I read some amazing books my senior year of High school.
Now that I look back on it, I'm amazed at the curriculum. Some of the books included:
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Grendel by John Gardner (I think we read Beowulf as well)
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
We read more books, I just can't remember them at the moment.
Upon further reflection, it is awe inspiring to me that I read so many profound works of art, at the ages of seventeen and eighteen!
I was curious if the curriculum had changed in the ensuing years. It hasn't, most of those books appear to be on the reading list.
All of these books have influenced me as a person; I know I am better off for having read them. I hope that the English teachers continue to challenge their students to push the boundaries, to read works of art that may be controversial, difficult or unpopular (or all three).
3 comments:
That is a really cool curriculum. I'm jealous. It must have been fun!
Sounds inspiring. My brother is a a high school English teacher. I wonder what he has them read.
My hs sophomore year I had a coach for English. He made us read Instant Replay - a biography focused on one season of the Green Bay Packers. The only good part about that - I am sure most of the guys in the class actually read it.
Oh, I'm jealous! Sounds like you had good classes.
I came from a town where the summer I was 16, I took my little sister to the pool, sat on the bench reading To Kill a Mockingbird while I watched her in the baby pool, and a boy from school came up to me, gave me a dirty look and said, "Why are you reading a book? It's summer."
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