I feel like lining up every English teacher I ever had who forced us to read these dull, boring, depressing piles of crap called books, chaining them to a wall with their backs to the audience, and spanking them with spiked paddles.
Each smack could say "This is for 'Old Man and the Sea!' And this is for 'Huckleberry Finn!' This is for 'The Great Gatsby!' This is for 'Of Mice and Men!' This is for making me watch 'Castaway' again because you were too lazy to make us watch the movie version of 'Lord of the Flies,' both of which I hate, so you get double!"
No amount of screaming "But they're CLASSICS!!!" is gonna convince me that this was little more than mental torture for us kids in high school English class, because honestly, there are SO many BETTER books they could have had us read, or they could have spent time doing remedial spelling, grammar, and sentence correction, instead of forcing us to read these piece of crap books and plays.
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Leodicaprio (6426)
3 years ago
wow we may have point of agreeing!
greed for me it was
-lord of the flies
-the chrysalids
-to kill a mocking bird
all pretty dull and depressing.
there are far better more gripping inspiration books that would grab kids imagination. If you can show me a kid who knowingling chose to read any of those books I was forced to or you mentioned I would be surprised.
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Owlwise (1535)
3 years ago
I think the aim of assigning such books is to present (or even confront) students with sometimes troubling stories & ideas that will broaden their understanding of the human condition. Granted, this doesn't always work for every student. I hated The Scarlet Letter when it was assigned as part of my 11th grade English class; it was only some years later that an interest in classic American literature made me read it again, of my own accord—and that second time, I actually got what it was about & quite enjoyed it. On the other hand, some books that I loved reading just for myself in high school just didn't hold up when I returned to them years later, striking me as shallow & simplistic.
In any case, just because a book is a classic doesn't mean that everyone will like it, no matter what age they are. And again, nothing wrong with that.
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Leodicaprio (6426)
3 years ago
it is English class, not psychology. There are plenty of other books that aren't as depressing, boring and dry
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Owlwise (1535)
3 years ago
But literature involves human psychology, among other things. And of course one student's dry, boring, depressing book is another student's insightful, thoughtful, enriching book.
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Leodicaprio (6426)
3 years ago
Yes and the entire thing doesn't have to be a dredge, tragedy, and depressing romp.
I did no studies when I was in high school, but I would bet top dollar over 90% of students found those books boring. which if you8 are trying to get kids excited about reading and literature, choose one with better mass appeal
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AmeriGirl26 (14382)
3 years ago
What creeps me out is when I would meet classmates (who were few in number) who LOVED those books, and would suck up to the teacher, making me glare daggers at them and see them as a traitor to anyone with taste or imagination.
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GreenGoblinsOck8 (7699)
3 years ago
I agree. I didn't like those either. I didn't read my favorite books in a highschool English class. I like some old books like Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Louis Stephenson, Dracula by Braham Stoker, and A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's court by Mark Twainn. Other favorite books of mine not taught in English Classes are First Blood by David Morrell, The Howling by Gary Brandner, and Who censored Roger Rabbit by Gary Wolfe. Another that I like but think the movie is better is Forrest Gump by Winston Groom. Doh. Forgot Jurassic Park and The Lost World by Michael Chrichton.
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