MHS Teacher Greg Woodruff On Special Effects, Detective Thrillers and the Classics

Seen in the Dec. 3 edition of the “What I’m Reading & Watching” newsletter, Greg Woodruff owns up to binge-watching The Wire and overspending on suspense novel downloads.

Woodruff has been teaching English at MHS since 1998. He added the courses Philosophy & Composition and Humanities to his offerings in 2009 and that same year was named the Humanities Teacher of the Year by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.

“I can’t distinguish between pleasure and work reading,” said Woodruff at his desk in a third-floor office at Montclair High with books and papers stacked around him. “It’s all the same to me.”

Woodruff recently listened to “The Problems of Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell on his iPhone which introduces the theories of Plato, Descartes, and others. He cites this title as one that has an erudite quality about it.

“I’d read an excerpt of the book somewhere,” said Woodruff. “And it made me want to read the whole thing. It’s helping me know more about philosophy.”

Woodruff chooses what to read next based on a subject, idea, or piece of writing that piques his curiosity. He sets out to learn more—even about a field you’d assume he—who teaches literary philosophy in many of his courses—would have pretty well covered.

“There’s always more to learn,” he said.

Woodruff is also listening to The Joy of Science, a work from the Great Courses series, because he’s, “never understood electrons.”

“I’m a slow reader,” said Woodruff as he explained why he often listens to books on iTunes. “But I do think the more you hear, the more you understand—even if you miss some things along the way.”

For Woodruff, listening to books is also a family activity. On a trip home from visiting friends on the St. Clair River in Ontario this summer, Woodruff and his wife downloaded three Dennis Lehane detective novels, including “Gone, Baby, Gone,” all set in Boston.

There’s a lot to be said for “getting lost in a narrative when you’re on a long car trip,” said Woodruff. “What does the author mean? Why is he describing that? It’s like eating soft ice cream.”

As for viewing, Woodruff loves movies with spectacular special effects, no matter how cheesy the storyline. He enjoyed Gravity and recently saw the Matthew McConaughey hit Interstellar in an IMAX theater.

“It was really fun, and the effects were great,” said Woodruff. “Although the plot devices were a little too convenient, and the theater was too loud.”

As for TV, Woodruff’s choices are often dictated by the women he lives with: his wife and daughter.

“Yes, I know what’s happening on Dancing with the Stars, and I could give you a pretty detailed overview of The Gilmore Girls,” he said.

Still, Woodruff leans toward storylines involving investigations, like Elementary, Sherlock and Castle. And he’s not above tackling an entire series in a short period. “In September my wife and I binged on The Wire,” he said.

Ultimately, though, the conversation returns to Woodruff’s classroom, and how impressed he is by his students.

“I teach dead people,” he said, “and often my students are surprised by how much they love, say The Iliad, Homer’s epic poem about the Trojan War. But Greek poetry and poetry are hard to get through, and I let my students know that it’s okay to find their own way in to the material. I tell them when we read Dante’s Inferno not to look at the footnotes. Instead ask yourself what the story means to you.”

He particularly enjoys teaching the work of René Descartes.

“I want to see if students ask themselves the same question as I do: ‘Why does he spend so much time on the mind-body distinctions?,’” said Woodruff. “It turns out the philosopher Descartes was really into science.”

But Woodruff knows not all classical literature is for everyone.

“Experts say great literature has universal appeal,” said Woodruff. “But if you’re not connecting to the work, the experts may be wrong. Some great literature is no longer accessible to us.”

Woodruff is now feeling an itch to dive into a long piece of writing, and so the 19th century Russian novel The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is next on his list. He’ll follow that with Sappho’s lyric poetry—for fun.

Information and Photo Courtesy of the Montclair Public Schools