Disturbing Assigned Reading

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t HS kids today read the classics?

What would be the "classics"?? I think the definition of this is subjective. Also society progresses as does literature. Would hope my kids don't read the same books I did 40 years ago. Maybe you sad they not reading Oedipus you know the guy that was banging his mom and murdered his father. Classic .

[Anonymous]

There is a vast difference in writing skill between Rowling and Tolkien. You may have noticed Tolkien's influence on Rowling's work. She used exact names, versions of names and similar characters that he created 40 years earlier (ex. Bagshot, Gandalf vs Dumbledore). A paranoid reader might even detect plagiarism. See also: Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, which obviously influence Rowling's stories. Why not read the originals or, at least, not hold Rowling up as equally talented when she borrowed ideas and characters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a vast difference in writing skill between Rowling and Tolkien. You may have noticed Tolkien's influence on Rowling's work. She used exact names, versions of names and similar characters that he created 40 years earlier (ex. Bagshot, Gandalf vs Dumbledore). A paranoid reader might even detect plagiarism. See also: Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, which obviously influence Rowling's stories. Why not read the originals or, at least, not hold Rowling up as equally talented when she borrowed ideas and characters.

Tolkien also borrowed extensively. Why not read the Norse Eddas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a vast difference in writing skill between Rowling and Tolkien. You may have noticed Tolkien's influence on Rowling's work. She used exact names, versions of names and similar characters that he created 40 years earlier (ex. Bagshot, Gandalf vs Dumbledore). A paranoid reader might even detect plagiarism. See also: Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, which obviously influence Rowling's stories. Why not read the originals or, at least, not hold Rowling up as equally talented when she borrowed ideas and characters.

Tolkien also borrowed extensively. Why not read the Norse Eddas?

I have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t HS kids today read the classics?

What would be the "classics"?? I think the definition of this is subjective. Also society progresses as does literature. Would hope my kids don't read the same books I did 40 years ago. Maybe you sad they not reading Oedipus you know the guy that was banging his mom and murdered his father. Classic .

We don't read the classics because they have been deemed racist by those that get to make that decision. Also, most of the Authors are white, we can't have that, that would be racist.

[Anonymous]

If you don’t want your kid reading this that’s on you but try and ban these books and I will fight you tooth and nail

Stay out of our schools idiots that is what you are

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t HS kids today read the classics?

The classics are no longer classic. A hundred years have gone by - there are way better books now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a vast difference in writing skill between Rowling and Tolkien. You may have noticed Tolkien's influence on Rowling's work. She used exact names, versions of names and similar characters that he created 40 years earlier (ex. Bagshot, Gandalf vs Dumbledore). A paranoid reader might even detect plagiarism. See also: Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, which obviously influence Rowling's stories. Why not read the originals or, at least, not hold Rowling up as equally talented when she borrowed ideas and characters.

Tolkien also borrowed extensively. Why not read the Norse Eddas?

I have.

That's nice. When you see kids reading Harry Potter books, do you rip the books out of their hands and explain that J.K. Rowling borrowed extensively from Tolkien, who borrowed extensively from the Norse Eddas, so they should be reading the Norse Eddas instead of this modern trash?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t HS kids today read the classics?

The classics are no longer classic. A hundred years have gone by - there are way better books now.

I don't know if there are way better books now - better than what, as decided by whom? - but there are certainly plenty of good books now that did not exist 20 or 50 or 100 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t HS kids today read the classics?

The classics are no longer classic. A hundred years have gone by - there are way better books now.

I don't know if there are way better books now - better than what, as decided by whom? - but there are certainly plenty of good books now that did not exist 20 or 50 or 100 years ago.

Perhaps, by classics, they mean the Bible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the classics question, there is more to being educated that just reading books a bunch of old dead white men wrote.

The classics are such a narrow range of human experience. They are best addresses in a history class as a way to study the values of the time periods in which they are written.

This is just not true. They are classics because their themes are eternal and still relevant in our day and age
While the books du jour they are replaced with - who knows if they will last?

What difference does that make? We can learn a lot from books even if they aren't books that stand the test of time and are read for decades. Students can learn relevant themes and experiences from books other than those written a hundred years ago by white men.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a vast difference in writing skill between Rowling and Tolkien. You may have noticed Tolkien's influence on Rowling's work. She used exact names, versions of names and similar characters that he created 40 years earlier (ex. Bagshot, Gandalf vs Dumbledore). A paranoid reader might even detect plagiarism. See also: Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, which obviously influence Rowling's stories. Why not read the originals or, at least, not hold Rowling up as equally talented when she borrowed ideas and characters.

Tolkien also borrowed extensively. Why not read the Norse Eddas?

I have.

That's nice. When you see kids reading Harry Potter books, do you rip the books out of their hands and explain that J.K. Rowling borrowed extensively from Tolkien, who borrowed extensively from the Norse Eddas, so they should be reading the Norse Eddas instead of this modern trash?

My children have read a variety of works. They recognize similarities among stories. I don't tell them what to think about what they read. I allow them to draw their own conclusions. Our home is filled with books and my kids read for pleasure. They have read Tolkien and Rowling and enjoyed both.

[Anonymous]

"Modern Classics" in MCPS today are all required to be on the CRT spectrum or some other sort of race/gender struggle. It's actually pretty sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the classics question, there is more to being educated that just reading books a bunch of old dead white men wrote.

The classics are such a narrow range of human experience. They are best addresses in a history class as a way to study the values of the time periods in which they are written.

This is just not true. They are classics because their themes are eternal and still relevant in our day and age
While the books du jour they are replaced with - who knows if they will last?

What difference does that make? We can learn a lot from books even if they aren't books that stand the test of time and are read for decades. Students can learn relevant themes and experiences from books other than those written a hundred years ago by white men.

Okay. What about The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, which, I believe, is from 1850? That has all the topics du joir of today: childhood abuse and trauma, an underdog story, etc with a dose of reputable primary source reporting about the reality of slavery and racism in America. That book is old an, yet, still relevant, beautifully written and should be required reading for all students. If op's kid can't handle fiction, can she handle truth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t HS kids today read the classics?

What would be the "classics"?? I think the definition of this is subjective. Also society progresses as does literature. Would hope my kids don't read the same books I did 40 years ago. Maybe you sad they not reading Oedipus you know the guy that was banging his mom and murdered his father. Classic .

So long as the contemporary books are as challenging as the classic ones. Classic novels are either simply written and easily accessible but steeped in another world, or, written in language that is hard to access. And both are important. It’s why I like classic novels. It pushes kids to read something they’re not initially comfortable with, but by the end they’ve grown as readers and now have the capacity to read novels outside the modern realm. It’s quite a gift.