View Full Version : What was on you HS required reading list and what are on the HS reading lists today?
tomwed
01-01-2016, 06:37 PM
1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, Lord of the Flies, Old Man and the Sea, A Tale of Two Cites, Beowulf, Shakespeare [a different play each year], PT 109,
The only book I can remember that is on a modern list is Nickel and Dimed.
[I'm hoping Tal can help me out on this subject]
dbussone
01-01-2016, 06:47 PM
We read many of The Great Books. Some were in their original languages, including Latin. I doubt there are any of these on current reading lists.
tomwed
01-01-2016, 06:51 PM
We read many of The Great Books. Some were in their original languages, including Latin. I doubt there are any of these on current reading lists.
Where did yo go to school?
dbussone
01-01-2016, 06:52 PM
We read many of The Great Books. Some were in their original languages, including Latin. I doubt there are any of these on current reading lists.
Well I am somewhat incorrect. Not many of the Greek or Latin Classics. Here is the Prentice Hall recommended list for 9-12 :
Pearson Prentice Hall: Suggested Reading for High School (http://www.phschool.com/curriculum_support/reading_list/high_school.html)
Great question Tomwed.
dbussone
01-01-2016, 06:58 PM
Where did yo go to school?
St John's Prep in MA.
tomwed
01-01-2016, 07:01 PM
St John's Prep in MA.
I've read many of those too. Hudson Catholic Jersey City
Did you have Xaverian Brothers? We had Christian Brothers.
dbussone
01-01-2016, 07:05 PM
I've read many of those too. Hudson Catholic Jersey City
Did you have Xaverian Brothers? We had Christian Brothers.
We did. And one of my uncles was a Xaverian Brother.
dbussone
01-01-2016, 07:06 PM
I 'd love to hear from Tal I bet he would enjoy this thread.
tomwed
01-01-2016, 07:22 PM
We did. And one of my uncles was a Xaverian Brother.
Did you call him Uncle Brother? I have a friend down here who's brothe is a Father and sister is a Sister.
I'm hoping Tal jumps in too. I'll bet he's looking up reading lists from the 60's and 70's as we type
dbussone
01-01-2016, 07:37 PM
Did you call him Uncle Brother? I have a friend down here who's brothe is a Father and sister is a Sister.
I'm hoping Tal jumps in too. I'll bet he's looking up reading lists from the 60's and 70's as we type
Nope. He was Uncle Louie in private and Brother Dunstan in public.
tomwed
01-01-2016, 07:41 PM
I had to call my great uncle, Father Frye all the time. He would scare the children in grammar school. I remember telling my grandmother about him when I was little. She said we used to call him Fat Little Andy. I kept that secret to myself.
Carl in Tampa
01-01-2016, 08:13 PM
High School reading included:
Dickens - Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, and others
Eliot - Silas Marner
Shakespeare - McBeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Various Sonnets
de Maupassant - Many short stories
Freshman College included:
Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales, and others
Anonymous - Beowulf
Orwell - 1984, Animal Farm
Shakespeare - Many Plays, some Sonnets
Huxley - Brave New World
Wolfe - Look Homeward Angel, Of Time and The River
Dante - The Inferno
Selected writings of over a dozen other authors
Orwell was a genius. In 1948 he identified social and political trends that are becoming our way of life before our eyes. Thought Police, Double Speak, and rewriting of history is going on daily.
I don't have a clue what kids read in high school today, but I'm confident that it isn't what I read.
Alas...........
Our granddaughter's summer reading list going into seventh grade included Beowulf. I too read that in college. I was astounded at the required list.
tomwed
01-01-2016, 09:36 PM
High School reading included:
Dickens - Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, and others
Eliot - Silas Marner
Shakespeare - McBeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Various Sonnets
de Maupassant - Many short stories
Freshman College included:
Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales, and others
Anonymous - Beowulf
Orwell - 1984, Animal Farm
Shakespeare - Many Plays, some Sonnets
Huxley - Brave New World
Wolfe - Look Homeward Angel, Of Time and The River
Dante - The Inferno
Selected writings of over a dozen other authors
Orwell was a genius. In 1948 he identified social and political trends that are becoming our way of life before our eyes. Thought Police, Double Speak, and rewriting of history is going on daily.
I don't have a clue what kids read in high school today, but I'm confident that it isn't what I read.
Alas...........
Doublespeak is language that deliberately disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words. Doublespeak may take the form of euphemisms (e.g., "downsizing" for layoffs, "servicing the target" for bombing[1]), in which case it is primarily meant to make the truth sound more palatable. It may also refer to intentional ambiguity in language or to actual inversions of meaning (for example, naming a state of war "peace"). In such cases, doublespeak disguises the nature of the truth. Doublespeak is most closely associated with political language
that's true
The Thought Police (thinkpol in Newspeak) are the secret police of the fictional superstate, Oceania, in George Orwell's 1949 dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell's Thought Police are charged with uncovering and punishing "thoughtcrime" and thought-criminals. They use psychological methods and omnipresent surveillance (such as telescreens) to search, find, monitor, and arrest members of society who could potentially challenge authority and the status quo—even if only by thought—hence the name Thought Police.[1] They use terror and torture to achieve their ends.
i'm not as sure as you are that this exists
rewriting of history
can you give me a modern day example?
Boomer
01-01-2016, 11:22 PM
I taught 1984 several times, including in 1984.
There was nothing special about Orwell's choice of the year. According to standard sources, Orwell wrote most of the book in 1948 and they wanted to give it a short title so the numbers were simply flipped.
It was not difficult to control the Proles. They were saturated with violent movies in order to desensitize them to violence -- domestic and global.
There were fake lotteries -- well, once in a while somebody real would win a small amount. The lotteries helped to distract the Proles with some kind of pathetic hope.
And there was gin.....The protagonist Winston Smith swallows that gin "like a dose of medicine." -- The gin was said to give the sensation of being "hit on the back of the head with a rubber club." Winston drank that easy-to-come-by gin to make his world "look more cheerful."
Always, when we finished a book, the final assignment was an essay. For 1984, the students were to look around their current world and compare what they saw in reality to what they saw in Orwell's fiction.
That was a long time ago. I have wondered what it would be like to teach 1984 now.....and to assign that essay.......shiver....shudder.....
I just remembered the bulletin board I made for my classroom when we read 1984. In big, scary letters, it said, "What is in your Room 101?" -- I was sure glad that did not happen to be my classroom number.
.........And then there was that other book......the one where everybody was addicted to big screens and could not think for themselves.........
Dystopia happens?
- - - - - - - - -
PS: I was not off topic -- in case the topic police are present. That was about required HS reading.
Boomer the Requirer
rubicon
01-02-2016, 05:43 AM
High School reading included:
Dickens - Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, and others
Eliot - Silas Marner
Shakespeare - McBeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Various Sonnets
de Maupassant - Many short stories
Freshman College included:
Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales, and others
Anonymous - Beowulf
Orwell - 1984, Animal Farm
Shakespeare - Many Plays, some Sonnets
Huxley - Brave New World
Wolfe - Look Homeward Angel, Of Time and The River
Dante - The Inferno
Selected writings of over a dozen other authors
Orwell was a genius. In 1948 he identified social and political trends that are becoming our way of life before our eyes. Thought Police, Double Speak, and rewriting of history is going on daily.
I don't have a clue what kids read in high school today, but I'm confident that it isn't what I read.
Alas...........
Ditto In addition The Love Song of Alfred J Prufrock ,The Jilting of Granny Weatherall , Moby Dick, Red Badge of Courage
As to what kids read today> They do not read the classics because it creates trigger warnings and micro-aggressions and because they are too busy learning about cultural diversity and gender studies. All the real important things that will guide them through life
tomwed
01-02-2016, 06:46 AM
That was a long time ago. I have wondered what it would be like to teach 1984 now.....and to assign that essay.......shiver....shudder.....
Dystopia happens?
Boomer the Requirer
4 Predictions From Orwell (http://mic.com/articles/49409/4-predictions-from-orwell-s-1984-that-are-coming-true-today#.GhClbuTNm)
That written in 2013. Who knows, maybe the author was one of your students?
tomwed
01-02-2016, 06:57 AM
Ditto In addition The Love Song of Alfred J Prufrock ,The Jilting of Granny Weatherall , Moby Dick, Red Badge of Courage
As to what kids read today> They do not read the classics because it creates trigger warnings and micro-aggressions and because they are too busy learning about cultural diversity and gender studies. All the real important things that will guide them through life
The Love Song of Alfred J Prufrock
That's new to me. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (http://www.shmoop.com/love-song-alfred-prufrock/)
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall ,also new to me
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall (http://www.shmoop.com/the-jilting-of-granny-weatherall/)
thank-you
Taltarzac725
01-02-2016, 08:59 AM
http://www.edline.net/files/_ECLpS_/5086ccad0c73d9b93745a49013852ec4/HSsummerreading2015title.pdf
Here is one Summer Reading List from Texas for 2015.
I remember seeing these lists for Summer Reading when I volunteered at East Lake Community Library in Palm Harbor back in 2000-2003.
tomwed
01-02-2016, 09:38 AM
http://www.edline.net/files/_ECLpS_/5086ccad0c73d9b93745a49013852ec4/HSsummerreading2015title.pdf
Here is one Summer Reading List from Texas for 2015.
I remember seeing these lists for Summer Reading when I volunteered at East Lake Community Library in Palm Harbor back in 2000-2003.
Thank-you Tal
You know you're old when In Cold Blood and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is way too old to be considered modern fiction because it's classic. Tal don't do any research but do you know how long a book has to be around to be considered a classic. I think with cars it could be 20 years. I'm not sure.
dbussone
01-02-2016, 10:14 AM
Thank-you Tal
You know you're old when In Cold Blood and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is way too old to be considered modern fiction because it's classic. Tal don't do any research but do you know how long a book has to be around to be considered a classic. I think with cars it could be 20 years. I'm not sure.
Tomwed - I think the majority of us here in TV could be considered classics based on years we've been around. Yes?
Boomer
01-02-2016, 11:22 AM
Many classics also appear on that famous list of banned books. (I hope Tal will find that list and link it for us. It is probably somewhere on the ALA site. I am on my iPad and still have not learned to link.)
Books that appear on the list of banned books are most often books than can get readers to THINK..........
For instance, Huck Finn is about right and wrong and friendship and Huck's true moral compass. Huck believes he will go to hell for helping Jim, the runaway slave. But Huck helps Jim anyway, even though he believes he is facing eternal damnation.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn gives the reader an opportunity to think about friendship and loyalty and questioning and soul-searching and decision-making and man's inhumanity to man and history and how character is revealed and a whole bunch of other stuff, but.......
Those self-righteous banners are always out to get Huck for that highly offensive word that is used repeatedly. Indeed, it is an offensive word, now, but in the 1800s it was just a part of the vernacular. When Huck uses the word in reference to his friend Jim, it is not a pejorative. The context of the word, of course, must clearly be addressed when introducing Huck to a class. In fact, such an intro can lead to excellent discussion about the power of words.
But I bet by now the banners have pretty much pounded Huck into high school English class history.
I wonder a lot about the true motivation of those so willing to ban Huck Finn......
PS: And nobody can write like Mark Twain. That man sure could turn a phrase.
tomwed
01-02-2016, 12:02 PM
Many classics also appear on that famous list of banned books. (I hope Tal will find that list and link it for us. It is probably somewhere on the ALA site. I am on my iPad and still have not learned to link.)
Books that appear on the list of banned books are most often books than can get readers to THINK..........
For instance, Huck Finn is about right and wrong and friendship and Huck's true moral compass. Huck believes he will go to hell for helping Jim, the runaway slave. But Huck helps Jim anyway, even though he believes he is facing eternal damnation. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn gives the reader an opportunity to think about friendship and loyalty and questioning and soul-searching and decision-making and man's inhumanity to man and history and a whole bunch of other stuff, but.......
Those self-righteous banners are always out to get Huck for that highly offensive word that is used repeatedly. Indeed, it is an offensive word, now, but in the 1800s it was just a part of the vernacular. When Huck uses the word in reference to his friend Jim, it is not a pejorative. The context of the word, of course, must clearly be addressed when introducing Huck to a class. In fact, such an intro can lead to excellent discussion about the power of words.
But I bet by now the banners have pretty much pounded Huck into high school English class history.
I wonder a lot about the true motivation of those so willing to ban Huck Finn......
PS: And nobody can write like Mark Twain. That man sure could turn a phrase.
You might find this link interesting. It looks like PBS agrees with you and wants to get the book back in the classroom, doesn't it? Are you sure it has been put in high school English history?
Culture Shock: Flashpoints: Literature: Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/literature/huck.html)
Huck Finn Teachers Guide (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/teachers/huck/index.html)
jblum315
01-02-2016, 02:47 PM
We didn't have a reading list (private school) Everyone read one book at a time
tomwed
01-02-2016, 02:53 PM
We didn't have a reading list (private school) Everyone read one book at a time
I have friend who teaches at the Princeton Day School.
Tuition for the 2015-16 Academic Year
Grades PreK-4 $27,280
Grades 5-6 $31,890
Grades 7-12 $33,430
The entire school read the same book over the summer plus other books too I suppose. One year they all read "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is a book written by Barbara Ehrenreich. Written from her perspective as an undercover journalist, it sets out to investigate the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the working poor in the United States."
It's a very competitive school for children of the wealthy. I guess they want the students to get a taste of what it's like to live on minimum wages. It's an interesting book that shakes thing up a bit.
rubicon
01-02-2016, 04:50 PM
The Love Song of Alfred J Prufrock
That's new to me. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (http://www.shmoop.com/love-song-alfred-prufrock/)
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall ,also new to me
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall (http://www.shmoop.com/the-jilting-of-granny-weatherall/)
thank-you
the Jilting of Granny Weatherall and J alfred can be read and re-read
DanfromNC
01-02-2016, 06:03 PM
My reading list for the summer before freshman year(High School) included The Great Escape, The Hobbit, Catch 22, The Fixer, The Merchant of Venice, and Lord of the Flies. I actually read all of them except The Great Escape since the movie was on TV that summer.
Taltarzac725
01-02-2016, 07:21 PM
Many classics also appear on that famous list of banned books. (I hope Tal will find that list and link it for us. It is probably somewhere on the ALA site. I am on my iPad and still have not learned to link.)
Books that appear on the list of banned books are most often books than can get readers to THINK..........
For instance, Huck Finn is about right and wrong and friendship and Huck's true moral compass. Huck believes he will go to hell for helping Jim, the runaway slave. But Huck helps Jim anyway, even though he believes he is facing eternal damnation.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn gives the reader an opportunity to think about friendship and loyalty and questioning and soul-searching and decision-making and man's inhumanity to man and history and how character is revealed and a whole bunch of other stuff, but.......
Those self-righteous banners are always out to get Huck for that highly offensive word that is used repeatedly. Indeed, it is an offensive word, now, but in the 1800s it was just a part of the vernacular. When Huck uses the word in reference to his friend Jim, it is not a pejorative. The context of the word, of course, must clearly be addressed when introducing Huck to a class. In fact, such an intro can lead to excellent discussion about the power of words.
But I bet by now the banners have pretty much pounded Huck into high school English class history.
I wonder a lot about the true motivation of those so willing to ban Huck Finn......
PS: And nobody can write like Mark Twain. That man sure could turn a phrase.
Banned & Challenged Books (http://www.ala.org/bbooks/) This covers current banned books.
This covers books banned by various governments over the years-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments
Taltarzac725
01-02-2016, 07:28 PM
Thank-you Tal
You know you're old when In Cold Blood and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is way too old to be considered modern fiction because it's classic. Tal don't do any research but do you know how long a book has to be around to be considered a classic. I think with cars it could be 20 years. I'm not sure.
This seems to vary quite a bit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_book
rubicon
01-03-2016, 05:34 AM
A book offered me by a mentor was penned by Russell H Conwell, who among many accomplishments founded Temple University (circa 1884).
The book, manifesto really, is entitled "�cres Of Diamonds".
I read it occasionally as it is one of my favorites. It is a collection of his speeches and one begins:
When going down the Tigris and Euphrates rivers many years ago with a party of English travelers I found myself under the direction of an old Arab guide....[/I]
redwitch
01-03-2016, 09:31 AM
There was required reading in my high schools but I'd already read them, so was a non-issue to me. Did love rereading Shakespeare's plays but was not a fan of his sonnets. California high schools had a bit of Steinbeck. New Jersey leaned more to the dystopian. New York to the Russians.
I do remember my favorite teacher of all time was my junior high English teacher, who did have a reading list which he handed out the first day of class. I went up to him and said I'd read all of those books. He made out a new list for me, introduced me to science fiction, took a few of us to movies made from books (such as War and Peace), would talk to me about books I'd read to help me better understand what the author was saying. Mr. Artz, wherever you are, thank you!
redwitch
01-03-2016, 09:35 AM
As a snide aside, who could possibly consider Gone with the Wind a classic? Written awhile ago, yes. A fun read, most definitely. But, to me, a classic has to offer some substance, make me think. GWTW sorely lacks in that IMO.
Taltarzac725
01-03-2016, 10:40 AM
As a snide aside, who could possibly consider Gone with the Wind a classic? Written awhile ago, yes. A fun read, most definitely. But, to me, a classic has to offer some substance, make me think. GWTW sorely lacks in that IMO.
I kind of agree with that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_Wind
tomwed
01-03-2016, 11:01 AM
I do remember my favorite teacher of all time was my junior high English teacher, who did have a reading list which he handed out the first day of class. I went up to him and said I'd read all of those books. He made out a new list for me, introduced me to science fiction, took a few of us to movies made from books (such as War and Peace), would talk to me about books I'd read to help me better understand what the author was saying. Mr. Artz, wherever you are, thank you!
[That's a great topic for two more threads--Who was your favorite teacher why? and How to you get a child to fall in love with books? I can't think of a better gift.]
Taltarzac725
01-03-2016, 11:32 AM
[That's a great topic for two more threads--Who was your favorite teacher why? and How to you get a child to fall in love with books? I can't think of a better gift.]
Mine was Mrs. Barbara Mitchell of Earl Wooster High School in Reno, Nevada. I have mentioned her often in the past. She was the first teacher who saw something special in me and challenged me to read books like Anna Karenina.
Before her I primarily liked Edgar Rice Burroughs, Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, Alistair MacLean, and Ian Fleming. Order of Alistair MacLean Books - OrderOfBooks.com (http://www.orderofbooks.com/authors/alistair-maclean/)
Carl in Tampa
01-03-2016, 05:58 PM
Doublespeak is language that deliberately disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words. Doublespeak may take the form of euphemisms (e.g., "downsizing" for layoffs, "servicing the target" for bombing[1]), in which case it is primarily meant to make the truth sound more palatable. It may also refer to intentional ambiguity in language or to actual inversions of meaning (for example, naming a state of war "peace"). In such cases, doublespeak disguises the nature of the truth. Doublespeak is most closely associated with political language
that's true
The Thought Police (thinkpol in Newspeak) are the secret police of the fictional superstate, Oceania, in George Orwell's 1949 dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell's Thought Police are charged with uncovering and punishing "thoughtcrime" and thought-criminals. They use psychological methods and omnipresent surveillance (such as telescreens) to search, find, monitor, and arrest members of society who could potentially challenge authority and the status quo�even if only by thought�hence the name Thought Police.[1] They use terror and torture to achieve their ends.
i'm not as sure as you are that this exists
rewriting of history
can you give me a modern day example?
With reference to the Thought Police, I originally had in mind "Political Correctness" as enforced by Liberal media organizations, rather than by governmental organizations. However, we are now seeing University governments, both private and state run, that are using coercive measures to force attitude compliance. And, of course, in other countries "re-education" camps exist for political dissidents.
Columbus leaps to mind as a modern subject of revisionist history. The once revered Discoverer of America is now a reviled subjugator of other races whose sole motivation was seeking personal riches. And in similar fashion many events of American history are being re-cast to reflect racism as their motivation.
Sadly, there is also the current attempt to remove from all public areas in the South any commemorations of the Civil War; erasing much of our awareness of our history.
Incidentally, public school history books are revised annually, reflecting new positions on the appropriateness or validity of historical events.
tomwed
01-03-2016, 08:33 PM
[QUOTE=Carl in Tampa;1166277
Columbus leaps to mind as a modern subject of revisionist history. The once revered Discoverer of America is now a reviled subjugator of other races whose sole motivation was seeking personal riches. And in similar fashion many events of American history are being re-cast to reflect racism as their motivation.
[/QUOTE]
Take a look at this and see if this history sounds valid.
Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain? (http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/thevoyagesofcolumbus/a/09columbustruth.htm)
tomwed
01-03-2016, 10:02 PM
With reference to the Thought Police, I originally had in mind "Political Correctness" as enforced by Liberal media organizations, rather than by governmental organizations. However, we are now seeing University governments, both private and state run, that are using coercive measures to force attitude compliance. And, of course, in other countries "re-education" camps exist for political dissidents.
Has anyone been arrested and punished? Like in the book.
tomwed
01-03-2016, 10:12 PM
Sadly, there is also the current attempt to remove from all public areas in the South any commemorations of the Civil War; erasing much of our awareness of our history.
I'd like to read about that. Can you point me in the right direction?
Carl in Tampa
01-03-2016, 10:37 PM
Has anyone been arrested and punished? Like in the book.
You are apparently thinking locally rather than globally. Remember the locale for 1984 was not the United States.
Examples of arrest and punishment? The Soviet Gulags and Chairman Mao's "re-education" camps leap to mind.
In a similar vein, the post-war (WWII) Soviets were known to have re-written history books and altered historical photos to make certain people into "non-persons."
Carl in Tampa
01-03-2016, 10:59 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa
Sadly, there is also the current attempt to remove from all public areas in the South any commemorations of the Civil War; erasing much of our awareness of our history.
I'd like to read about that. Can you point me in the right direction?
I suggest you simply keep up with the news and/or use the web browser on your computer.
One example (among many) would be the action of the city of New Orleans to remove four statues, including a towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that has stood at the center of a traffic circle for 131 years. (They are removing it from Lee Circle; haven't gotten around to re-naming the street yet.)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/nola-city-council-votes-remove-4-confederate-monuments-article-1.2469436
And, you will find movements throughout the country to obliterate the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia (often erroneously identified as "the Confederate Flag") from public view. There have even been arrests for displaying the flag. (Shades of the Thought Police.)
Use your web search browser and read to your heart's content.
Carl in Tampa
01-03-2016, 11:25 PM
Take a look at this and see if this history sounds valid.
Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain? (http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/thevoyagesofcolumbus/a/09columbustruth.htm)
The essay makes my point, that Columbus was transformed from revered to reviled as history accounts were revised and rewritten.
If you will use your web browser you will find accounts of many efforts to rename Columbus Day, which has actually been done in Seattle. One proposal is Indigenous Remembrance Day.
Is Columbus Day destined for Winston Smith's "memory hole?"
tomwed
01-04-2016, 06:21 AM
You are apparently thinking locally rather than globally. Remember the locale for 1984 was not the United States.
Examples of arrest and punishment? The Soviet Gulags and Chairman Mao's "re-education" camps leap to mind.
In a similar vein, the post-war (WWII) Soviets were known to have re-written history books and altered historical photos to make certain people into "non-persons."
You're right. I wasn't thinking globally.
tomwed
01-04-2016, 06:43 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa
Sadly, there is also the current attempt to remove from all public areas in the South any commemorations of the Civil War; erasing much of our awareness of our history.
I suggest you simply keep up with the news and/or use the web browser on your computer.
One example (among many) would be the action of the city of New Orleans to remove four statues, including a towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that has stood at the center of a traffic circle for 131 years. (They are removing it from Lee Circle; haven't gotten around to re-naming the street yet.)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/nola-city-council-votes-remove-4-confederate-monuments-article-1.2469436
And, you will find movements throughout the country to obliterate the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia (often erroneously identified as "the Confederate Flag") from public view. There have even been arrests for displaying the flag. (Shades of the Thought Police.)
Use your web search browser and read to your heart's content.
I try to keep up with the news and I do use the web browser. Now I can read to my heart's content. Information is ubiquitous. Remember using the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature in high school? Online I got 12,600,000 results (0.55 seconds) on the Confederate Flag. Writing position papers in high school for me required taking a bus to big city libraries that had the resources to stack the periodicals. Now we have it at home for the price of the internet. It's interesting talking to you.
Chatbrat
01-04-2016, 06:55 AM
Catcher in the Rye, Arrowsmith, Beowulf, Vanity Fair--Brooklyn Tech--class of 59
tomwed
01-04-2016, 09:46 AM
The essay makes my point, that Columbus was transformed from revered to reviled as history accounts were revised and rewritten.
If you will use your web browser you will find accounts of many efforts to rename Columbus Day, which has actually been done in Seattle. One proposal is Indigenous Remembrance Day.
Is Columbus Day destined for Winston Smith's "memory hole?"
Good point. But does it matter if Washington actually cut down a cherry tree? Does that make him less of a hero if he didn't? It's not as if he claims he cut down the tree in his memoirs and now we are challenging Washington. Researchers challenged the historian's source. I don't think that's rewriting history as much as getting the facts straight. I don't feel like I was being lied to in the second grade or all the other stories about Washington must also not be true.
I think the same could be said about Columbus. He was a flawed man just like the rest of us. And flawed men can do great things. That's the take-away for children. Globally speaking, not everyone in North Korea shares our values in writing history.
Is McCain less of a hero because he got cought? No-he's a national hero deserving respect. Not everyone thinks that way.
this is a good conversation
looneycat
01-04-2016, 10:21 AM
The core texts from the Bronx HS of Science curriculum. it remains pretty much the same as when I attended it in 1964.
Animal Farm, The Pearl, Of Mice and Men, The Catcher in the Rye, Greek Mythology, The Odyssey, Brave New World/1984, Henry IV Part I/The
Merchant of Venice, Fences/A Raisin in the Sun/Pygmalion,Julius
Caesar/The Taming of the Shrew, The Bad Seed/Inherit the Wind, The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby, Macbeth, Death of a
Salesman/A Streetcar Named Desire, Antigone, Oedipus Rex, The Canterbury Tales, Hamlet/King Lear/Othello.
tomwed
01-04-2016, 11:20 AM
The core texts from the Bronx HS of Science curriculum. it remains pretty much the same as when I attended it in 1964.
Animal Farm, The Pearl, Of Mice and Men, The Catcher in the Rye, Greek Mythology, The Odyssey, Brave New World/1984, Henry IV Part I/The
Merchant of Venice, Fences/A Raisin in the Sun/Pygmalion,Julius
Caesar/The Taming of the Shrew, The Bad Seed/Inherit the Wind, The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby, Macbeth, Death of a
Salesman/A Streetcar Named Desire, Antigone, Oedipus Rex, The Canterbury Tales, Hamlet/King Lear/Othello.
I founds this list
http://www.bxscience.edu/ourpages/auto/2008/6/24/1214324403602/Physical%20Science%20Department%20book%20list.pdf
The Bronx High School of Science (http://www.bxscience.edu/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=3733&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=63807)
I'm guessing your list is for English or the Literature part of the curriculum and this one isn't.
Your list sounds like my HS list as I remember it. I forgot about The Catcher in the Rye. Their 2009 list just seems overwhelming to me. It shouldn't. The graduates must be brilliant.
Carl in Tampa
01-04-2016, 01:27 PM
I try to keep up with the news and I do use the web browser. Now I can read to my heart's content. Information is ubiquitous. Remember using the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature in high school? Online I got 12,600,000 results (0.55 seconds) on the Confederate Flag. Writing position papers in high school for me required taking a bus to big city libraries that had the resources to stack the periodicals. Now we have it at home for the price of the internet. It's interesting talking to you.
Yes, we have the world at our fingertips, but.......
(Click on image to enlarge.)
looneycat
01-04-2016, 01:35 PM
I founds this list
http://www.bxscience.edu/ourpages/auto/2008/6/24/1214324403602/Physical%20Science%20Department%20book%20list.pdf
The Bronx High School of Science (http://www.bxscience.edu/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=3733&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=63807)
I'm guessing your list is for English or the Literature part of the curriculum and this one isn't.
Your list sounds like my HS list as I remember it. I forgot about The Catcher in the Rye. Their 2009 list just seems overwhelming to me. It shouldn't. The graduates must be brilliant.
they have a 1400 book list but the ones I listed are part of the tstandard curriculum. yes, we are, thanks. seriously though it is a specialized high school that is science and math oriented with students chosen by entrance exam from the entire city. usually in the top 10 or 20 in the country but always in the top 100.
tomwed
01-04-2016, 01:46 PM
Yes, we have the world at our fingertips, but.......
(Click on image to enlarge.)
I don't do reddit or facebook. There not enough time or privacy.
You'll enjoy this.
Bill Gates internet predictions - Tech Insider (http://www.techinsider.io/bill-gates-internet-predictions-2015-12)
blueash
01-04-2016, 01:52 PM
Interesting to read how the books required for a high school education 50 to 60 years ago are being held up as somehow the best choices for today's students. I dare say that none of us would have for a moment agreed with any suggestion in the 50's or 60's that we should be reading the same material as was being given to students in the 1890's. We loose our sense of time and all see our youth as the best.. If we could all just get America back to how it was then, because for the most part, it worked for us?
But in the spirit of the topic, public schools... Shakespeare plays, at least one every year beginning in 7th grade, Pride and Prej (yuck), Wuthering Heights (yuck), Billy Budd, Red Badge, Lord Jim, Tom Sawyer and Huck, Ibsen plays, Animal Farm, Mice and Men, Ethan Fromm, Gatsby, Scarlet Letter, Old Man and the Sea, Tale of 2 cities, Great Expectations, Walden, Cry the Beloved Country, Black like Me, Native Son, several Shaw plays, Importance of being Earnest, Dante's Inferno, some Mythology, some Greek Plays like Medea and Oedipus, Abel Sanchez by Unamuno, some short stories by several but I loved Jorge Borges. and I'm sure I'm forgetting more than I'm remembering. I once was given the opportunity to pick a book for a class, Cat's Cradle, so it goes.
tomwed
01-04-2016, 05:50 PM
Interesting to read how the books required for a high school education 50 to 60 years ago are being held up as somehow the best choices for today's students. I dare say that none of us would have for a moment agreed with any suggestion in the 50's or 60's that we should be reading the same material as was being given to students in the 1890's. We loose our sense of time and all see our youth as the best.. If we could all just get America back to how it was then, because for the most part, it worked for us?
But in the spirit of the topic, public schools... Shakespeare plays, at least one every year beginning in 7th grade, Pride and Prej (yuck), Wuthering Heights (yuck), Billy Budd, Red Badge, Lord Jim, Tom Sawyer and Huck, Ibsen plays, Animal Farm, Mice and Men, Ethan Fromm, Gatsby, Scarlet Letter, Old Man and the Sea, Tale of 2 cities, Great Expectations, Walden, Cry the Beloved Country, Black like Me, Native Son, several Shaw plays, Importance of being Earnest, Dante's Inferno, some Mythology, some Greek Plays like Medea and Oedipus, Abel Sanchez by Unamuno, some short stories by several but I loved Jorge Borges. and I'm sure I'm forgetting more than I'm remembering. I once was given the opportunity to pick a book for a class, Cat's Cradle, so it goes.
The HS graduation rate was below 20% 100 years ago. Who knows what the reading lists were like.
For the last 50 years the rate has been flat at 75%.
Since 1970, the high school graduation rate for 17-year-olds has remained flat (http://www.familyfacts.org/charts/535/since-1970-the-high-school-graduation-rate-for-17-year-olds-has-remained-flat)
In the mean time College graduation rates went up. I couldn't find 1975-present college graduation rate.
dbussone
01-04-2016, 06:22 PM
The HS graduation rate was below 20% 100 years ago. Who knows what the reading lists were like.
For the last 50 years the rate has been flat at 75%.
Since 1970, the high school graduation rate for 17-year-olds has remained flat (http://www.familyfacts.org/charts/535/since-1970-the-high-school-graduation-rate-for-17-year-olds-has-remained-flat)
In the mean time College graduation rates went up. I couldn't find 1975-present college graduation rate.
Tom - do you remember what % of your graduating class went to college?
Of a class of 113 graduates, 100% went to college from my school.
tomwed
01-04-2016, 06:57 PM
Tom - do you remember what % of your graduating class o college?
Of a class of 113 graduates, 100% went to college from my school.
All but 1 out of 200+ or -. He lived in my home town, enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Germany. My HS was in Jersey City but a dozen of us lived 10 miles away and took public transportation and walked to get there. It was an all boys HS back then.
tomwed
01-04-2016, 07:10 PM
The HS graduation rate was below 20% 100 years ago. Who knows what the reading lists were like.
For the last 50 years the rate has been flat at 75%.
Since 1970, the high school graduation rate for 17-year-olds has remained flat (http://www.familyfacts.org/charts/535/since-1970-the-high-school-graduation-rate-for-17-year-olds-has-remained-flat)
In the mean time College graduation rates went up. I couldn't find 1975-present college graduation rate.
.....
LI SNOWBIRD
01-05-2016, 11:16 AM
Interesting to read how the books required for a high school education 50 to 60 years ago are being held up as somehow the best choices for today's students. I dare say that none of us would have for a moment agreed with any suggestion in the 50's or 60's that we should be reading the same material as was being given to students in the 1890's. We loose our sense of time and all see our youth as the best.. If we could all just get America back to how it was then, because for the most part, it worked for us?
But in the spirit of the topic, public schools... Shakespeare plays, at least one every year beginning in 7th grade, Pride and Prej (yuck), Wuthering Heights (yuck), Billy Budd, Red Badge, Lord Jim, Tom Sawyer and Huck, Ibsen plays, Animal Farm, Mice and Men, Ethan Fromm, Gatsby, Scarlet Letter, Old Man and the Sea, Tale of 2 cities, Great Expectations, Walden, Cry the Beloved Country, Black like Me, Native Son, several Shaw plays, Importance of being Earnest, Dante's Inferno, some Mythology, some Greek Plays like Medea and Oedipus, Abel Sanchez by Unamuno, some short stories by several but I loved Jorge Borges. and I'm sure I'm forgetting more than I'm remembering. I once was given the opportunity to pick a book for a class, Cat's Cradle, so it goes.
I agree with your picks but wanted to acknowledge your reference to Kilgore Trout ( and so it goes) in Kurt Vonnegut's novels-- thanks for the memory
n
TrudyM
01-05-2016, 11:58 AM
I went to two very different private schools and the reading was very different. The first one taught in 3 week blocks you studied one subject (except math and language) at a time. Fiction from the period or historical ficton or mythology was incorporated into the history blocks. The English blocks were divided into genre and or period. Ie science fiction, elizabethian etc. We even had one that was the bible and other religious texts and their effect on other writings. The one that I remember was the Hobbit.
I had dyslexia so reading huge volumes was a problem for me. The second school was Montverde Academy here in Florida and we read the suggested list by the Florida board of ed at the time. Mostly classics which I had already read at the other school. I noticed my nieces in high school were reading Dune I didn't get that till college.
looneycat
01-06-2016, 09:18 AM
All but 1 out of 200+ or -. He lived in my home town, enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Germany. My HS was in Jersey City but a dozen of us lived 10 miles away and took public transportation and walked to get there. It was an all boys HS back then.
as I remember, we had about 900 in the senior class and 100% college acceptance rate.
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