Crutcher's Contemporary American Thought class gets pretty deep...

Ms. Lemry’s Contemporary American Thought class covers some pretty touchy subjects throughout the novel Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. The class is offered in the high school mentioned in the book, primarily for seniors such as Eric Calhoune and Mark Brittain. The course is designed to put the views and opinions of the student to the test by making them defend what they believe through projects and open debates. The class kicks off with a project about psychological or spiritual problems of the world and it receives some interesting topics and responses. One selected topic is about how the world looks good from a distance because you cannot see hunger and poverty, but when you come to earth you see that the world is not as good as it looks from a distance. The class really heats up when the focus of the curriculum shifts to the issue of the ethics of abortion. The students split into the leftist pro-life side and the rightist pro-choice side and then there are the “fence-riders” who have no particular opinion on the subject whatsoever but just enjoy antagonizing the groups that actually have an opinion. Characters of conflicting religions such as Mark Brittain and Steve Ellerby create a large amount of enmity on the abortion debate. As if that wasn’t enough, the middle sitters antagonize one character to the point that he seriously considers dropping the class, but he sits through the class when told his reason for dropping was not legitimate. The Contemporary American Thought sparks a large amount of hostility within the faculty, particularly between Ms. Lemry and Vice Principal Mautz, a very leftist, black-and-white kind of guy. He backs Mark Brittain’s religious views and moral character 100% and thinks the world of Mr. Brittain. He demands that the class be promptly terminated because some values and morals are being smashed because of the class, particularly the views that he shares. Lemry constantly reminds the Vice Principal that he is in charge of discipline and has no say in the matters of curriculum or the classes offered at the high school. The hot-tempered Mautz doesn’t take too kindly to his limitations, but he knows that Lemry is correct and that he can do absolutely nothing to terminate the course. His defeat certainly does not hinder him from loudly voicing his opinion and antagonizing other views, however. Mautz frequently sits in on the class to hear them discuss issues and topics, and he typically sits with arms folded and a frown on his face. He witnesses them discuss questions like “Do you think the world is a good place?” or “How do you feel about Sarah Byrnes and the situation she’s in right now?” Some students consistently give incredibly insightful and well-thought answers, and then there are those that give witty quirps for some comic relief, but their wit is well-thought also. Some students give speeches and use famous literature to back up their beliefs, while some even use songs and other media to convey their point to the class. Throughout the book, I anxiously awaited another installment Lemry’s class because I loved hearing the viewpoints and ideas that Crutcher covered in the course. Overall, I enjoyed the scenes involving Lemry’s Contemporary American Literature class and Crutcher did a fantastic job when dealing with such touchy subjects. The class scenes were usually juxtaposed to some heavy scenes, so the class helped to change the atmosphere of the novel from time to time. The mix of insight and humor stemming from the class was a great way to keep the reader engaged and lighten the mood at the same time.