tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post36302138038472747..comments2024-02-28T18:29:41.120-08:00Comments on Not of General Interest: Choose your own textbookundinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-32469460700934505192009-09-01T18:30:25.246-07:002009-09-01T18:30:25.246-07:00bitternsweet, that's the problem: they SAY &qu...bitternsweet, that's the problem: they SAY "read whatever you want" but they MEAN "read whatever you want that's literary." I think it's better to let them off the hook and create a syllabus before they ask for a common reading as profacero's students did.undinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-70125497680557299372009-09-01T15:26:57.438-07:002009-09-01T15:26:57.438-07:00That's "...I DON'T think it would hav...That's "...I DON'T think it would have quite the same impact."<br /><br />Whoops.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-90209400756484117732009-09-01T15:25:31.352-07:002009-09-01T15:25:31.352-07:00I read this article with a lot of interest as well...I read this article with a lot of interest as well -- and had several reactions: Initially I thought, "Sounds great! What a good way to cultivate individual reading habits in the youth of America!" Then I thought, "But, if they only read crap [and the article discusses the fact that some of the students do read Gossip Girl and John Grisham novels], they won't really learn about the power and importance of literature!" And, then I thought, "Geez, I'm advocating the canon, how did that happen?" <br /><br />To say the least, I had mixed feelings.<br /><br />As for the applicability to college-level instruction: I dunno. College students already get so much choice in terms of which classes they take, etc., I think it wouldn't have quite the same impact. I'm not quite ready to give up the syllabus.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-89095289593608767332009-08-30T21:10:22.923-07:002009-08-30T21:10:22.923-07:00Fretful, that's what made me a little suspicio...Fretful, that's what made me a little suspicious. It sounds like one of those "be free! there are no rules!" things when what it really means is that you'll be punished if you transgress a rule that you've been told isn't there. They ought to say "pick whatever you like, as long as it's classic depressing literature" and be done with it.<br /><br />profacero, that's interesting that the bigger classes wanted the common readings. It seems to me that without something to draw them together, the students could start to wonder why they're there if they are all reading something different anyway.undinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-15914956357121045912009-08-30T19:31:47.256-07:002009-08-30T19:31:47.256-07:00I actually tried this some time ago. I thought it ...I actually tried this some time ago. I thought it would be more hip and all. It worked the first time or two, in really small classes with really interested students who were more or less at the same skill level.<br /><br />Larger and more diverse classes BEGGED for common readings, so they would have something concrete in common.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-9892153385322166802009-08-30T16:37:04.601-07:002009-08-30T16:37:04.601-07:00I'm not sure this is really all that new; I re...I'm not sure this is really all that new; I remember doing something very similar in seventh or eighth grade, complete with the "getting chewed out for picking something too easy" bit. (If I remember correctly, it was a fluffy comedy about kids holding a prank war at summer camp, and I thought it was rather unfair of the teacher to tell me it was a baby book and I needed to pick something more mature, because "mature" always seemed to mean "depressing" and I really <i>needed</i> some escapist fluff at that point in my adolescence.)<br /><br />Anyway, we definitely didn't get to choose <i>all</i> our books, all the time (and I'm with you on not being sure how that would work), so maybe it's not exactly the same thing.Fretful Porpentinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11165078003123517013noreply@blogger.com