#AboutABook
#ClassicYouRead ... #AndTaught
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
IMHO, one of the best hero's quest stories (epic poetry) ever written.
kspenmoll Just adored teaching this to 9th graders! Sadly we now teach The Alchemist instead. To me there is no comparison. 💔 1mo
CindyMyLifeIsLit @kspenmoll The trend toward replacing the classics with more modern fare is troubling, imho. There needs to be balance. Incorporate new works and choice independent reading, but don‘t discard the iconic literary works! That‘s like teaching art and only introducing the artists of the 20th century! What about the Rembrandts, the Michelangelo‘s, etc.? Their work inspired those later artists! 1mo
TheBookHippie Yes! Agreed!! 1mo
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dabbe @kspenmoll Loved THE ALCHEMIST, but you're right, there is no comparison. The 2nd oldest complete piece of Western Civilization literature; c'mon, people! You've got The Lotus Eaters, Circe, and Polyphemus! I feel your pain. 🩵💙🩵 1mo
dabbe @CindyMyLifeIsLit Agree 💯. The kids LOVED it, which is the best complement ever. 🤩🤗😊 1mo
dabbe @TheBookHippie 🤩🤗😊 1mo
Eggs I agrée ☝️. Incorporate some new but don‘t forsake the inimitable classics. 1mo
dabbe @Eggs #wellsaid 🩵💙🩵 1mo
AnnCrystal 😍🤩💝. 1mo
rwmg The Alchemist instead of The Odyssey 😱 Words fail me. There has to be something better than that if you want to incorporate more modern literature into your syllabus. 1mo
kspenmoll @rwmg Yes! Alchemist Not the book for 9th graders. (edited) 1mo
kspenmoll @CindyMyLifeIsLit Wonderful comparison with art. It is troubling, this trend. I heard a HS student on a TV show about banned books that he got nothing from Romeo & Juliet ( that is also gone from our 9th grade curriculum, no Shakespeare) but he did front a current read. R & J is accessible depending on how it is taught. Warring households? Star crossed lovers? How about the tragedy of Israel & Gaza ? 1mo
kspenmoll @dabbe The student‘ loved all the creatures & sea nymphs, etc. we also used Dorothy Parker‘s Penelope poem to add in her perspective. 😞 1mo
dabbe @AnnCrystal 🩵💙🩵 1mo
dabbe @rwmg Agree 💯. 1mo
dabbe @kspenmoll I did, too! Plus the poem “Ithaca“ by Constantine Cavafy. So sad. 😞 1mo
CindyMyLifeIsLit @kspenmoll Teachers in my Facebook English teachers‘ groups say the kids can‘t relate to books like Gatsby. 🤦♀️ 1. That‘s why YOU‘RE there, to show them how!! 2. Right! How could any teenager relate to a book about a guy who hates who he is and wants to be someone else? Who desperately wants to belong to the “cool kids” clique and can‘t get in? Who is trying to win that unattainable girl? How could any teen understand those feelings? 🙄 1mo
CindyMyLifeIsLit @kspenmoll It‘s scary that the TEACHERS think that way!! Kids don‘t need us to help them relate to books like We Were Liars or The Hate U Give. They need us to show them that beneath the different clothes and the archaic language, Romeo and Juliet are just like them. So is Gatsby, and George and Lennie, etc. Okay, I‘m climbing off my soapbox now! 😁 1mo
dabbe @CindyMyLifeIsLit @kspenmoll Exactly! I mean, what kid wouldn't want to stick a hot poker through someone's eye? I'd love to be Odysseus! 🤩🤩🤩 1mo
CindyMyLifeIsLit @dabbe 😂😂 Yes, kids LOVE that stuff! 😂 1mo
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