Discussion: High School Required Reading

[@jackiesliterarycorner]

Inspired to rewatch both Olive's and your video. I find that there are books I wish we read and studying in school instead of the ones assigned, but there are some I still love like The Great Gatsby. I was trying to remember my required reading and surprisingly i had to read quite a few plays in Middle school and High school, and it was hard to remember that far back since I'm 34.

[@BookishTexan]

James Baldwin, YES! Awesome suggestion. Louise Erdrich, YES! Awesome suggestion.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Glad we are on the same page!!

[@karenbird6727]

I absolutely love to Kill a Mockingbird, and I didn't read it for school. I still read it every couple of years. I completely agree with you on Salinger. I didn't like Lord of the Flies either. We read Animal Farm and Brave New World. I had a year of Shakespeare and liked all the plays we did. I also had a year of Greek myths, and we read the Odyssey, just reread it, and I still love it.

[@marcelhidalgo1076]

I'm curious...what books by Canadian or Indigenous writers would you have liked to be on your high school required reading list.

[@marcelhidalgo1076]

By the way, I like that you didn't really like To Kill A Mockingbird, but liked If Beale Street Could Talk... that was me in high school to a tee

[@saintonfire77]

I collect the writings of Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs. Plan to watch your videos. peace

[@bigalbooksforever]

Cool! Thanks for checking out my channel!

[@almay9962]

I never read books in high school. I did not even bother writing a paper from spark notes. I just took a 0 on the assignment. I still passed the course with a D. I am a C average so that did not lower my gpa much.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Whatever works for you! Was it because you weren't interested in the books that were options? Or do you think that you wouldn't have wanted to read any kind of book then?

[@BeaconHillBooks]

Such an interesting subject. I read some good books and I think one of my teachers enhanced many of the reading experiences I did have. I was lucky I clicked with his teaching style as others didn’t. This has made me think further about my experience and if I can ever get myself together to do a video on it too. I think you must be an amazing teacher and wish you could teach what you preferred!

[@bigalbooksforever]

That's great to hear that you had a good English teacher! It can make a big difference, although we don't always realize it at the time. And yes, I'd love to hear more about your thoughts in a video response! :)

[@tricaurelie]

As usual, very informative and interesting. I just seem to enjoy your perspective on literature more and more with every new video you put out. My experience with required reads was quite different, for I enjoyed most of them, with a few notorious exceptions. Fortunately, I came to love some of these after re-reading them as an adult (a phenomenon I touched on in my video "Giving books a second chance").

[@bigalbooksforever]

Thanks! That sounds like a cool idea for a video... I love thinking about how we mature and develop as readers throughout our lives! It makes sense to feel differently about books than how we did as teens. Glad your experience reading in school was an overall positive one!

[@vivrelivre]

This is one of the best Booktube videos I’ve watched in quite some time. I admire your drive and out-of-the-educational-box mindset regarding the books you would choose. I’d love to hear more about the books you would enjoy teaching. Love from Argentina!

[@bigalbooksforever]

Thanks! I think about this topic a lot, so this was a fun video to film. Speaking of books I would love to teach, Argentina has some of the best authors out there!!

[@vivrelivre]

Thanks! Borges, Mariana Enríquez, Silvina Ocampo, Bioy Casares and Silvina Ocampo are some of my favorites. But we are lucky enough to have good literary qualiry in a wide range of genres and styles. I have become a fan of Laura Alcoba; she is a relatively new literary personality from here. Have you read anything by her?

[@bigalbooksforever]

No I haven't heard of Laura Alcoba but thanks for putting her on my radar! I also have a story collection by Ocampo that I've been meaning to read for ages, so that's good to hear you enjoy her as well!!

[@vivrelivre]

I can't wait to hear what you think about Silvina Ocampo.

[@lindaleehall]

A Fine Balance is an amazing, beautifully written, deeply significant novel, and I am so glad that I read it. However, I then gave it away because I know I just couldn't bear to read it again.

[@bigalbooksforever]

That is totally fair! Once in a lifetime might be enough for that one!

[@Jibbie49]

A Fine Balance was published in 1995 and was featured as one of OPRAH'S pick for her Book Club. It was an interesting book.

[@abookolive]

Oh my god this was AMAZING! I love that you suggested alternatives!

[@bigalbooksforever]

Thanks for checking out my response! :)

[@angelaluz405]

Let's see. I was required to read Bridge on the River Kwai, Romeo & Juliet (I love Shakespeare, but have never liked this one), Great Expectations (only Miss Haversham was memorable), The Good Earth (loathed it), Of Mice and Men (not bad & inspired me to pick up East of Eden, which was AMAZING), Wuthering Heights (was in love with it then and still am--ghosts, Gothic imagery, my jam), and The Scarlet Letter (loathed this one too). I hated having no choice in what I read and our class discussions were quite weak, as I recall. I took another class called Reading Pace Improvement where we were given long lists of book with associated point values and were told to pick for ourselves and how many points added up to an A, B, C, etc. grade. We had to read them and have individual book discussions on each with the teacher. I loved that. Shakespeare, East of Eden, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and numerous others...none of which were chosen for me. As much as I loved that and hated the English class having to all read the same one...there is something to say about reaching adulthood and having this tiny piece of common ground with other people your age: "you had to read Great Expectations in high school?" "Me too" It seems to be something that entire generations have in common...and even beyond generations. My mother also had to read Wuthering Heights in school so we have a sort of shared school experience 20 years apart. I think students should have more say in what they read, so it doesn't feel like a chore to them...but a little part of me also thinks that the common experience across the country and across the generation would be missing.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Interesting-- sounds like you got to read a lot of classics. I hate the Scarlet Letter as well, but also love East of Eden and Wuthering Heights (Miss Havisham gives me life as well)! Class discussions can be so hit or mess depending on the class-- some groups seem to love it, others not so much. That Reading Pace Improvement class sounds amazing. I would have LOVED something like that in high school. I like your point about the commonality of the experience of reading classics. If we only draw from contemporary books that would certainly be lost, which would be a shame. Personally, I'd love to see a balance between classics and contemporary books!

[@angelaluz405]

That would have been great! I'd have loved for them to throw in a contemporary or two to break things up. My vote would have been to replace The Good Earth with...anything. LOL I know tons of people who love Pearl S. Buck, but that book was torture to me!

[@Jibbie49]

@@angelaluz405 I read all 3 of the books in "The Good Earth" series and to me, O'Lan was the greatest heroine as she was a slave girl, who became the mistress of the mansion all while her husband hated her because she had big feet, but the irony was he only became rich because of O'Lan having big feet and all the work she did. We read the book in 10th grade in 1964 and our town doctor had been born in China as his father, GF and GGF had all been Presbyterian Missionary Doctors like Pearl Buck's father.

[@jeffsmith1284]

My high school reading list was outstanding: Great Expectations, Huckleberry Finn, a lot of American poetry (Frost, Dickinson, Poe, Hart Crane, Robinson, Sandberg, Whitman, etc), Siddhartha (Hesse), The Snows of Kilimanjaro, the Nick Adams stories, Old Man and the Sea, Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, Billy Budd, The Scarlet Letter, Bartleby the Scrivener, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, selected Sonnets by Shakespeare, The Great Gatsby, Crime and Punishment, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Walden, On Civil Disobedience, Essays by Emerson, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Tess of the D’ubervilles, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Stranger, The Trial, and The Little Prince. And I’m sure I’m missing some. In addition, we were required to select a book a month and write a report on it in 10th grade. (The Castle, Les Miserables, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, poems by e e Cummings, The Sound and the Fury, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Magister Ludi’s the Glass Bead Game... were some of my selections.) I am forever grateful for my 9th and 10th grade English teachers. They were outstanding!! My English teachers also provided an amazingly insightful narrative of the underlying schools of thought in our literary heritage that I will always remember (particularly the transcendentalists and the puritanical heritage). I find much of this missing in my kids’ high school education unfortunately where it appears more draconian and test oriented. Also, they don’t do nearly as much writing (and different types of writing) as we did back in the day ;-). My advice is to provide both freedom to explore AND required classroom readings. Also I really benefited from the expansive genre and types of literary works (novels, novellas, essays, poems, short stories, treatises, ...) that my teachers exposed us to. And finally, there’s far too little writing nowadays. Write more often and write different types of works, expository essays, purple prose essays, poetry (classical and free verse), memoirs, autobiographical writings, short stories, news articles, and so on. When we read a classroom novel, our teacher would have us really try to understand what it is that makes Twain Twain or Hemingway Hemingway etc. We would attempt to write in these styles. This exercise is really fascinating and gives the student a deeper understanding of the work they’re reading. One last point, I can say from my own experience that I learned the most from the works I initially felt I disliked the most.

[@someonerandom8552]

What I find rather interesting are the people who learned English as a state language, but it's still a second language to them (Switzerland, Finland, Fiji etc) I mean their English classes put ours to shame, imo. Reading Shakespeare at younger ages, straight to Adult fiction after kids lit, a better understanding of linguistics etc. My mother writes better than I do, despite English being a "weirdly structured, oddly specific language" in her view. Required reading is a very hit and miss thing. Even among bookworms, because it's something forced not a relaxing hobby anymore. I have this weird thing where I cannot stand people reading me a book, if I have the physical copy in my hands. So classroom reading was the bane of my existence. I do remember way back in Primary (elementary) school they would occasionally swap between an audio book and class reading, which I welcomed. In High School I remember liking the Outsiders and Picnic at Hanging Rock. In Primary it was Roald Dahl and Harry Potter, which we actually read in class, though without any activities. Weird. I also remember as a wee tot my school would often just give us a box of Goosebumps/Animorphs/Horrible Histories/Captain Underpants books for an hour. Which was also really fun.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Good point about how English is taught differently elsewhere. I know most English classes don't teach much grammar and just sort of expect that native speakers will pick it up informally (which of course doesn't always work out). I could see how someone actually learning the rules might come away with a better understanding! That's nice you got some time in school to just enjoy reading without it being any kind of novel study. Some of those titles are bringing back memories... I remember loving Roald Dahl, Goosebumps, and Captain Underpants when I was younger!!

[@patricejones8799]

I must say that things have changed since I was in high school. My daughter, for her first year of high school, has the coolest teacher. She gets to read, not just classics, but lots of contemporary books like The Hate U Give, Solo by Kwame Alexander, and The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo and many more. The choice for their first project is The Uglies by Scott Westerfield. I rarely read what I needed to read, but if I had contemporary choices, I would have been all-in. Thanks for food-for-thought.

[@bigalbooksforever]

That sounds like a great English class. I'm starting to see The Hate U Give taught in some English classes at my school as well, but it is great that they have a lot of contemporary choices! It's always nice to see English teachers who are willing to mix it up and try out some new things :)

[@audreyh7892]

We read “Romeo and Juliet”-still not my fave Shakespeare. The Scarlet letter-liked it. The Great Gatsby-liked it. To Kill a Mockingbird-loved it. Animal farm-hated it. Not taught well. The Lord of the Flies-ick. Black elk speaks-liked it. My niece is reading Johnny Tremain which I am trying to read also, so far not a fan.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Sounds like you had an uneven experience, but I'm glad that there were some books you enjoyed! I haven't heard of Black Elk Speaks or Johnny Tremain, so I'll need to look into those two!

[@RememberedReads]

Great discussion! And great alternative choices! I'm a little shocked that you didn't have any Canadian titles on your required reading list in high school. When I was in school it seemed to be part of the curriculum that there was at least one Canadian title each year. Off the top of my head, we had Obasan in grade 9, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz in 10, The Lives of the Saints in 12 (a little surprising since it was fairly new then) and Fifth Business and The Wars in OAC (I realize anyone who's more than ten years younger than I am - or not from Ontario - missed that extra year). We also had optional lists of translated classics to choose from in OAC English classes -I guess that vanished when they did away with that year? It's funny that choice element is a "new" trend now. I guess that just shows how cyclical teaching philosophies can be!

[@bigalbooksforever]

I only recently realized that I didn't read any Canadian novels, but who knows maybe we had the odd poem or short story used instead (not that I can remember much about those!). That is so cool you got such a thorough sampling of Canadian books to try. My English professor in teacher's college mentioned how she almost got fired for teaching The Wars-- scary! And yes educational trends are so cyclical-- the pendulum is always swinging us back and forth!

[@OldBluesChapterandVerse]

I didn’t dislike any of my high school reading, although I found Shakespeare hard going. I maintain that Shakespeare is, more often than not, poorly taught. I came to high school reading after three or four years (say, ages 12-15) having read almost nothing, so it could be that those simpler classics (eg Of Mice and Men) were easing me into literature.

[@bigalbooksforever]

I know what you mean... Shakespeare is sometimes just thrusted at students. I was really lucky to have a great 8th grade teacher who made it all seem like so much fun, so I never really had an intimidation factor when it came to Shakespeare. I can see now in hindsight how valuable that experience was, so it's unfortunate when that is not always the case. That's good you have a positive experience with high school reading though!

[@KnowledgelostOrgOnline]

REally enjoyed this, the only thing I remember being required to read was Romeo and Juliet but then we just ended up watching the movie. My high school experience was no good, I wonder if I would have found my passion earlier if I had a better experience?

[@bigalbooksforever]

That's too bad you didn't do more reading in your English classes! I like to think that teachers can make a difference (good or bad), so whilst it's too bad you didn't have good English teachers inspiring you to read, at least you didn't have terrible ones that put you off from reading forever??

[@SummersMovingBookshelf]

I think that was probably what I felt about TKAM when I tried to read it for school. I was definitely looking towards the future, not wanting to look back. I didn’t finish it in high school, I did finish last year and enjoyed it more. You talking about your experience with Catcher in the Rye is how I felt about The Awakening. I felt like that one was way over-analyzed (way too many discussions around the freaking canary in the window!). My main thing was I couldn’t read something if I was forced to (still kinda like that).

[@bigalbooksforever]

Haha yeah I could see how that would suck the passion out of The Awakening for sure! That's good you could appreciate Mockingbird as a more mature reader :)

[@josmith5992]

Such an interesting video Alex, especially from an English Teacher. I think the problem with required reading at school is that word ‘required’, I wasn’t a rebellious teenager but being told what to read without choice was a problem for me. It’s three decades ago but I know we read Lord of the Flies and I didn’t like it, a book about a bunch of boys didn’t appeal. We may have read Animal Farm too and that was more successful. Of course we had our fair share of Shakespeare and I found it hard enjoyed it probably because my mum had read me the children’s versions of the stories when I was younger. Funnily enough I’ve just picked up Shakespeare again for Shaketube after a twenty seven year hiatus and am surprised by how readable I’m finding it. I would have appreciated The Kite Runner as about an area we knew little about at the time, everything we read was British and British based. Very surprised to hear you didn’t have any Canlit and really enjoyed hearing your ideas for replacements and why.

[@bigalbooksforever]

I think Lord of the Flies alienates a lot of readers (especially girls!). Golding's microcosm of society seems less effective when he is only working with British boys.... That's nice you're getting back into Shakespeare though. It's much more enjoyable reading him for fun. I've been quite happy chipping away at some of his plays this summer.... looking forward to Shaketube as well!

[@bighardbooks770]

Love The Kite Runner, as well as his following novels . . .

[@bigalbooksforever]

I haven't read anything by him yet... maybe I should give him another chance as a more mature reader!

[@bighardbooks770]

@@bigalbooksforever O, I would. His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is great, too, imho. Power story told from female pov ...

[@sarah-roadworthy]

Oh no! I love Lord of the Flies. I read it in 9th grade and thought it was a bit over the top. However, when I re-read it as a mother of boys, I thought LOTF was totally believable!

[@bigalbooksforever]

Haha fair enough!! I have not had the experience of raising boys, so maybe that would change my mind too :P

[@Jibbie49]

I read lots of books to my children at night, and Robinson Crusoe was their favorite. Kurt Vonnegut was their favorite author.

[@asilentdream7102]

I loved my highschool required reading. My favorites are Catcher in the rye, Pierre and Lucy, All quiet on the western front, Father Goriot, Antigone and some works native to my country majority of which are sadly not translated to english. The poetry selection was great too for the most part

[@almay9962]

I just use sparknotes

[@birdsandwords9775]

I really loved hearing your thoughts on this one. One year in high school we each were allowed to pick 2 books from the teacher's closet of classic books she had collected and then we had to give an oral report on them. I picked a book of plays by Ibsen and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I barely got through the first couple of chapters of Invisible Man but there was so much packed into that book that I got through the report easily. I read the whole thing after graduation and was blown away at the time. I should revisit that one. It was fun to pick our own books but there is something to be said for everyone reading the same thing. Struggling through some of the assigned books taught me how to get through things I didn't necessarily want to do (Hello, Life) and made me love literature all the more for knowing what I didn't appreciate or like.

[@bigalbooksforever]

That's a good point-- sometimes reading a book you don't necessarily enjoy can still help you grow as a reader or help define your taste! I would love to revisit Invisible Man as well... such a dense book! That would be a cool one to read in high school (I think it is the novel that most often appears on the AP lit exam if I remember correctly!)

[@anne-marie339]

I had many of the same experiences (and in the same order) - CanLit was almost non-existent for me and Shakespeare every year (which admittedly I loved). Some of my peers read The Catcher and the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird, while I had tackled The Maestro (Gr. 9) and Brave New World (Gr. 11). Lord of the Flies (Gr. 10) was tough going for me, but I adored The Great Gatsby in Grade 12. Love your alternate suggestions, and I agree - indigenous literature would have been very welcomed (and shaken up the dead white dudes canon). I'm also realizing that the only female authors I read in class were for independent study projects, which makes me a little sad/frustrated now. I'm also curious to see how or if at all, English syllabi are changing in high schools in Ontario/Canada now...

[@bigalbooksforever]

I wish I got to do Gatsby! Most people seem to have a favourable impression of studying that book. That's too bad female authors weren't included (I think Harper Lee was the only one I studied). From the schools I've seen so far I think a lot of English departments are working on shaking up their reading lists and are trying to be more diverse and contemporary. I know for sure that incorporating Indigenous content is a big initiative right now so at least there's that :)

[@annareads9181]

I'm definitely in the minority here, but I found some of my all time favorite books through high school required reading. I really chalk that up to my high school's initiative to focus on authors we wouldn't otherwise be introduced to rather than canon authors we could all easily find, and for that I'm so so thankful. Most of my western canon reading came from middle school, and the transition from dreading english to looking forward to it every day was so enlightening. I totally agree on the TKAMB white savior front, and I honestly think that book's time in academia should come to a close...I think...not necessarily a replacement, but an alternative to TKAMB could be Long Division by Kiese Laymon. It's a magical realism book that dissects racism in the post-katrina technology savvy south as well as the 1980s and 60s. It's also narrated by a 14 year old, so I definitely think it's a more accessible and relevant choice. I too am a proponent for shakespeare in school, and that's mainly because I probably wouldn't be able to read it so easily now if I hadn't had those initial in depth lessons to begin with.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Cool, that's great to hear you had a positive experience with required reading. It sounds like you had awesome English teachers (I love the focus on some lesser known authors!). I haven't heard of Long Division, but it sounds like I need to look into it because that premise sounds fabulous (magical realism, set in the south... this sounds way up my alley!). That's a good point about Shakespeare... maybe everyone won't love it in the moment, but perhaps their future selves will be thankful for the introduction!

[@tosheatower]

Hmm I actually really like most of the books (of those I read) LOVED the bell Jar and Animal Farm. The only book I would say that I initially loved but hasn't passed the test of time is 'Catcher in the Rye' - I still think it's a good book BUT now in my 30s it's just way to angsty which now seems more an annoying trait of youth then interesting.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Fair enough! I have an inexplicable soft spot for Catcher for some reason, but I understand why people don't connect to it or move past it over time. Either way it tends to elicit strong responses!

[@Jibbie49]

Students I know read The Awakening by Kate Chopin, All Quiet on the Western Front, Chesapeake by Michener, and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Cahill.

[@tortoisedreams6369]

Can I take your class!?!?!? This is such a big subject. Books in HS need to be short (too much homework); can't be too "mature" (at least in the States -- we have "overly protective" parents); *may* need a male narrator (traditionally girls will read about boys, more than boys will read about girls (see Harry Potter), but that may be changing with Hunger Games/Divergent); need to be ok for broad range of intellect, interests, backgrounds. Plus costs. Whew, that's tough. So some schools just stick with the tried & tired, tired & tried. As much as I love (love, love) Bell Jar & Catcher (they're almost the same book ... that's for another day), I wonder if HS isn't best suited for more contemporary books (which I suppose Mockingbird, Catcher, LOTF, etc were at one time), leaving classics for college. Get kids into reading good books first ... . In our hipster, hiphop, trendy times (new, new, new), I think students would enjoy more current books as more relevant. SciFi is more mainstream now. Hiphop has really opened the doors for diversity. Books about one's own country or region might also be more interesting. I'm amazed (& so sorry) you didn't read CanLit. I like the idea of each student selecting from a list which books to read. Could one English teacher then discuss one book, while another teacher discusses a different one? Splitting up classes? Or if not then discuss with one group while another group reads or writes? Oops! Sorry to go on so long! Great discussion -- one you could revisit during the school year as new topics arise ...

[@bigalbooksforever]

It is totally difficult to find fitting books! Especially since I seem to gravitate towards long and wildly inappropriate books myself haha. I know what you mean about current books being a good way to hook people into reading (especially when it's a book that is about to have a movie coming out-- excellent motivation!). The school I'm at right now is bringing in The Hate U Give and The Marrow Thieves (Indigenous dystopian sci fi!!) for the Gr. 9s and I think those are great choices. Also yes hip hop in the English class is so much fun--- rap verses have the most impressive rhyme schemes around! :)

[@erindillman]

I got to read Watchmen in grade 12 English though my teacher was seen as a bit of a radical/ outcast teacher compared to everyone else. Mostly though I remember that a supply teacher was given the great pleasure of showing a bunch of 17/18 year olds the movie, and she put paper over the screen when the boobs were shown 😂😂😂

[@bigalbooksforever]

Lol. I was never that vigilant as a supply teacher, but good for her haha! It sounds like you had a cool English teacher for Gr. 12 though!

[@SaraHouck461]

Seems legit, because I’m sure she’d hate having to deal with catcalls from horny guys. In fact, I was a teen at the time of that Super Bowl incident involving Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake, so it did seem inevitable that I was going to first hear about it on the school bus!

[@kenwhytock]

Great video. I got me thinking about my high school reading; here are my books that I read: -grade 7: "The Last Canadian" : I loved it at the time and still all these years later this book haunts me {book cirlce] -grade 8: "The Pearl": it was okay [book circle] -grade 9: "Tale of Two Cities" : I really liked it and would like to revisit it sometime "Merchant of Venice": liked it -grade 10: "Who Has Seen the Wind" : I liked it at the time and have read it several times since. I now rate it as my favourite book of all time "Twelfth Night" : Enjoyed it -grade 11: "Fahrenheit 451": Liked it a lot "Brave New World" : I was fascinated by this book "Lord of the Flies": Liked it then and I still like it "Othello": it was okay -grade 12: "Lost Horizon" : Liked it "Grapes of Wrath" : Loved it "1984": I was in grade 12 in 1984 so this was an interesting coincidence "Macbeth": didn't like it then, but I do now "Siddhartha": Loved it then and have read it several times since; my 3rd favourite book of all time -grade 13: "Two Solitudes" - it was okay "Fifth Business" - loved it; inspired me to get into English literature studies - a couple of books by Morley Callaghan That's all I remember. Interesting fact: I hated English class in school and it was my lowest mark, but I loved the books I read. All the books from high school were whole class reads but as a teacher now I would allow students to select their own titles.

[@bigalbooksforever]

That's surprising you hated English class... funny how things change! It seems like you got to read a lot of classics and Canadian reads in school. What an iconic year to read 1984! I love Fifth Business as well (would love to teach that one!). I haven't yet read Who Has Seen the Wind, but it sounds like I need to look into that one. Thanks for the comment! :)

[@Jibbie49]

Google says Lost Horizon written in 1932 by James Hilton was not a "hit" until after he published his 1934 novel "Good-Bye Mr. Chips" and then people looked for his first book.

[@Daniela_V]

Hi! Firstly, let me take this opportunity to finally compliment you on your excellent videos. Whenever I watch you, i feel like stopping whatever it is I'm doing in order to just read books. I love how passionately you talk about literature, so thanks for sharing your reading experiences and thoughts with us. About the specific topic of the video > 1. Of all you've said, what really struck me the most was to find out that Canadian students read mostly (only??) American/British authors. It just sounds extremely confusing and, well, disturbing to me; after all literature is a powerful tool to help us understand our own country (past, present and future) and the intricacies of its society. Is Canadian Literature Canon only studied in universities? What about contemporary Canadian literature? Does it get attention from academics?? Honestly, It will take me a while to process this information, specially because there seems to be some relevant hidden meanings in this fact. (*Oh, and what about french authors, then?) 2. I read To Kill a Mockingbird as an adult and I'd say you're not being hard on it; since I agree with most of what your fourteen year old version had to say about it. What really got on my nerves was the constant feeling that Harper Lee (well, she IS Scout) was on a pedestal using that simplistic tale to give me the most banal and superficial moral lesson. Yep, I really hated it and felt it treated me like an idiot. However, its simplistic approach to such complex theme might be useful as a starting point for younger students, I suppose. Maybe 8-11 years old? I'm not sure. 3. Yes, since English is not my first language, reading Shakespeare might be quite a challenge. When I first started reading his plays, the modern English translation provided by the site "No fear Shakespeare" was a huge help, specially to better understand his syntax and vocabulary. After a couple plays, though, things got way easier. And funny! I truly adore him. 4. haha, again, I also agree with you on Lord of the Flies. I recently saw a booktuber - I think it was Shawn - complementing Golding on his "beautiful prose" and I was totally puzzled by the statement. I don't exactly hate this one, but it left much to be desired. 5. Watchmen in high school?! That was such a clever pick. Sorry this is so long, I'll stop now. Bye!

[@bigalbooksforever]

Thanks for the lovely comment-- it sounds like we have similar taste in books! Thanks for validating my memories of To Kill a Mockingbird! Judging from some comments here, it sounds like other Canadians did get to read Canadian books... I guess this is just applies to some schools but not others? And I do think that this is starting to change (especially in regards to reading more Indigenous authors). But yeah, it is kind of shocking! I took a few lit courses in university and I think only read one or two Canadian works there, so that also seems to be distressingly low. As for French authors, I took French all throughout high school and none of the books we read were by Québecois authors (Surprise!). I hope this will change for the better in the future! And yes, No Fear Shakespeare is an awesome resource :)

[@readingnomad7045]

I disagree with most of what you said. At High School, you are not there to read diverse [of character], translated or world books and books that are somehow considered "relevant". English Studies/Literature is not really there to teach you morality either. It is primarily there to teach you some of the best and foundational writing and thinking in English. If the child-you was taught what the adult-you now thinks, there is still no guarantee that either the child-you and the adult-you would be any happier. Because all the problems and the pains and the sufferings of growing up would still be there. And these would still colour your vision. So what is to be taught? An introduction to Greek Mythology, the Bible, and Shakespeare and a smattering of Novels that shaped the form. And really that is all that is required. And a half-way interested and capable teacher can really bring these to life and keep most students hooked.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! It's a requirement in the English curriculum from which I teach to use texts from diverse cultures and historical periods, so variety is important when picking books for students to read. I agree that those classics are important, but I don't think that they are the only vehicles for students to develop their critical thinking skills as readers!