I'd like to see kids required to read "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich. Not that it's great literature, although the writing is solid and quite easy to read, but because it shows underachievers what life may have in store for them if they continue to coast. The payday that seems perfectly adequate to a 17-year-old still living at home, s/he will learn, is just barely enough to allow a life of despair and doing-without. I read it several years ago, but I vividly recall her descriptions of the places she could afford to rent, what it was like being on her feet all day in cheap shoes, how she could not afford to see a doctor or repair her beater of a car, and what groceries were in her small budget.
Other Fiction: Great Expectations, Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, The House of Mirth, any or all of the Sherlockian Canon, Northanger Abbey, New Grub Street.First Love.
And Non Fiction: Over the Edge of the World, In Cold Blood
Clearly this is a subjective topic, so you would have to explain why these books deserve to be part of school reading. – Ryan Errington10 years ago
I have always thought kids in compulsory schools should have a course in Ethics with required readings in Aristotle, Sartre, Hobbs, Nietzsche etc.. Ethics makes for good critical thinking.
Fiction: The Chronicles of Narnia. Unabridged Grim Fairy Tales.
Non-Fiction: The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quite School and Get a Real Life and Education by Grace Llewellyn – RJWolfe10 years ago
You could also show how many modern books have related themes to the classics. For example, if you read Lord of the Flies in school, why not read The Mazerunner? – Liz Watkins10 years ago
Because modern literature has lost the complexity of plot and nuanced ethics of Lord of the Flies, The Secret Garden, and many other classics. The issue here is to teach critical thinking and proper English via literature, and I know that Hunger Games does not suffice. Twilight is worse.
I suggest Roots. No one has suggested Dracula. I agree with In Cold Blood as well as Chronicles of Narnia. Keeping with the theme, Out of the Silent Planet, Starship Troopers. If you are going to have kids reading Catcher in the Rye there is no reason not to add The Alchemist. A Wrinkle in Time or Speaker for the Dead (not necessarily Ender's Game, so that might be an issue) are good choices.
Maybe Hobbes, but not Nietzsche. a) He talks of religion, which causes a problem. b) He is horribly racist at times. c) He is really, really racist. Seriously, it is as bad as having them read The Yellow Peril by London. – orenhammerquist10 years ago
A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, American Gods, The King of Elfland's Daughter, Roman de Silence, The Left Hand of Darkness, Embassytown, Harry Potter books, Germanic Myths, Egyptian Myths, Mesopotamian Myths, Celtic Myths. These are all the things that I wish we read at High school. This is the literature of culture. – Travis Kane10 years ago
Many kids refuse to read the books imposed by teachers. This continued disregard for literature influences them to develop an negative view on reading in general. While all the books you mentioned are definitely important reads for young students, it might be important to mention how sometimes letting a kid pick their own book allows them to develop a sense of pride in learning and reading. – sapphiremac9 years ago
I would be interested to see this to be focused specifically on books that are very good and worthy of being taught in schools, but have been overlooked for arbitrary reasons. For example, schools have a tendency to pick the dry, old, dusty books known as "classic literature", and while there is of course significant value in these titles, if we prioritize them simply because they are "classic" then we might be overlooking modern literature that is at the same or higher levels. I think this would help stop the article from turning into "Books I Liked and Wish Were Taught in Schools". – OddballGentleman9 years ago
Forcing people to do things hasn't always been a good plan. – T. Palomino2 years ago
With the summer holidays on the way, a run-down of recommended holiday reads would be interesting. It could be a list of particular titles that are set in holiday destinations, or information about travel writers that will give you itchy feet.
Good titles might be 'A Moveable Feast' by Hemingway, 'Tracks' by Robyn Davidson or 'Travels with Herodotus' Ryszard Kapuscinski
For Gamers I strongly recommend "Masters of Doom," "Ready Player One," and "Jacked."
For heavy reading "Cryptonomicon" is always a great read.
For Science Fiction fans i strongly recommend "Air" by Geoff Ryman, and the "Xenogenesis" series (also called Lillith's Brood) by Octavia Butler. Good topic. – G Anderson Lake9 years ago
The society Huxley creates in this book is deemed to be perfect, and "everyone is happy now." Does non-monogamy contribute positively or negatively to this society? Is it a more or less sexual culture when everyone shares everyone else?
This is a fascinating topic. This aspect of Huxley's novel always irked me; the rest of his vision was prophetic and insightful, but the portrayal of polygamous sex seemed conservative and condemnatory. – Samuel Burleigh9 years ago
An interesting approach to this would be to analyze the difference between the point Huxley is trying to make with the lack of monogamy and the actual merits of the society in Brave New World. Huxley's intent is definitely to create a negative impression, but how well does he actually convey this? Another interesting perspective could be to investigate how he appeals to his audience, because the effect of the language and the situations he sets up is undoubtedly different now than when he wrote the book back in 1931. Considering how his audience has changed, is the novel still an effective critique of society? Just some perspective this could take. – OddballGentleman9 years ago
Non-monogamy definitely adds positively to Brave New World or at least provides a critique on our society's need to possess and control one another monogamously in relationships. Who is the most miserable character in the story? John. Because he has raised and conditioned in a village which still adheres to today's concepts and refused to evolve with Mustapha's ideals (which is pretty ironic because in actual cave man times [the real "savages"] communities often slept around intentionally, not knowing who the father of a child was made all men in the clan more inclined to protect the young). Bernard is unhappy yes, but it's mostly because he's unattractive and anxious not because he couldn't have someone if he tried, because anyone will be with anyone. That would be hard to achieve in our world though, because they don't need to pair bond to survive and pass on their genes, they are all test tube babies. Will we one day evolve to that point of not needing to get pregnant and have our own young, do you think that would destroy our need to be monogamous? – Slaidey9 years ago
We are all aware that video game and movie adaptations take liberties with source material (the literature that they are drawn from) but how does a scary piece remain scary? When a reader engages with the text, terror and horror come from anticipation and foreshadowing. Video game users are directly engaged in making decisions and movie watchers are observers of somebody else's vision of the "creature". In what ways does terror/horror translate across media? what makes something scary when it is taken outside our realm of imagination? Does horror/terror run the risk of being campy or cliché because it is no longer on the page?
Perhaps you can add the psychological component of fear to help address terror in these genres. – Venus Echos9 years ago
You've made a good point that video games are frightening because the player is consciously making a decision. In regards to film, the score (background music) usually helps build suspense. Lack of background music also makes things scary, because it usually leads to things popping up. – YsabelGo9 years ago
In gothic literature there is a reliance on the "sublime" the feeling of terror that is ultimately pleasant. This is achieved through the use of the setting in literature so spooky castles, dark weather and subtle changes to the environment are all a must. Now when this translates to lets say video games, these factors are exemplified! Music is added, the once purely imagined setting is now present, and there is the game mechanics to consider. Stress levels rise and your senses go into overdrive causing those factors which allow the sublime to thrive to grow even more palpable. – jonavitua9 years ago
I know a lot of teen fiction gets a bad reputation for being sappy and cliched. It's easy to forget the struggle of growing up and the pettiness of high school. There is something magical about reading about a first kiss or a teen getting their first taste of the real world. The Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld had a profound effect on me even to this day, from when I first read the books at age 15. The main character, tally, was constantly doing the wrong thing for the right reasons and she struggled with maturity and beauty in a dystopian landscape that is not too different from our own. I would like to see an article about different Young Adult novels that are still well-respected literature.
Good topic! I think that your topic can be broken down even further to discuss the motif of growing up/maturing but also how this is done. Post apocalyptic, dystopian, agrarian...all of them have shown themselves in YA literature. I think this would be a really interesting article to read – DClarke9 years ago
This will be a great topic! You could provide a selection of YA novels that are considered "well-respected literature." You can even provide a few examples and critically analyze them, proving that YA novels are not always, in your words, sappy and cliche. After all, some YA novels are taught in classrooms and you can discuss what YA novels are taught in classrooms and why. For example, Monster by Walter Dean Myers and The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian are taught in classrooms and introduce students to themes such as identity and encourage them to read diversely. – Amanda Dominguez-Chio9 years ago
If you need more examples of novels that are being studied in high school, I remember reading 'Catcher in the Rye', 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories', 'The Kite Runner' and 'Looking for Alaska'. – YsabelGo9 years ago
I've enjoyed Perks of Being a Wallflower and Fault in Our Stars. The "story world" of the latter is unforgettable --the cancer ward. – VBarclay9 years ago
Outlander, the book, was released approx. 20 years ago by Diana Galbaldon. Just last year Starz bought the rights to the book and created the TV series. The series has received great reviews worldwide, although non-US TV audiences are behind the US release schedule.
Questions to consider:
1. Why did it take 20 years for the book to be turned into live action? The book has a certain edginess and rawness that is unique (in my opinion) and requires an extremely strong female lead. Was TV (or film) actually capable of creating such a show before 2014?
2. What is the audience's reception to seeing not only their favourite characters alive on the screen, but also some very graphic and unusual scenes? Episodes 15 and 16 received a lot of hype.
3. How was the story line for the TV series altered from the book in an effective way? What changes did the TV writers make that didn't do the book justice?
I think that this is a really great topic! I especially love point number two! Audiences have certainly changed a lot! The ability though to incorporate detail (especially to the extent that Galbaldon incorporates in her books) also is important though I think in making the show work, and I think that it's one of the reasons why it took so long to make. It is a story that spans multiple genres, and needs to be taken seriously and made high-quality in order to do it any modicum of justice. – Xiya8 years ago
Victorian, Georgian, Modernism, Postmodernism… What now? A lot of time is spent, especially in academics, understanding the movements and patterns of art and culture. Thanks to an English Lit education, my best understanding of these eras springs from literary history, and from what I've heard and felt in class and even online, we are entering a new phase, a new movement in art.
The past half decade or so, since the end of WWII, has been a period scholars call Postmodernism. Built from the aesthetics of Modernism, the Postmodernists have mixed "high" and "low" culture (that is, what is considered serious art and what the masses seem to enjoy) to create a playful environment in the face of larger oppression: nuclear war, surveillance, genocide, eugenics, you get the idea. There was still an ongoing search for self and place despite all these things though.
As we go deeper into the 21st century, we separate ourselves from the last 50 years of the 20th, from the Cold War and cultural climates as variant as the 50s, 60s, 70s… you see what I mean. What are we experiencing now? What kind of art and literature is post-Postmodernism, what sort of culture do we get to create in?
So far this century, we've seen an expanding global culture, multiple wars on foreign soil, the looming threat of terrorism, economic devastation and reconstruction, and most recently a wave of progressivism: new civil rights movements, marriage equality, healthcare reform, etc. Are these influences in art and literature? My favorite works published in the last 10 years have been pieces of historical fiction (Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies, Max Brooks's World War Z) and the culminating episodes of fantasy cycles begun before the 21st century (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final Dark Tower novel and even its expansion piece The Wind Through the Keyhole). These fantasy works certainly employ a sense of history as well. Musically, I see a sense of history in my favorites as well, whether personal (Sufjan Stevens's Carrie & Lowell) or national (Titus Andronicus's The Monitor). Maybe I'm biased and just want to believe my own theory. But it looks like this newer phase of culture is very aware of what has come before and is learning or reconstructing for its own sense of place.
Sherman Alexie has written several novels, short stories, and poetry. He wrote the screenplay for the 1998 film Smoke Signals, which was based off his collection of short stories Tonto and the Lone Ranger Fistfight in Heaven. This article can explore a few of the themes that Alexie incorporates in his writing. His work is taught in some classrooms, yet his novels have been challenged and/or banned by libraries. This article can even open up a bigger discussion into the lack of diversity in literature.
