Get Schooled

By mystery poster

December 24, 2008 8:42 AM | Link to this

Absolutely: To Kill a Mockingbird

By jim d

December 24, 2008 8:44 AM | Link to this

Here’s a little used classic for ya.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

By V for Vendetta

December 24, 2008 9:20 AM | Link to this

Haha, Jim D. True enough.

Mystery, I absolutely agree with you. TKAM is one of the greatest works of American literature. I would place it ahead of works such as The Scarlet Letter, Moby Dick, and The Grapes of Wrath. Lee will forever be remembered alongside Hemingway, Faulkner, Melville, Hawthorn, London, and Cooper. What a fantastic novel.

Anyway, back to the question at hand. When examining the literary canon we use in western education, it is easy to pick out a great many works that seem irrelevant to today’s students. For a long time I’ve believed that we need to stop entrenching ourselves by teaching the same materials no matter what the climate, culture, and society around us dictates. It’s short sighted and ultimately pointless. Instead, we should look for “classics” (I hate that term, by the way) that speak to the kids now and are representative of the world they live in. Here are a few examples if I had my way:

To Kill a Mockingbird The Odyssey (the teacher makes a great deal of difference when teaching this one) Anthem Romeo and Juliet Lord of the Flies Frankenstein The Crucible Brave New World The Call of the Wild The Catcher in the Rye Of Mice and Men Souls of Black Folk Beowulf The Scarlet Letter Macbeth

Advanced students should also pick up some additional Hemingway, Faulkner, and Steinbeck. That should be supplemented with Plato’s Republic and Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

Of course, ANY of those books can be effectively taught by a good teacher. I would love to add some contemporary literature as well. Perhaps as an out-of-class novel for the students’ enjoyment. Again, a few examples (of authors this time).

Cormac McCarthy Dean Koontz Michael Crichton Toni Morrison JK Rowling Tom Clancy Chuck Palahniuk

An eclectic mix to be sure!

Just my two cents.

By Tony

December 24, 2008 10:52 AM | Link to this

In making classic literature relevant, the teacher must foster discussion of the challenges faced by the characters and the authors. Truly timeless classics seem to reach into the hearts of the readers through the characters. The struggles are often controversial and thus cause some teachers to shy away.

One of the things that deeply troubles me in the current politically motivated testing frenzy is that our students will further lose out on classic literature. After all, it’s not on the test.

By Tony

December 24, 2008 10:53 AM | Link to this

I echo the greeting - Merry Christmas to all!

By Cthulhu

December 24, 2008 11:00 AM | Link to this

My kid HATES to read. I try and force him to read, but if the words aren’t scrolling across some stupid video game screen he has no interest at all. He would rather have molten lead poured down his throat than pick up a book. Kids nowdays must have visual stimulation, rather than use their imagination with reading. Reminds me of Ray Bradbury’s Fairenhiet 451. Video games must be destroyed.

By Troglodyke

December 24, 2008 11:08 AM | Link to this

V makes a good case. Some classics need to be read, period. Others are just relics that could be replaced easily.

TKAM is an absolute necessity. The major plays and sonnets of the Bard. Steinbeck. The philosophers.

I do believe that kids growing up without developing a desire to read are kids that are seriously missing out on skills that will make a difference in their lives. Reading for pleasure is a dying art, and it’s a shame, because studies show that people who read regularly are smarter, period. They understand more, they write and speak better, and they probably enjoy life more, too.

I think the canon should include some recent non-fiction, too, like The Price of Everything by Russell Roberts, Blink and The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt, Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and other relevant works.

I consider my reading skills one of my greatest assets. I wish more people did.

By NewYorkah in da South.

December 24, 2008 11:17 AM | Link to this

To: V for Vendetta

That was an excellent list. The only one of that list that I didn’t read in high school or University was To Kill A Mockingbird.

To your list I’d add: Animal Farm, The Stranger, Invisible Man, The Great Gatsby, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Martian Chronicles, Inherit the Wind, The Jungle, 1984, The Hobbit, Richard III, Huck Finn, Dracula, One Day in the Life of Ivan Ivanovich, The House of Mirth, Robinson Crusoe…hmm…I guess there’s a reason why I was an English major!

My question everyone out there is who amongst today’s crop of writers will become the classics of tomorrow? I read a lot of Sci-Fi and Fantasy so I have my ideas about that genre but I wonder who we might see on reading lists a generation from now?

Happy Holidays everyone!

By Soixante huitard

December 24, 2008 11:19 AM | Link to this

Part of the problem is already evident in the authors mentioned in your examples. Simply lumping such disparate authors together and calling them ‘classic’ is already putting a nail in the coffin of such a project before even starting (though it’s been done many times before, notably by the “great books” project started by M. J. Adler at the U of Chicago in the last century).

The problem is that there’s a world of difference between Dante, an Italian living in the 13th Century, Kafka, a Jew living in Prague in the early 20th C., then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher who studied German idealism in Berlin and was arguably the most literarily gifted of the modern philosophers (and whose work represents a kind of anti-philosophy). Needless to say all of these writers would presumably be read in translation, another problem in itself.

In any case one would be better off simply learning what it means to read well first, whatever the author, and then thinking about what kind of ‘canon’ should be covered.

But as far as ‘relevance’ as such goes, no one could possibly be more relevant than Kafka, who created a whole style — which has since entered the common language as an adjective — to describe the world we still very much face today of beaureaucratic impersonalism and the potential sadism inherent in our tendency to ‘belong’ to the huge mysterious machinery that is modern society.

By Soixante huitard

December 24, 2008 11:22 AM | Link to this

Part of the problem is already evident in the authors mentioned in your examples. Simply lumping such disparate authors together and calling them ‘classic’ is already putting a nail in the coffin of such a project before even starting (though it’s been done many times before, notably by the “great books” project started by M. J. Adler at the U of Chicago in the last century).

The problem is that there’s a world of difference between Dante, an Italian living in the 13th Century, Kafka, a Jew living in Prague in the early 20th C., then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher who studied German idealism in Berlin and was arguably the most literarily gifted of the modern philosophers (and whose work represents a kind of anti-philosophy). Needless to say all of these writers would presumably be read in translation, another problem in itself.

In any case one would be better off simply learning what it means to read well first, whatever the author, and then thinking about what kind of ‘canon’ should be covered.

But as far as ‘relevance’ as such goes, no one could possibly be more relevant than Kafka, who created a whole style — which has since entered the common language as an adjective — to describe the world we still very much face today of beaureaucratic impersonalism and the potential sadism inherent in our tendency to ‘belong’ to the huge mysterious machinery that is modern society.

By V for Vendetta

December 24, 2008 11:28 AM | Link to this

New Yorkah,

Thanks for reminding me about Gatsby! I can’t believe I forgot him. Excellent suggestions.

By Leah

December 24, 2008 11:28 AM | Link to this

Great suggestions so far. Two more that I was taught in school and would like to continue to see taught are Animal Farm by George Orwell and Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

By For States rights

December 24, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this

Lets not forget “The Old Man and the Sea” or anything else by Hemingway. Working in Public Safety (fire rescue) I conduct testing and orientation for new employees as they come to us from the public schools. The problem is not just that they don’t read it is that they CAN’T read, they can’t do basic math and believe it or not more than 50% could not find the State of Texas on a map. I do not feel the teachers are to blame…they are mandated to teach at the level of the lowest performing student. That said we will continue to produce illiterate high school grads until we raise the expectations of our students.

By AKD

December 24, 2008 11:39 AM | Link to this

Part of the problem is parents letting their children spend endless hours in front of stupid video games instead of creating a love of reading from an early age. My son is 4 and loves books. He does not have a TV in his room and will never have a gaming device in there. We might purchase one for the family to use, sparingly I might add, later but these kids who “hate to read” hate it because of a failure to nurture the curiousity of books when children are small. I have been reading to my son since he was a few days old and it shows. Sure, he likes tv and kid cartoons but we allow it in moderation.

I read all the classics in high school (only 11 years ago!) and they are still teaching the classics here in our school system. If they weren’t I’d absolutely make my kids read TKAM, Moby Dick, The Jungle, Animal Farm, 1984, The Good Earth, and other timeless classics.

By PHJ

December 24, 2008 12:41 PM | Link to this

Anything by Dickens or Hawthorne, and Betty Smith’s “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”. Take anything I have that you want, but leave my books alone.

By Jake

December 24, 2008 12:52 PM | Link to this

Classic literature does what all great art does, it captures a moment, a thought, or a feeling and makes it eternal. “Welcome him and let him take his place at the council fire of my people. He is Uncas, my son. Tell them to be patient and ask death for speed; for they are all there but one - I, C**** - Last of the Mohicans.” The pain in C****’s heart will always be relevant, as long as people walk the earth.

By Taylor

December 24, 2008 12:53 PM | Link to this

I would hardly consider any book by Ayn Rand classic, however worthwhile reading Anthem was in ninth grade. If students aren’t reading these books now, then what are they reading?
Animal Farm and Huck Finn should be for middle schoolers. 1984 or Brave New World should be read back to back with Utopia to contrast the ideas of utopia and dystopia. The Jungle, Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scarlet Letter, Death of a Salesman and other Twain (among others) should be seen as supportive or contributionary to the study of US history and shouldn’t be thrown in the mix with other “classics.” To divorce a novel (or play, or poem) from its historical relevance prevents a total understanding of its true meaning.
I think these books are classics because their characters’ struggles echo universal hardships faced by all people. They should absolutely be taught in schools, but curriculums should also include more modern literature, as well. My two cents.

By Penguinmom

December 24, 2008 12:55 PM | Link to this

My nieces and nephews all had to read The Count of Monte Cristo in high school. I hadn’t seen it on anyone’s list yet.

If you are not an absolute stickler for unabridged, there are a lot of great abridged editions for younger readers that let them experience the plot and enjoy the characters. That way, when they get older and read the full book, they already have familiarity with the plot/characters and can enjoy the richer language. We like the ‘Classic Starts’ series. My daughter, 8, read this version of ‘Little Women’ this summer. My son read a lot of these when he was in early elementary.

Also, we enjoyed The Children’s Homer by Padraic Colum on audio CD. It covered the story of both the Iliad and the Odyssey and all 3 of my kids (4, 8 and 12) enjoyed it. I think audio books are a good way to encourage interest in literature. We often have a book going in the car instead of music.

I think tying literature to history helps bring it alive for kids. If you are studying modern history and reading the Odyssey at the same time, it doesn’t have as much context. We try to keep what we read in literature tied to the time period we are studying so that there is context and it enhances the history.

By Clyde

December 24, 2008 1:02 PM | Link to this

Over my lifetime I’ve read a lot of the classics.One thing for sure,if they’re not available in the home,the chances are not good that they’ll be read by the younger generation.Their revelancy is an issue that can be discussed after they are read.

By V for Vendetta

December 24, 2008 2:16 PM | Link to this

AKD, I know Jim D won’t like this, but you’re absolutely right. Parents buy their children the latest electronic gadgetry, and the effect it has on both their desire to read and their ability to read is obvious. Most of the kids I teach NEVER have books to read for pleasure and couldn’t name the last one they actually READ if they tried. It’s pathetic.

Look, we can point fingers at the various reasons all day long, but the bottom line is that parents are a child’s best teacher for reading. Their example is the one the child is likely to follow. Believe me, I’ve talked to some ignorant parents over the years, and their children were always at the bottom of the barrel in reading skills and comprehension. I love debating “controversial” books with parents. Example: One parent insisted that To Kill a Mockingbird was a racist book. After providing airtight testimony to the contrary, citing multiple examples of its anti-racist message, she looked (and probably felt) like a completely ignorant moron. Glorious.

Get your kids to read, people! Maybe then they will be able to understand Hemingway as well as they can understand Sports Illustrated.

By Elizabeth

December 24, 2008 3:07 PM | Link to this

The classics are not taught because the kids do not want to read them. And what the kids want and will learn is what drives education today. Everything has to be something kids are willing to learn. Books that are true classics, such as anything by Dickens, Hawthorene, Steinbeck, Faulkner, Twain, and a host of others, including TKAM, are deemed “not relevent” to today’s kids. Yet Dickens , for example, dealt with homeless street people, orphans, debtors, and a host a of issues that still apply today. But people say classics are not relevent. Classics are a mirror for our history and the human condition throught he centuries, and if we do not know them, we cannot understand the past the present or the future. They are as necesary as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, but most teachers today have to fight administrators, other teachers, parents and kids when teaching a classic novel. After a while, it wears you down. And when these books are gone— no longer read or taught— then we will have lost a part of ourselves and our history that we will be unable to understand or remember.

By jim d

December 24, 2008 5:57 PM | Link to this

Actually V,

My son has many of them in hardback in his personal library.

He’s had books since before birth—we read to him in the womb. He is an avid reader and has been reading on his own since before he started school. After starting school he often had two or three novel’s going at the same time (still does that somehow)

And yes he too has electronic gadgets to entertain hinself during “DOWN TIME”

Yes reading is one of the most important learning tools available—However, there is more to learning than is found in books.

So leave me close by saying “MERRY CHRISTMAS to all and to all a Good night.” :)

By Soixante huitard

December 24, 2008 6:08 PM | Link to this

With my post I made an attempt to question the notion of “classics” as such. But amazingly, as far as I can see not one person has taken the bait and joined in that discussion, instead simply talking as though there exists this unproblematic category the “classics”.

I’m amazed, people. Sorry to nag but can’t we think a little more critically here? :-)

By Old School

December 29, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this

My hs ED&D students read the first 15 minutes of each block. I keep Time, Readers’ Digest, Consumer Reports, several building trades magazines, and my personal collection of Pat McManus books. Many of our CTAE students say they hate reading but I have found that encouraging them to read for the sheer joy of it and by providing varied and interesting materials, they soon are drawn into reading. We are also fortunate to have on staff a couple of English teachers who are gifted in presenting the “classics” to their students… even my CTAE kids. I think that is the secret to success in literature- teachers who love the classics and can bring their magic to the students. Sadly, many of those teachers are of my generation and at the end of their careers. Even more sadly, with the continuing focus on test scores and not substance, our students will get the spoon-fed condensed versions.

I’m just so darn glad my own two girls received their very fine public school educations before all this craziness began.

By Jeff

December 29, 2008 9:30 AM | Link to this

Getting to this late, but I’d say Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 are very much essential in today’s society.

To the mention of Cormac McCarthy, I’d say that I wouldn’t force that author on the worst criminal of all time, much less students.

Oh, and since most people don’t seem to have a grasp of these two, I’d better throw these and related documents in:

The Constitution of the United States of America, The Articles of Confederation, The Declaration of Independence, The Federalist Papers, The Anti-Federalist Papers, Common Sense.

Heck, I’ll even throw in The Rights of Man and Democracy in America.

By Hmm

December 31, 2008 12:11 AM | Link to this

What else can be recommended for a highschooler with exceptional reading ability? He’s read most of the stuff already listed, what’s next? Others have recommended Vonnegut, Kant, Nietzsche, Atlas Shrugged, etc. Need more suggestions. He reads a lot and seems to have an endless appetite for it.

Unfortunately, I’m a very poor adviser on this matter.