the English Department at Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas, U.S.A., where she also serves as Director of the Writing Center. An experienced educator, Dr. Gendke has taught English at the high school and university levels. She has a Bachelor’s in English from Southwestern Adventist University, and a Master’s in Rhetoric and Composition and a doctorate in English Language and Literature from the University of Texas at Arlington (Arlington, Texas, U.S.A.). Dr. Gendke has authored three books: Ending the Pain: A True Story of Overcoming Depression, The Hidden Half of the Gospel: How His Suffering Can Heal Yours, and Brutally Honest (with Paul Coneff).