Required Reading

What constitutes a well read person?  I know I am always agonizing over this question, and that there are as many answers to it as there are readers.  And is there even a correct answer? 

Today at work my superviser treated my department to pizza, which his wife kindly delivered to us.  She happens to be a high school english teacher--a very knowledgeable one.  She has her Ph.D. and is a Willa Cather scholar.  She sat with us at lunch, and the conversation turned to her preparations for the coming school year.  She is the head of the english department at her school and teaches several classes including honors/AP english.  In the course of our discussion, she mentioned that one of her new hires was from New York and had a challenging course planned out.  I believe she was teaching honors english--American literature.  It must be the common thing to now give students a reading list ahead of time (I never had this when I was in school), and some of the works could be read in the summer.  One parent actually called the school and complained to the principal that they could not believe that (and sorry I am paraphrasing here as I don't remember exactly how she described this) the students were being made to "work" during the summer.  Summer is for resting and relaxing and not for reading.  My jaw dropped, but then should I be surprised?  I wonder if this is an example of a family that owns not a single book?!  In the end I think the parent backed off when it was pointed out that the student was obviously doing well enough to be in honors english, and didn't the parent want them to be in honors english? 

What actually spurred this question (that Iam once again posing), was something else that was said.  She was talking about the school being very new and that there needed to be some streamlining of what was being taught.  Teachers were teaching whatever they felt like, but it might be a disservice to the students who might transfer to other schools or go on to college without having had the basics.  She is in the process of standardizing courses.  While there would be a standard list of books that needed to be taught at certain levels, of course additional books could be introduced.  She said it completely surprised her that students left school (high school) without ever having read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.  She was shocked that they might not have read anything at all by him, and in some cases didn't even know who he was.  Not daring to admit this in front of everyone--I only read my first Mark Twain novel last year (and that was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer!).  Granted I knew very well who he was in high school, but that was not something that I ever chose to read. 

So what did I read?  I wish I could remember all my english courses, but I don't.  What stands out?  I remember Reflections on the Meaning of a Watermelon Pickle (an anthology of poetry and with a title like that how could you forget?), which I read in elementary school (what would now be called middle school).  I remember F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, which we absolutely dissected for its symbolism. I vaguely remember The Iliad and The Odyssey (or at least portions of them). Surely we read other major works of fiction, but they are lost to me now.  I do remember pretty vividly my senior year, as I was in AP english (now I wonder how I ever got in there!) using The Norton Anthology of English Literature (3rd edition).  We read the likes of Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight all the way up to Joseph Conrad and William Butler Yeats--the traditional western canon--all dead, white males.  Looking through the text I don't see a single woman author.  Surely that can't be?!  I have already asked my mom to look for my old textbooks and childhood books (if they still exist, as they may have long ago been given away), as I am very curious now.  Sometimes I feel like for every new book that goes into my head, something else is lost.  Do you remember this book (and the ruckus it created?), but I also own this book (because it is best to get both sides of the story).  I guess trying to figure out what "well read" or "literate" constitutes could make you go in circles trying to come up with a definitive answer.  One that I won't be solving over the weekend.  In the meantime, I really do plan on reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (eventually), but for this weekend I just want to finish my Agatha Christie!

Comments

[Dorothy W.]

Oh, my, do you ever bring up a lot of good stuff here. I don't have a single answer for you, except to say that nobody really has the answers. I've heard arguments on all sides -- that we need to teach high schoolers the "basics" and that we don't need to try to cover the "basics" (what are they anyway? No one would agree, I'm sure) but we need to teach kids to love to read, or we need to teach them how to approach any kind of text, or we need to teach material from many different traditions.

And while most people seem to have read The Great Gatsby in High School, how many people learned to love the book that way? And once students get to college, they are likely to find all different kinds of approaches, or different students will find different approaches at the various schools they go to, because this is a debate that goes on at the college level too. Should English courses cover the canon? To what extent?

[sassymonkey]

I read Huck Finn in high school but I did not read To Kill a Mockingbird. That tends to surprise people. It's my plan to try to read it this fall.

I do remember the one thing that bothered me is that I don't remember studying any Canadian literature. Being in Canada and all I would have thought that would have been part of the curriculum.

BTW - I was able to find my school boards suggested curriculum online. I looked it up at one point when Denise was looking for suggestions for her daughter.

[Susan Helene Gottfried]

I think the best way to define "well-read" is a person who reads across the spectrum, genre lines be damned. The more you expose yourself to -- in reading and in life -- the more you learn, even if it's that you don't agree with what someone else defined as being excellent.

Btw, I liked Huck Finn better than Tom Sawyer. I think. It's been so many years... maybe I ought to re-read?

(But I loved Grendel and merely really liked Beowulf)

[Sylvia]

You'll be happy to know Norton has included women in subsequent editions, and they also have an anthology of literature by women. And you know what they say, Anonymous was a woman. ;)

[Stefanie]

I was in English honors classes through high school and we only ever read the standard classics. It was a pretty set curriculum at my school because my sister, two years behind me read the very same books. My sophomore year though we had to read an extra book outside of class and the teacher gave us a list of contemporary books to choose from like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Interview with the Vampire. All that being said, I agree with Susan. A well-read person is someone who reads widely. But to that I will also add with thought, meaning you think about the book.

I've read Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer and like Huck Finn much better.

[Sharon]

When I was in high school (30+ years ago), they were experimenting with curriculum options for the juniors and seniors. (This was for English and history.) They were trying to make it more like "college" by breaking the year into quarters. For the 11th grade, students were required to take one quarter of a traditional English class and the other three could be chosen from a selection of course offerings. In the 12th grade, English was not a requirement. In my junior year I remember reading some Shakespeare, Dandelion Wine by Bradbury, The Hobbit by Tolkien, and A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens. I remember reading some Greek and Roman mythology, too. My senior year i was a complete idiot and chose not to take senior English. This wasn't because I didn't like literature, but because I was lazy. I wanted to read on my own (which I did). Hindsight tells me every day that this was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made.

[Danielle]

Dorothy--I swear it is reading everyone else's blogs that makes these things swim around in my head! :) I suppose this is a question that really can't be answered since so many people have such different ideas. As long as people don't think of reading as "Work"!!
Sassy--Don't feel bad--I only read To Kill a Mockingbird this year!! Do Canadian schools also teach the "western canon"? I am surprised that you don't read more Canadian authors--I always figured each country would want to teach their own literary heritage to some extent! I still want to find a list of Canadian authors. Perhaps that will be a project for this weekend!
Susan--I have heard Grendel is good--maybe I need to search that one out. I am glad you think that reading across the spectrum is good. Though I need to read some other genres as well!
Sylvia--I am so glad to hear there are more women authors in the newer Norton anthologies!! I don't think it dawned on me that I really didn't read many women in high school. No wonder I read so many women authors now! I need to remember that about Anonymous!! :)
Stefanie--It sounds like Huck Finn will be moving up my TBR pile! I have only heard that it is darker than Tom Sawyer. I feel like I am reading much more thoughtfuly now than I ever have before--so even if I haven't read everything I should have--there are still loads of wonderful contemporary authors out there who deserve to be read as much as the classics!
Sharon--I am surprised that english was not required your last year of school! I tested out of the basic english classes in college, and I was able to choose whatever six hours needed for my requirement--I only took Short Stories and a Black Authors class (which was actually quite excellent!). I was a bit lazy, too. I wish I had taken more classes!

[AC]

Yikes, my knowledge of American literature is clearly deficient -- haven't read any of the Americans you've mentioned. Shameful. I really need to read Huck Finn, too. My honors English classes focused more on British literature. The extent of our American training was Knowles, Faulkner, and Morrison.

And Jesus, what kind of family calls to complain about summer reading....?

[litlove]

I don't think people's reading should be prescribed by 'great's. If you're learning literary criticism as a discipline then it's better learnt with books that are powerful and leave a lasting impression, and I think that is very age-related. I've always found teenagers to respond better to contemporary works which take place in a world they recognise. Once you know what to look for in a book, you can apply it to any book. I always admire teachers who mix things up a little and take risks

[jenclair]

There are too many wonderful works of literature to ever work your way through in the short duration of high school and college, so making a list of what might be considered required reading for a "well read" person is difficult because of the expanse of possibilities.

My position is that if approached correctly, many high school kids are willing to tackle more difficult works. I "taught" (mostly that means the time spent in preparation for reading the book...i.e. reading them quotes from different sources saying that high school kids should NOT have to read Shakespeare and that "Hamlet", in particular, was far beyond their ability)a wide range of excellent books, classic and contemporary. Tell a kid that "Hamlet" is too difficult for him and watch him prove that wrong. I also had lists of supplementary reading and gave them some choices. They could choose "Rebecca," or "The Moviegoer," or a Tolkein, or "The Inferno" -- among many others. I was always pleased at how many chose Dante.

They are only well read, if they continue reading. Reading should be a pleasure and a life-long resource.

[Isabella]

Wracking my brain here — I remember more of my extracurricular reading from high school years than what we studied.

I never read Twain, or Mockingbird (I don't know that they're considered "standards" in Canada. We did a Shakespeare play every year. One year that was replaced by Tom Stoppard's Rosentrantz and Guildenstern, which was controversial, and the teacher ended up throwing in some regular Shakespeare alongside it. Also, Lord of the Flies, Tale of Two Cities, 1984, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Brave New World.

Canadian content, arguably of the canon, I studied: Who Has Seen the Wind (WO Mitchell), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Mordecai Richler), Surfacing (Margaret Atwood). I know some people who studied Robertson Davies and Timothy Findley.

[Lelia]

Danielle: My experience with HS teachers is that they have their favorites & their own opinions on what the students 'must read' before exiting HS. My daughter's teacher had them read The Grapes of Wrath & Romeo+Juliet (there were others) in HS.

I remember reading The Great Gatsby in HS. I read Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer over one summer, I didn't read it in school. My Aunt gave our family a lot of books!

I am stunned a parent would phone & complain re. Summer Reading. The public school media center (library) is open every Wednesday while classes are not in session - for book check-outs. The students have reading 'point' requirements to meet every year. There are tests the students take after reading their book & they must score a certain percentage before acquiring said points.