Adding a Wrinkle in Time to Arizona’s Sixth Grade Curriculum Is Beneficial

I will admit, the first time I tried to read A Wrinkle in Time I was utterly confused. That was in third grade; once I reread this book in sixth grade, I instantly fell in love with it, and it changed my favorite type of book to science fiction. This book inspired me in so many ways and I think that A Wrinkle in Time should be an inspiration and love that can be shared with everyone.

A Wrinkle in Time has been a literary classic for 50 years. There are so many amazing scientific ideas incorporated and expanded upon in this text, the main one being the fifth dimension. The book questions that if we know that fourth dimension is time, what would be the fifth dimension? Madeleine L'Engle bases her novel on this question. She imagined that the fifth dimension would be "a wrinkle," which is basically a fold in the universe that can be used as a way to travel. It is based on physics and math. It roughly shows how huge the universe is, and how lucky young minds are to discover more (L'Engle). It is a spectacular science fiction book for young readers.

Adding A Wrinkle in time to the sixth grade curriculum will benefit Arizona schools. In the sixth grade this piece of classic literature is perfect for many things that the Arizona Common Core require. Once we enter high school, there is an abundance of classic literature, and this novel is a good way to ease students into that high school mode. According to Scholastic, this book is at a 5.8 reading level (A Wrinkle). This easier reading level is a non- threatening way to ease a student into the middle school mindset. A Wrinkle in Time is perfect for the fact that it has so many theories of science that are incorporated and duplicated in this book. For this reason, I think a middle school reading level of the student should be required because it helps them to understand what the book is relating to in terms of science.

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The Common Core Standards state that students should be able to; "Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing" (Common 37). Since there is a movie made from this book, this Arizona State standard can be fulfilled. There is also a very clear and distinct plot line that can be followed, which is part of the requirements for standard three. There are also state standards that can be met by any book; such as citing the book. That covers three out of the seven reading standards that are required throughout the whole year for sixth grade (Common).

When this book was published, there was a lot of controversy because the main character was a female. This strayed from the old fashioned idea that all science fiction books were written for boys and should have a male main character. It went through 26 potential publishers before it was actually published in 1962 (Pamela). Now, this sexist view has changed and is no longer an issue, but there is an issue regarding religion. In this book, one of the themes is good and evil. It explains some beliefs about religious aspects of Christianity. Many people say that it expands too much into religions and this can corrupt young kids who are not Christian. Also, many fundamental Christians feel the book does not expand enough on Christianity, and that because it has a fantasy feel, it is corruptive to young minds.

People may think that A Wrinkle in Time is a one-sided gender book. People think it is a feminist book because of the main character and how it reflects the ideas of young, teenage Meg or a male book because science fiction is normally a boy's category. The New York Times book review article states otherwise. Paul Pamela is the author of The New York Times article that argues "Half of 18- to 24-year-old men say that science fiction is their favorite type of book, compared with only one-fourth of young women, ... Yet there isn't anything inherently unfeminine about science fiction." A Wrinkle in Time is not for only one gender. It is just meant to be enjoyed by all readers, and it is a good way to introduce girls to the genre of science fiction.

This book might have religion in it, but many good books do. A parent cannot hide a child from every other religion except their own practiced one. It is good to expose the young to the world and that includes morality and religion. A Wrinkle in Time should be a requirement for the first semester of the sixth grade year. It meets and exceeds many of the requirements of the Common Core. This book opens up a new genre of books that otherwise often would not be explored and enjoyed by children, especially young girls.

References

1. Common Core Arizona State Standards for English Language arts & Literacy in History/Social
2. Studies, Science, and technical Subjects. N.D.: 36-7. PDF File. L'Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time. New York: Square Fish, 2007. Print. Pamela, Paul. 'A Wrinkle in Time' and Its Sci-Fi Heroine. The New York Times. January 27, 2012. Web. November 5, 2014.
3. "A Wrinkle in Time." The Stacks. Scholastic. 2014. Web. November 6, 2014.

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