Thank you again to everyone for your help this afternoon. I kept tweaking as I thought about the year, and this is final final list. And -t, I know you were probably kidding, but I'd be happy to tell you all what we're reading when in case you or anyone else would like to talk about the books here.
Debetesse gave me a great idea for a graphic novel to add, too.
Angels in America,
Tony Kushner: ISBN 1559362316
Death of a Salesman,
Arthur Miller: ISBN 0141180978
The Bluest Eye,
Toni Morrison: ISBN 0452282195
The Handmaid's Tale,
Margaret Atwood: ISBN 038549081X
Across A Hundred Mountains,
Reyna Grande: ISBN 0743269586
Best American Travel Writing of 2006,
Ed. Tim Cahill: ISBN 0618582150
American Born Chinese,
Gene Luen Yang: ISBN 1596431520
I reluctantly removed Gilman's
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress
(I think it's going to be a summer reading book if I teach this class again the year after next, as will Butler's
Kindred)
once I thought through the scope of the year.
That gives them a mix of novels, plays, fiction, and non-fiction and yet all connects to identity in America. LIke I said earlier, I'm still going to show them a movie version of
Hamlet
and plan to show them the whole darned series of
Slings & Arrows
over the course of the year, so they won't be Shakespeare-deprived.
Should be a very fun course to teach. I'm really looking forward to it.
Damn, I got here too late! I taught In the Time of the Butterflies this year, and really liked it as a teaching novel.
I also ordered THT to teach to my senior class but (a)we ran out of time/I got sick and (b) I re-read it for the first time in many years (I love Atwood, but I generally re-read Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride) and I was all fuck, the language in this is much more difficult than I remember. Granted, my students were mostly ELL/ESL.
It's funny that you mentioned Atwood though. One of the teaching positions I am applying for is a quite good all-girl's Catholic school, and I was just thinking how interesting it would be to teach Cat's Eye to a upper-level class.
Heh, I'm having a imaginary reading list for a Damn,ItCanSuckToBeATeenageGirl class in my head:
Cat's Eye
Girl, Interrupted
The Bell Jar
Buffy seasons 1 and 2, with selected highlights from 3-7
How the Garcia Girls Lost THeir Accents
short story "Boobs" by Suzy McKee Charnas
hmmm...this is before my morning cuppa....what else?!
what else?!
Little Women. And I'm not joking.
Hey, it sucks to be a teenage girl no matter what time period it is.
Alice Hoffman's Property Of?
I would be tempted to replace Pride and Prejudice with Sense and Sensibility, but that could be simply because I like the latter better.
Little Town on the Prairie. It's all about Laura and her getting a part-time job, going to school, admiring the boys/young men, socializing and indulging in teen fads, looking after her little sister, and taking on more adult responsibilities as she grows up. Yes, it's set 125 years ago, but the minutia of being a teenaged girl is what this installment of the series is all about.
Oh, Little Women! I have to get a copy of that. Why don't I have a copy?
I prefer Sense and Sensibility to P&P though. Always have.
