Rationale
Why detective fiction? "Everyone, it is said, loves a mystery . . . they give us a detailed scrutiny of . . . civilization by a highly moral, and highly observant mind caught in that garrulous and unguarded mood in which we all tell most about ourselves . . . Character . . . has consequences . . . influences events; . . . creates difficulties and . . . dissolves them . . . there is a balance between necessity and freedom . . . [and] the genre features a hero, the detective, whose existence is a mere function of the mystery he is solving, while that mystery is, in fact, a patent knowledge over which a veil has been drawn at the first page that cannot extend beyond the last. [This, then, is the detective genre -] a "metaphor for life" (Winks Critical Essays 1-3).
This being said, we can see the relevance of the subject to the student, a very necessary consideration in secondary education. If it has aught to do with them, it is worthwhile. If they think it does not, we're simply banging our heads against a very hard wall in our efforts to bring about a transfer of knowledge from us and the literature to them. It is not going to happen. They will resist until the bitter end, protesting against "empty" knowledge, against learning they term boring and completely unrelated to what they deem "real life." So, we give them a mystery. We give them something into which they can sink their teeth in order to pick it apart, detect its secrets and hazard an educated guess about who, what, when, where, why, and how. We give them the strategies - the sharpened dagger — with which to dig for and unearth these answers, these details; then they can painstakingly uncloak the clues, which are comprised in these answers, the same clues needed to solve all of the problems presented and to reveal the essential truths sought. Finally, we give them the opportunity to use what they have uncovered — these details — to create something new and original. Thus they become, themselves, the authors of fate, creators.
Before they become the creators, however, they need to know those things from which such life is fashioned. They need to know the parts of a mystery and the tools available to puzzle out its solution. This is the material which must be digested so that they can get the skills necessary for problem solving. This, then, is the "meat" which will allow them to use the skills developed to problem solve in any discipline and to become proficient in the process. This is where they will whet their daggers so that they are able to dig as deeply as possible in order to detect those details they need to proceed. This is where the study of detective fiction is turned into an effective educational aid which can be used across the curriculum. This is where the study of detective fiction leads to problem solving and becomes the essential objective, one which can be used in any area of education and, indeed, life itself. And the way to start toward this goal is to read something.
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