Need help picking a book for Amer Lit class

[caulfield12]

here in China...

 

It should also have some type of connection to American History...and the more modern, the better.

 

 

My first thought was Gone With the Wind, but that's just way too long for the students, and they would undoubtedly just watch the movie instead of trying to read it.

 

I was thinking of something like 11/22/63 by Stephen King, but that's not going to get past my curriculum coordinator who is more oriented around classics.

 

Red Badge of Courage? I think they will be bored with that as well.

 

Obviously we can't do Twilight or Hunger Games (or Harry Potter, since JK Rowling's British) or The Diary of Anne Frank (another one that always comes to mind)...

 

Autobiography of Malcolm X, although that's another long one. Profiles in Courage would be too boring and their understanding of the American political system (vis a vis China's) would make that one a difficult sell.

 

Chinese students are really oriented around biographies of famous success stories like Gates, Buffett, Steve Jobs, etc.

 

 

But trying to do Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, Emerson, Thoreau, Poe...it's just extremely difficult when their reading ability is more like 4th-6th graders in the US when they're in 10th/11th grade in high school.

 

 

 

I also thought about "Into the Wild" but that's going to be a tough sell as well. Then you have the same issue with the students preferring to just watch the movie instead of attempting to read it in English themselves.

Edited January 18, 2014 by caulfield12

[Jake]

For some reason, my first reactions were Less Than Zero and Bright Lights, Big City as they cover very interesting parts of recent American history that aren't really immortalized in the grand narrative. Neither are super difficult reads; the former was written by a then-college student. Might be a little out there though, in terms of content. I bet both of those books have been burned. Now that I think about it, the whole child rape thing in Less Than Zero is probably too much.

 

Kerouac's On the Road might be of some thought, but it has been a long time since I've read it so I cannot remember what kind of reading level we're dealing with.

 

Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God is deeply rooted in American history and I recall reading it at that age. Has a lot to offer in a variety of ways and is generally considered a "classic."

 

If it is possible to go with a collection of short stories, I'm sure there are some from John Cheever which might be interesting --his stuff is rather cerebral, but quite American and since they come in small doses, I wonder if it would be easier to get kids interested in reading small, self-contained stories.

 

Part novel and part short story collection, I might also suggest Shoeless Joe comes to Iowa by WP Kinsella. While it is quite a bit more than this, it is indeed the inspiration for Field of Dreams. The best and worst of America. Ironically all from a Canadian author who loved baseball, Iowa, and Shoeless Joe.

 

For some reason, I can't come up with a good suggestion from Hemingway, who is an obvious choice given his writing style. All of his best stuff is set in Paris and Cuba, at least the things coming to mind. The Nick Adams Stories were dreadful to read as a 10th grader by my recollection, though they are at least set in Michigan IIRC

Edited January 18, 2014 by Jake

[Soxbadger]

Why not try and pitch Michael Crichton? Jurassic Park, etc. Id also say Stephen King "Running Man" (originally published as Bachman) could be a fun book to compare to Hunger Games.

 

If you want more classical you cant go wrong with Mark Twain but that may be slightly more difficult.

[DukeNukeEm]

Vonnegut.

[cabiness42]

1984

[NorthSideSox72]

Blood Meridian maybe? Classic American writer, written in the past century, connected to US history. Other McCarthy stuff as well.

 

You talk about thoee Presidents, so, are we talking non-fiction here? Because if so, in that Presidential view, I think the quintessential American among those founder types is John Adams, and there is an excellent recent biography of him. Andrew Jackson, same deal.

 

Further on non-fiction, if you want history that moves like a story, Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides is a great choice.

 

Back to fiction, people mentioned Stephen King. Well, The Stand is very much rooted in American culture and the storyline has echoes of the classic American Western storyline. Kind of a long read though.

 

Jack London maybe? The Call of the Wild, White Fang, To Build a Fire...

 

[Buehrle>Wood]

1984

That's British

[cabiness42]

That's British

 

Yes, but he said he wanted to connect it to American History, and the later, the better, so what better than a description of 2009-2013 America?

[ptatc]

Not real current but Grapes of Wrath was always one of my favorites.

 

for biographies if you want a fun and a look behind the scenes of hollywood over the years, the new Tim Conway book is extremely funny.

Edited January 18, 2014 by ptatc

[Jake]

For another dystopian choice, I have always preferred Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, who was English but lived much of his life in the USA and was repeatedly denied citizenship for refusing to fight on philosophical, rather than religious, grounds. He also taught biology to a young George Orwell, which is cool. I've always thought Huxley's warnings were more prescient -- that freedom would be surrendered, not taken

Edited January 18, 2014 by Jake

[Soxbadger]

Brave New World is probably my favorite book and I always liked that "The Doors" were named after his book "The Doors of Perception".

 

A govt that controls through happiness and logic is far more dangerous than oppression and censorship. But I dont consider him an American or his books to be American Literature (unfortunately).

 

 

 

[ptatc]

Brave New World is probably my favorite book and I always liked that "The Doors" were named after his book "The Doors of Perception".

 

A govt that controls through happiness and logic is far more dangerous than oppression and censorship. But I dont consider him an American or his books to be American Literature (unfortunately).

I agree. Great book. I still have my copy from high school. However, it's not really american literature.

[DukeNukeEm]

Yea! Let's have CHINESE KIDS read Brave New World or 1984! I'm sure the apparatchik will appreciate a new crop of thought criminals to lay bricks on the Three Gorges Dam with no safety equipment.

[ptatc]

Yea! Let's have CHINESE KIDS read Brave New World or 1984! I'm sure the apparatchik will appreciate a new crop of thought criminals to lay bricks on the Three Gorges Dam with no safety equipment.

Nothing wrong with showing them what could happen if the government has too much control. A little revolution is good every now and then.

[DukeNukeEm]

I agree wholeheartedly and I think Chinese kids would greatly benefit from reading those books, but I cannot imagine the Chinese government would be pleased with those ideas being planted in young minds. They would probably displeased enough to sequester them from society in whatever neo-gulag situation they have there for the mentally awakened.

[dasox24]

If their reading level is 4th-6th grade (but obviously more mature on a mental level), then you have to keep it somewhat simple, right? What about Where The Red Fern Grows? I'd say that's 8th grade reading material, so you kind of split the difference.

Edited January 19, 2014 by dasox24

[knightni]

http://books.google.com/books/about/Homesi...id=9rUaAAAAMAAJ

[caulfield12]

I've thought long and hard about this, and I'm going to try to pitch "The Fault in our Stars" as the book.

 

I just think a book that's simpler/accessible language-wise and more topical is the way to go. My best students (and the ones mostly likely to read in English) are all girls (the boys prefer basketball and computer games, haha), so I think it would resonate more with them. Even "Into the Wild" didn't work so effectively in my former school, where a co-worker was a teaching it, and I really love Kraukauer books for the most part.

 

Yes, it's a "teen/young adult" book, in the same way that Twilight and Hunger Games are, but it's one of the most elegantly-written books ever in that genre.

 

 

I've taught Animal Farm before, but there's just no way the Chinese administrators would allow that book, or 1984.

 

Thanks, by the way, for all the great ideas. Gave me some new books to put on my reading list.

Edited January 19, 2014 by caulfield12

[knightni]

I've thought long and hard about this, and I'm going to try to pitch "The Fault in our Stars" as the book.

 

I just think a book that's simpler/accessible language-wise and more topical is the way to go. My best students (and the ones mostly likely to read in English) are all girls (the boys prefer basketball and computer games, haha), so I think it would resonate more with them. Even "Into the Wild" didn't work so effectively in my former school, where a co-worker was a teaching it, and I really love Kraukauer books for the most part.

 

Yes, it's a "teen/young adult" book, in the same way that Twilight and Hunger Games are, but it's one of the most elegantly-written books ever in that genre.

 

 

I've taught Animal Farm before, but there's just no way the Chinese administrators would allow that book, or 1984.

 

Thanks, by the way, for all the great ideas. Gave me some new books to put on my reading list.

Did you read my link?

[mmmmmbeeer]

Not real current but Grapes of Wrath was always one of my favorites.

 

for biographies if you want a fun and a look behind the scenes of hollywood over the years, the new Tim Conway book is extremely funny.

 

Was going to mention Grapes of Wrath...fantastic book and really fits the whole "classic American novel with a component of American History" that you're looking for, Caulfield.

[Texsox]

A couple ideas for middle school lever readers:

 

#1 The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. It offers a great look into the 1950's greaser society. The real advantage of this book is the reading level is lower but the subject matter has a more mature tone if read carefully. Teen pregnancy, gangs, alienation, the value of education, crime and punishment, etc.

 

My second choices would be Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck, The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, or To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee although the reading level may be too advanced. The administration will approve of the "classic" standing if those titles and you should have some spirited debates in class. I'm not certain of your time frame but all could be completed in a 6 week time period with plenty of time for some pre-reading activities and a project at the end. Plus, if allowed, all have better than average film adaptations.

[NorthSideSox72]

By the way, if you want something written from a semi-foreigner's perspective (but who lived a long time in the US), and at an easy reading level, you could always go with The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. It's a fun read, plenty of humor, some very interesting perspectives on American culture.

 

[Texsox]

Bryson maybe the most underrated, least appreciated writer alive.