AP English teacher never read Orwell?

[Anonymous]

I went to high school starting in (almost "literally 1984") in a well-regarded PA district.

At that time, Animal Farm was taught to the gen ed English sections in 10th grade because it was short and easy to analyze. I don't remember what the honors sections did instead. However, we covered "1984" in honors senior English in 1985 along with another dystopian work ("Anthem" by Ayn Rand).

It took me a long time to get around to "Brave New World", "Catcher in the Rye", and even "Things Fall Apart" on my own. And I haven't yet got around to "Lord of the Flies". I did really enjoy Animal Farm when I finally got around to it.

I have read a lot of the older classics but short, modern, and depressing are easily noped.

I think what's surprising is that someone starting to teach HS English wouldn't just read it "in case". But the popular references pretty much tell you what you need to know.

On an Orwellian scale, this is ungood but does not come close to doubleplusungood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, Op's 11th grader is suggesting Animal Farm as a high school curriculum option. I read it in middle school a gazillion years ago, and my MCPS 8th grader is also reading it in 8th grade.

OP here. Yes, we moved here from DC and my son had also read it as a middle schooler. His teacher was looking for suggestions for the general-level 9th grade English class, not the honors English class.

That said, our first year here, DC was in 9th grade, and took Honors English. That teacher decided it would be too hard for the students to read the Shakespeare play they were required to study under the district syllabus, so instead they watched the Leonardo DiCaprio/Claire Danes movie. In Honors English.

The PP who said to appreciate the education available in DC has a point!

[Anonymous]

Dumbed down movie coming out, so it's a good fit for English class


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm_(2025_film)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, Op's 11th grader is suggesting Animal Farm as a high school curriculum option. I read it in middle school a gazillion years ago, and my MCPS 8th grader is also reading it in 8th grade.

OP here. Yes, we moved here from DC and my son had also read it as a middle schooler. His teacher was looking for suggestions for the general-level 9th grade English class, not the honors English class.

That said, our first year here, DC was in 9th grade, and took Honors English. That teacher decided it would be too hard for the students to read the Shakespeare play they were required to study under the district syllabus, so instead they watched the Leonardo DiCaprio/Claire Danes movie. In Honors English.

The PP who said to appreciate the education available in DC has a point!

Wha do you mean "instead"?

It takes weeks to study a play, but 3 days to watch the movie.

Also, FYI, Shakespeare wasn't a novelist. Shakespeare was a playwright.

[Anonymous]

I’m an English teacher. Yes, I have taught Orwell: 1984, Animal Farm, and an extensive collection of his essays

…and I’m saddened by OP’s question. There are so many works out there. So many. This teacher shouldn’t be criticized because she isn’t familiar with one of them.

I had a parent call me out for not being intimately familiar with Tolstoy. I recall being horrified that my 20 years of successful teaching were being erased because I wasn’t ready for an impromptu discussion about Anna Karenina. Somehow that became such a fault, as if I couldn’t teach a proper thesis statement because Tolstoy was absent from my nightstand.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I think every college-bound HS student should read 1984 and Animal Farm in some HS class.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PPs that everyone will have gaps. I never read Lord of the Flies for instance or invisible Man. But I agree with OP that not having read any Orwell is unusual for a HS English teacher since it’s such a common HS assignment. Like not having read any Shakespeare.

But for PP, the parent who gave you crap about not having read Anna K is a jerk. No one assigns Tolstoy in HS because it’s too long and also kids don’t really have the right social context for it. We read crime and punishment in HS and it took forever and I think most kids didn’t really get it. I was a Russian major so read a lot of that stuff in college. Dickins is another that is rarely assigned in HS (although my HS read great expectations) because it would take so much of the year to get through something like Oliver Twist or tale of two cities.

I’m really curious about whether any HS English classes are teaching huck Finn together with James. That seems like such a great way to hit the old and the new and have a real dialogue. But I admit I haven’t read Jsmes yet!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, Op's 11th grader is suggesting Animal Farm as a high school curriculum option. I read it in middle school a gazillion years ago, and my MCPS 8th grader is also reading it in 8th grade.

OP here. Yes, we moved here from DC and my son had also read it as a middle schooler. His teacher was looking for suggestions for the general-level 9th grade English class, not the honors English class.

That said, our first year here, DC was in 9th grade, and took Honors English. That teacher decided it would be too hard for the students to read the Shakespeare play they were required to study under the district syllabus, so instead they watched the Leonardo DiCaprio/Claire Danes movie. In Honors English.

The PP who said to appreciate the education available in DC has a point!

Wha do you mean "instead"?

It takes weeks to study a play, but 3 days to watch the movie.

Also, FYI, Shakespeare wasn't a novelist. Shakespeare was a playwright.

By “instead” I mean that instead of reading even one act, they read nothing and watched a movie as a substitute for reading the play. That is not an adequate substitute for reading the play.

I’m not sure why you are pointing out that Shakespeare is not a novelist, but you are correct. Shakespeare was a playwright. 👍

[Anonymous]

I think it's important to understand that teachers in high school specialize. This teacher may teach 9th grade regular English and AP Lang and nothing else. In my school, Orwell wouldn't be taught in either of those courses. English 9 focuses on older literature -- the Odyssey, and Greek Myth, and Shakespeare. All the English 11 options focus on American authors. So, even if Orwell were taught in her school, it doesn't mean she would teach it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, Op's 11th grader is suggesting Animal Farm as a high school curriculum option. I read it in middle school a gazillion years ago, and my MCPS 8th grader is also reading it in 8th grade.

our first year here, DC was in 9th grade, and took Honors English. That teacher decided it would be too hard for the students to read the Shakespeare play they were required to study under the district syllabus, so instead they watched the Leonardo DiCaprio/Claire Danes movie. In Honors English.

In middle school now they are reading whole books first and then watch the movie. In 7th grade they did this with “The Outsiders” and then “The Giver”.

In 8th grade they start reading Shakespeare and interested kids can try out for the yearly Shakespeare play. My son got a part in “The Winters Tale”.

Separate but equal I guess in terms of types of reading each grade works on.

[Anonymous]

I'm a high school English teacher with 10+ years experience teaching both AP English Lang and AP English Lit.

I HAVE read Orwell.

And I would not choose Animal Farm for AP Lang. I did do Animal Farm with my 9th graders earlier this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Warning: useless thread on a minor point:

We live outside the DC area. Yesterday the 11th grade AP Language teacher asked my son’s class for book recommendations for her next year’s 9th grade regular English class. My son suggested “Animal Farm,” which he loved, and then the teacher told his class that she had never read any George Orwell.

Maybe I’m out of touch, but I’m finding this such a wild thing for a high school English teacher to admit. She’s in her 30s, if that matters. But I thought everyone winds up reading Animal Farm or 1984 in high school, and then surely you’d read something or other by Orwell if you were an English major, or else during your career as a high school English teacher?

Horrifying

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's important to understand that teachers in high school specialize. This teacher may teach 9th grade regular English and AP Lang and nothing else. In my school, Orwell wouldn't be taught in either of those courses. English 9 focuses on older literature -- the Odyssey, and Greek Myth, and Shakespeare. All the English 11 options focus on American authors. So, even if Orwell were taught in her school, it doesn't mean she would teach it.

If she hasn’t read it she should not be teaching English period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m an English teacher. Yes, I have taught Orwell: 1984, Animal Farm, and an extensive collection of his essays

…and I’m saddened by OP’s question. There are so many works out there. So many. This teacher shouldn’t be criticized because she isn’t familiar with one of them.

I had a parent call me out for not being intimately familiar with Tolstoy. I recall being horrified that my 20 years of successful teaching were being erased because I wasn’t ready for an impromptu discussion about Anna Karenina. Somehow that became such a fault, as if I couldn’t teach a proper thesis statement because Tolstoy was absent from my nightstand.

You should not be teaching

Orwell is 100 percent required reading for a competent English teacher

[Anonymous]

In my child’s ap Lange they have read one book so far.