I agree about having life-changing books in high school but only some were required. More of my life-changing books I think I read in college? I also re-read or re-appreciated most of the books WAY WAY later (I'm looking at you, The Awakening!)
Life-changing required: Their Eyes Were Watching God, Things Fall Apart, The Lovesong of J.Alfred Prufrock
Life-changing read outside of school: Reviving Ophelia, Clan of the Cave Bear, Poisonwood Bible
I read a ton--but don't remember what was required and what was not.
Some Favorites: The Fountainhead Atlas Shrugged Island of the Blue Dolphins (I think I was younger when I first read this one, but loved it and still have my copy of it) The Yellow Wallpaper (short story) The Handmaid's Tale
Post by gustafngrete on Jan 24, 2015 10:58:04 GMT -5
To be honest, I hated most of the required reading in HS. I remember junior year was my last favorite. We started with all of the Puritanical essays, then segway into the Scarlet Letter and the Crucible. I was dying, it was so boring! I remember later on in the year we read The Catcher in the Rye, and it was like a breath of fresh air! It became one of my favorite books.
Post by bugandbibs on Jan 24, 2015 11:55:29 GMT -5
Most of the time I didn't have a strong opinion on the required reading- it certainly didn't have a huge impact on my life.
The one exception is the book How We Survived Communism & Even Laughed. It was a newish book, so it felt really relevant. It was very eye opening to my privellaged self in a way that books about minorities were meant to be. I was already a minority in an all white school.
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LOL, I was the queen of Cliff Notes in HS. I hated reading, I don't really enjoy it now either. I think the only book I truly read cover to cover in HS was To Kill a Mockingbird. I thank God, I always had decent teachers that realized that reading wasn't my thing. I did love Shakespear though, which was odd, but we didn't have to read it, we would listen to it on the record player in class and follow along.
Post by RoxMonster on Jan 24, 2015 22:39:58 GMT -5
When I was in HS, I really enjoyed: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (a novella) TKAM Hamlet The Scarlet Letter was OK but not a favorite Death of a Salesman 1984
I read several in college that I loved, and now that I'm an English teacher, I really enjoy teaching The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit 451, and Much Ado about Nothing.
ETA: I hated--I mean HATED--Heart of Darkness in my AP Lit class senior year. I didn't really "get" it, found it too complex and boring, etc. But when I reread it as part of a literature class in college, I appreciated it much more. There were several pieces of literature like that. I think I just had to be a little bit older and more mature to appreciate many of them.
I read a horrible Steinbeck book, "The Red Pony" in middle school. We called it "The Dead Pony" - spoiler alert. Hated it.
Books that stuck with me: Night A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Great Expectations Their Eyes Were Watching God Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry To kill A Mockingbird
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
I agree about having life-changing books in high school but only some were required. More of my life-changing books I think I read in college? I also re-read or re-appreciated most of the books WAY WAY later (I'm looking at you, The Awakening!)
Life-changing required: Their Eyes Were Watching God, Things Fall Apart, The Lovesong of J.Alfred Prufrock
Life-changing read outside of school: Reviving Ophelia, Clan of the Cave Bear, Poisonwood Bible
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
I agree about having life-changing books in high school but only some were required. More of my life-changing books I think I read in college? I also re-read or re-appreciated most of the books WAY WAY later (I'm looking at you, The Awakening!)
Life-changing required: Their Eyes Were Watching God, Things Fall Apart, The Lovesong of J.Alfred Prufrock
Life-changing read outside of school: Reviving Ophelia, Clan of the Cave Bear, Poisonwood Bible
This is my all time favorite poem
I love this poem, too. I forgot to mention poems in my original post.
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (ugh, it was so sad and horrible)
The Red Badge of Courage (so powerful and sad)
To Kill A Mockingbird (so good; I loved it)
Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet and Julius Caesar
12 Angry Men
-- I read a ton outside of assigned reading for school so a huge pet peeve of mine was when a teacher would assign reading for homework then in the class the following day realize no one (except us 'goody two shoes' had actually read so would give time during class for reading the previously assigned reading. I spent a lot of class bored/twiddling my thumbs because I'd actually done the reading as assigned. If I had been less of a oh noes what if I don't read I'll get in trouble kind of kid I would read books of my own choosing at home and the assigned reading during class with the rest of the slackers.
To Kill a Mockingbird (awesome) 1984 Lord of the Flies Macbeth Tell Tale Heart A couple of short stories stick in my mind. I can't remember the titles for the life of me, but I remember the storylines in exquisite detail.
I hated The Red Badge of Courage
Not required reading, but I read Watership Down for an assignment and really liked it. I also found The Perilous Gard in the HS library and loved it so much I bought a copy. I read it every year or so.
Post by purpleminion on Jan 26, 2015 12:49:31 GMT -5
My personal favorite has always been The Count of Monte Cristo (sophomore year). I also enjoyed To Kill A Mockingbird (sophomore year) and The Scarlet Letter (junior year). There is one I didn't read in HS, but I helped a student read it once recently. It's called The House of the Scorpion. I actually really liked it. I believe it's freshman reading.
Some middle schools in our district read The Hunger Games and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, both of which I think are, um... interesting choices.
Post by perkyderky on Jan 26, 2015 13:32:09 GMT -5
I had the same teacher for 10th and 12th grade English, and his choices weren't very "typical." A Separate Piece was for 10th grade and we spent SO MUCH freaking time on it, that it made me dislike it immensely, but ironically, it's one of the few books I actually remember reading that year. I'm pretty sure we also read at least one Shakespeare play, out loud that year (Othello?), but can't really can't remember which.
Senior year, read Oedipus and also the Aneid, along with some plays by Aristophanes. We read things like the Elephant Man, Hamlet, Heart of Darkness, A Tale of Two Cities (we all hated that one--even the teacher wasn't really a fan). I'm pretty sure we also read Much Ado about Nothing, that was also on my "like" list. My favorite, BY FAR was Ragtime, but EL Doctrow. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Greek tales, but they were so difficult to read and Ragtime was the exact opposite. Coincidentally, Ragtime was brought to Broadway the same year I read the book, so to "finish" my study on the book, I saw the musical, and was mesmerized by the talented Audra McDonald. That definitely helped make that book really special to me.
Post by irene adler on Jan 26, 2015 17:07:19 GMT -5
Dig Ophelia--it's Portia's quality of mercy speech from Act 4, scene 1 The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this, That, in the course of justice, none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much To mitigate the justice of thy plea; Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there. — The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1
The books I really, really loved were mostly from AP English. My favorites: As I Lay Dying Crime and Punishment Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (oh, how I had a thing about existentialism back in the day) Sophie's World (senior year philosophy class) Rebecca (freshman year, still one of my all time favorite novels)
I also liked a lot more, like the Great Gatsby, which was sophomore English, and All But My Life, which was sophomore global studies.
Books I absolutely hated: Siddhartha, the Chosen, the Pearl, anything by Charles Dickens. I don't love the Catcher in the Rye. I don't hate it, and I appreciate that it was innovative for its time, but I think the theme has been done so much since that it just doesn't stand out to me.
There's a lot I didn't read in high school that apparently other people did, but that I read later, like Native Son, Slaughterhouse-Five (LOVE), Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights (HATE).
ETA: As for short stories, I read A Rose For Emily for the first time in high school, which is one of my favorites, but I think we've established that I love William Faulkner.