The numbers are imprecise, but according to a 1988 report by the National Council of Teachers of English, her novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird," was required reading in three-quarters of America's high schools. Since its publication 50 years ago this summer, it probably ranks just behind "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," with American high-school students not only required to read the book but to tackle related projects. These range from drawing the courthouse where Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman, was defended by Atticus Finch, to writing articles for the Maycomb Tribune recounting the trial, and recasting the movie with contemporary actors. (In 2006 my daughter, attending a public high school in New Jersey, cast Kevin Kline as Atticus and Abigail Breslin as his young daughter, Scout.)
Gee, I thought that Huckleberry Finn was on the outs because the last I heard, it was racist. At least that's what Jane Smiley opined about in an Atlantic Monthly some years ago, and others have echoed the same.
Gee, I thought that Huckleberry Finn was on the outs because the last I heard, it was racist. At least that's what Jane Smiley opined about in an Atlantic Monthly some years ago, and others have echoed the same.
They might not be reading the original, as written. Some years ago, I read a comparison of a section of the original with two subsequent versions in (serial) common use in the schools. Night and day. The first still had some flavor of the original, but not the second; the dialect was pretty much gone, the language cleaned up and the vocabulary/sentence structure reduced to simple and dull. Everything that made it a worthwhile assignment was gone. I didn't think it was worth reading, but I think that about much of what is done/assigned in school.
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Gee, I thought that Huckleberry Finn was on the outs because the last I heard, it was racist. At least that's what Jane Smiley opined about in an Atlantic Monthly some years ago, and others have echoed the same.
Gee, I thought that Huckleberry Finn was on the outs because the last I heard, it was racist. At least that's what Jane Smiley opined about in an Atlantic Monthly some years ago, and others have echoed the same.
I thought Huckleberry Finn was on the outs because the vocabulary and language were far too advanced for teen readers of the 21st Century.
They might not be reading the original, as written. Some years ago, I read a comparison of a section of the original with two subsequent versions in (serial) common use in the schools. Night and day. The first still had some flavor of the original, but not the second; the dialect was pretty much gone, the language cleaned up and the vocabulary/sentence structure reduced to simple and dull. Everything that made it a worthwhile assignment was gone. I didn't think it was worth reading, but I think that about much of what is done/assigned in school.
I thought Huckleberry Finn was on the outs because the vocabulary and language were far too advanced for teen readers of the 21st Century.
lolllll ---
momof4 - that's horrifying.
I read an interesting factoid re: vocabulary.
Actually, I think I'll put that up as a post.
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