My mission is to create a classroom of lifelong learners that feel comfortable expressing themselves in the ever-changing world. I will maintain an open-door policy, provide guidance, and always listen when they seek advice.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Teaching the Classics

I'm a fan of teaching classic literature in high school English classes; I actually enjoy reading some books better now than I did in high school, but I think that there is merit to teaching more current literature. Right now I am reading the novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and To Kill a Mockingbird with my high school students, but I just finished an excellent book; I read Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. I loved this book! If I was teaching a World Literature course I would definitely consider adding this historical fiction to the curriculum. While I think that the literature canon that scholars have previously chosen to represent "great" literature is great and good reading, I think that the canon should be expanding. As teachers we strive to keep up with pop culture and new trends (at least I do) so that we can relate to our students. I'm not suggesting we start teaching Gossip Girls, but what if we expanded the classic literature list to include more cultural pieces of work, or books written in the last fifty years. What literature do you teach in your classroom? Do you think we should stick to the canon, or would broadening the literature we introduce to our youth be a good idea?
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2 comments:

  1. Julie KowalskiApril 7, 2010 at 7:19 PM

    I agree with broadening it Ellen. These kids live in a different era and if they get turned off by too many of the old classics they will stop reading and we will lose them as adult readers. Something like The Book Thief is a great read but doesn't fall under the classic designation. When my kids were in high school they seldom read anything other than required reading and they said it was because so much of the required stuff wore them out that they didn't want to read anything else.

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  2. Tristin WallerApril 7, 2010 at 7:46 PM

    This is my first year teaching sophomores, and we read TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, and LORD OF THE FLIES, obviously two books read by the majority. I also had my students read the play "The Importance of Being Earnest." I know that I will be changing next year to other books simply because I don't feel like teaching the same books year after year.

    I think that "classics" absolutely have their place on the bookshelves in high schools today; however, the way they are being taught SHOULD be changing to a more modern way.

    For example, I taught ROMEO AND JULIET with the 9th grade students. I am not the biggest fan of Shakespeare and would prefer to skip him altogether, but I know that the kids still need to be challenged into reading more difficult material. I had to modernize the way that I taught this unit to fit the students' lives today.

    I also read THE OUTSIDERS with my 9th graders.

    I think that what makes a classic "classic" is the information that the reader can draw from it regarding the time period in which it was written. While I think it's great to expand the canon to include more modern books, I also believe that there should be room for the "older" books that the kids are not as comfortable with reading.

    I am adding THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD next year, but budget cuts may prevent me from buying any more new material to expand my classroom choices.

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