Anonymous
03/06/2026 13:38
Subject: Re:Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Freshman in British Lit. Has read be wolf, Canterbury tales, romeo and juliet, pride and prejudice, wuthering heights, great expectations, the importance of being earnest, and done some poetry studies so far this year. Very happy with the coursework. Private.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 13:22
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:I had one go through MCPS and another MCPS to Catholic HS. Neither read Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill A Mockingbird, Gatsby or really any of the classics and it makes me incensed.
So did you assign them yourself, or just stay incensed?
Anonymous
03/06/2026 13:09
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
My kids read books in high school. Many I never heard of before. One was about an Asian girl realizing she is a lesbian. My son wasn’t too interested in that one. I guess the point was to expose him to a different point of view than he ordinarily is exposed to, only he hated reading and I would have liked him to read something that actually interested him to, perhaps, motivate him to want to read. Guess who didn’t read that book? Or any other.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 13:01
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Yes, but not school-assigned. Only because I acclimated them to reading curated lists of classics *I* think are important, every summer since they were little (and teen DD reads them during class on her chromebook when she has nothing else to do). We are European, and they've gone to their native language weekend school every Saturday for years, so going a little further and giving them a list of classics of our native country plus British and American classics was not a step too far.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 13:00
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I had one go through MCPS and another MCPS to Catholic HS. Neither read Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill A Mockingbird, Gatsby or really any of the classics and it makes me incensed.
Same. I actually am not believing the posters (probably a sock poppet/troll) that is insisting their public school kids read or are reading numerous classics. My kids have been in a couple different districts in different states and I’ve talked to friends about this as well. Public schools are not doing classics beyond a required Shakespeare and a couple period books required by curriculum in high school.
Why would someone lie about this? I'm one of the PPs whose kid has read a ton of classics (she's in her school's IB program). I'm very much telling the truth about what she's read. It certainly depends upon class rigor, though.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 12:55
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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
I don’t get it, are you defending this poor excuse for public education?
As a public school student the education I have gotten from my english classes has been not poor at all. As a freshman we read around 2 books a term. Sophmore year we did about 1 a term but they were much longer and we learned how to write analytical essays. Junior year I took AP lang which teaches you about important things in writing such as syntax, diction, different writing styles/purposes, figuartive language, and more. This though comes at the cost of long texts because it is simply not realistic to read the classics and learn about all of the different writing components. Despite this we still managed to read four books. Now senior year in AP Lit we have read multiple classics, greek tradgedies, modern literature, and shakespeare. If you think the standard for an English class is solely reading the classics then yeah I guess it would be a poor education but the main purpose is to teach students how to read and write like a scholar. Which is what English 3 and AP Lang mainly focus on and then after you are able to do so you can then read the classics and understad and write about them in a more complex manner.
Get off DCUM. Go back to class and do your work
Dude im a second semester commited senior i have no work. You just have no argument.
Probably a teacher..
my brother in christ yall just gotta admit when you are wrong!
Please. The numbers don’t lie. Public school education is worse than ever- and is producing the dumbest generation yet. Go ahead and find an objective argument proving otherwise. Some random “teen” on DCUM saying how great their English class is means nothing.
Im not disagreeing that public school is not great. But that isnt because teenagers aren't reading the classics in english (which at least at my school is not true) . It is because of many different factors such as 1. Lack of well trained teachers due to low pay, student behavior, and issues with the admin/system 2. Phone usage in class which distracts from the actual learning time 3. Kids are not reading at home like they used to which is decreasing literacy 4. Covid delayed many students development for basically a whole group of rising highschoolers. There are obviously more causes than this but you can't simply say "oh its because students arent reading the classics." People need to accept that they have a hand in their kids education and it isnt just up to the teachers to ensure that your kids can read and write. My parents read to me every night and they made me read on my own as well and therefore i am literate. My best friends little brother did not have this and the kid basically cannot read. You blaming teachers and the curriculum ignores the other factors that you also have control over.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 12:38
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:Not a novel but my freshman read Romeo and Juliet and Night. But those are the only two books so far and they did all the reading in class (no reading homework).
It was probably played on audiotape
Anonymous
03/06/2026 12:27
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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
I don’t get it, are you defending this poor excuse for public education?
As a public school student the education I have gotten from my english classes has been not poor at all. As a freshman we read around 2 books a term. Sophmore year we did about 1 a term but they were much longer and we learned how to write analytical essays. Junior year I took AP lang which teaches you about important things in writing such as syntax, diction, different writing styles/purposes, figuartive language, and more. This though comes at the cost of long texts because it is simply not realistic to read the classics and learn about all of the different writing components. Despite this we still managed to read four books. Now senior year in AP Lit we have read multiple classics, greek tradgedies, modern literature, and shakespeare. If you think the standard for an English class is solely reading the classics then yeah I guess it would be a poor education but the main purpose is to teach students how to read and write like a scholar. Which is what English 3 and AP Lang mainly focus on and then after you are able to do so you can then read the classics and understad and write about them in a more complex manner.
Get off DCUM. Go back to class and do your work
Dude im a second semester commited senior i have no work. You just have no argument.
Probably a teacher..
my brother in christ yall just gotta admit when you are wrong!
Please. The numbers don’t lie. Public school education is worse than ever- and is producing the dumbest generation yet. Go ahead and find an objective argument proving otherwise. Some random “teen” on DCUM saying how great their English class is means nothing.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 11:53
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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
I don’t get it, are you defending this poor excuse for public education?
As a public school student the education I have gotten from my english classes has been not poor at all. As a freshman we read around 2 books a term. Sophmore year we did about 1 a term but they were much longer and we learned how to write analytical essays. Junior year I took AP lang which teaches you about important things in writing such as syntax, diction, different writing styles/purposes, figuartive language, and more. This though comes at the cost of long texts because it is simply not realistic to read the classics and learn about all of the different writing components. Despite this we still managed to read four books. Now senior year in AP Lit we have read multiple classics, greek tradgedies, modern literature, and shakespeare. If you think the standard for an English class is solely reading the classics then yeah I guess it would be a poor education but the main purpose is to teach students how to read and write like a scholar. Which is what English 3 and AP Lang mainly focus on and then after you are able to do so you can then read the classics and understad and write about them in a more complex manner.
Get off DCUM. Go back to class and do your work
Dude im a second semester commited senior i have no work. You just have no argument.
Probably a teacher..
my brother in christ yall just gotta admit when you are wrong!
Anonymous
03/06/2026 11:52
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Not a novel but my freshman read Romeo and Juliet and Night. But those are the only two books so far and they did all the reading in class (no reading homework).
Anonymous
03/06/2026 11:52
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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
I don’t get it, are you defending this poor excuse for public education?
As a public school student the education I have gotten from my english classes has been not poor at all. As a freshman we read around 2 books a term. Sophmore year we did about 1 a term but they were much longer and we learned how to write analytical essays. Junior year I took AP lang which teaches you about important things in writing such as syntax, diction, different writing styles/purposes, figuartive language, and more. This though comes at the cost of long texts because it is simply not realistic to read the classics and learn about all of the different writing components. Despite this we still managed to read four books. Now senior year in AP Lit we have read multiple classics, greek tradgedies, modern literature, and shakespeare. If you think the standard for an English class is solely reading the classics then yeah I guess it would be a poor education but the main purpose is to teach students how to read and write like a scholar. Which is what English 3 and AP Lang mainly focus on and then after you are able to do so you can then read the classics and understad and write about them in a more complex manner.
Get off DCUM. Go back to class and do your work
Dude im a second semester commited senior i have no work. You just have no argument.
Probably a teacher..
Anonymous
03/06/2026 11:46
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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
I don’t get it, are you defending this poor excuse for public education?
As a public school student the education I have gotten from my english classes has been not poor at all. As a freshman we read around 2 books a term. Sophmore year we did about 1 a term but they were much longer and we learned how to write analytical essays. Junior year I took AP lang which teaches you about important things in writing such as syntax, diction, different writing styles/purposes, figuartive language, and more. This though comes at the cost of long texts because it is simply not realistic to read the classics and learn about all of the different writing components. Despite this we still managed to read four books. Now senior year in AP Lit we have read multiple classics, greek tradgedies, modern literature, and shakespeare. If you think the standard for an English class is solely reading the classics then yeah I guess it would be a poor education but the main purpose is to teach students how to read and write like a scholar. Which is what English 3 and AP Lang mainly focus on and then after you are able to do so you can then read the classics and understad and write about them in a more complex manner.
Get off DCUM. Go back to class and do your work
Dude im a second semester commited senior i have no work. You just have no argument.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 11:42
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Three DC in 2 different Catholic HSs- all read full novels and a mix of classics and modern novels. They also have requires reading and assignments over the summer each year (including rising 9th grade).
Anonymous
03/06/2026 11:41
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote:I had one go through MCPS and another MCPS to Catholic HS. Neither read Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill A Mockingbird, Gatsby or really any of the classics and it makes me incensed.
Same. I actually am not believing the posters (probably a sock poppet/troll) that is insisting their public school kids read or are reading numerous classics. My kids have been in a couple different districts in different states and I’ve talked to friends about this as well. Public schools are not doing classics beyond a required Shakespeare and a couple period books required by curriculum in high school.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 11:40
Subject: Is your high schooler reading classic novels in school?
Anonymous wrote: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?
It sure is!