Mr. F and Bob Dylan are Cool as Hell
Spencer Taylor
ENGL 1100.47

My favorite English teacher, Mr. F, taught me in eleventh grade at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was more that just an ordinary teacher to me because he not only taught me how to be a better writer, but also changed the way I look at literature, like poetry, plays, and song lyrics. One of the main ways he influenced me was in the way I write. By telling me not everything has to go by a certain formula and encouraging me to try new styles of writing, he let me know that it is okay to write in my own style.

Every day when I came into class, there would be a topic on the blackboard that he wanted the class to write about. There was no specific way he wanted us to write. We could write free-verse poetry, dialog between people, a play, song, or anything someone wanted. By doing this assignment every day, I noticed that I got more comfortable with writing, and it became easier to put down on paper what I had in my head. Another way Mr. F helped me get more comfortable writing papers was by giving assignments with a wide range of topics to choose from. This would mean that I could write about something that I was interested in. It is always easier and more fun to do a paper on something I care about because it does not seem as much like work when I actually have something to say about the topic. Even if I do not know that much about the topic, if I am interested in the subject, I enjoy learning more about it.

The most obvious way my English teacher influenced the way I write was by teaching better grammar. He spent a fourth of the year on it, and even though I am still not too good at grammar, it did help a lot. There was also a huge amount of time spent on sentence structure and condensing our thoughts. We would be given a full page of sentences and have to shorten them to as few words as possible. This was a fun game that helped me to have more substance in my papers and less "filler." Again, even though I still have a lot of filler, it is better that it was before.

Mr. F not only influenced the way I write, but also how I feel about writing. Before, I hated any kind of writing, and I still hate writing papers, but now, after having Mr. Freidman as a teacher, I have found a new interest in poetry. He loved poems a lot and would read them to the class on a weekly basis. I had never listened to poetry before, and they had always seemed stupid to me, probably because my teachers before never read poems that I could relate to. After listening to a few of Mr. F’s favorite poems, I found myself wanting to read, and possibly even write, more poems. I had never before written poems just for fun. During the writing process, I realized that it was, in some ways, therapeutic and relaxing. Now, sometimes when I am bored or in a bad mood, I will actually write some poetry or songs, all thanks to my eleventh grade English teacher.

My newfound love of poetry made me broaden my musical interests as well. Before, I would only listen to the beat of the music and how good the artist's voice was, but now I find the lyrics to be far more meaningful. My favorite days in that English class were the ones when Mr. F would bring in some of his music and pass out the lyrics. He would mainly bring in CDs from musicians like Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Then, after he played the songs, we would interpret what the artist was trying to say to the listener. Now, I can see why some writers like Shakespeare and Dylan are said to be so talented, and I can appreciate them more. I think these lessons are the reasons why I am so into music lyrics now, and why I like Bob Dylan. Because Mr. F introduced me to Dylan, he can take some credit for the effects Bob has had on me.

No matter the situation the listeners find themselves in, there is always one of Dylan’s songs that make it seem like he was in the exact same situation when he wrote that song. For example, after my boss has been an ass, I can listen to "Maggie's Farm" when I get home and somehow when I hear the words

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.
No, I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.
Well, I try my best
To be just like I am,
But everybody wants you
To be just like them.
They sing while you slave and I just get bored.
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.
it just seems to make things better because I know that I am not the only one who has felt that way about work.

One of my favorite lines in all of his songs that always makes me feel good when I hear it is, "Don't think twice it's alright." It's simple, but it keeps me from stressing out. It makes me feel like no matter how bad things are, they will always get better. I know that this is not how it is supposed to be taken, but when I take out of context, that's how it is to me. I even used that for my senior quote in the school yearbook. One of my favorite Dylan songs is "Like a Rolling Stone." It is a rebellious song that shoots down people who think they are better than others just because they are rich, or something like that. When I hear lines like

You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
And now you find out you're gonna have to get used to it
You said you'd never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And ask him do you want to make a deal?
How does it feel?
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

it makes me realize that I should never act like I am better than anyone else, even if I think I am. Nobody likes people like that, and just because they may have more money than someone or a better education, it does not mean that they can treat others like shit. Things can also change. You never know if one day you will need their help on something. So, by listening to this song, it makes me realize that people should be nice to everyone, no matter the circumstances.

There is another Dylan song that is about dealing with people who are not nice like they should be. It's called "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35." When I first heard this song, I did not understand what he meant by "getting stoned." Now I know that he means getting criticized, and it all makes sense now. The song goes like this:

Well, they'll stone you when you walk all alone.
They'll stone you when you are walking home.
They'll stone you and then say you are brave.
They'll stone you when you are set down in your grave.
But I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.

After listening to it a few times, I finally got what he was saying. No matter who you are, sometimes in your life, you will have to deal with criticism. Dylan uses the word "stoned" because he is relating the criticism to how it was in Biblical times when people would get stoned as a punishment for having done something wrong. It may be because they are jealous or they are in a bad mood or they are trying to help. It will happen to everyone, and listening to this helped me to take criticism better because it does not seem so personal. I do not even think Mr. F knows how much of an influence Dylan has had on me, or even that he was the one who introduced Dylan’s music to me. I am glad he did, though, because Dylan is one of my favorite artists now.

Mr. F did not only have a big influence on me because of the things he did, but mainly how he did them. I think he got me to pay attention and come to class because we had a lot of things in common. It is easy to learn when a teacher puts things in a way that students can relate to. For example, we have the same kind of personality. Both of us are very laid back and mellow. He would never raise his voice and would not have to because he earned his respect from his smarts and kindness. The cleverest idea he used to teach his classes is be using music and movies to teach high school kids rather than books. Nobody wants s to go to a class and read from the book all day. I looked forward to his class because we would listen to music that I would listen to outside of class. I also think he had a big influence on me because I went to a private school. That means he had very little restriction in the ways he could teach us. We were allowed to see movies and read books that public school students would never be able to read, and Mr. F did not have to go by such a strict curriculum. All in all, he was, by far, my favorite teacher, and I am glad I got the chance to write a paper on him.