tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5775234154844368369.post8783414909785377279..comments2012-10-31T05:20:02.967-07:00Comments on nickxsavestheday: The Business of Book Pickingwordswordswordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060399221811520600noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5775234154844368369.post-68597353052358922382010-07-29T09:59:31.290-07:002010-07-29T09:59:31.290-07:00I have taught ALICE IN WONDERLAND (usually a big h...I have taught ALICE IN WONDERLAND (usually a big hit) and the classic fairy tales. The students love the fairy tales because, while they are easy to read, they are also bursting with topics to discuss. My students especially enjoy the fact that the original fairy tales are so much darker, scarier, and more complex than Disney and other modern fairy-tale interpreters have let on. <br /><br />They are held spellbound by the jealousy of Snow White's stepmother (in some versions, her real mother), the implicit cannibalism of "Hansel and Gretel", the brutality of unrealistic beauty in "Cinderella" (the stepsisters cut off parts of their feet in fit into that glass slipper), and the sinister hints of pedophilia in Red Riding Hood's relationship with the wolf. Honestly, you can't go wrong with fairy tales. They are short, expressive, psychologically thrilling, and complex enough to serve as the focus of any course of study, not just one on writing.<br /><br />As for Alice, her story serves much the same purpose as the classic fairy tales. There's wit, humor, philosophy, psychology, history, and a really compelling story, all in less than one hundred pages. I could spend a whole semester discussing that book, and my students couldn't be more entertained.The Professorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06379826174772235457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5775234154844368369.post-28852381991770822192010-01-21T05:43:52.010-08:002010-01-21T05:43:52.010-08:00I hated Heart of Darkness - and I'm a budding ...I hated Heart of Darkness - and I'm a budding lit teacher. How about The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, or Ethan Frome? Gatsby worked well in a developmental English class I taught at the community college with very poorly motivated students.Misslissleehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04223368743440646475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5775234154844368369.post-83033621886730189952010-01-20T19:37:37.556-08:002010-01-20T19:37:37.556-08:00The language kept me from reading Heart of Darknes...The language kept me from reading Heart of Darkness in AP English. How about Willa Cather, Fitzgerald, Hemingway (The Sun Also Rises is the most accessible, I think) or some American short stories, like O'Connor and Oats. I loved Vonnegut, and he's easy to read.Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10102774125423246662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5775234154844368369.post-16764626296840864402010-01-19T03:06:40.357-08:002010-01-19T03:06:40.357-08:00Wit, baby, Wit all the way.Wit, baby, Wit all the way.daniellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08947165860090623195noreply@blogger.com