boeken to Read Literary Diversity Survey (Please Answer)

Cinders posted on Feb 02, 2009 at 09:28PM
Hello.

I'm taking an education class, currently, and I may do my final project on culture bias in education.

So I'm going to list several popular novels below, and I want you to tell me which ones you were required to read for high school/middle school. I will also ask a few basic questions of the type of literature you covered. Feel free to also list books that I have left off this list that you feel should be included. In addition to that, also list your nationality, and what kind of English classes you took in school.

The List
The Odyssey/The Illiad by Homer
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
William Shakespeare
Charles Dickens
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Nora Zeale Hurston
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
Chronical of a Death Fortold/100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Nonexistant Knight/The Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
The Stranger by Albert Camus
God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The English Patient/Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Which of the required reading would you consider to be "classic," or part of the literary Canon. Are all these classics Western/British/American classics or not?

Did you read any literature or authors pertaining to your nationality or heritage? If so, what did you read?

Did you read any literature or authors that would be considered "international," in otherwords, not pertaining to your nationality or heritage? If so, what did you read? Were all of these international novels still considered part of Western (European/American) literature?

Did you read any literature from a minority [non-white] author? If so, what did you read?

Did you read any literature from a GLBT author or concerning the GLBT community? If so, what did you read?

Did you read any literature from a female author? If so, what did you read?




So this is what your response might look like:

Nationality: American
Schooling: International Private School
English Class: Standard 9th and 10th, International Bacalaureat Higher Level

Required Reading: Shakespeare, The Odyssey, To Kill A Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, Things Fall Apart, Heart of Darkness, Chronical of a Death Fortold, God of Small Things, Nonexistant Knight, The Stranger, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Ceremony
Other Required Reading Not on Main List: Naguib Mahfouz, "The Beginning and the End."

Which of the required reading would you consider to be "classic," or part of the literary Canon? Are all these classics Western/British/American classics or not?
Shakespeare, The Odyssey. Yes, they are British/Greek classics, and therefor Western.

Did you read any literature or authors pertaining to your nationality or heritage? If so, what did you read?
Yes. To Kill A Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye.

Did you read any literature or authors that would be considered "international," in otherwords, not pertaining to your nationality or heritage? If so, what did you read? Were all of these international novels still considered part of Western (European/American) literature?
Yes. Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt), Italo Calvino (Italy), Garcia Marquez (Columbia), Arundhati Roy (India). No, not all of them dealt with Western culture.

Did you read any literature from a minority [non-white] author? If so, what did you read?
Yes. Ceremony (Native American), Their Eyes Were Watching God (Black/African American)

Did you read any literature from a GLBT author or concerning the GLBT community? If so, what did you read?
No.

Did you read any literature from a female author? Did any of them star a female protagonist or deal with feminist issues? If so, what did you read?
Yes. Zora Neale Hurston (Eyes Were Watching God), Arundhati Roy (God of Small Things), To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee), Leslie Marmon Silko (Ceremony). "Eyes" and "Mockingbird" both starred female strong female protagonists. "Eyes" dealt specifically with the struggles being a black woman.
last edited on Feb 02, 2009 at 09:47PM

boeken to Read 4 antwoorden

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een jaar geleden funnyshawna said…
meh
Nationality: American
Schooling: Public high school
Level: 9th honors

The List
The Odyssey/The Illiad by Homer
William Shakespeare
Charles Dickens
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Michaelsen
The Piano Lesson by August Wilson
House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros



Which of the required reading would you consider to be "classic," or part of the literary Canon. Are all these classics Western/British/American classics or not?
Well, the classics that come to mind of course is the Shakespeare and the Oddessey, which are both Western.

Did you read any literature or authors pertaining to your nationality or heritage? If so, what did you read?
House on Mango Street (Mexico)

Did you read any literature or authors that would be considered "international," in otherwords, not pertaining to your nationality or heritage? If so, what did you read? Were all of these international novels still considered part of Western (European/American) literature?
House on Mango Street was originally written in Spanish, but I think it's probably considered a part of Western Literature still.

Did you read any literature from a minority [non-white] author? If so, what did you read?
Yes. Sandra Cisneros (House on Mango Street), August Wilson (the Piano Lesson)

Did you read any literature from a GLBT author or concerning the GLBT community? If so, what did you read?
No

Did you read any literature from a female author? If so, what did you read?
Sandra Cisneros, Laurie Halse Anderson (House on Mango Street, and Speak).
een jaar geleden Cinders said…
Awesome, thanks. :o)
een jaar geleden ValaMagic said…
Nationality: Australian
Schooling: Catholic Private School
English Class: NA

Required Reading: Shakespeare, To Kill A Mockingbird
Other Required Reading Not on Main List: Looking for Alibrandi, So Much to Tell You, Of Mice and Men, Importance of Being Earnest, Animal Farm

Which of the required reading would you consider to be "classic," or part of the literary Canon? Are all these classics Western/British/American classics or not?
Shakespeare, Animal Farm, To Kill a Mockingbird. yes they are all western.

Did you read any literature or authors pertaining to your nationality or heritage? If so, what did you read?
Yes. Looking for Alibrandi, So Much to Tell You, Deadly Unna

Did you read any literature or authors that would be considered "international," in otherwords, not pertaining to your nationality or heritage? If so, what did you read? Were all of these international novels still considered part of Western (European/American) literature?
Yes (see all american literature), yes all western.

Did you read any literature from a minority [non-white] author? If so, what did you read?
Deadly Unna (Aboriginal)

Did you read any literature from a GLBT author or concerning the GLBT community? If so, what did you read?
No.

Did you read any literature from a female author? Did any of them star a female protagonist or deal with feminist issues? If so, what did you read?
Yes. Looking for Alibrandi, yes dealt with coming of age teenage issues.
een jaar geleden harold said…
Unfortunately, that was so long ago that I don't trust my memory to distinguish between junior high, high school, and undergraduate English courses at university. But I'll try to dig up my high school syllabi in the next few days.

Edited to sound less like a pirate.
last edited een jaar geleden