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Post by Al on Jun 20, 2008 22:57:56 GMT -5
Hey guys! Who wants to help me do homework?
Kidding, kidding.
I am looking for a bit of inspiration, though. As part of a final project this school year, I have to create a thematically linked booklist of twenty titles that I would be passing out to students in conjunction with an assignment. Unfortunately, I start drawing blanks about halfway through it, so I thought I'd put out some feelers to you well-read folks and see if I'm missing anything obvious.
The list would be an outside reading assignment focusing on themes of fighting the establishment and rebelling against one's station in life. So far I have:
1) 1984 (Orwell)
2) The Chocolate War (Cormier)
3) Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury)
4) Inherit the Wind (Lawrence & Lee)
5) Antigone (Anouilm) & Lysistrata (Aristophanes)
6) Into the Wild (Krakauer)
7) The Power and the Glory (Greene)
8) Pygmalion (Shaw)
9) V For Vendetta (Moore)
10) Wuthering Heights (Bronte)
11) A Confederacy of Dunces (Toole)
12) The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian (Alexie)
There are one or two others I had thought of and know I'm forgetting, but does anybody else see any gaping holes? It has to be age appropriate for high school but can be fiction or nonfiction, drama or prose, classic or contemporary. Thoughts?
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Post by TheLuckyOne on Jun 20, 2008 23:59:46 GMT -5
I guess it depends on what kind of "establishment" you're talking about fighting, but I think you could make strong cases for The Color Purple, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Invisible Man.
-D
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Post by zappakub on Jun 21, 2008 0:17:45 GMT -5
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
Animal Farm- also By Orwell
Isn't Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger a classic of U.S. high school? (never read it myself)
Rage or The Running Man by Richard Bachman (A.K.A Stephen King)
Ender's Game? (It's been a while since I read it...)
Romeo And Juliet
The Metamorphosis by Kafka might be interesting.
Thats' all I can think of for high schoolers... I'd recommend The Invisibles (Morrison) , The Rebel (Camus) or Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Nietzsche) but they are either age-inappropriate or too heavy for high schoolers.
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Post by pfrsue on Jun 21, 2008 5:19:42 GMT -5
Brave New World (Huxley) might fit the criteria.
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Post by bladestarr on Jun 21, 2008 10:52:50 GMT -5
As much as I love Ender's Game and want to make everyone in the world read it as one of the greatest books ever written..... fighting against the authorities was not really a major theme in the book. In fact, it was just the opposite, Ender was constantly the teachers'
pet, much to the chagrin of the other students at the Battle School. And he always did as he was told to do by authority.
Hell, make them read it anyways, for me. ;D
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Post by TheOogieBoogieMan on Jun 21, 2008 14:13:09 GMT -5
I'd suggest Lois Lowry's The Giver.
I'll try to think of some non-dystopia books as well...
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Post by Al on Jun 21, 2008 15:19:19 GMT -5
The establishment can be anything that reinforces the status quo. The book that my hypothetical students would be coming off of will either be The Chocolate War or 1984, so it can really be anything from high school traditions to restrictive fascist government. Brave New World is one I totally forgot about for some reason and I was on the fence about The Giver--I haven't actually read it so I wasn't 100% sure it fit the criteria. I will shamefeacedly admit that I've never read THe Color Purple, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, or Invisible Man (I started that one but never finished). I kinda figured one of them would fit but wasn't certain. I tried to read We and couldn't finish I myself, I'm not sure I'd subject my students to it  I don't really remember anybody standing up to authority in Animal Farm. Wasn't that the point of the book? Catcher In The Rye, Metamorphosis, Rage - Never read them  The Running Man- Not sure. I've read it a long time ago but would have to give it some consideration. Romeo And Juliet- Good idea. Definitely some food for thought. Thanks! |
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Post by TheLuckyOne on Jun 21, 2008 20:05:50 GMT -5
You've never read Huckleberry Finn or Catcher in the Rye?  Jeez, I didn't think it was possible to get through high school without reading them. (Catcher in 9th, Huck in 11th for us.) Okay, whether you end up using them for this project or not, you really should read those books, Al. Color Purple and Invisible Man are one thing (powerful books, but not my personal favorites), but Holden and Huck are in a class all their own. I'll second The Giver, too. Great book. -D |
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Post by zappakub on Jun 21, 2008 22:05:53 GMT -5
I don't really remember anybody standing up to authority in Animal Farm. Wasn't that the point of the book? Definitely some food for thought. Thanks! Animal Fram is basically a reenaction of the Russian revolution and of it's consequences. The animals revolt against the man and then have to face revolt in their own ranks when the pigs change the commandments. I haven't read it since grade 8 but that's what I remember. Scratch Metamorphosis though it's more about alienation than revolt. What about Lord Of The Flies? Ralph and Piggy create a government of sorts and the others revolt against them... |
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Post by sarahbot on Jun 23, 2008 2:30:28 GMT -5
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Hardy)
Small Gods (Pratchett) Admittedly, Rincewind's arc might work well too, but this is my favourite Pratchett, so there. Monstrous Regiment might be even better, actually.
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit (Winterson)
The Horse and His Boy (Lewis)
The Handmaid's Tale (Atwood)
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Post by Ms. Jellybean on Jun 23, 2008 6:52:46 GMT -5
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. The prologue alone is rich with fighting the man themes. Um, whoops, didn't see all of what Drew said. That's what happens when you skim over the thread instead of reading it fully.
Does Camus' The Stranger fit at all?
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Post by Al on Jun 23, 2008 13:03:29 GMT -5
You've never read Huckleberry Finn or Catcher in the Rye? Jeez, I didn't think it was possible to get through high school without reading them. Ridiculous, right? They also gave me a BA in English Literature without ever taking a Shakespeare course. Ah, higher education. These ideas are great, guys. Thanks a ton! |
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Post by Lissa on Jun 23, 2008 13:47:05 GMT -5
Anything Ayn Rand- especially We The Living, which is fighting against the establishment in Communist USSR. Or Anthem, which is where society is so conformist that the word "I" has been removed altogether. As much as I love The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, the other two fit the criteria a bit better. And if you didn't think I'd be suggesting Ayn Rand, you need to visit sometime |
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Post by Al on Jul 9, 2008 11:47:21 GMT -5
A's all around, everyone! Thanks so much!
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Post by zappakub on Jul 10, 2008 20:45:40 GMT -5
A's all around, everyone! Thanks so much! Awesome Al! What was your final list? |
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Jeez, I didn't think it was possible to get through high school without reading them. (Catcher in 9th, Huck in 11th for us.)
