Holy Bible KJV, On the Jews and their Lies Martin Luther, Mein Kampf, Protocols of Learned Elders of zion, industrial society and it's future, the jungle, lord of the flies. I'm sure I could find a dozen or two more.
If you were a high school English teacher, which books would you require reading? - Teachers IRL should chime in
- Thread starter Meat Target
- Start date
I would say the most interesting answers to this question would come by assuming:
- A middle-class public or private school, assume the kids have decent parents who'll make sure they go to school and do their homework, but not hire private tutors or essay mills for them. They're disciplined enough to sit still and be quiet in class, but getting them to pay attention and learn is up to you. And your administration will give you a free hand in designing the lesson plan.
- Answer for a general class, and also for "the smart kids" if you feel like it. The general class may have some slower kids but no complete retards who don't belong in the grade at all. Most kids will be reading approximately at grade level.
- You don't know them already.
- Whatever grade or grades you want to answer for is fine.
I dont know but I'll post what we were forced to read
Persepolis (both volumes)
Ramayana (specifically the part that was featured in Sita Sings the Blues)
Romeo and Juliet
Fahrenheit 451
A Long Way Gone
George Carlins Biography Last Words
Persepolis (both volumes)
Ramayana (specifically the part that was featured in Sita Sings the Blues)
Romeo and Juliet
Fahrenheit 451
A Long Way Gone
George Carlins Biography Last Words
Reporterward
kiwifarms.net
Books?
At a public high school?
At a public high school?
Marquis De Sade's Justine.
Nietzsche's Beyond Good & Evil.
Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil.
Artaud Anthology by Antonin Artaud.
Huxley's Brave New World.
Orwell's 1984.
Bret Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero.
William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch.
Nietzsche's Beyond Good & Evil.
Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil.
Artaud Anthology by Antonin Artaud.
Huxley's Brave New World.
Orwell's 1984.
Bret Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero.
William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch.
You guys are being too edgy, you'd totally get fired. You need shit that traumatizes the kids, but that you can convince the parents that it has literary merit.
For example, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Our teacher read the scene of an 8-year-old getting raped by her father out loud in front of the class, but because she refused to say "nigger," parents were convinced that it was a gritty, realistic depiction of life for black people in the early 1940s.
For example, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Our teacher read the scene of an 8-year-old getting raped by her father out loud in front of the class, but because she refused to say "nigger," parents were convinced that it was a gritty, realistic depiction of life for black people in the early 1940s.
I was one of the total losers who enjoyed a lot of the books we read in high school, so there's a few things I would keep the same as what I read. Honestly though I'm amazed at what some of my classmates hated. The Odyssey had monsters and people dying and shit and my classmates still hated it. But I'd probably include:
-Dante's Inferno. I'm an art history nerd so this would be fun to pair with a lesson on historical depictions of hell and the devil.
-Dracula, which could be followed up with watching a few movie adaptations such as the '22 Nosferatu, '31 Dracula, and '58 Dracula. This could prompt discussion on differences between adaptations and how the story has been altered. Same thing could be done with Frankenstein but I would probably include Young Frankenstein in the movie lineup.
-The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad, the whole concept of which is "bruh what if Hitler wrote sci fi" and the protagonist is best described as Hitler's Mary Sue character. I'd pick this not for edgelord reasons but because there are a lot of comparisons you can draw between the book events and actual WWII history as well as a lot of character analysis you could do.
-Planet of the Apes because I liked that book dammit!
-Dante's Inferno. I'm an art history nerd so this would be fun to pair with a lesson on historical depictions of hell and the devil.
-Dracula, which could be followed up with watching a few movie adaptations such as the '22 Nosferatu, '31 Dracula, and '58 Dracula. This could prompt discussion on differences between adaptations and how the story has been altered. Same thing could be done with Frankenstein but I would probably include Young Frankenstein in the movie lineup.
-The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad, the whole concept of which is "bruh what if Hitler wrote sci fi" and the protagonist is best described as Hitler's Mary Sue character. I'd pick this not for edgelord reasons but because there are a lot of comparisons you can draw between the book events and actual WWII history as well as a lot of character analysis you could do.
-Planet of the Apes because I liked that book dammit!
- Crime and Punishment
- The Odyssey
- The Catcher in the Rye
The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
nigger of the north
kiwifarms.net
The Intellectual Life by Philip Gilbert Hamerton is a good one. It was actually required reading, or as close to as it as you can get, for university students in the late 19th-early 20th century.
However, this was when universities actually taught people things, by people who actually knew shit, and admission to said universities wasn't granted to anyone with a pulse.
In other words, it's an intellectual curiosity today.
So I'm gonna say Harry Potter.
However, this was when universities actually taught people things, by people who actually knew shit, and admission to said universities wasn't granted to anyone with a pulse.
In other words, it's an intellectual curiosity today.
So I'm gonna say Harry Potter.
Realistically I don't think you could get high schoolers through 3 volumes of it though. Maybe just the first volume, the abridged version, or even "Ivan Denisovich".
Heart of Darkness and Mien Kampf.
The Revelations of Glaaki.
AnimeGirlConnoisseur
kiwifarms.net
Well I'm not that much of a book nigga. I used to be when I was back in school and I'm trying to get back into it. I'm going to try to talk about what is most likely to leave an impact on highschoolers and why it's an impact that should be left.
I've heard some people in this thread say that highschoolers should be given Atlus Shrugged and some say that they should be given Anthem. I personally think that Anthem is going to be the better choice. I never read Atlus Shrugged, but I did accidentally read Anthem during a really boring SAT class (the class was using an English teacher's room and the book just happened to be lying on the a table). Atlus Shrugged is a fucking tome that can be used as a murder weapon and nobody wants to read it. Anthem teaches kids everything that Atlus Shrugged does (individual good; collectivism bad) without putting them to sleep.
Next is the basic dystopian stuff: 1984 and Brave New World. Yeah, people read this shit and suddenly think they know everything about every, but there's still some great stuff in there, especially to people who have never been exposed to dystopian literature before. Also they are both extremely accessible to kids.
Clockwork Orange is a good way to introduce teach people about morality and free will. Yeah, it's pretty edgy, but we have drag queen story hour now so who the fuck cares? I saw the movie when I was 13 and I turned out alright.
As a sort of end of the year 'all the real work is done, so lets have some fun' sort of thing I would recommend some works by Junji Ito, preferably Uzumaki and Gyo. I think that they are good introductions to cosmic horror without having to deal with Lovecraft, who can be hard for some kids to get into and completely impossible for many school districts to approve as required reading.
Oh and I simply have to include the Slayers light novel series, which is the most important work of fiction known to man and not making it required reading for every English class is basically child abuse.
Those are my suggestions. It's not the best list in the world, but I think it's a good start.
I've heard some people in this thread say that highschoolers should be given Atlus Shrugged and some say that they should be given Anthem. I personally think that Anthem is going to be the better choice. I never read Atlus Shrugged, but I did accidentally read Anthem during a really boring SAT class (the class was using an English teacher's room and the book just happened to be lying on the a table). Atlus Shrugged is a fucking tome that can be used as a murder weapon and nobody wants to read it. Anthem teaches kids everything that Atlus Shrugged does (individual good; collectivism bad) without putting them to sleep.
Next is the basic dystopian stuff: 1984 and Brave New World. Yeah, people read this shit and suddenly think they know everything about every, but there's still some great stuff in there, especially to people who have never been exposed to dystopian literature before. Also they are both extremely accessible to kids.
Clockwork Orange is a good way to introduce teach people about morality and free will. Yeah, it's pretty edgy, but we have drag queen story hour now so who the fuck cares? I saw the movie when I was 13 and I turned out alright.
As a sort of end of the year 'all the real work is done, so lets have some fun' sort of thing I would recommend some works by Junji Ito, preferably Uzumaki and Gyo. I think that they are good introductions to cosmic horror without having to deal with Lovecraft, who can be hard for some kids to get into and completely impossible for many school districts to approve as required reading.
Oh and I simply have to include the Slayers light novel series, which is the most important work of fiction known to man and not making it required reading for every English class is basically child abuse.
Those are my suggestions. It's not the best list in the world, but I think it's a good start.
jokes on you, we read both of those in high school.
--Irene Iddesleigh
--the collected works of William McGonagall
--English as She is Spoke
--The Eye of Argon
Think that should give the students all they need to thrive.
--the collected works of William McGonagall
--English as She is Spoke
--The Eye of Argon
Think that should give the students all they need to thrive.
Joke's on you, "Ivan" is a waste of time if you already read the real thing.
Super Sad Smile
kiwifarms.net
I'd be that one shitty teacher who just shows movies/tv adaptations instead of trying to teach those little shits. High schoolers probably don't know how to read anyway.
Add Welcome to the NHK so they know what their future looks like.
Add Welcome to the NHK so they know what their future looks like.
