The Key to the Bee

Akeelah and the Bee is a heart-warming tale of a young inner-city spelling phenom (Keke Palmer) who, with the assistance of her genius spelling coach with a troubled past (Laurence Fishbourne), goes on to win the Scripp’s National Spelling Bee. This story is not just about breaking down stereotypes and defying expectations, it is also a story about friendship, perseverance and hard-work. A less obvious lesson woven through this tale, and most pertinent to this class, is the understanding of words, their roots, their spelling and their meaning.
The turn in the story and the cementation of the relationship between the young student and the wise teacher comes when Akeelah decides that her previous notion that “big words come from people with big brains,” is erroneous and that in fact, “big words” come from “little words, Greek, Latin and French…” It is in understanding word etymology and morphology that one comprehends the meanings and spellings the words in the English Language. Fishbourne’s character points out that the other contestants are wasting time in trying to memorize words and definitions.
The key to the bee is understanding the rules that govern the language. This point is one that the student of Old English or any other language should consider; one will not understand or be able to comprehend and use a language without considering and understanding from what “little words”, kennings, archaisms, etc…from which it comes. Being a student of any language, including one’s own can be an intense and time-consuming process.