A Modern Reading List for High School?

[SoloAJ]

I do hope this thread elicits some responses. More to the point, I hope that it elicits discussion.. As I am planning to teach high school english, this is something that I find particularly fascinating.

Anyway, for one of my classes we received an assignment in reaction to an article.

Article: Here.

Her reading list: Book Choices.

Summary: Basically, the article states that most high school reading lists are quite dated, and incredibly mundane for the average 9th and 10th graders. Therefore, we should make an effort to modernize the reading material.

Consider, very few high school pieces are geared TOWARD children. The Odyssey? Canterbury Tales? Obviously not. So, the idea here is to come up with some books that bring something fresh to the students world, perspective and all.

The Assignment: Create a 10 book canon that you would like to see students to have read by the time they finish 10th grade. Bear in mind things like the medium and form (graphic novels? movies? memoirs?). Also, very few books that kids read in high school have any comedic value...and I think we know that in high school, most kids like to laugh and joke around. So maybe that is something to consider.


So, this seemed, to me, like it would be a very good idea for the Lounge. I really hope it hasn't already been done (I tried a quick search). I would be very interested to hear what the Loungers would include in their ten book canon for 9th and 10th graders. The truth is, I respect a lot of Loungers' ideas from the times I have frequented this forum. So I'm hoping you can all offer me some insight, we can have some words said, and maybe, .maybe. I will end up being able to read and teach some of the gems you all have picked out.

((I'm not asking just to have you 'do' my coursework. I am going to post my list in a bit here once I get it leveled down a little more. Besides, my list is still mostly dead white guys because I'm mostly only using works that I have personally read, and I haven't read too much outside the box yet)).

[SoloAJ]

In my assignment we have to informally justify why we chose what we chose. I will try to do so. If nothing else, maybe this will elicit responses. Additionally, as I said, my list isn't ideal by any means. A lot of books this guy assigned for class, I haven't yet read..but I could see them ending up on the list.

(1) Of Mice & Men / The Great Gatsby - I link these two together because I think I could only teach one of the two. They aren't really that similar, but yet I link them together in my mind for the purposes of this list. Someone once told me that Gatsby is the great adolescent novel because "it's about failed relationships, and isn't that what high school is all about?" Not for me it wasn't, but I can see that.

(2) Catcher in the Rye - This one, of course, faces banning issues. Whatever. Ideally, I think everyone should read it. I find it amazing that the book was written in the 50s, yet it probably would be more popular with kids each year that passes. It was emo before emo became hip. Plus, it is the type of novel that I think kids needs to read just so that when they reread it in a decade, they can see the differences in appreciation.

(3) Hamlet - I've included only one work of Shakespeare and I did so because it is probably my favorite play (though Cyrano de Bergerac could run with it). This is the sort of thing that you have to handle it right as a teacher to get the kids involved. It is a fascinating play if you focus on the plot and depth instead of the language (for kids I mean).

(4) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead - One of the works I have not read that I included. I watched the movie though, and I found it amazing. So really, if time was an issue, I would have them do Hamlet and then just watch the movie for this. I think it adds humor to a story that is incredibly dark. Plus, Oldman and Roth, good times.

(5) Fahrenheit 451 / I, Robot / Ender's Game - I want to include Sci-Fi because I find it to be a growing genre. Plus it is a genre that a lot of kids get turned onto literature through. 451 is probably the frontrunner of these. I love that book. Some may argue something else by Asimov, but I, Robot is all that I have read of his. Plus, it is in like six(?) short stories, so I could choose just one or two for a class. Finally, Ender's Game is amazing. Parts of it, unfortunately would be over the students' heads and it is a 300 page novel. So it ranks 3rd on possible inclusion.

(6) 1984 / Brave New World - This was the hardest inclusion. I am a huge fan of dystopian novels, obviously. It is hard to include either of these, because I think they both fall in that "next of the classics to get replaced by modern works" in schools. They're amazing novels, but are they still necessary at the high school level? I don't know.

(7) A few short stories by James Joyce - I prefer The Dead. I read that as a senior though and parts of it were too heavy for half the class. Araby is apparently a big hit. I didn't much like Araby, but maybe I just need to reread it. Either way, Joyce is imperative to this list.

(8) Glance through the Odyssey and watch O Brother Where Art Thou This is probably my "most clever" addition to the list. I agree with Shannon Hale that the story is what is important for The Odyssey. There are references to it in literature all over the place. And hey, there happens to be a movie that loosely parallels the story. I include the movie also becuase I think a lot of people in this (midwest) aren't exposed to something that is so rich in southern beauty (the landscapes and the music).

(9a) The Things They Carried - This is a * addition. I haven't yet read it. I have heard nothing but rave rave rave about it. ANd I have seen it taught in high school classes before. Therefore, it is on the list until I get proven otherwise. Plus it offers some sort of "foreign" ideas I'm guessing (Vietnam based..something most 9th graders don't know about too well).

(9b) Slaughter House Five - Also a * addition. I just can't decide if a 10th grader could handle this story. But it IS funny, and it adds humor through satire. If the kids would take to it with an open mind, I think a lot of them would really enjoy it.

(10) Freakonomics - I haven't read this in a while so I don't know how appropriate it would be. However, I think it would offer some "real world" and some "humor" to my list. Those are two things that most high school lists are just lacking entirely. You can't take this book TOO seriously, but I think it would offer a lot to a class of 10th graders.

(11) Batman: The Killing Joke / V for Vendetta - Appropriate? I don't know. I haven't read either of these yet. But they're both incredibly popular, and the Batman one is incredibly different from the rest of the list. I think that I will have to teach a graphic novel of some sort by the time I teach in a class, they're just too popular anymore not to. That said, I haven't read like...uhh....any. So these two are on there for now based on recommendations.

(12) Short Stories! - This is going to be my favorite part as a teacher I think. Mostly because I have some I love dearly, and I think that short stories are the best chance you have to get kids to read and analyze. Here is my list, with no specific reasoning given unless asked (I know this post is long enough).
The Lottery
The Ones Who Walked from Omelas
The Lady or the Tiger
The Most Dangerous Game
The Necklace
Tell Tale Heart
A Modest Proposal
Bartleby the Scrivener
The Yellow Wallpaper.


Whew, that is my current status. I really hope SOMEONE reads that post, haha. If not, well...it looks like I basically typed out most of my assignment just now. So good times!

Note: My list openly lacks any good foreign literature. I don't know what to include. I've read one Amy Tan book, but it wouldn't be good for this matter. Shrug.

[EMc]

Catcher in the rye is the only book that many people I know in college actually read and liked in high school including me.

I also like your suggestion of freakanomics. Hamlet, well, IDK, ive read it 4 times in a classroom setting, so I guess im biased.

I also liked Of Mice and Men, I think most people I read it with did too.

I was a little upset I never got to read 1984 or F 451 in school.

Overall I think your list is solid.

[John Cole]

I read it. Get rid of the crappy short stories, The Lady or the Tiger and The Most Dangerous Game. Make sure that you read aloud the final couple pages of Omelas; it will hit them harder if you do. Add Chekhov's The Lady with the Dog and teach it as a love story; make sure you look at how Chekhov uses details.

By all means, use Ender's Game. It's perfect for hs kids. Also, you might bring up ideas about how the book looks at "special education." Did you know that Card's son requires special needs?

I would add Maus I, a superior graphic novel without the moralizing. This renders what inhumanity does to people as well as anything.

Don't be afraid of The Dead, but take it slow. I was surprised to find out that some of my blandest students found it the best story of the semester. Araby is best seen as a little boy's story first; he's got a crush on a girl, and his romantic imagination produces wonderful melodrama. But he never really sees the object of his affection--merely her image throughout the story. Note how Joyce uses sight throughout. You could have the kid track the references to sight throughtout the story. Note that the story ends with tears. It's funny and sad.

I think you will love The Things They Carried.

[SoloAJ]

John Cole,

I really enjoy The Lady or the Tiger, though mostly because I think it can elicit some form of easy discussion among people. I think if I ever taught it, I would have to really TEACH it, with some ideas of gender roles and the kids' life experiences that influenced their interpretation of the story. The Most Dangerous Game I liked when I read in middle school. It may not be strong, but its a fun little one I guess. Shrug.

I did not know that about Card's son. And a good bit of insight you gave me.

I haven't read Maus. I have heard only good things and would love to read it. If I get my hands on it, I think it could easily become something I teach in my classes, if given the opportunity.

Thanks for the refresher/quick rundown of Araby. I seriously haven't read it since around sophomore year of high school. Maybe I just wasn't all that into it. I remember that we got put into groups and everyone was assigned a story from Dubliners. I got The Dead and that is why I fell in love with that one.

Thanks for the article too. I have only gave it a once over thus far, but I appreciate it a lot.

[SoloAJ]

Tigermoth,

To be honest, I'm not really all that sad about my list in terms of "dead white men." I chose the works I did, so far, because of what I think they have to offer to the students as growing individuals. I think there is an awful lot to pull out of the stories. Admittedly, some of the works are there because of their literary impact, but I tried to include things to make them interesting.

Hamlet + R&G Are Dead.
Odyssey + OBWAThou (This one I'm really excited about for some reason. Honestly, I think I was 20 years old when I saw OBWAThou (with a vague recollection of Odyssey) and I was really flattened by just how .different. the movie was. Midwest bubble definitely sheltered me from anything that was so rich in what I have heard referred to in the movie as a "southern pride."

DB, you're giving me an awful lot of reading material at once. I can't tell if I'm excited or whelmed.

[knowledgeORbust]

Let me preface this by noting that I'm 21 and in college now. I'm only going to comment on the one's I've read. I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I'm somewhat close to the high school age and still act like a little kid - so maybe I can help you get in their heads a little.

[ QUOTE ]
The Great Gatsby

[/ QUOTE ]
Gatsby worked great in my 11th grade class. Everyone seemed to like it and was pretty involved. As you mention, it's practical stuff for HSer's. I re-read it post-HS as I'd only read 1/2 in school, liked it, and allllmost sent an annotated copy of it to my former English teacher as a nice gesture/sign of respect, but thought it was too weird [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
(3) Hamlet

[/ QUOTE ]
As you say, kids tend to hate reading Shakespeare in high school. You'll only get involvement out of the most avid readers/students. Shakespeare is among the absolute best in literature, kids should get some exposure to it, but I agree that you should keep it limited. FWIW, I both respected and disliked all of the Shakespeare I read in high school, and probably read 1/5 of the plays we were assigned and 0/15 sonnets.

[ QUOTE ]

(6) 1984 / Brave New World

[/ QUOTE ]
I was supposed to read 1984 in 10th grade English but I'm a massive slacker and did not. It was, however, one of the few books that my classmates seemed to thoroughly enjoy/talk about.
I just read Brave New World a couple of months ago and found it to be great. I think it's a good choice and will provide some serious perspective about what the "real world" is like. Obviously when you're in high school, you don't know much or anything about the real world or society in general; and this book offers some excellent commentary on society, general conditioning, authority, drugs, and other stuff that high schoolers can benefit from. It's a short, fun read and I wish I'd have gotten to it earlier.

[ QUOTE ]
(8) Glance through the Odyssey and watch O Brother Where Art Thou

[/ QUOTE ]
Fun idea. Such a good film. You know 90% of students won't even open the book, but I still think like this idea. Also, students will dig you for assigning them a movie.

[ QUOTE ]


(9a) The Things They Carried

[/ QUOTE ]
Ugh. I cracked this one in 9th grade and couldn't get passed the first few pages. As great as the book is, you will not get a very good response from a typical high school class. I'd personally stick to practical learning material - expanding students' perspectives is great, but this book is really hard to relate to or even get involved in at all as a HSer.

[ QUOTE ]
(10) Freakonomics

[/ QUOTE ]
Excellent idea. I read this one as a Sophomore in college and really learned a lot. As silly as it seems, this pop-culture book really enhanced the way I looked at the world. It's based in reality, is somewhat fun, and there's a lot HSer's can get out of it. I bet this one will get a very good response.


Gonna' browse through some other responses now [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[ohioguy218]

[ QUOTE ]
(8) Glance through the Odyssey and watch O Brother Where Art Thou This is probably my "most clever" addition to the list. I agree with Shannon Hale that the story is what is important for The Odyssey. There are references to it in literature all over the place. And hey, there happens to be a movie that loosely parallels the story. I include the movie also becuase I think a lot of people in this (midwest) aren't exposed to something that is so rich in southern beauty (the landscapes and the music).

[/ QUOTE ]

We did this in 11th grade english. It was one of the more interesting things we did that year.

I also agree with the poster that mentioned Lord of the Flies. That makes for excellent discussion. I'd also add The Crucible. That was one of the more enjoyable and interesting works we read in High School English.

[SoloAJ]

dcasper, I will definitely look into that book. I figured it was something business related (which is a slight turnoff for me, shrug). It sounds really interesting. And I like you as a poster, so I'll trust my gut that I like your reading recs.

peter, length is an issue yes. But also, the objective for this was to try and modernize a little bit. Personally, I still think that DQ, RC and the likes would be entirely useful for todays youth (disclaimer: I haven't read those, but it extends to other very old texts I HAVE read).

The problem is moreso that you can't just teach those because the kids probably will get bored of reading the same "dense" material that they aren't interested in. I figure I could choose one or two, but I can't use up half my list on books they won't ever crack open. I guess?

DB, during one of the OOT or Lounge book clubs, that I always want to join and never got around to reading, I had Old Man and the Sea and never opened it. For some reason, it has little appeal to me off the top. Hopefully, your rec and other peoples praise will get me to read the dang thing.

[SoloAJ]

Knowledge,

As I said, I'm only 22 and in college. So your insight actually is something I value too, just to see how we differ despite similar situations. I don't really have much in response to your post because it is well-constructed and I agree with or understand a lot of what you're saying.

Definitely appreciate the input though, especially since you REMEMBER your high school assignments. The truth is, I can't name more than six things we were assigned in high school, and that was 5-8 years ago. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]