Disturbing Assigned Reading

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 problem is, they did write some pretty good books. And reading books that may not be that great, but written by non white non dead non men, doesn’t mean better education
They will grow up having never read the classics
Which in my book means not really educated
- DP

What are "the classics" though? Who decides? When and why do books stop being "classics"? When and why do they start?

My theory is that they withstand the test of time. The test of educated people with good, developed literary taste. Even if these people are- the horror!- white men
Leo Tolstoy wrote Anna Karenina which is not about the white men problems at all
It is still relevant despite how much has changed, including the fact it didn’t even happen in America
It’s written really well, withstands the test of time and place, you have your classics

Yeah it is.

I have read a lot of "classics". I tried to read Anna Karenina. You can keep it. In fact, you can keep all of Tolstoy.

Um, it’s about a woman who is stigmatized and has her child taken from her because she dared to leave her husband. Maybe a little bit of reading comprehension skills wouldn’t hurt
Also YOU are definitely not someone who decides which books are classics
It’s fine to say you don’t like it - but it doesn’t make it any worse

[Anonymous]

I am starting to think that people who try to defy classics are just not well trained in reading and not deep thinkers. They only take in the book if it’s relevant to their everyday existence. Basically lack of imagination and knowledge

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is a Senior and is currently reading an assigned book that takes place in Afghanistan and is very violent. She told me she is having nightmares but is only half way through. I have read the book and the treatment and brutality towards women is horrifying but I don’t know what to advise my DD to do.

Is this for real?

They are an adult

[Anonymous]

Your child is almost an adult and should be able to handle books of this sort. This is why you don’t shelter kids; it makes them unprepared for life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your child is almost an adult and should be able to handle books of this sort. This is why you don’t shelter kids; it makes them unprepared for life.

These kids are living in a pandemic. They aren’t shielded. They don’t need extra trauma in their lives.

[Anonymous]

The problem with the anti-intellectual mob that crows against dead white men authors is that often the proposed alternatives rarely even qualify as literature.

Case in point, my child’s assigned reading, Esperanza Rising, by some no name author, but checks a bunch of boxes for what counts as the correct ‘lived experiences’. I’m sorry, but what a complete waste of time! Simplistic plot line, poor character development, vocabulary and sentence structure at the comic book level. And that’s the only book they read so far this year!

To the question of what constitutes classics, how shallow and simplistic is to judge and reject literature by the genitals of the author? Classics are works that have an outsized influence on the culture, on later authors, and how society perceives the world. Why can’t they read Aesop’s fables instead? Yeah, I know, dead (certainly), white (possibly), male.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your child is almost an adult and should be able to handle books of this sort. This is why you don’t shelter kids; it makes them unprepared for life.

Are you going to complain to the college professor next year? smh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am starting to think that people who try to defy classics are just not well trained in reading and not deep thinkers. They only take in the book if it’s relevant to their everyday existence. Basically lack of imagination and knowledge

You are right about their lack of imagination and knowledge, but the truth is they never cared about literature and instead the prime motivation is to make some tired and uninteresting political statement. Chances are you’re dealing with some blue haired, gender fluid, 20-something, with a freshly minted useless degree that ‘tried’ Tolstoy, but didn’t find him ‘impressive’. Nobody cares anymore, but they are still complaining about Trump and people not wearing masks. I wish they get back to that instead of offering their opinion about literature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child is almost an adult and should be able to handle books of this sort. This is why you don’t shelter kids; it makes them unprepared for life.

These kids are living in a pandemic. They aren’t shielded. They don’t need extra trauma in their lives.

Obviously they do need more exposure. Full on parent fail. Took the lazy way out by never letting them learn about reality and the child will suffer emotionally for years. So short sighted and stupid. Poor kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with the anti-intellectual mob that crows against dead white men authors is that often the proposed alternatives rarely even qualify as literature.

Case in point, my child’s assigned reading, Esperanza Rising, by some no name author, but checks a bunch of boxes for what counts as the correct ‘lived experiences’. I’m sorry, but what a complete waste of time! Simplistic plot line, poor character development, vocabulary and sentence structure at the comic book level. And that’s the only book they read so far this year!

To the question of what constitutes classics, how shallow and simplistic is to judge and reject literature by the genitals of the author? Classics are works that have an outsized influence on the culture, on later authors, and how society perceives the world. Why can’t they read Aesop’s fables instead? Yeah, I know, dead (certainly), white (possibly), male.

My son has suffered through Esperanza Rising as well, and he said as much but in simpler terms. What a bunch of crock they have to read!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child is almost an adult and should be able to handle books of this sort. This is why you don’t shelter kids; it makes them unprepared for life.

These kids are living in a pandemic. They aren’t shielded. They don’t need extra trauma in their lives.

Way to raise fragility in your child. This post shows the growth of “safetyism” in America

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with the anti-intellectual mob that crows against dead white men authors is that often the proposed alternatives rarely even qualify as literature.

Case in point, my child’s assigned reading, Esperanza Rising, by some no name author, but checks a bunch of boxes for what counts as the correct ‘lived experiences’. I’m sorry, but what a complete waste of time! Simplistic plot line, poor character development, vocabulary and sentence structure at the comic book level. And that’s the only book they read so far this year!

To the question of what constitutes classics, how shallow and simplistic is to judge and reject literature by the genitals of the author? Classics are works that have an outsized influence on the culture, on later authors, and how society perceives the world. Why can’t they read Aesop’s fables instead? Yeah, I know, dead (certainly), white (possibly), male.

Esperanza Rising’s intended age group is 9-12. What do you expect? They should substitute Faulkner instead?

[Anonymous]

You’re whining that a senior in high school is learning about disturbing things that continue to actually happen in the world? Wow, she won’t be able to go to college. She might actually read about the Holocaust, 9/11, famine or climate change there.

[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?

There are only so many themes that a book can have. If themes being eternal is the test of a book being a classic than lots qualify. Books are considered “classics” because someone deemed them that long ago. But that doesn’t mean people have enjoyed reading them for a long time or that they in general reflect the prevailing time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with the anti-intellectual mob that crows against dead white men authors is that often the proposed alternatives rarely even qualify as literature.

Case in point, my child’s assigned reading, Esperanza Rising, by some no name author, but checks a bunch of boxes for what counts as the correct ‘lived experiences’. I’m sorry, but what a complete waste of time! Simplistic plot line, poor character development, vocabulary and sentence structure at the comic book level. And that’s the only book they read so far this year!

To the question of what constitutes classics, how shallow and simplistic is to judge and reject literature by the genitals of the author? Classics are works that have an outsized influence on the culture, on later authors, and how society perceives the world. Why can’t they read Aesop’s fables instead? Yeah, I know, dead (certainly), white (possibly), male.

My son has suffered through Esperanza Rising as well, and he said as much but in simpler terms. What a bunch of crock they have to read!

And I and others have suffered through a bunch of “classics” in school. Guess what, we survived and now don’t reread those books.