What should our students read in high school English?

[Beth Love]

I teach English in Knox County. I read with interest, Jack McElroy's column on what he feels we should be teaching and not teaching in our high school English classes. He feels that Shakespeare is too dry and boring and should be limited to two or three plays. Some of the books he chose to throw off the list I agree with (Ethan Fromme), but Shakespeare, I have to argue for!
I teach 10th grade; typically in 10th grade, the kids read Julius Caesar. Yes, Marc Antony's speech is great, but Othello, which is what I teach, now that's a story! My students are making modern day connections with the themes of the play: racism, religious intolerance, jealousy, isolation. Those universal themes taken from 1600 and connected to today? That requires critical thinking skills that our business leaders are looking for today.
Now that I am off my soapbox about Shakespeare-what would you have our kids read?

[Beth Love]

You name it; healthcare, engineering, automotive, banking-the list is endless.

[Debi]

I don't recall in nursing any professors asking us about classical literature. Maybe I've forgotten though.

[Bob Hunter]

They may not have ask you but the ability to think criticially, read (or listen) and comprehend, and communicate at all levels across the spectrum is key for anyone dealing with the public (nursing, banking, etc.) and I think that is the most imnportant thing that can be learned from these classes. It is not reading a play, novel or short story and being able to answer 50 or 100 questions - it is being able to understand and deal with what the author is trying to get across. I can say that from my standpoint as a finance manager for 31+ years one of the biggest difficulties I have faced is finding people who could do 2 things: 1. Read and comprehend policies and procedures on their own without someone having to hold their hand and explain every little detail, and 2. Having the ability to communicate effectively with customers that are in all ranges of the spectrum (almost illiterate to highly educated). This is one of those critical areas we need to address in education.

[Beth Love]

Debi, I misunderstood, I thought you were talking about informational text, but Bob is right, the critical thinking skills are what industries are looking for; that is what industry and government officials told Gov. Bredesen they needed from the education community when the Tennessee Diploma Project started three years ago.

[Debi]

I agree with both of you. I guess what I'm wondering is if policies, procedures, directions, etc is what they are wanting people to do, why not read those. I personally would prefer a policy manual over literature. I know that sounds sad, lol!

[Cathy McCaughan]

I hope that literature is read for more than robotic analysis. Some writings touch the soul. They evoke emotions, opinions and ideas. Literature helps us learn who we are and inspires who we want to be.

[Debi]

So does The Bible, Cathy. Haha on that one!

[Ginevra]

Nathaniel Hawthorne, with the history of the time -- the United States was new, and proud of our developing artists (including painters)

There are some other short story writers that I like a lot. O. Henry, for one.

Edgar Allen Poe is good Halloween season material (if Halloween hasn't been banned...)

Short stories and short essays get my prizes. (Do I have a short attention span? :) I also like it when my children learned to write clearly, concisely, logically, even poetically -- and to get to the point!

I know there are reasons to encourage longer papers, but wordiness is painful to read (or even to proofread!) Reading good models helps students with their writing, too.

[Darlene Hunter]

Not to be too off topic..but Beth, what grade/subject do you teach? I know where you teach, I have seen you there. We will have a very nervous Freshman next year who excels in English, but like everything else, stresses over it.

When I asked, Subject, I know you teach "Enlish", but there is Honors, CP, Lit etc.

[Darlene Hunter]

sorry...ENGLISH...

[Beth Love]

I teach all 10th this year, all levels. I have a CP class, a stand alone Honors class and the Honors combined w/AP European history. It's all good! Tell your Freshman there are lots of loving people there that will get him/her through it just fine!

[Deborah Dickerson]

The short story suggestions are good, but my 7th grader is currently reading (and enjoying) O. Henry and Edgar Allen Poe. I think by high school the students should be reading and analyzing longer books. Shakespeare really needs to be seen, not read, in order to appreciate it. I was lucky enough to have our high school drama teacher for English the year we really delved into Shakespeare, and I'll never forget her acting out Lady MacBeth for the class. We were also required to attend a local college's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and saw several other plays (or portions of plays) on video after reading them in class. That was what made me appreciate Shakespeare. Do the high schools coordinate with local college drama departments so we know if/when they are staging such plays? (Not necessarily just Shakespeare, but Tennessee Williams, or whoever.) Other suggestions I haven't seen mentioned yet are The Grapes of Wrath, anything by Dickens (could coordinate with the joint European History class), and girls especially seem to like Wuthering Heights and the Jane Austen books (at least the ones in my high school classes did - back in the dark ages - hope those universal themes can still speak to this generation).