Literacy Services Lecture Goes Victorian
For the 12th year, Dr. Elliot Engel was the highlighted keynote lecturer at the annual Kosciusko Literacy Services dinner held Oct. 29 at Noa Noa Wood Grill and Sushi Bar in Warsaw. An English professor in North Carolina, lecturer and author, Dr. Engel shared with the audience on Queen Victoria and the Victorian novel.
Cindy Cates, executive director, began the evening by sharing three of KLAS’ recent success stories. A young mother who was never read to as a child, explained Cates, is reading to her child thanks to KLAS’ Read to Grow Children’s Book Club. Her child, age 4, can now read simple books on her own. A student, who through KLAS tutoring in math, earned a GED, was promoted at work and is now taking college courses at Ivy Tech. And, a man who earned his GED while in jail thanks to KLAS, has perfect attendance at his new job and is determined not to return to prison.
“We will soon celebrate 20 years of breaking the cycle of poverty and illiteracy,” said Cates of KLAS. The organization’s mission is to increase the literacy levels of all citizens in the community by implementing innovative and comprehensive programs.
Dr. Engel’s anticipated lecture began with an explanation of why during Queen Victoria’s time, who ruled England for 64 years beginning in 1837, over 40,000 novels were written, despite a high illiteracy rate.
First, the earliest serial novel was produced during her rule. Charles Dickens began releasing his books in serial form, three chapters at a time. This innovation led to family reading time. Parents would read the newest section of the latest novel aloud to their children. Reading was really the only form of entertainment available during the Victorian period.
Second, the locomotive began being used in 1837. Rather than bumpy horse and carriage rides, the smooth train ride allowed passengers to read during their travels. Like families reading together, strangers on trains would also read aloud or listen to the latest novel.
Victorian novels, Engel explained, never included any sexual scenes. Instead, writers often led up to such a scene, but left the details to the imagination and thus created wholesome, but romantic, reading.
During this time, the female body was regarded with utmost reverence — female body parts below the neck were never mentioned, neither in novels nor in everyday conversation. Believe it or not, even saying “chicken leg” aloud was scandalous, and led to the widespread use of “chicken drumstick.”
The KLAS author dinner is an annual event. For more information on the group and their literacy programs, go to www.kosciuskoliteracyservices.org.