Here is the list for my ideal two year course (7th-8th grade). You will see I start 7th grade with novels that are fairly easy in terms of reading (Freak the Mighty et al.) but contain powerful messages. By the time they are finishing up 8th grade they are tackling Bastard Out of Carolina (read it if you haven’t; it is not “Young Adult” but just great literature with a young protagonist). In between are great works of speculative fiction from the classic The Princess Bride to the outstanding Un Lun Dun, Summerland, and the dystopian Uglies. Of course there will be lots of important poetry, short stories, and essays to support the texts. The texts are interrelated by such themes as friendship, the hero’s quest, peer and social pressure, being the outsider, and being yourself. For space concerns, I won’t write descriptions for each.
Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
The Schwǝ was Here by Neal Shusterman
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Summer Reading and the start of 8th: The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Summerland by Michael Chabon
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
Comments?
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Holiday Break Reading
What do you plan to read over the holiday break? I always pick a few books that I haven't been able to get around to during the school year. My picks for this winter: Matched and Speak, both of which I picked up at the Book Fair.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
An Essential Top Ten
Okay fellow teachers, here is a great one, but it requires some time on your part.
List the Top Ten texts you would teach if you had "free reign" and why.
An essential part of this list is the Why. Explain/defend your choice. What is so important about the work that it makes the top ten of all time? Why is it so important for the students that you teach? Here we go:
My course revolves around Twentieth Century America from post WWI to post Vietnam—the heart of the American Century, if you will (and you will). There are lots of journeys here and lots dealing with the natural world in one way of another. Keep in mind that I will augment this with all sorts of cool, individual poems (Ginsberg’s “Howl” and Mary Oliver’s collection American Primitive for example), lyrics, essays, and films. Not all of my choices are novels. Most of these I don’t need “free reign” because they are accepted and taught in many curriculums.
The Nick Adams short stories by Ernest Hemingway. Important for many reasons: they show Hemingway at the peak of his writing prowess (the short story is his best medium), they reflect post-WWI realities, and they contain a very American protagonist and voice.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard. The modern day Thoreau. As good as any literary fiction to teach literary features and techniques. A vital viewpoint for understanding one intersection of religion and environmentalism.
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. A great counterpoint to Dillard, as Abbey is the libertarian, grouchy conservationist of the West who stridently argues for space, peace, and everyone leaving everything damn well alone!
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. One of the greatest, interwoven collection of short stories ever written. Kids love it. And for writers, they can really learn how to structure a short story.
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey or On the Road by Jack Kerouac (I’ll decide when my imaginary class walks in the door). Cuckoo’s nest is the better literary work and encompasses more than the other, but boy does On the Road fit and it is so primal.
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy. Really I’d like to try for Blood Meridian but it’s too long and too bloody for most. The Crossing evokes the American Southwest so well and is a great quest novel. Beautifully written.
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. The woman can flat out write. Another quest novel but done at the Morrison level. Issues of race and identity, magical realism, outrageous characters and events, it’s all there.
The Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko. Crazzzzyyyyy. Apocalyptic and underground. Drives people to think there are entire worlds out there we just aren’t part of.
The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Honestly I could do a whole year on the various genres of “Speculative” fiction but I’ll stick with one. A horror-contemporary fantasy quest across parallel Americas, students will devour this one.
Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks. In some ways the Bone is a modern Huck Finn. This hooks teenagers immediately whether they like him or not, and the adventures through the underbelly of America (and Jamaica) provide for ample discussion.
List the Top Ten texts you would teach if you had "free reign" and why.
An essential part of this list is the Why. Explain/defend your choice. What is so important about the work that it makes the top ten of all time? Why is it so important for the students that you teach? Here we go:
My course revolves around Twentieth Century America from post WWI to post Vietnam—the heart of the American Century, if you will (and you will). There are lots of journeys here and lots dealing with the natural world in one way of another. Keep in mind that I will augment this with all sorts of cool, individual poems (Ginsberg’s “Howl” and Mary Oliver’s collection American Primitive for example), lyrics, essays, and films. Not all of my choices are novels. Most of these I don’t need “free reign” because they are accepted and taught in many curriculums.
The Nick Adams short stories by Ernest Hemingway. Important for many reasons: they show Hemingway at the peak of his writing prowess (the short story is his best medium), they reflect post-WWI realities, and they contain a very American protagonist and voice.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard. The modern day Thoreau. As good as any literary fiction to teach literary features and techniques. A vital viewpoint for understanding one intersection of religion and environmentalism.
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. A great counterpoint to Dillard, as Abbey is the libertarian, grouchy conservationist of the West who stridently argues for space, peace, and everyone leaving everything damn well alone!
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. One of the greatest, interwoven collection of short stories ever written. Kids love it. And for writers, they can really learn how to structure a short story.
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey or On the Road by Jack Kerouac (I’ll decide when my imaginary class walks in the door). Cuckoo’s nest is the better literary work and encompasses more than the other, but boy does On the Road fit and it is so primal.
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy. Really I’d like to try for Blood Meridian but it’s too long and too bloody for most. The Crossing evokes the American Southwest so well and is a great quest novel. Beautifully written.
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. The woman can flat out write. Another quest novel but done at the Morrison level. Issues of race and identity, magical realism, outrageous characters and events, it’s all there.
The Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko. Crazzzzyyyyy. Apocalyptic and underground. Drives people to think there are entire worlds out there we just aren’t part of.
The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Honestly I could do a whole year on the various genres of “Speculative” fiction but I’ll stick with one. A horror-contemporary fantasy quest across parallel Americas, students will devour this one.
Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks. In some ways the Bone is a modern Huck Finn. This hooks teenagers immediately whether they like him or not, and the adventures through the underbelly of America (and Jamaica) provide for ample discussion.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Top Ten Movie Adaptations of Literature
Here we go again. While we will get to more "serious" topics like school stuff, let's roll with another fun top ten (or top three or five or whatever). Here is my list of great movie adaptations of written works. I was inspired by seeing a trailer for The Hunger Games, which I can't wait for. Yeah I guess that reveals that I love YA stuff and, once again, any novel with a cool woman running around kicking butt is good with me. So my list:
Kubrick's The Shining (King). Never let King have a hand in adapting his own works. when great directors grab hold of his stuff it works.
Brannagh's Othello. I'm cheating here because this is already drama, and so "easier" to adapt than prose.
Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (Dick's Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep)
Saul Van Zantz's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Kesey). While the novel may be better it's hard to argue with how great this movie is.
Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy (Tolkien). It makes me cry and roar at the same time.
The original Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Dahl)
Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption (from King's Different Seasons)
Deliverance (Dickey). Captures the book pretty well.
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Hemingway). Really this is all about Ingrid Bergman. I mean who wouldn't fight the fascists for "the Maria"?
The Wizard of Oz. (Baum) So much better than the book.
That's that!
Kubrick's The Shining (King). Never let King have a hand in adapting his own works. when great directors grab hold of his stuff it works.
Brannagh's Othello. I'm cheating here because this is already drama, and so "easier" to adapt than prose.
Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (Dick's Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep)
Saul Van Zantz's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Kesey). While the novel may be better it's hard to argue with how great this movie is.
Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy (Tolkien). It makes me cry and roar at the same time.
The original Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Dahl)
Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption (from King's Different Seasons)
Deliverance (Dickey). Captures the book pretty well.
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Hemingway). Really this is all about Ingrid Bergman. I mean who wouldn't fight the fascists for "the Maria"?
The Wizard of Oz. (Baum) So much better than the book.
That's that!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
The First Top Ten: Speculative Fiction
Top Ten Speculative Fiction Novels of All Time! (Speculative includes SF, Fantasy and its many subgenres, Magical Realism, Steam and Cyber Punk, Horror and, well everything that crosses boundaries and gives literary snobs fits). Remember you don't need to make it to ten, just share what you want, and explain, concisely, your choices.
Here are mine (no ranking, just ten):
Neuromancer by William Gibson: Essential reading for our digital age. Waaay ahead of its time.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Great use of mythic figures in a contemporary setting. Riordan wishes he could do this.
The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. Lives up to the hype. Either you get it or you don't.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. Freaky weird stuff, crosses too many genres to keep track of.
Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. Perhaps the most literary of this bunch, a fantastical urban tale set in NYC. Wonderful.
The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin. Blew mymind when I was twelve and I've reread it many times. The first one involves a dark, dark quest.
Mythago Wood by Richard Holdstock. Heady, myth-heavy and influential in shaping "urban" fantasy/folklore based new fiction.
The Stand by Stephen King. Horror, western, fantasy, SF all thrown together. Dis King all you want, he will stand the test of time.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip k. Dick. Existentialist, dystopian crime fiction at its best.
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. All right its trashy but beautiful, powerful women doing magic is a good thing in my book.
Here are mine (no ranking, just ten):
Neuromancer by William Gibson: Essential reading for our digital age. Waaay ahead of its time.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Great use of mythic figures in a contemporary setting. Riordan wishes he could do this.
The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. Lives up to the hype. Either you get it or you don't.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. Freaky weird stuff, crosses too many genres to keep track of.
Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. Perhaps the most literary of this bunch, a fantastical urban tale set in NYC. Wonderful.
The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin. Blew mymind when I was twelve and I've reread it many times. The first one involves a dark, dark quest.
Mythago Wood by Richard Holdstock. Heady, myth-heavy and influential in shaping "urban" fantasy/folklore based new fiction.
The Stand by Stephen King. Horror, western, fantasy, SF all thrown together. Dis King all you want, he will stand the test of time.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip k. Dick. Existentialist, dystopian crime fiction at its best.
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. All right its trashy but beautiful, powerful women doing magic is a good thing in my book.
Let the Conversations Begin
Hello Invitees,
I've started this North Broward Blog as a way for us to share passionate ideas and to first just let one another know about our favorites when it comes to literature.This is a place for ideas and getting to know one another. To that end I will be posting mostly Top Ten prompts to start.
Note: No big deal if you can't fill up a Top Ten list, if you want to list three or seven, do it.
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