Re: Dune trivia

--- On Wed, 7/25/12, Malachi Kenney <kfringe@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> There's the problem. I have the old man's instinct of
> thinking that those damned kids are just going to eat candy
> anyway, so I should offer them I high fiber diet. Tolstoy!
> That's what teenagers need! And Hemingway! He talks about
> lesbians; it'll be good for 'em. And let's make 'em read
> Huxley! And... oh, hell... this is how english class ruins
> books for people, isn't it?

I try not to have my English lit classes ruin books for students. I really do. :)

Here in Britain, I do have to deal with lists. Exam boards tell us what books the students have to read for their exams. If we don't study those books, the kids are screwed. But I'm honest with the students. I'll tell them the books on the lists. I'll give them plot summaries and show them the Amazon reviews. I'll tell them if the book put me to sleep, if I liked it etc. But I'm a radical. :)

And when I get to choose the texts all on my own, I try to find ones I think the kids will enjoy. When Ian and I first saw "Jerusalem" in the tiny Royal Court Theatre (in London, but not the West End -- and our seats, which were great, cost £18 each, so the train fare was more expensive), I knew I wanted to share that play with students. Therefore, last year, when I had to teach two post-1990 plays for the kids to compare for coursework, "Jerusalem" was an easy choice for the first play.

The students loved it. The play returned to the West End from NYC last autumn and I took them to see it. They loved it even more and actually thanked me for arranging the trip. Wow.

I'm always happy when I manage to select a piece of lit that both the students and I like.

Ellen