I'm not even sure if that's how it's spelled. I'm taking Spanish 101 in the fall. Just trying to prepare.
Today in my last English class of the semester we discussed the "Canon" of books that we think all adolescents should have read by the time they finish high school. It was hard for me to come up with a list (we were limited to the top 5) for many reasons: I couldn't remember most of the books that I really enjoyed reading in high school, some of the books I think are necessary for kids to read I haven't even read myself (yet), and I really don't know what books I think are really essential. I'm not planning on teaching English, so I don't really think that I need to have an opinion that I feel strongly about, but these are the books that I thought of first:
1. The Odyssey, Homer
2. Night, Elie Wiesel
3. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. Some sort of Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Julius Caesar)
5. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
I really can't decide on five. After thinking about it for the whole class period and thinking about the books that we have read for the class as well as the books that are most frequently taught or challenged, there are many others I'd like to add; Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice and Men, Crime and Punishment, Death of a Salesman, 1984... There are too many to chose from.
What should the top 5 "canon" books be?
7 comments:
The problem with this question is that all of these books - and almost all literature we consider to be in the "canon," period - are written for a mature audience. For instance, it is difficult to understand "Death of a Salesman" until you've been through enough to be capable of empathy for parents and people different from you. I enjoyed it when I read it in school, but loved it when I saw it after I graduated from college. Speaking of college, this goes for freshmen and sophomores in literature classes as well - this stuff wasn't written with them in mind. Experience and understanding requires time.
Of course, literature can help us to acquire these experiences through the written word (and it helps if you have a good teacher). And it is important not to only assign works which fit the current comprehension level of the student; s/he must be challenged.
If I were to choose a top five, they would be works that I thought students would be more likely to be gripped by - while simultaneously being challenged - so that a passion for literature might be sparked in their minds.
"1984" and "Catcher in the Rye" are both books that high school students find highly enjoyable, and I would capitalize on that. "Gatsby" is good, because so much of the meaning is easily accessable. I would also use literature to help students understand cultures different from their own, and would highly recommend the teaching of novels in history and social studies classes.
I would also suggest that no play be taught unless the class can be taken to a staged performance afterwards.
Bryan, Krista,
I can't believe neither of you mentioned all of the Harry Potter Books! While we're at it, isn't there a Left Behind series for kids?
Feliz ocho de Mayo.
I got my mom a Mothers' Day card with the Virgen de Guadelupe on it and put pesos in it. I'll start sending you cards in Spanish so you can further practice for next fall. I can probably teach you some words you won't learn in class. If you haven't already learned them from me. (Naco puta!)
I'm looking at Bryan and Lynnea's responses and they've attacked this from most angles I would. So, yeah, what they said...
Does anyone really want me to go off on how naming just five books is symptomatic of a pathetically underread culture and how I would be making kids read Lies My Teacher Told Me? I didn't think so. The Old Man and The Sea would be at the top of my list - for any age group, really. I'm pro-poetry, too. I was in college before I realized the value of a good poem. I think if I'd had better teaching regarding poetry in high school (or read better poems) I would have appreciated it sooner.
"Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" has got to be up there, along with the Encyclopedia Brown series.
Seriously, I agree with Bryan. If I taught high school English my goal would be that kids would read when they leave. If that works, they will read a lot of books. If I give them what I want and it doesn't stimulate them to enjoy reading and seek out new books, then they will only read 5 books in their lives.
So, Lynnea, you might have a point with the Harry Potter series. If that gets students into books, it's cool with me. However, I would worry that they would stay at that level and continue to read Harry Potter, John Grisham and Tom Clancy the rest of their lives without ever experiencing introspective literature.
I believe Harold Bloom said it best (roughly quoted): "If it takes Harry Potter books to get kids to read, I'd rather them not read at all." Amen to that.
First of all, I agree with you, Bryan, that most of the literature that is taught to high school students is not written with that age group in mind. Still, the books that I read in my 11th grade Classics class that may not have been written for high schoolers (Crime and Punishment, Dante's Inferno, etc.) are the books that impacted me the most and made me desire to be a well-read adult (it instilled the desire in me, and it's still there - unfortunately I just don't seem to read much outside of school these days. Does that defeat my point?).
Lynnea, I appear to be missing out having not read the Harry Potter series and giving up on Left Behind half-way through the first book. I can't decide how I feel about kids reading them and the whole "at least kids are reading SOMETHING" debate. It's like wondering if we should encourage teenage girls to read "Seventeen" or cheesy romance novels for the sake of reading something, even if it's not beneficial to them. Who knows.
Lester, I can't believe The Old Man and the Sea would be at the top of your list! I don't remember liking it that much in high school. I also think I would appreciate poetry more if I had better teaching (or more confident teachers; I think they just expected us to hate it).
Brad, do you realize that Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is number 60 on the American Library Association's 100 most challenged books of the 90s? Judy Blume actually has 5 books on that list (I was shocked - didn't anyone read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing or Superfudge??) which is more than any other author. Even though I assume you were joking about that one, I acutally did like that book when I was 10.
I stand by The Old Man and the Sea. The first book I thought of was Lolita, but it's probably not even allowed in high school libraries. I think I'm mostly thinking about what people can learn about writing from reading a book. Any Hemingway demonstrates excellent use of language and Nabokov does an incredible job with characterization.
I admit I've read all the Harry Potter books. They're ok, but just ok and I'd be worried about anyone who considers them important literature. If I had kids, they wouldn't read Harry Potter until I was certain they'd already developed strong reading habits. I agree with Lynnea; I don't think "getting kids to read" necessitates Harry Potter. The Chronicles of Narnia are more interesting and hopefully more effective. J.K. Rowling is no C.S. Lewis.
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