and me read goodly! hah. so, i've written a couple of times on this topic...but not for a while. i work in an urban environment, teaching literature at an all girls catholic school - grades 10 and 9. we have no curriculum. i teach 2 honors classes and the rest are standard. the honors girls are quite adept and love reading. the 4 others, well, don't. i have NO curriculum. i'm trying to find books that'll keep em going - i was told that my job is basically to get the girls to enjoy reading, and to write functionally. with the 9th graders, we'll begin Speak this week. (a wonderful teenage angst book about overcoming rape) i proposed memoirs of a geisha to the principal, but he thought the parents might think it was about a hooker, so he told me to hold off on it. now i'm STUCK. don't know what to read with the sophomores. i'm looking for suggestions for something a) about people their age b) preferably having to do with africans/afro americans/slaves/other 'minorities' (this is, technically, a world lit class, but it's pretty open) don't know what to do! ANY suggestions would be wonderful.
go to the ALA site. find what they list for that grade range, take your students and their parents into consideration. Littleton Public Schools (Colorado) removed Bluest Eye because a freshman lit teacher assigned it (it was on the 12th grade AP list). The board changed the revisit time line from three years to one, so hopefully, it will only be gone for the rest of this year. Our local public library has a few copies. Maybe people will read it. World lit should encompass the world. I think to wedge in American writers is saying these people are not real Americans, and that is quite wrong. Comparrisons could work, though. Maybe compare slave narrative to an African writer today, or Palestinean? Short stories can get a lot of countries in, maybe Subcontinent writers, Mexico vs Mexican American (Sandra Cisneros rocks), Isabel Allende for Chile, don't forget Australia and Canada. Here are some things to think about: What nations have had their lit supressed? Why is Russian writing important to English language writers? How much choice room can you give your young women?
ooohhhhh "urban environment" is code for mostly black students.... what's the real reading level if at 9th grade you are still working on proficient writing? (and what is the grammer/lit mix?) Alice Walker, for sure. I'm thinking of a short story Source or Meeting Source? I'll look it up tonight. Alice is also a veg, I know that's your secret agenda.
speak is an amazing book........ i wish our teachers had it as curriculum....... helped me through ...................... memoirs of a geisha is great too.. and if the parents know anything about literature they'd know what it was about... i enjoyed the crucible, roll of thunder hear my cry... to kill a mockingbird.... i also suggest some of maya angelou's works...... try tapping into good poetry..... adolescent girls have a great connection with poetry, most of them write their own.... there you go... have a poetry writing section...... youll be amazed at the quality of poetry most can accomplish
theres an autobiography i read called "Daughter of the river" by hong ying. shes chinese, grows up in sichuan as an outcast in her own family, but struggles thru and becomes a poet and a novelist. it culminates in tian'anmen square. so its about life in china under chairman mao, and such. It has a really disturbing description of an abortion in it (be warned), but overall, an excellent book, culturally significant, yada yada yada. Maybe it fits your criteria.
