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Host Post... on an English teacher discussion board (social media)

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Host Post... on an English teacher discussion board (social media)

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Seriously, there are some “classics” that I just refuse to teach for a variety of reasons (sexist, boring, doesn’t translate to students today, etc.) like All’s Quiet on the Western Front. Which “classic” do you refuse to teach?

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The Classics have WHAT? Moments???? This is ignorance on steroids right here... 

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The Classics have WHAT? Moments???? This is ignorance on steroids right here... 

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I agree with most of the posts so far. Although the classics have their moments, I think there are always current substitutes that are just as relevant, and perhaps even more so.

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Anything by Ayn Rand. The last thing the world needs is more selfishness, “rational” or otherwise.
Me: I totally agree on this one, while I heartily disagree that classics are boring. It is a question of equity…while our elite private school students are prepped to read and value the classics, many of our low socio economic kids are not. So, I guess that’s okay with some people. Also if you can’t read and comprehend the classics, maybe you should teach something else. Not you, just in general.

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I am tired of attacks on foundational pieces of literature...it's too much. 

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I am tired of attacks on foundational pieces of literature...it's too much. 

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If a text is boring to you, then you are reading over your comprehension level. You have to work at it… This is what happens when people that didn’t get an English degree go slogging around trying to teach the subject. If you have an English degree, then you have a built in appreciation for challenging texts, and you are eager to share the important messages and artsy sentence patterns, authentic dialogue and uses of language, the historical context etc.

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The Fibber Again (the dumbest logic ever) These texts aren't worth anybody's time? 

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The Fibber Again (the dumbest logic ever) These texts aren't worth anybody's time? 

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I have an English degree and find many classics boring. I understand but don't enjoy: The Great Gatsby, The Old Man and the Sea, and The Outsiders for example. I'm not too stupid to read these, I just don't think they're worth my or my kids' time.

Furthermore, why does it matter if kids "appreciate the classics?" Studies have shown that most of the reading they'll do after high school, unless they pursue said English degree or a handful of other paths, will be nonfiction with the purpose to learn something new.

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Somebody on the thread had to bash 1984! Geez! I do have to say, plenty of other teachers jumped in to defend it.

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Somebody on the thread had to bash 1984! Geez! I do have to say, plenty of other teachers jumped in to defend it.

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Ask them to evaluate the romance in the novel...it's very authoritarian. The kids relate to the tension, the betrayal, the sneaking around just to touch somebody. That part of the novel is ripe with intrigue and suspense, and it touches the heart of what an authoritarian country does to its people, how it strips them of tradition and ritual, even in romance and love.

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Me trying to expose the truth (because I know what real English majors actually do since I am one).

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Me trying to expose the truth (because I know what real English majors actually do since I am one).

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I find it hard to believe that as an English major you don’t see the practical value in reading and understanding, learning to enjoy, literary art. That is profoundly sad and disturbing. If someone has to explain it to you, then I think you’re in the wrong business.

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there is literary art that is not considered classics. I do see value in reading to learn and understand. My goal for my classroom is for my students to be able to communicate effectively through text. I want my students to read what they enjoy when we read fiction (which is very little of our curriculum). I want them engaged with texts and able to go deeper with their discussions. I have no desire to force them to read a bunch of books they don't see themselves or their lives in. There are too many wonderful modern books to be tied to classics.

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Me, Unwilling to let up since I know she's fibbing about her degree

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Me, Unwilling to let up since I know she's fibbing about her degree

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That’s why I doubt if you’re an English major, otherwise you would see the connection between equity and the pursuit of intellectual achievement. It isn’t just about what you like to read, or what is so-called relevant, it’s about the sin of low expectations in the classroom, and the uneven distribution of quality class work. It’s about every student being able to read and understand our national documents and literary treasures, not just the elites. Get your head around that.

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The Fibber Doubles Down (this is the excuse used by people that are too lazy to teach or read a classic)

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The Fibber Doubles Down (this is the excuse used by people that are too lazy to teach or read a classic)

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there are quality, rigorous novels that are not classics. Maybe we have different ideas of what intellectual achievement looks like. Maybe I set the expectations high but let my students pursue what they're interested in and not just what I think they have to know. My students learn necessary skills for whichever path they choose (not everyone wants to go to college or can afford to) without making them hate reading along the way.

Tell me what you're considering literary treasures. How many of them involve a non white person not facing trauma? Maybe you don't have a moral superiority for caring more about specific books. Maybe some people don't love reading.

As a side note, how dare you question if I have a degree I claim because I don't have the exact mindset you do. I finished my English degree and joined the non teacher workforce due to life circumstances that did not allow me to get my license at the same time. Over the course of the next 6 years, I learned about people from different walks of life and eventually got my license. (Took a while due to finances and raising my kids, not because I'm trying to slog through material I don't understand.)

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Some Schmuck decided to troll on The Crucible, obviously not an English major because she didn't see any point in it...not familiar with any of its themes, nothing.

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Some Schmuck decided to troll on The Crucible, obviously not an English major because she didn't see any point in it...not familiar with any of its themes, nothing.

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Me: I pair it with some episodes of a Sovereign for Sarah (available on Amazon Prime Video). I think that's the name...anyway, you have to be careful because there is a nude scene where the girls go out in the woods and dance naked and then get accused of witchcraft. I also pair it with tapes from the McCarthy hearings. Then students understand how members of society can be ganged up on and destroyed for no logical reason. I think the Crucible, while hard to teach, is an important text, no doubt.
It's also a great way to blend in the Puritans with Calvinism, and that leads into amazing American literature like Faulkner and Twain...

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This is a fifth grade teacher. Not sure why she is chiming in, but okay

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This is a fifth grade teacher. Not sure why she is chiming in, but okay

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I have an English degree. Still think some of the classics are boring. Classics do not equal intelligence. Not reading classics does not mean someone is unintelligent or has low standards especially when alot of the classics are centered around whiteness.

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My thing about whiteness and all of that. One writer complained about TKAM being a "white savior" novel. I totally agree and understand, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't teach this novel and then ask our students to write and analyze, and express their own theories and opinions. Talk about cancel culture...OMG!

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My thing about whiteness and all of that. One writer complained about TKAM being a "white savior" novel. I totally agree and understand, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't teach this novel and then ask our students to write and analyze, and express their own theories and opinions. Talk about cancel culture...OMG!

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When I teach something like this, I ask my students to write a response paper. I usually construct a prompt that asks them to analyze these themes through a feminist or African American lens, or even a historical lens. You don't teach something because it's perfect; the classics are far from perfect. I use a technique I learned from my research based teaching in which my students use colored plastic against a whiteboard filled with words. As they hover over the word, we talk about what the color does to change the tone. We then transfer that idea to different critical lenses by posting brief definitions of them on the whiteboard and then once again hovering over them with our colored plastic frames while we discuss these perspectives. I also do a short story series in which none of the characters are strong women, and all of the main characters are weak men. I ask the students to find connections between the writers' handling of these characters and his/her possible message about humanity in general. Someone said they hated teaching Steinbeck, but he becomes really interesting when you evaluate all of his female characters, and then you look at the history of women during that time that Steinbeck is writing about... the kids get fascinated. The white savior thing is real...let your kids see it and write about it.

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Even the Giver fell to a person not familiar with why we teach certain things... this is what you get when people don't have a degree in the subject they teach. 

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Even the Giver fell to a person not familiar with why we teach certain things... this is what you get when people don't have a degree in the subject they teach. 

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Me: The Giver is massively important because it is an intro into dystopia, and dystopia is a ton of fun. If you understand The Giver, then Animal Farm and 1984, and other more modern dystopias become easier to analyze and understand.