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In reply to the discussion: Catcher in the Rye dropped from US school curriculum [View all]liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)60. curriculum is definitely one of the issues that needs to be addressed
We need to quit trying to see how much information we can cram down the kids' throats and focus more on critical thinking.
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I'm sure the English Classes will at least read a couple of novels and at least one Shakespeare.
WCGreen
Dec 2012
#1
I read that piece on Friday about the automated burger making machine...
AtheistCrusader
Dec 2012
#116
I, too, didn't understand Catcher in the Rye when I read it at 16. And I was a pretty
SharonAnn
Dec 2012
#99
That is one hallmark of a great work of literature, i.e., that one can "re-read
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#148
It's not just the notion of reading a couple of pieces of fiction here or there.
Skidmore
Dec 2012
#14
How many history classes did you take? How many "history" books did you read?
AnotherMcIntosh
Dec 2012
#22
We were taught History by looking at the great themes that ran through certain ages...
WCGreen
Dec 2012
#51
I have no problem with analyzing these texts. But that used to be done in history/social studies,
HiPointDem
Dec 2012
#44
Regardless, reading historical documents in english class takes class time away from reading
HiPointDem
Dec 2012
#53
I agree the Constitution et al is crucial – but what are they studying in the Poli Sci class?
snot
Dec 2012
#58
Those things are specifically legal and political documents, they are not literature.
Spider Jerusalem
Dec 2012
#192
They are, indeed, legal in nature, but the choice of words make them, to me, at
WCGreen
Dec 2012
#193
Are you sure it won't still be? Just because it's called "reading" doesn't mean
pnwmom
Dec 2012
#115
Maybe this is more of a "reading across the curriculum" thing. The items here would all fit into
pnwmom
Dec 2012
#111
I just read the English Curriculum for English and it is spelled out very well.
WCGreen
Dec 2012
#43
you 'just' read all 66 pages of the standards (not a curriculum, btw)? why do i doubt that?
HiPointDem
Dec 2012
#49
You forgot the 2nd Commandment: Thou shalt diddle thy smartphone incessantly. - n/t
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#83
Definitely, and that could get one life for disobedience of the 2nd Commandment! n/t
RKP5637
Dec 2012
#91
When will they start recommending that we burn books as in the book "Fahrenheit 451"....
OldDem2012
Dec 2012
#18
It's ironic that book is one of the books studied under this English Language Curriculum.
WCGreen
Dec 2012
#48
Couldn't students just pick up a copy of any Gannett paper from today and
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#84
The objective should be to analyse the rhetorical techniques of yellow journalism in a class setting
FarCenter
Dec 2012
#90
To be fair, "Invasive Plant Inventory" is a lot more interesting than you might think
jberryhill
Dec 2012
#28
Yup, but every spring and fall they should be voting the fuckers out that support this horseshit
TheKentuckian
Dec 2012
#38
To Kill a Mockingbird is standard reading in middle schools around the country, but
duffyduff
Dec 2012
#59
MD is a wonderful novel and bears repeated readings. Unfortunately, its length and complexity
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#165
I just went through the list of the Fiction for the high school aged kids and there was a lot of
WCGreen
Dec 2012
#36
The book is titled 'The Catcher in the Rye' and the article gets that wrong...
Bluenorthwest
Dec 2012
#39
"Catcher in the Rye" is an acceptable short-form title in popular parlance, methinks. Not
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#92
It seems like they want to kill all beauty, art, and the human imagination.
sinkingfeeling
Dec 2012
#40
What percent of public HS students have the experience to relate to Holden Caulfield?
FarCenter
Dec 2012
#65
Yeah, but that goes for pretty much every piece of literature they make kids read.
sadbear
Dec 2012
#77
Oh, I'd guess about 99%. But I'm assuming that the prevalence of phonies is
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#95
I imagine many people believe the reading lists should indeed be dumbed down
LanternWaste
Dec 2012
#166
Ha-ha. I get to tell my Faulkner joke. Turns out William sent the galleys of
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#186
Ever since Charles Manson, the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" has been on my
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#98
I'm busy with "Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence"
FarCenter
Dec 2012
#169
OK, you're excused this week. But I will expect it re-read over the holidays and
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#176
i didn't have to read it for school ... chose to read it on my own ... wanted to slap that spoiled
Scout
Dec 2012
#96
OK. I live my life vicariously through the protagonists of novels and histories, I confess. But
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#144
Joyce more overrated than, say, Horatio Alger? More overrated than, oh,
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#175
Technical note: JC and RandJ are 'plays,' not 'novels'. If I were going
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#185
"Midsummer Night's Dream" is an eminently watchable play. I vastly prefer seeing it to
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#191
Long before there was DU, there was 'Catcher in the Rye Underground.' I went
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#104
I didn't read it at school either. And I can just imagine the complaints that classmates would have
JVS
Dec 2012
#136
Ridiculous, uninformed hysteria. There's no such thing as a "US school curriculum"
Bucky
Dec 2012
#72
you're a teacher and you've never heard of common core? no, it's not a curriculum -- but
HiPointDem
Dec 2012
#139
Heretical notion here. "Catcher in the Rye" should not be 'taught' in
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#81
Maybe we could find a way to sneak Smedley Butler's "War is a Racket" in to the curriculum...
cascadiance
Dec 2012
#102
Other than saying that Catcher in the Rye has been banned in many schools, can anyone explain why
AnotherMcIntosh
Dec 2012
#117
It's just a lousy whinefest about some overpivileged white kid . . . who suffers
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#127
Both Huck and Holden are willing to throw themselves away to rescue
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#170
Hmm, not sure I can answer why the book is "important." I can tell you that I have read it
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#140
I did bother to go to the site and print out and read these new curriculum standards. Not as bad as
kelliekat44
Dec 2012
#130
I don't give the 42 'fucks' that are in it; I'd teach it anyway. Point of view, irony are crucial to
ancianita
Dec 2012
#147
Everyone should be able to read and understand IRS Publication 17 before they can graduate
FarCenter
Dec 2012
#162
"Facts. What I want are facts. Nothing but facts." Um, that was from
coalition_unwilling
Dec 2012
#183
Teach kids to be slaves to the machine instead of enriching their creative senses.
Roland99
Dec 2012
#182