[MrWookie]

Personally, I think the idea that books written by people 200 years dead are no longer relevant is total bunk. One of the most memorable books I read in high school was Plato's Republic. The ideas in this book are still relevant (and brilliant) today, even if they've been built upon and amended by most of modern philosophy.

For me, a lot of what made school-type books (as opposed to fun-type books) pleasurable to read were great IDEAS, not just great writing. That's why the most memorable books for me were the idea books, not just the writing ones: the Republic (12th grade), The Things They Carried (11th grade), Man's Search For Meaning (12th grade) and my ultimate favorite, The Brothers Karamazov (12th grade).

Now, I hadn't really thought about this before, but I just had an idea of my own. One of the things I think hampered my development through HS English was that often the work we'd do about a book didn't pair well with the books we read. By and large, we wrote only analytical essays on just about any book we read, a mining these books for their ideas. And usually, we were pigeonholed into what we were supposed to think about these ideas, but that's another issue. However, the first book I read for my 9th grade English class was Old Man and the Sea, by Hemmingway. Now, the ideas in this book basically boil down to an (arguably contrived) idea that this guy is some sort of hero for wrestling in the fish, and that's the sort of essay we had to write -- demonstrating that this guy was a hero. I guess it was kind of enlightening to start looking for the hero myth archetype even when there's not an obvious hero, but I don't think a discussion of heroism is really why OMatS is a great book. It's a great book for the writing. Hemmingway's use of words in there is incredible, and that's why it's worth reading. And yet, outside of class discussions, we didn't really have to examine what made the writing itself great. If I was to redesign that part of the course, I'd go back and have us write about some elements in Hemmingway's style, find examples, and talk about what makes them so effective. We learn analytical writing by doing that, we learn creative writing by doing that, and we examine the book for the reason it's great.

On the other hand, if you take a book like the Republic, mining that for its ideas using an analytical essay is a rich learning exercise. There are so many complicated and beautiful ideas to talk about in that book that discussing the overarching message is what counts and why that book is considered great. The writing leaves much to be desired, often, but the ideas are still important.

That's I think the key as to how I'd fundamentally rework my English lit education. A lot of the exercises and essays didn't really match what we did, and often times we missed the boat as to why the book we were reading is good. I think there might be a little more enjoyment from the students if they were assigned books to read, and figuring out why they are great books is the central focus, you might get a few more students agreeing with you that the book is great, rather than simply being convinced that the old man is a hero.

Consequently, I'd want to design a course that featured books that were great for a mix of different reasons. The three big reasons for why books are great that come to mind are:

1. Big ideas, philosophy, etc. This is where the Bros. K, Man's Search for Meaning, Animal Farm, etc. fit in. These books are important for the overarching themes they present.

2. Beautiful writing. Part of any English course is not just reading, but also learning to write. A lot of the time it'll be analytical writing instead of creative writing, but students need to study good creative writing, and learning by example is a good thing. Shakespeare fits in here, along with Hemmingway and plenty of other guys.

3. Cultural relevance. Why is the Odyssey important? The writing is pretty good, but it's still fairly archaic. Philosophically, it's not the deepest thing out there, either, unless you want to talk about how a guy can sleep with various minor dietys on his way home, finally make it there, and still tell his wife that he was faithful to her. However, the story and the plot in the Odyssey are pretty pervasive in Western culture, as evidenced by O Brother Where Art Thou. I think that studying some of these sorts of books concurrently with modern examples of their relevance could be very effective.

Naturally, there will be some overlap here, and if you can find books that are examples of all three will be great. However, different students will enjoy books in different categories, so its important to have all the bases covered.