10th Grade English Required Reading: what's your curriculum?

[Anonymous]

Which Beowulf? The original (which is ridiculous for high schoolers to read, it's not in anything that I would call "English") or the Seamus Heaney translation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1984
The Hate U Give
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Short Stories/Book TBA
The Kite Runner

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.

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.

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

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.

Yet they were popular theater plays attended by people of all classes in England. If your teacher makes Shakespeare boring, they are not skilled, at all.

Most are not skilled at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1984
The Hate U Give
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Short Stories/Book TBA
The Kite Runner

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.

No, it’s not. HS English is supposed to get to kids to want to read novels and encourage engagement . It doesn’t have to be Beowulf. How boring.

From my perspective as a parent, I want them to read, be engaged, and improve their writing. Engaging, relatable text is far more likely to elicit engagement in the writing process than many of the classics.

Did your kids read "Captain Underpants" in elementary school as well? What you read is just as important is that you read (especially for writing). School should be the place to engage the kids, we agree on that. But reading and discussing in school should be focused on exposing kids to the beautiful, true and deep. Things that have been valued as the basis of our shared discourse, not the "Book of the Month Club." The kids have a teacher to help them see how to make these books exciting and relevant to them. If that isn't happening, it is either poor teaching, the fact that they are reading books far above their reading and cultural literacy or the fact that kids have not been taught to develop their attention span. All of these speak poorly of both our educational system and our parenting.

Meh, I'm not sure I entirely agree. I see your point about exposing them to the beautiful, etc. But, in reality, it doesn't really happen for most kids. It's just tedious reading about ancient people and things (I personally like many of them -save Shakespeare, for reasons noted upthread- but I am def in the minority of adults I know. I think teachers often don't make it exciting or interesting (and that is not a criticism, I do think that is hard). And, also, they get stuck teaching the same, old, dusty titles just b/c that is how it always has been done. There are lots of contemporary stories that will have similar (or different but more relevant) theme that are more engaging for kids, and more apt to keep their attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1984
The Hate U Give
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Short Stories/Book TBA
The Kite Runner

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.

No, it’s not. HS English is supposed to get to kids to want to read novels and encourage engagement . It doesn’t have to be Beowulf. How boring.

What you suggest is not the purpose of HS English classes; it is the prerequisite. HS English focuses on classics as the starting point to move through the history of the literary form up to the contemporary. Would you be happy with a HS history class that started in 2000?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which Beowulf? The original (which is ridiculous for high schoolers to read, it's not in anything that I would call "English") or the Seamus Heaney translation?

The Heaney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which Beowulf? The original (which is ridiculous for high schoolers to read, it's not in anything that I would call "English") or the Seamus Heaney translation?

The Heaney.

Oh, good! I used to teach college students and they had routinely been put off any kind of interest in the history of English because they'd had Beowulf in HS. I don't know what text version they'd been given, but it sure made an impression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1984
The Hate U Give
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Short Stories/Book TBA
The Kite Runner

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.

No, it’s not. HS English is supposed to get to kids to want to read novels and encourage engagement . It doesn’t have to be Beowulf. How boring.

We have different philosophies, and that's why high schools have honors and regular courses. Your preferences are fulfilled by a regular high school English class, and mine are fulfilled by honors courses. easy solution on this one.