Seuss for the teenage mind

I was just reading an article about Dr. Seuss and the creation of "The Cat in the Hat". This paragraph stuck out to me: "In a 1954 article in Life magazine, Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Hersey claimed that Johnny couldn't read because the Dick and Jane primers omnipresent in American schools were boring. Hersey challenged Dr. Seuss (who had already published nine children's books) and other authors to write an alternative reading primer that first graders wouldn't be able to put down."

Immediately I thought, And what about high school students? Don't they have the right to read books that aren't boring? There's little comparison between the banal Dick and Jane books and the renowned classics that make up a high school English class curriculm. But still, I find a correlation. Dick and Jane were the unquestioned reading material of elementary schools for years until people started to say, hey, wait a minute, why can't we have other choices?

Literacy at the high school level is very much threatened. Wouldn't it also make a difference to have stories that capture the older reader's interest? Although "Death of a Salesman" and Moby Dick are American classics and tremendous literary accomplishments, I don't know any teens who read them for class and just couldn't put them down. Frankly, I don't know one in thirty teens who when assigned them actually finish them. It could be argued that when the likes of Hemingway and Steinbeck and Hawthorne were assigned to high school English classes, they were the undisputed best books out there. But now there are so many more choices. Again I cry, why not offer teens some variety? Why not put some living authors on the list as well? Some stories with main characters a teenager today can relate to? Some genres besides "classic"? Some kickbutt stories that keep you turning pages while still offering quality writing and endless discussion topics? Why can't teenagers today, like the first graders in 1954, be offered books in school that they won't be able to put down?

Am I beating a dead horse? Sorry, horsey.

Comments

[Tahlia]

Amen, Shannon! You are saying what I've been trying to tell my English teachers FOR YEARS! They just don't get it, though. It's like they don't see why they should bother trying to take the boredom out of school. You should run for President and make this your campaign issue :-) You'd probably never get asked to speak at Havard or Yale, but I'm sure that there's somebody out there who would see reason.

[Q]

I can attest to this problem.

As a high school student, many of the "classics" seem to be "classics" because they are old. In fact, I asked my Honors English teacher how a book got to be a classic and she told me that it had to do with the age of the book and the endurance of people reading it. Charles Dickens, for example, is excellent, but he got paid by the word, so it is also wordy and often boring. I had to trudge through the first 170 pages of "A Tale of Two Cities" before I finally got to a part I liked.

Keep writing, and may others as well, that we may have a respite from boring, condescending books!

[Faith #2]

My mom agrees with C.S. Lewis.
if you read a few books that aren't classics, read one. But don't just read classics. For every 4 or 5 books, read a classic. Not ALL classics are boring. only about say, 90% of them.
i prefer books like yours.
And your next Bayern book is about Rin, right?

[Courtney]

My mom teaches middle school and she was interested to read your opinion on teaching the clasics in the classroom. She agrees with you. Totaly. She wants to know what titles you would suggest to teach instead of these classics? Her school recently received a literature grant and she has an opportunity to purchase some book sets for her classes. What would you suggest? By the way- she is currently reading Goose Girl aloud to her classes and they LOVE it!!!

[a paperback writer]

My 9th grade students get to pick from 5 or 6 books in each genre. For example, coming up is sci-fi, so they can choose classic lit (HG Wells) or more recent (Connie Willis). Many of my kids choose and love classics (Dracula was a HUGE hit on the horror list), but I offer plenty of others as well (Rowling and Tolkien naturally were the favorites during the fantasy section).
For my 8th grade Spanish students, I do a book of the day, suggesting many different books on different reading levels. I've done all the Bayern books and Princess Academy, but also much more "adult" books, like The Historian. Not a day goes by when I don't see a book I've recommended in my classroom.
As for teaching classics, well, do remember that university teachers will expect these kids to have read some classics, and that to be culturally aware and educated in any field, it's good to know these things. I hated geometry and thought it was boring, but I'm sure glad I learned it.
Oh yes, I despised Moby Dick, and all my students know that. :)

[Kelsey]

90%? Sounds about right to me! My definition of 'classic' is more like a) the author is dead, and, b) I've heard of it before. I probably ought to read more of them. (I just have a Literature book in school that is mostly compiled of short stories. I should get Mom to assign some books for me to read instead--most of book reading is for entertainment.)So I'm too good at relating to high school assignments, but...Yes, they should definitely venture outside of the classics. There are so many people who were never avid readers because they didn't get the chance to read something they liked.

[Faith]

I absolutely agree with Kelsey.
Oh, but I LOVED moby dick!

[Helen]

At my school, they replaced Bless Me, Ultima with the Secret Life of Bees for the ninth grade reading curriculum and I think it has gotten a good response. Although I have never read Bless Me, Ultima, I love the Secret Life of Bees and am very glad that we are not just reading classics. I have also enjoyed the other books we have read, To Kill a Mockingbird and A Tale of Two Cities, but it is easier to relate to more recently-written literature.

[Anon]

This has been discussed at length before on this very blog. Sometime 1-2 years ago. I disagree with taking away classics from high school. It depends on the student. I read A TALE OF TWO CITIES in sixth grade, not to mention assorted other 700+ page books before I went to high school. I may have just been extraordinary, but high schoolers are not stupid.

[Jillian]

The English language is ever-evolving, which means that what once was such a spectacular sentence is no longer. I try to read through classics, searching for those great lines and that 'easy-reading.' It doesn't exist for those accustomed to what is a distinctly modern language.

This year, we read a short story by Willa Cather in English class. Her prose is beautiful, and she has such wonderful figurative language that can bring up great discussions -- if only more people in the class knew what it was they were reading.

There are plenty of modern books with symbols and themes, but they aren't placed in the classroom. The curriculum needs to alter in a way such that there is still quality literature with symbols and themes -- but with an addition of present-day language.

However, since the curriculum has not changed, the job is set on the teacher's shoulders to bring forth excitement in reading. I would recommend having teachers and students compile a list of quality, can't-wait-to-turn-the-next-page books, requiring students to read a minimum quota from the list.

[Teagontt]

I should first say that I am a high school student. I enjoy a wide variety of books. "The Classics" I think are classics and 'stand the test of time' because they center on issues of their time period and take more thought process than "and they lived happily ever after" or "he saved the world". I really like 'kick-back' books as well; they are the page turners, the books I can't put down. They're easy to understand and fun to read. I think that the classics are (and should be) a different type of 'enjoyable' reading. Most people don't understand what they're reading (which is sad but may mean they're not big readers to begin with) or don't care to grasp the deep, inner workings in a classic. The English classroom should have a foundation of the classics but be nourished with page turning novels.

[asha]

hear hear, shannon!

[Little Willow]

I have a booklist entitled "Tough Issues for Teens" that gets more hits than any of my other booklists - as well as feedback from the widest crowd: students, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents. It's fantastic.

[Little Willow]

I have a booklist entitled "Tough Issues for Teens" filled with contemporary titles that gets more hits than any of my other booklists - as well as feedback from the widest crowd: students, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents. It's fantastic.

[Anon]

Classics exist because those weird old people DO have something to teach or show about life today. Otherwise they would be obscure in present times. Also, do the above speeches mean that the rest of us not have to limit our post length to particular dimensions?

[Grace]

I find that my school in new zealand is quite good at getting us to read all sorts of books - although they aren't exactly classics, we have studied shakespeare plays for the last three years, but also read contempory fiction by amazing authors.

One example of this is Australian author Melina Marchetta, author of Looking For Alibrandi - we studied this book last year. I just couldn't put it down and I've gone on to read all her other books.

We studied the Power of One by Bryce Courtenay last year - a lot of the people in my class who didn't like reading were put off by the fact it was so long (though we read the children's version) and also because it didn't sound very interesting, told from the point of view of a little boy. But every single person in my class grew to love this book, although it definitely wouldn't be something that they would pick up at a library themselves.

I don't know about schools in other countries but I would say my school makes more use of GOOD modern fiction rather than classics, and that teachers really try to pick books we would enjoy.

[Faith]

I have to agree with Shannon.

Shannon, do you have experience with catapults? yes, there is a reason for asking this. My family is building a full scale one.

[Brandi]

In seventh grade I recommended the Goose Girl for my English teacher to read and she read it and ended up buying a class set with her money for all of her English classes to read.

[Lisa]

You should write an article for IRA's (International Reading Association) Young Adult Literacy journal. Make suggestions for mixing the older classics with more "modern" classics. IRA is a national platform. An article for IRA might reach more English teachers and get school administrators rethinking their required reading lists, especially if the goal is to get more kids to read and to build a lifelong love of reading. (My husband read "The Red Badge of Courage" in seventh grade and swore off reading for life.) IRA's website is www.reading.org.

[Jenna]

I would agree about not relying on classics, but one thing I find annoying is when kids request stories by living people and we get a book with all sorts of things in them that we have to read ...out loud. Kind of like when band students complain about playing songs by guys and really the ones by guys are the most fun.

[Jenna]

Computer deleted the letters spelling out D... e...a... d. before the word guys.

[Rose]

It's not just high schoolers who get bored with so-called "classics." Grownups do, too.

I like the idea of requiring some "classics" and some meaningful/literary books by modern authors, and then leaving a certain amount of reading up to choice. I liked Anna Karenina and War and Peace, but I love the Bayern books and Harry Potter and Megan Whalen Turner, too! (Come to think of it, I think I like Tolstoy because his characters read like people and less like Upstanding Characters for Classic Literature.) Sure, we need an overview of the existing literature, but we also need a clue about what's being written today.

[Alexis]

I totally agree with you Shannon. Classic stories are soooo not my thing they do it in middle school too. we read books that are like 50,000 years old! I love your bayern books i've read princess academy too.

[Callie]

Man, I could write my own article on this subject. I'm with you Shannon, though one thing that I disagree with is I think some of these literary works are not really great masterpieces, but very overrated. Hawthorne was great. Moby Dick was great. There are many greats, but Arthur Miller? I don't think he was a good writer. When I was in high school, I heard no praise for Death of a Salesman. "Death of a Salesman is boring," was the phrase I most commonly heard. Why would I want to read or watch a story about a crazy guy so caught up in a business that he destroys himself with the message of how evil our society is? Try as we might to tell teachers to offer more variety in the classroom, there is still the problem with state curricula. We need to petition to national organizations on teaching English and literacy to take action.

[Julia]

I find my school gives us a fair selection to read from - yes, we've read Pride and Prejudice, but we've also read Saving Francesca, Isobelle Carmody books, See how they run and The accidental tourist. We read plays that only made their debut in 1995 as well as ye olde Shakespeare.
I know the kids at my brother's school get to read Harry Potter in year 7. I'm ok with this set up, we get to read a couple of classics and mostly modern literature.

[Jane]

I personally love the classics--especially when I can find an old copy in a used bookstore that smells really nice and...old.
I've found that with a lot of contemporary books I buy, I grow out of them eventually and they just sit (The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, Princess Academy, and River secrets aren't on that list). But I've been reading the same "classics" since 6th grade and never grow tired.

I do agree, however, that highschool curriculums should include more contemporary books.

[Callie]

I love classics, too, though thinking about what Jane said, it's not about contemporary literature vs. older literature, it's about easy to read vs. hard to read. If I were to talk to a high school board on this matter, I would tell them, schools should instead of assigning Pulitzer prize books and 16th to 19th century literature assign Newbery winners, much easier to read books that are also beautifully wrriten and polished masterpieces, they would say, "But Newbery books are for people who can read up to a seventh grade level. This is high school where they need to be assigned more challenging literature to strech their minds." This is what I would say, "The classics are too hard for high schoolers. Classic literature from Charles Dickens to Harper Lee were written for well educated adults. If you give teens literature that is too hard to read, reading will just be a difficult chore for them." One tragic phrase that I have heard is, "I prefer movies over books." Some people just hate reading. I use my knowledge of Child Development. I know how the adolescent brain is. High schools keep assigning reading books that they consider to be at the reading level when in reality, only some students are barely ready to read at that level. If we want to produce literate critical thinkers, we assign students to read books that are easy and at a reasonable level. So instead of assigning students to read William Faulkner, have them read Katherine Paterson instead.

[sara]

basically i agree with all those who say that a variety of reading maaterial is key to enjoying reading. i really like the saying of "everything in moderation". obviously, we all have our favorite genres, and we'll probably read more from that genre than any other, but i think it's really great to mix up the classics with the contemporaries. and shannon, you're not beating a dead horse! it's a real issue and one that needs attention! good for you! oh, and by the way, how is maggie doing? and max, of course!

[Katrina]

What Callie said is interesting, that the books assigned at the high school level is in fact too much for the average adolescent brain to process. I actually heard the same thing about math a few years back! I'd like to take that solution a step further though by suggesting that reading levels should be assessed and students divided into classes according to their reading level. It wouldn't be fair to give a student who is ready for William Faulkner a book by Katherine Paterson - we'd have a case of 'reverse boredom' then. The wonderful thing is that at the heart of most books lies the same message of integrity, faith, courage, and the beauty of the human spirit. By assigning books appropriate for each student's reading level and by choosing the books with care - determining that they are entertaining and educational - then the entire year level would be learning the same timeless virtues and golden lessons, those hidden treasures in the best of books. And not a single person will walk out of that school without being richer for the seed planted in his soul. Idealistic? Maybe. Romantic? Haha probably. But I am a firm believer in the role that stories play in forming a society, and if we can reach everyone by choosing just the right story then maybe the world will really become a better place ;p

[Q]

Katrina--Excellent idea.
I am a high school student, but also an advanced reader. I have read Charles Dickens without much trouble (other than trudging through the wordiness of the boring but ultimately necessary beginning), but I know kids who could barely understand the first page or two. I just finished "To Kill a Mockingbird" and it was not a hard read for me, but I know that some kids had a difficult time getting through it.
I may write to the school board with that idea. :)

[Faith]

Well, I agree with you, Katrina. when I was 3 I begged to learn to read. But instead of reading short 'I can read' books, I could read the Laura Ingalls wilder at 4. So guess what I read? Laura Ingalls Wilder. If a book was to easy for me, I read something harder. If someone has a hard time reading, don't give them 1,000 leagues under the sea to read. Something easier. And if a book is too easy, give them something harder. and 'harder' does not necessarily mean a classic. Now, some classics are cool. When I was about 8 I liked 'black beauty' and a few other classics. But I mostly like books likt Goose Girl and fairy tales, like Ella Enchanted. But then, i also like Lord of the Rings. so we need variety to read. In high school, not just classics.
This is one of the reasons I'm homeschoooled. So I don't have that problem. But for those who are going to a high school, they also need variety.
So i agree with Shannon.
I'm not going to read a boring book unless I have to. And that will not be often, since for school the books are all history, and I like history.

[Callie]

I like what others have said on this, especially Katrina. I know that it is especially difficult to assign appropriate books in school when there are so many reading levels that people are at. I was an average reader during my childhood and adolescence, but one of my sisters could read at a seventh grade level when she was only in second grade. Now that she is almost eleven, she can read very advanced books. I also have a cousin who is about forteen and he can read Dickins. I think it is unfair in high school when they expect everyone to read the same very tough to read book, especially people of minority groups or impoverished backgrounds. Or books may not be tough, but just plain boring. I remember that in my high school (likely reflecting state curriculum), all English literature was contemporary American literature, with the exception of Shakespeare, and literature like Austen, Dickins, and Hawthorne was for honors level. But contemporaries are still too difficult, especially the boring ones. There are books that are good, but readers may appreciate better at an older age. I remember when I was forteen and I was assigned to read the Joy Luck Club, which is a very good book, but I think I would have appreicated it better if I read it when I was seventeen, largely because I was forteen and I was reading this book about forty year old women going through mid-life crisises that I was too young to deal with, whereas at seventeen, I was preparing to become an adult. That's why I think high schoolers should read books written for teenagers where the characters are teenagers because then they can relate more to the story and appreciate reading better. But again, there are so many reading levels.

[Laura]

I'm not going to comment on the high school reading curriculum. I think I took plenty of whacks at that dead horse myself a few months ago when you last discussed the subject.

What I'd like to say is WOW! Shannon, I'm amazed that less than three weeks postpartum you can find the energy to beat anything, dead or alive! The fact that you can compose a well-worded sentence is staggering.

You are phenomenal.

[Marie]

THANK YOU, Ms. Hale. As a 10th grade student myself, I get first hand the bores of High School English literature. My class just finished reading "The Old Man and the Sea"... now don't get me wrong, I LOVE reading, but this was horrible! #1: on the years' cirriculum there are NO female authors. My favorite books are mostly all by female authors. Yes we should respect the classics, but should we not also respect the aspects of an ever-changing society? Why not have a good mixture of genres,etc. and some interesting titles that actually appeal to our agegroup? (may I suggest "The Goose Girl"?.... just kidding) Uninteresting books just help kids that don't like reading in the first place, detest it all the more.

[Enna Isilee]

Shannon all I can say is Tru' dat! I've actually told my teachers about your opinions and they just look at me funny and move on! It's like I'm not even there!

Man if only they would listen. I swear that no English teacher remembers the horror of reading classic after classic. Because if they did they certainly wouldn't make us do it!

Urgh!!! I love this topic! But no one will listen to me!!!

[Brooke]

Hmm . . . I think this comment is going to get buried in the blog pile, but I'm submitting it anyway:

Shannon, I just recieved the Jan/Feb issue of "New Moon" magazine at my library, and it includes a kid-written review of "Princess Academy." It's pretty darn adorable and worth checking out at your local library.

Cheers for Maggie J, by the way!

[Lauren A.]

Ack! I think some of you could write entire books about your feelings on this subject, actually. Personally, the classics I've read have been enjoyable for me, because I'm just such a lit nerd. Seriously, when we were reading Of Mice and Men, I was the only one in the room who liked/appreciated it. But I also enjoy reading good fiction for fun, outside of school. It's the best of both worlds.

[Christy]

I also enjoy reading classics. But only certain ones.
Great expectations gave me great pain. Like honestly you think Dickens could have cut down on the words there.....
I agree with you tho Shannon. A lot of my friends (i'm in highschool by the way) Don't know how to choose good books and the books we read in class arn't helping that very much.

[hwalk]

I LOVE the comparison to Dr. Suess. I worked at a literacy center for a while, and the program was very old fashioned and I wanted the kids to read Dr. Suess, because reading for them was something they were forced to do. They needed plot and funny words and whatever--books that were interesting. Not boks that taught them how to read.

Don't we do the same thing with high school people? Sure, they can read classics if they want to and maybe require one here or there, but if you want to have people love how to read, don't force them. Let them read Dr. Suess (and other interesting authors) and learn that reading is fun.

[justina]

in my english class we read books such as the scarlet ibis, old man and the sea, and of mice and men. we look for the symbolism and its MOPAAW (meaning of the piece as a whole) then we write an essay about it. Thus far in our class all the novels have been declaring one things: mankind is pretty much doomed. Now what is that to tell a bunch of teenagers preparing to go out into the world? i just don't understand it. Yes, i've heard the argument that tragic books make more of an "impact". But, is this "impact" a good or a bad one? I'd go with the latter. I want to find a book as chalk full of symbolism as the old man and the sea, except for one difference; it's ending isn't dooming its happy!!
:>
p.s. LOTR and Narnia aren't bad candidates now are they?

[Anon]

Huh. For people who fawn over Ms. Jane Austen so much, you sure don't seem to acknowledge her as a classic. What morals or literary devices it demonstrates for curricula is another question. The reason why most children have difficulty reading classical literature is because youth is less literate. Plain and simple, youth spends less time reading and more time MySpacing, instant messaging, or listening to nails on a blackboard than reading.

[Sylvia]

I personally love classics but I just don't get much time to read them because the majority of the time they are VERY LONG! I do very much believe that there needs to be varitety though in schools literary focus, like you say Shannon, but I believe that that is starting to develope itself in schools, hopefully :)

[Callie the Strongbad Fan]

Thank you for your comment Justina. I wanted to say the same thing, but I was afraid that it might be too sad to bring up, though it is true. Part of what I don't like about literature like Death of a Salesman is that it gives a very pessimistic message that is not necessary to give to teenagers. Think about teen depression, eating disorders, and suicide. What more will happen if we fill our teens with more negative messages?

[Anon]

Of course they are really long. Authors were paid by the word. Besides, then you get more time to enjoy them. THE SCARLET IBIS is excellent, with great imagery. Not all modern authors write good books. Many modern writers write trash.(Present company excluded) Sometimes books, like cheese, get better with age.

[Marie]

Hello again, I posted something here yesterday... but I had a question, too. I saw in an interview that Ms. Hale may write a sequel to PA. I HOPE SO!!!!! PLEASE DO!!! The only thing is that this was an older interview and I was wondering if you still had this in mind????? :)

[Sookie]

Bingo, Shannon!
I'm a high school student and I know just what you're saying. And no, your not beating a dead horse, because this is something that should be discussed regularly.
I'm very fortunate to have an English teacher who assigns us both classics, contemporaries, historical fiction, and zany books that are just as classic as say, Moby Dick is.
But I've had an English teacher before who assigned us the cookie cutter classic books that everyone reads. I did not enjoy that very much.

[Rose Minnie]

I don't want to be contrary, but I feel something should be said about teaching classics. They must be taught. They can, as some have said, be balanced with newer, lighter novels. However, if people are not introduced to classics when young, do you really think they take it upon themselves to learn who Melville, Austen, Dickens, etc. are when they are adults? And wouldn't it be awful if more of the population didn't even know who these writers were? At least if the classics are taught people will have some familiarity with these names, whether or not they read the assigned reading. That said, a good book should not be shunned just because it isn't considered a 'classic' or a future 'classic.' Books don't have to have symbolism and convoluted sentences to be worth reading.

[Janette Rallison]

I wish more people recognized this truth about reading, Shannon. Before kids love reading the classics, they have to learn to love reading. Most of the time that isn't going to happen by shoving a copy of The Old Man and The Sea in their hands.

Of course there are exceptions, but it pains me to see all the kids out there who hate reading because they think it's just long winded and symbolic.

[Callie the Strongbad Fan]

I like the comments by Rose Minnie and Janette Rallison. I must admit that I've been torn between feelings, feeling that it is important for people to read and appreciate the classics, but also feeling that we should study real life instead of fiction. A greater part of me feels that the irony of making teenagers study the classics is that they don't come to appreciate the classics, but hate it. Just today, my teenage brother expressed how angry he was in his AP Literature class because he was the only one in class who understood the meaning to War and Peace. I once heard from a different article (don't remember who wrote it)suggesting that teenagers read at their level now so that they grow to love to read and then when they are ready, they will seek out and discover the classics and appreciate them. I probably wouldn't have a great love for reading if it weren't for my family as my parents both have a great love for reading, reading both today's popular novels and old classics. I see the term 'classic' as being misdefined as people seem to think that classic only means something old like Shakespeare or Thomas Hardy, but contemporary literature like Pulitzer Prize winners fit into the same literary category. In my opinion the new stuff can be more annoying than the older stuff, as I saw how people developed a hate for reading after reading F.Scott Fitzgerald, Albert Camus, and Arthur Miller.

[Kelsey]

"So I'm too good at relating to high school assignments"
Sorry, meant 'not too good'! That's why I should preview my posts before posting them. :)
There's the difficulty of the books people prefer, too. It surprises me that my sisters both like the contemporary and historical stuff, while I'm obsessed with fantasy and avoid other things as much as I can. Sure, I've really enjoyed some historical things I've read (Fever 1793, for examples) or contempory. It's just, on the most part, they're all so predictable! Others will have different opinions, of course. We should all be reading more of different genres.