What is one text that should definitely be taught in high school English classr

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   Wiseyoungowlposted 10 years ago

   What is one text  that should definitely be taught in high school English classrooms, and why?

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   Wiseyoungowlposted 10 years ago

   Thanks for the response, but I mean literary text--poem, novel, essay, short story... Good point, though!

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   JThomp42posted 10 years ago

   Hello Wisey, I think all of the texts that you have mentioned should be taught in high school classes all around the world. There are so many great qualities in these texts a young man/ woman really need to know. One could perhaps captivate them into becoming a great writer someday.

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      Wiseyoungowlposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for that. Is there any one in particular that has greatly affected you?

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      JThomp42posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Definitely my friend. Poetry caught my eye immediately. Poetry is something the heart wants to say through the apparatus of words.

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   wrenchBiscuitposted 10 years ago

   "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau Why? It has been said that "a mind is as terrible thing to waste". I say that 12 years of education is also a terrible thing to waste on a program of instruction that has traditionally focused on soulless mathematical principles, revisionist history, a Eurocentric world view, and conformity.
   
   Thoreau's essay  is appealing on several fronts: First of all, his essay encourages critical thinking and non-conformity, not to mention the fact that his writing style is entertaining, intelligent, and sets a standard for excellence. Secondly, being a white Euro-American, Thoreau illustrates to students of all races that civil rights, and personal freedom, are a concern, and a responsibility of all citizens, not only the African or the Indigenous, and that the tyranny of government is essentially color blind.

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   Ghaaz Bposted 10 years ago

   I like this question
   
   The generic answer is 1984; but I'm not so sure that's necessarily the best book for teaching English. It is a great book, one for an Ethics or Political Science class, but there are better, more beautiful examples of the English language.
   
   My personal pick is Mary Shelley's original Frankenstein. I read it in grade 11 during the Gothic section of our course, and it really opened my eyes to how powerful literature can be.
   
   I mean, here's a woman (Mary Shelley) who is married to one of the most well-known iconoclasts of the early 19th century (Percy Shelley), and is the daughter of literally one of the first real, powerful feminist figures of the age (Mary Wollstonecraft). She is surrounded by the famous romantic poets of the day, both her husband and Lord Byron and more close associates-- her father is the controversial political philosopher William Godwin. And all this in 19th century Europe where women still don't exactly have great opportunity.. What on earth could she possibly do to stand out??
   
   How about-- write a novel over a fortnight that will captivate the minds of millions of readers for hundreds of years while also really making deep, intelligent commentary about society.
   
   The use of literary devices, such as the obvious metaphors, but also the subtle, underlying expression of nature in the form of pathetic fallacy, make her work literally beautiful. But for me, it's all about what she's saying in the subtext.
   
   You can really see how the most profound ideas of the day-- the science that her husband and his friends would have been privy to, the atheism that was uncommon at the time, and her parents' philosophical views-- really influenced this book.
   
   My final point, since this was my favourite part, is about the satanic-hero (or Byronic-hero) character. The story's similarities to John Milton's Paradise Lost are uncanny-- the monster even reads Paradise Lost and speaks about it in the book-- and this was the first time I was introduced to this type of character. I later discovered how deep and intricate these ideas are when you lay them all out, and I only got there because of reading this one single book.
   
   As one of the first, and best, examples of both Gothic literature and Science fiction, this is my personal pick for which book should be read by all students in highschool English classrooms. Many many many other books would also be acceptable-- as long as we are making them read something!!

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   cjhunsingerposted 10 years ago

   Not to throw a wet blanket on this otherwise worthy question; it might be good if we, first, taught our children to read, as America now ranks 17th world wide in reading abilities and lower in reading comprehension.
   To answer the question, it depends on the desired outcome. Are we looking to indoctrinate or to open the doors to critical thinking, which should be the objective. If critical thinking is the objective then I would recommend, for starters, The Lord of the flies, by W. Golding followed with 1984 and then perhaps, the great philosophers to include John Locke.
   The why is to promote an understanding of human nature and too, the human mind.

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