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Recommended Reading

Last post 06-05-2008 4:58 PM by Geishary. 4 replies.
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  • 02-28-2008 4:33 PM

    • mike
    • Top 10 Contributor
    • Joined on 01-23-2008
    • Posts 852
    • Points 2,104

    Recommended Reading

    I am currently tutoring a 9th grader in English Literature and would like to some suggestions on good books for us to study.


    I recently graduated from the FSU English Literature program and the textual canon left something to be desired... and it left a very bad taste in my mouth on reading in general. I have seen some of the recommended reading for public schools and most have very little to offer from a literary standpoint. I want to read books that will make my student enjoy reading and actually look forward to what the next page would hold. Much of what my High School teachers picked out as "Great Literature" could have been written far better by any one of my classmates (and I wondered how some of them got past middle school). Even the canon of the FSU English program left me wondering if the "greatest literary minds" really just needed psychiatric help.


    So I open up this forum to ask you, what books would you recommend? What books would you have felt unfulfilled and incomplete if you had not had opportunity to read them? What books expanded your mind and liberated your thoughts?

    Every man dies, but few truly live. Live your life to its fullest, every day as if it were your last.
    • Post Points: 6
  • 05-06-2008 5:16 PM In reply to

    • Romo
    • Top 10 Contributor
    • Joined on 12-31-2007
    • Florida
    • Posts 98
    • Points 259

    Re: Recommended Reading

    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of the most perfect American novels in my opinion. However, I did not hold this opinion back in school when I had various portions of it assigned and some times reassigned in middle school and high school. (Odd as it is, I don't think we were ever even asked to read it straight through.) No, I did not realize how great it was until the summer I was 26 and decided to reread some of the assigned reading of my youth. I'm not sure what made the difference--my age might've been part of it, but it might've also been that in middle school--before I had well practiced literary criticism skills of my own--the teachers charged with teaching those skills were failing to do so. In fact, looking back, it seems like we did a lot of vocabulary building and very little "elements of a story" or "identifying themes" kind of work. Hmm...

    • Post Points: 4
  • 05-06-2008 5:26 PM In reply to

    • arceus
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    • Joined on 04-07-2008
    • Posts 121
    • Points 302

    Re: Recommended Reading

    It seems all too rare to have teachers actually instill any value in learning in their students. Most people I knew ended up really hating to read so much they never really got anything out of it all. They need a class to just teach kids to enjoy reading for a change. The context and environment where we learn makes a HUGE difference in our overall learning.

    • Post Points: 4
  • 05-13-2008 3:49 PM In reply to

    Re: Recommended Reading

    in response to needing a class that teaches appreciating reading for its own sake (arceus' post): anyone have any ideas how they would structure such a class?

    and in response to the original post: i recommend the sound and the fury by william faulkner to any sophisticated reader who already enjoys books.

    this is also an excellent "teaching" book as it switches narrators and voice as a device, features both s.o.c. and linear writing, makes serious use of symbolism, and focuses it's thematic content so as to comment on the socio-political and economic issues of the day. plus, being written by a truly gifted thinker, the book is structured to hold more meaning than the sum of its parts--the mark of any good literary work.

    however, i doubt this is the type of book that makes book-haters suddenly reform--unless, perhaps, their opinion of reading developed from lack of intellectually challenging material--so proceed with caution!

    emcee christmas
    Currents&Waves
    • Post Points: 2
  • 06-05-2008 4:58 PM In reply to

    • Geishary
    • Top 25 Contributor
    • Joined on 04-01-2008
    • Posts 26
    • Points 105

    Re: Recommended Reading

    hey mike. i did a little research for you and found this page. I hope it helps.

    http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-9to12/bl-9th-read.htm

    This website includes an even bigger list

    www.carolhurst.com/titles/9th.html

    The ONLY place success comes before work is in the dictionary. You must work to be successful.

    - Vince Lombardi
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    • Post Points: 2
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