Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 10:05     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:Sophomore has so far read only one complete work, Macbeth. They're working on Frankenstein now, and that will be the second complete work. However, they have read a Meditation from John Donne, a tale from Canterbury Tales, excerpts from the Rubaiyat, and some of the books from Paradise Lost, so there has been a lot of reading.


Same! Must be the combo class?
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 09:50     Subject: Re:Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Yes, a ton. DD is a junior doing the full IB program at her school, and so far this year has read Crime & Punishment, The Stranger, Walden, and at least a couple of others that I can't remember. She was in honors last year and read Gatsby along with several other well-known books and classics. She read The Odyssey and Macbeth at some point-not sure what grade. There are more, but I can't remember what they were.
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 09:30     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:They aren’t, not really. Public high school, in AP english lang. They have literally read zero full books yet. They had to pick two off a long list, not really classics. A mix. But they haven’t even had to red them yet- its March


AP Lang is intended to be focused on shorter texts with the purpose to understand the authors purpose in the writing and why they used the stylistic choices they did. Reading the classics would not be very good for this. In AP Lit a lot more classics are read. So far we have read Macbeth, Song of Solomon, Frankenstein, Madea, Oedipus Rex, and our next unit is the choice of any classic book. This is a large public highschool in dc.


They read one book in all of honors 11 English- Beowulf. Honors 9 and 10 had a couple more, but not more than 2-3 books for the whole year and not classics, except a Shakespeare play


Yes because it is meant to somewhat mimic what kids learn in AP lang. At least at my school so they are reading less classics and are focused more on short texts
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 09:27     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Yes. He started reading novels in 3rd grade in Catholic school.
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 09:22     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:They aren’t, not really. Public high school, in AP english lang. They have literally read zero full books yet. They had to pick two off a long list, not really classics. A mix. But they haven’t even had to red them yet- its March


AP Lang is intended to be focused on shorter texts with the purpose to understand the authors purpose in the writing and why they used the stylistic choices they did. Reading the classics would not be very good for this. In AP Lit a lot more classics are read. So far we have read Macbeth, Song of Solomon, Frankenstein, Madea, Oedipus Rex, and our next unit is the choice of any classic book. This is a large public highschool in dc.


They read one book in all of honors 11 English- Beowulf. Honors 9 and 10 had a couple more, but not more than 2-3 books for the whole year and not classics, except a Shakespeare play
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 09:11     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:They aren’t, not really. Public high school, in AP english lang. They have literally read zero full books yet. They had to pick two off a long list, not really classics. A mix. But they haven’t even had to red them yet- its March


AP Lang is intended to be focused on shorter texts with the purpose to understand the authors purpose in the writing and why they used the stylistic choices they did. Reading the classics would not be very good for this. In AP Lit a lot more classics are read. So far we have read Macbeth, Song of Solomon, Frankenstein, Madea, Oedipus Rex, and our next unit is the choice of any classic book. This is a large public highschool in dc.
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 09:00     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
yes, beginning in middle school.
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 08:59     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:They aren’t, not really. Public high school, in AP english lang. They have literally read zero full books yet. They had to pick two off a long list, not really classics. A mix. But they haven’t even had to red them yet- its March


What do they spend their time on instead?


From what I can tell them read a bunch of excerpts or articles and answer questions or write short answer essays or longer essays on those.


I know that's the (terrible) trend in English curriculum generally, but it's still a little shocking to hear it done that way even in an AP class.
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 08:47     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:They aren’t, not really. Public high school, in AP english lang. They have literally read zero full books yet. They had to pick two off a long list, not really classics. A mix. But they haven’t even had to red them yet- its March


What do they spend their time on instead?


From what I can tell them read a bunch of excerpts or articles and answer questions or write short answer essays or longer essays on those.
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 08:44     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:Yes. They read a mix of classics and new novels. Private school.


Same for my high school sophomore. Mix of contemporary and classic novels.

Actually, same for my middle schooler in public school too.
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 08:41     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:They aren’t, not really. Public high school, in AP english lang. They have literally read zero full books yet. They had to pick two off a long list, not really classics. A mix. But they haven’t even had to red them yet- its March


What do they spend their time on instead?
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 08:37     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
They aren’t, not really. Public high school, in AP english lang. They have literally read zero full books yet. They had to pick two off a long list, not really classics. A mix. But they haven’t even had to red them yet- its March
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 08:00     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Yes. They read a mix of classics and new novels. Private school.
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 08:00     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
My 9th grader read lord of the flies in middle school (which although it was a honors class, I think the teacher did not help them enough to understand it).
She’s read the odyssey and Romeo and Juliet this year.
Anonymous
Post 03/06/2026 07:26     Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
My sophomore is in honors. She has fully read Lord of the Flies, and they're currently working their way through Macbeth and Pride and Prejudice. They also did some excerpts from Edith Hamilton's Mythology. 4th quarter they're reading The Importance of Being Earnest.