10th Grade English Required Reading: what's your curriculum?
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Anonymous
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1984
The Hate U Give Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Short Stories/Book TBA The Kite Runner |
Anonymous
Ohh, I’ll look it up, it sounds fantastic for my 11 year old. She loves graphic novels. |
Anonymous
Gosh, another bad list. Who doesn’t love Kite Runner, and I thoroughly enjoyed ELIC. But, let’s be honest these are books to read for pleasure. I was under the assumption that high school reading selections are supposed to expose our children to works that they would not read otherwise because of their difficulty, challenging themes or inaccessibility? In fact, English class is supposed to teach high schoolers *how* to read & analyze challenging books. Not read & analyze easy books. |
Anonymous
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Pride and Prejudice
Henry IV, Part 1 Romeo and Juliet Importance of Being Earnest Beowulf Canterbury Tales |
Anonymous
Serious question: why are kids still required to read Shakespeare? Impossibly dull, difficult to understand, and far more relevant texts out there for the themes. I was an honors English student (years and years ago). I hated it then and hate it even now. I can't think of one useful thing it gave me. And, almost everyone in HS used crib notes for at least some understanding of it. From talking to HS kids now, that remains the same. |
Anonymous
There are challenging themes in each of the above. Kite Runner has the same Lexile range as Catcher in the Rye and is far above The Grapes of Wrath and A Farewell to Arms. THUG is on par with A Farewell to Arms. Just because you would read them for pleasure does not mean that the average or even bright 15 year old would. So, what would be on your list for 10th grader? Obviously it can't be anything that you would read for "pleasure" - it must be "work" and children must not like it for it to be at all worthwhile. I, for one, am thrilled that my child is being exposed to points of view and ways of writing that are not the product of the Dead White Guy canon. |
Anonymous
Thank you. I wanted to express a similar sentiment, but you said it better. If the classics are so important to you, work with your child in your own time. For those who against the inclusion of new viewpoints, you will hate my kids' list, which includes: The Crucible The Great Gatsby Raisin in the Sun The Poet X Americanah |
Anonymous
Above poster here - that looks like a good list, too! For the record, my well-read, public-school educated kid has already read Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Hobbit, and other "greatest hits" of dead white guys in lower grades. I WISH I had been assigned in high school something like The Poet X, and, for that matter, Persepolis. I have always had a hard time finding meaning in poetry, and I think I would have benefitted from something like The Poet X or Kwame Alexander's The Crossover. Similarly, I am also lacking in the visual literacy that's required for a graphic novel like Persepolis (or, for that matter, MAUS and/or March) and I would have greatly benefitted from classroom discussions and analysis. I am glad that this generation is getting the tools they need to be able to do that analysis. |
Anonymous
I'm the one who disliked the reading list with Kite Runner. Oh believe me, it wasn't because I'm against inclusion of other viewpoints. Whatever you're imagining in your head, you have me wrong. Your list is good, minus Americanah and PoetX. I don't like contemporary fiction in English lit classes. I think they should be used sparingly. Classics CAN BE pleasurable and that is one of the great discoveries of high school english class. I like using the books above for summer reading or other assignments. Regarding Shakespeare - I agree that we should stop including them to the degree we do. They are extremely hard to teach, tedious and require unusual reader maturity. |
Anonymous
Well we can definitely agree to disagree on that. Contemporary lit does not mean bad. Great Gatsby, Great Expectations where all contemporary to their time. |
Anonymous
+1 "classics" change. I hated Madame Bovary. I hated all the characters and the plot. I would not be happy if my DC had to read that crap. Worse book ever. |
Anonymous
Agrees with your thoughts. Perhaps if they added a few more like Shakespeare and Atwood and then just quickly used the two you mentioned as important discussion pieces. The graphic novel you mention is about the Iranian revolution but they could meat it up a bit. |
Anonymous
One of the great things about reading challenging and/or classical literature in school is that there are people to then have discussions with and help delve deeper into the meaning, effect etc of the work. |
Anonymous
The same can be said for reading contemporary literature offering different points of view than what may be in one's comfort zone (heteronormative, white male POV). A 15yo that only knows relative privilege can learn so much walking in the path of another through literature - and that literature does not have to be classically difficult to provide meaningful classroom discussions about the meaning of the work, literary structure, plot devices, character, etc. |
Anonymous
Couldn't you say the same in the other direction? In many ways, it's probably easier to read contemporary literature as part of a book club with your kid if the goal is to see new points of view. |