whiskeywife Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 For high school literature. I'm just looking for people's opinions on the matter. What do you think every high school child should read? Please give specific names of books, don't just say "classics". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhschool Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Jules Verne: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Around the World in 80 Days Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice Emma Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer Huckleberry Finn Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet Henry V Miguel de Cervantes: Don Quixote Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's Travels Grimm: House Tales (Hausmarchen) Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre St. Exupery: The Little Prince This from the top of my head. I'll post more if I think of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 For high school literature. I'm just looking for people's opinions on the matter. What do you think every high school child should read? Please give specific names of books, don't just say "classics". The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson AND Frankenstein by Mary Shelley along with The Deadliest Monster by Jeff Baldwin at least one tragedy (my pick would be Hamlet) and one comedy (my pick would be Twelfth Night) by William Shakespeare something by Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, or Great Expectations?) Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Silas Marner by George Eliot To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Mere Christianity or The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis The Hobbit (and The Lord of the Rings trilogy) by J.R.R. Tolkien The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald something by Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sevilla Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) This is what I would expect in each grade (I would expect 3-5 long novels books read per year in addition to a half dozen short stories and some poetry). To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Homer, Bronte (something by one of the Bronte sistesr), The Scarlet Letter, and at least two plays by Shakespeare are what I would expect all students to have covered at some point in their studies. Edited October 6, 2011 by Sevilla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I think a high school student should develop some general knowledge of World literature, from its first works to contemporary books, with a focus on western civilization. The goal for us is to develop cultural literacy (so works which are frequently referenced in Arts and literature must be included), and to give an overview over the English language literature (for non-Americans: their native culture). Must reads for us: Homeric Epics (Iliad, Odyssey) Vergil Aeneid Bible (excerpts)- important even for non-Christian students Beowulf Nibelung Saga Arthurian legend Dante Divine Comedy Shakespeare plays and sonnets Goethe's Faust Cervantes Don Quichote Defoe Robinson Crusoe Swift Gulliver's Travels a novel by Jane Austen poetry by Tennyson short stories by Edgar Allan Poe something by the Brontes a novel each by Dostoyewski, Tolstoi, Balzac Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn Hugo Notre Dame Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath Orwell Animal Farm and 1984 plus various other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 At least one Shakespeare play a year. Preferably covering two tragedies, two comedies, two histories. They Oedipus trilogy, and one Greek comedy. Excerpts of Plato and Aristotle Illiad and Odyssey To Kill a Mockingbird Some Jane Austin, Mark Twain, and Charles Dickens Jane Eyre Some current writers as well - Beloved or Song of Solomon, A Prayer for Owen Meany I would match a reading or two to as many time periods as possible. I would combine history and literature rather than English and lit as most schools do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I'm going to suggest that there is no must read list. There are too many "classics" out there to read them all in high school and different people have different opinions not only about the books, but what sort of books should be on the list. (I own a book titled life time reading plan or something similar, fictional works make up less than 1/3 of the list, if you read over what you'll come up with here and most other places, works of nonfiction are rarely suggested). Instead I'd investigate and think about what it is you want your student to learn and study. How do you want to organize your studies. Then begin to select books to fit that plan. OR cheat and buy into a package program which makes it easier by creating some sort of framework. You can still do some substituting in or out of books that you feel need to be there or don't need to be there. But whatever you do figure out what your purpose is in doing this before you select the books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I'm going to suggest that there is no must read list. :iagree: And there are some 'classics' that will just not agree with some people. I hated Wuthering Heights and am so glad I didn't have to read it in high school. I enjoyed Don Quixote as an adult, but don't think I would have liked it as a teenager. I think it's important to read a broad selection, but I wouldn't call anything required. Authors to choose from: Shakespeare Austin Tolstoy Dickens Twain C. S. Lewis Hemingway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 There's no must read list. Instead, I think it's important that students get to read things that make them think. And for that, it's probably important to find books that the student *wants* to read. There's no sense trying to stuff great books in. Kids just ignore them. So I'd let the student try a number of different books. If they get part way through some of them and are about to throw the book across the room, let them try another. The only requirement should be that they read a few things that are considered literature. I've given my kids lists of books and they've chosen what appealed to them. They didn't finish them all, but they certainly finished a lot of them. You might try to search out some of the book lists that are on the web. Here's one list of novels (which are not the only books out there, of course): http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1951793,00.html I think some of these books are not things I'd ever want to read, but they might speak to someone else. And another list of books recommended by the College Board: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/boost-your-skills/23628.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 This is what I would expect in each grade (I would expect 3-5 long novels books read per year in addition to a half dozen short stories and some poetry). To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Homer, Bronte (something by one of the Bronte sistesr), The Scarlet Letter, and at least two plays by Shakespeare are what I would expect all students to have covered at some point in their studies. Ack! I completely forgot about Homer! :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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