Essentially, tacenda means things that shouldn't be mentioned. I think that sometimes, writers (and people in general) go a little overboard on what needs to be said, or what a certain age group can handle.
Let me give you an example. I was at a Christian weekend camp, and the pastor was giving a sermon. They started talking about Jesus' death, and to explain it thoroughly, they played a long (I want to say 10-20 minute long) clip of The Passion.
Now, for those of you who don't know, The Passion is a movie emphasizing on Christ's last human hours. And it's rated R--for good reason. It does a great job showing what really happened then, but it is very gruesome.
I would say that it would probably be appropriate for people 16+. So, if it was just a high-school weekend, it probably would've been fine.
But there was more then just high-school students there. There were 6th, maybe even 5th, graders there--most of which were covering their eyes and looking the other way.
They weren't getting the message of "Wow, Jesus went through all of that for me--He must really care." They were getting the message of, "Oh my goodness, please turn this off before I throw up!!"
Sometimes, I think it's best to keep it simple. Try dropping small, yet clear, hints to your point--minds mature enough to pick up on it will get your meaning, but those too young for the message will skim right over it.
Christopher Paolini, for example, does an excellent job at this.
I hope that you found this useful!
~Elizabeth
No comments:
Post a Comment