I came away from my high school English classes with an aversion to classic literature, although that was more due to the way they were taught than the content. (However, I will never read Thomas Hardy again.) The teachers had a tendency to dissect the books down to the symbols/themes, which took a lot of potential enjoyment out of reading.
I'll be fine. I'll be your bounty, Jubal Early. And I'll just fade away.
River ,'Objects In Space'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Sheryl - Jan 14, 2014 12:23:56 pm PST #21882 of 28365
Fandom means never having to say "But where would I wear that?"
Kate P. - Jan 14, 2014 12:49:17 pm PST #21883 of 28365
That's the pain / That cuts a straight line down through the heart / We call it love
This is reminding me, too, of the parent I spoke to in my library a month or two ago. She was looking for recommendations for her daughter, who she said wasn't much of a reader. She said the girl mostly liked to reread books over and over: Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, etc. I was happy to give her some new books/series to try, but I also suggested (gently) that it was actually OK if the kid just wants to reread her favorite books over and over, especially if the end goal is to have a kid who likes to read. (What I didn't say was, "I'm pretty sure telling a kid she shouldn't be reading the books she loves is a great way to turn her off reading for pleasure.")
erin_obscure - Jan 14, 2014 2:35:56 pm PST #21884 of 28365
Occasionally I’m callous and strange
That article is the exact opposite of my experience with reading as a teen. I inhaled novels and found nonfiction utterly uninteresting. Real people's lives? Booooooring.
erin_obscure - Jan 14, 2014 2:35:57 pm PST #21885 of 28365
Occasionally I’m callous and strange
Pix - Jan 14, 2014 2:41:33 pm PST #21886 of 28365
The status is NOT quo.
I think the English teachers just presume that everybody is miserable in high school and need literature that validates that. But Emmett is not by nature miserable.
Ouch.
Kat - Jan 14, 2014 2:45:17 pm PST #21887 of 28365
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
I only teach nonfiction and I love it. (Not in AP lit obviously). We do mostly text sets and the occasional full length non fic. To prepare most kids for college non fiction is way more relevant. As part of class, kids read full length works of whatever outside of class, mostly fiction. I have less if an issue with nonfiction than with a strict adherence to the canon. But my course title is Expository Reading and Writing. It is the only 12th grade option other than AP Lit. Unlike Emmett's school we don't do a lot of issue novels. We just finished Pygmalion and The Importance of Being Ernest.
Amy - Jan 14, 2014 2:45:21 pm PST #21888 of 28365
Because books.
David, which books would you suggest instead? Where are these happy happy joyful books?
Kat - Jan 14, 2014 2:46:48 pm PST #21889 of 28365
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Pygmalion!
Kat - Jan 14, 2014 2:48:12 pm PST #21890 of 28365
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Handmaids tale has a relatively redemptive ending too.
Kat - Jan 14, 2014 2:48:52 pm PST #21891 of 28365
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
For a dystopian novel that is.