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I'm hoping members of this group can help me. I'm an English teacher at an alternative high school in Louisville, Kentucky. Almost 100% of my students receive free lunch and it's about 70% African-American or Other. This semester, I have the opportunity to teach a "Great Books" class to my students. Because they are in an alt. ed program, many of them read far below grade level (this course will range b/w 6th-and 12+ reading levels). Students attend my school for attendance issues, behavior, and academic struggles. Many of them dream of going to college and are hard-workers. Unfortunately, alternative schools do not often prepare children for the academic challenges college brings. I know this because I graduated from an alternative h.s. and was extremely intimidated by the fact that 1) I hadn't read from the traditional h.s. canon, and 2) I was not prepared for the kind of thought reading great literature requires. My first college paper was titled: Why Miranda Sucks as a Feminist Icon. Seriously : )

Can you and your friends help me develop a list of "great" books or classics that might appeal to my students? I'm looking for a range of titles that introduce these hard-working readers to a more rigorous literary experience that won't turn them off before they turn on! I would love your suggestions !

Thank you in advance,

Kate Barrows

I would suggest a good Greek mythology book, Candide, Hamlet, Lord of the Flies, and The Essential Odyssey.

Kate -- I am going to suggest The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer. I know that all sorts of people would argue, probably validly, that it is not appropriate for students at the reading level of yours. I think it would take considerable work to prepare for teaching it. But it looks at a privileged young American woman with divorced parents who is "used" by a third world man to gain entrance to the United States. She chooses to stay behind with the close support of the matriarchal family she finds in his native homeland. It can be argued re: the story as to who picks up whom. Lots of quiet, sophisticated thinking that those kids might well understand in a short text whose language itself is not that difficult. I don't believe lack of formal erudition necessarily implies lack of street smarts, indeed, ofttimes the opposite. This book is about life smarts from two diametrically different perspectives. It is remote enough to look at, close enough to relate to.

("Nadine Gordimer was a South African writer, political activist and recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature.")

I've seen this kind of question asked before on ŷ������; someone should definitely make a Listopia to prevent us forgetting good picks mentioned in the past.

I'm a fan of classics which have a modern-sounding voice for today's young readers. Don't force them to struggle over Mark Twain or Melville, the ancient Greeks or Shakespeare-- unless its in very small snippets.

Short story anthologies are very efficient for introducing a bevy of authors in one swoop; oftentimes you can discover short collections which are all oriented along one particular theme, such as 'freedom' or 'individualism'. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, is perhaps good for this.

Be that as it may. Other modern-sounding authors might be Hemingway, Sherwood Anderson, Thornton Wilder, Willa Cather. Jack London. Henry James' "Washington Square" is a short, effective read. Katherine Anne Porter (short stories) and Edith Wharton's works. For a Melville pick, go with 'Billy Budd'.

Don't forget humor: James Thurber, Dorothy Parker. Or horror: Poe.

Toss in a stage play or two: some Tennessee Williams, perhaps. Eugene O'Neill.
Stage plays make for very swift reading. Quick bang for buck.

You might even show a film adaptation of some of these titles once a week. Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" --paired with the classic movie--packs a powerful 1-2 punch. Or, Stephen Crane's "Red Badge of Courage" ...and then show the John Huston/Audie Murphy flick.

All the above rec's are tilted to American literature of course (I assume that at an American school this is the literature you start with?) and the point being, this is how you segue these kids into more challenging material to come later. First, ya got to make them see that these books are not arcane and irrelevant, that the issues raised in these works are still alive and important.

I recommend avoiding these tired titles:
'Fahrenheit 451'; 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. Too trite and over-conventional by now; everybody is fairly sick of seeing them.

There several books on myths from around the world, including african, middle east, and asian myths about creation, redemption, the quest, and fertility. All myths reveal something about the regions culture. You can probably find versions of them on the net, so you wouldn't need books.

Gilgamesh would be one.

Other books/stories:

The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson
-- (about the great migration by African-Americans to northern cities)

Watership Down, by Richard Adams
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
The Giver, by Lois Lowry
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
Never Let me go, by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Fixer, by Bernard Malamud
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown
Kindred, by Octavia Butler (I'm guessing here -- haven't read it.)

A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry
The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy
The Bonesetter's Daughter, by Amy Tan

Kate -- Consider a bit of author-oriented approach. My son's fourth and fifth grade teacher introduced her students to mathematical concepts by making them more familiar with mathematicians than with their work. The technique should be able to be applied to literature.

For fun -- let them find 10 lines of poetry to read aloud in class from perhaps a choice of 20 poets, including Shakespeare. Or a paragraph to share from a short story of choice -- at least 10 different stories in the class, with two sentences about the author. Let them hear language, ideas -- maybe even structure/organization. Understanding is nice, but in some cases, can come later. (Listen yourself for what they hear.)

Don't overlook, although they won't all fit, nor are all equally preferable, nor classic, authors like Hurston, Petry, Campbell, Douglass, Ellison, McMillan, Du Bois, Hughes, Pushkin....

Hi Kate,

As others have mentioned, I would suggest a good book on Greek mythology to start. I personally would recommend Mythology which I read in High School and found very accessible for students.

Also, since you say that your class is majority African American I would probably suggest some classics dealing with the African American experience. Some of the books that I remember enjoying the most in middle and high school were ones that dealt with characters I could relate well too. Maybe Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, or Ralph Ellison? Also, I remember reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in 6th grade and having a very positive reaction to it. I don't know if this is considered a "classic" but it may be something to think about.

Ellison, good pick

Kaitlyn wrote: "...As others have mentioned, I would suggest a good book on Greek mythology to start. I personally would recommend Mythology which I read in High School and found very accessibl..."

If including Greek mythology (which certainly has its merits!), although I don't know a good high school level book on African mythologies or folk lore, I'd seriously consider searching for one and using in conjunction as a compare and contrast. There are some lovely younger reader African myth books available.

Kate wrote: "This semester, I have the opportunity to teach a "Great Books" class to my students."

I'm not sure what you are considering "Great Books," or what the overall purpose of the class is.

Is it, for example, simply to give them an experience of very good literature of any era?

Or is it to introduce them to the books which have formed the core of thought in Western intellectual thought, though at a level appropriate to your students?

I agree that for students who aren't familiar with Greek and Roman mythology, an introduction to them would be enormously helpful. Perhaps surprisingly, if you can get past the title and explain that you're reading it not because you consider your students to be idiots, I have found The Idiot's Guide to Classical Mythology accessible, fun, easy enough to read, and overall a good introduction to the basic figures of mythology. I wouldn't use it as a read-straight-through book, but as a reference and reading about some basic myth each week might be helpful.

If your goal is just to introduce them to very good writing, I would agree with others that short stories are a good way to go. And many of the stories you would want are on the Gutenberg.com for free. There are others much better qualified than I am to comment on more contemporary writing.

If you want the "great books" as that term is usually understood, well, the classics are classic for a reason, and many of them are quite accessible. Sophocles's Antigone, for example, is an extraordinary play that speaks to teenagers even today -- the clash of authority figure vs. personal liberty is on the pages with every mention of Ferguson. And your students might well enjoy taking roles to read it out.

Homer's Iliad is quite accessible in some modern translations; Ian Johnston's free online translation is very readable. You could choose to read only certain portions of it; skipping the catalog of ships, for example, and some of the more graphic battle scenes. And while I don't normally like abridged versions of classics, I have seen abridged versions of the Iliad around, and they might be better than not reading it at all. But it's still great literature for a very good reason.

Shakespeare is often horribly taught, and turns students off (just the language for one) but there are a number of versions written for students. Barron's has published several of the plays in a "Simply Shakespeare" edition with the original on the left hand page and a modern English translation on the right hand page. Oxford has a School Shakespeare series, though I've never actually read one.

As long as you choose books that can speak to the students, and take them slowly enough with enough support (having them read aloud in class and work out together what is meant), I think you can read many things that would surprise people who think the students aren't good enough readers.

Good luck!

A few non-Western classics might spice up this stew:

Monkey (Arthur Whaley)
Ramayana (William Buck)
Mahabharata (William Buck)

These are adapted versions that are engaging and fairly easy to read. A lot of fun at any age, if you ask me.

My daughter read Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston for her AP Lit class. It is not an easy book, but it really resonated with her - and she is a (relatively) privileged white girl. She also loved The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

I also think that Shirley Jackson is a very underrated American writer, and her The Haunting of Hill House is really short, but there's a lot of good stuff in there. I actually preferred her other great book - We Have Always Lived In The Castle. Either might be a good pick for your students.

I will say that reading aloud is a skill. When I was in high school, I was an extremely accomplished reader, and read well above grade level. The most painful bits of class for me were the ones where the teacher made the students take turns reading aloud. I was quite shy, so I hated doing it, although I was reasonably good at it (which made me stick out like a sore thumb), and it was unremittingly painful to hear the other students stumbling through words and phrases that were well beyond their ability to understand. I would say that it was abjectly humiliating for every single one of us (not always for the same reasons), and abhor the practice. If there will be reading aloud, either read it yourself, or buy a high quality audiobook to share with the class.

Thanks!

Well aware of the reading-aloud panic many kids get. I always let the kids know I will never force them to read aloud to anyone except for me : )

Kate wrote: "Well aware of the reading-aloud panic many kids get. I always let the kids know I will never force them to read aloud to anyone except for me : )"

Where do kids today learn to read in front of each other? What of the joy of sharing passages that resonate? I can understand not forcing situations that could readily lead to embarrassment. I can understand self-selection of passages or even the right to ask to pass. Still, I may be out of touch, but I am flummoxed by inability to share textual passages with one another, even if remedial reading material, by high school students. Won't most of these kids need to read the relevant section of some manual or some report at a work meeting or to a co-worker or to someone they supervise? Or hopefully read a story to their own children one day? How do they learn to hear in their own heads from their own ears the beauty and joy of language?

I think it's a matter of appropriate venues. Some of my students cannot read above a 3rd grade level. Remedial reading demands that students practice reading out load, because that IS how we learn. When you are in a mixed-level class, it causes a lot of panic to call on someone to read. The kids are embarrassed and scared they will be teased (and they will). I do make them practice reading out loud, but not in front of a class full of peers (if they don't want to).

"Won't most of these kids need to read the relevant section of some manual or some report at a work meeting or to a co-worker or to someone they supervise?" -YES. It's criminal that so many students read so far below grade level. There is plenty of blame to go around for that, but we do the best we can.

Kate wrote: "I think it's a matter of appropriate venues. Some of my students cannot read above a 3rd grade level. Remedial reading demands that students practice reading out load, because that IS how we lear..."

Kate -- my greatest respect to those of you who do the work you are doing. One good friend works with children with reading disabilities here in a town home of one of this country's finest universities -- not a place you expect the scope of the problem she deals with regularly. There are many, many reasons for reading difficulties, as I am certain I need not say to you. I hope you have community and institutional support for your work. I find it encouraging that you seem to have some flexibility about the curriculum you may deliver.

You are finding here a bias towards The Iliad, and I must admit a certain agreement. As Patrice says, it can be a vehicle for introducing mythology -- all those vying gods and goddesses putting tips in the ears of valiant soldiers, along with the legendary jealous battles between Hera and Zeus. There are the central themes of Achilles' anger, of loyalty, and of honor. My very favorite scene is Hector's son frightened by the plume on his father's helmet -- a familial picture across the centuries. But then there is his father asking for Hector's body so he can receive an honorable burial -- an Antigone-like story. It surprises to learn that the Trojan horse legend is not told by Homer. I have read recently of a teacher who prefers The Odyssey with its stories of adventure and journey that turn up in altered form in so many other stories -- Calypso, the sirens, faithful Penelope, ... (I like Atwood's The Penelopiad for its twist on the story, but it is probably only appropriate for one of those college-possible students in your purview.) If a proportion of your students are likely to end up in the military and you decide to use Homer, you might appreciate among your own references Soldier's Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point by Elizabeth Samet, even if they are not likely to end up at one of the elite academies.



I hope you keep coming back and talking to us, Kate.

Kate, I would start out with these stories:



It says they are for younger students, but I know them well, and they are not written down. The most important thing your students need is skill in reading, and they must start where they are and read, read, read. I think these stories are available free on line.

I would also suggest that you try to find out about Marva Collins and how she taught the classics to inner-city children. Some have criticized her, but unjustly, I think.

Patrice wrote: "I think the encyclopedia brittanica has a great books program for school age children."

Thanks for reminding me! I don't know whether this is the Britannica program you mentioned, but many, many, many years ago, while I was in college, I because a Junior Great Books Program leader for a mostly minority school of mostly weak students, and found the program and its materials very accessible to the students. Kate, I think you could do a lot worse than look at these materials and choose selections which are appropriate not to their chronological age but their reading age.

You might need to look for a grant or support from the PTA or some supportive donors, but this is a very well established and credible program with materials for all ages from 2nd grade through adults. The readings are short, but include some very good literature. You might want to check them out. You might even be able to get some parents, or students from a local college, to volunteer to assist, as I did so many decades ago.

Laurele wrote: "I would also suggest that you try to find out about Marva Collins and how she taught the classics to inner-city children. Some have criticized her, but unjustly, I think. ..."

Here's a listopia all about encouraging literacy:

/list/show/5...

I contributed to it heavily but I see that some GR'ers as usual, have defrayed the original Listopia purpose and added things like, 'The Book Thief'. Unfortunately I can't delete the fiction additions. But Bennett Cerf is there, E. Pound, 'How to Read a Book', etc etc etc

Kate -- here's a book that you might like to know about:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

It was named today as a finalist in the Young People's Literature category of the 2014 National Book Awards.

Plato Unmasked is pretty spiffy. It covers just about all of Plato's dialogues and makes them all modern, while retaining the central problem covered in each.


I evangelize The Picture of Dorian Gray everywhere I go. The benefit of this book is that it's pretty safely in the "western canon", yet it reads somewhat like horror fiction.


The Count of Monte Cristo is loooooooong, but not really challenging. It's revenge fiction, like Wuthering Heights.


Also, you could just watch Shakespeare instead of reading plays that are just lying there, dead on paper. The Hollow Crown covers Richard II - Henry IV - Henry V. Next season covers Henry VI and Richard III. The movie series takes the Game of Thrones-approach, while staying faithful to the actual play's direction and lines. I think it's PG/PG13-ish, if I remember correctly.


Aristophanes was actually pretty funny, even from a modern perspective.


Henry James' ghost story, The Turn of the Screw

Feliks wrote: "I've seen this kind of question asked before on ŷ������; someone should definitely make a Listopia to prevent us forgetting good picks mentioned in the past.

I'm a fan of classics which have a m..."

I agree with you Feliks, on your suggestions!

Also, forgot to mention Ubik by Philip K. Dick. It reads like an episode of Futurama.

Lily wrote: "Kate -- here's a book that you might like to know about:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

It was named today as a finalist in the Young People's Literature..."

This was declared the NBA winner for youth literature (2014). I am presently reading it and am quite delighted. It is written as free verse.

Woodson, in her early fifties, has already been recognized for her lifetime contributions to youth literature. Two other of her books have been named NBA finalists and she has received a number of other accolades. Those of us who became adults through the 60s and 70s may find this a more meaningful book than younger people, but certainly it seems age appropriate for them.

Gilgamesh is great -- short and straightforward, with not a lot of background required. Maybe the Odyssey, but if the students don't have much background in mythology something like Edith Hamilton's Mythology might be an even better place to start. And then how about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? That is fun. And for Shakespeare I'd pick Hamlet or Macbeth!

Hamlet was very accessible, imo. I also thought Julius Caesar was extremely easy to get into. Also, if any teacher decides to do Romeo & Juliet, I'd recommend mentioning how ridiculous the plotline is as you go (the age difference, the obscenely short timespan, the fact that Romeo jumps immediately from crush to crush, etc.)

Wonder if Wuthering Heights would get a good reception, considering how much of a jerk Heathcliff is.

There's also Michel de Montaigne's essays. Didn't he write one about farting? Definitely an interesting guy...

James Baldwin's "autobiography" Go Tell It on the Mountain was very good.