The Search For Jesus

It’s not that hard to teach or at least demonstrate how to think in metaphors. One corollary is synesthesia, a concept kids readily get. If you actually discover a synesthesiast in class it is an opportunity for learning and wonder. Even at a metaphorical level you can demonstrate how permeable can be the divide between not only the senses, but the arts.

The Catcher in the Rye is the Great American Novel, or should be, although I’ve talked with kids who hate the book, and it’s usually a case of teachers forcing them to read for plot and symbol (both of which Nabokov advised against). Holden Caulfield’s red hat might touch off some free-associative metaphor, but

1. Teach in the Interstices

This might not work with really young or stupid kids, or if they’ve already been permanently damaged by a philistine upbringing, but it’s worth a try.

Kids love to get you off topic and they are never more attentive than when they've succeeded in deflecting you onto a digression. These occasions are utterly prime for teaching them something valuable, so you should always have something ready. For example, you could teach them a word like "interstices."

Write the word on the board and ask if anyone knows what it means.