Posted on 12/07/2012 10:25:09 AM PST by grundle
American literature classics are to be replaced by insulation manuals and plant inventories in US classrooms by 2014.
A new school curriculum which will affect 46 out of 50 states will make it compulsory for at least 70 per cent of books studied to be non-fiction, in an effort to ready pupils for the workplace.
Books such as JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird will be replaced by "informational texts" approved by the Common Core State Standards.
Suggested non-fiction texts include Recommended Levels of Insulation by the the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Invasive Plant Inventory, by California's Invasive Plant Council.
The new educational standards have the backing of the influential National Governors' Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, and are being part-funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Related Articles
Letters reveal the secret side of JD Salinger 27 Jan 2011
Why Harper Lee has remained silent 01 May 2011
JD Salinger 28 Jan 2010
Jamie Highfill, a teacher at Woodland Junior High School in Arkansas, told the Times that the directive was bad for a well-rounded education.
"I'm afraid we are taking out all imaginative reading and creativity in our English classes.
"In the end, education has to be about more than simply ensuring that kids can get a job. Isn't it supposed to be about making well-rounded citizens?"
Supporters of the directive argue that it will help pupils to develop the ability to write concisely and factually, which will be more useful in the workplace than a knowledge of Shakespeare.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Salinger’s work is essentially conservative. It’s about individuals trying to recover from some past trauma and regain some dignity in their lives.
So when reading that novel keep in mind that the person was writing it while preparing for or recovering from D-Day (in which Salinger participated).
So?
No excuse for having your "hero" be a worthless whiner.
He’s not supposed to be a completely sympathetic character. He also has signs of incipient schizophrenia.
He was boring. He actually needed some problems in his life as he had none.
He also has signs of incipient schizophrenia.
He was a narcissist, not very intelligent and lacked a desire to learn. While it is possible to write a good story where the protagonist is all of these things this was not that story.
Boring is obviously subjective. He’s regarded as one of the most engaging characters in American Lit. Not unlike Huckleberry Finn (who’s problems were much more serious). The fact that he didn’t have any ‘real’ problems is part of the theme. It’s why he struggles. An early case of Affluenza.
Probably by people who like being pretentious.
Not unlike Huckleberry Finn (who’s problems were much more serious)
Finn was actually doing something. Holden was not.
The fact that he didn’t have any ‘real’ problems is part of the theme. It’s why he struggles.
He is not struggling at all. He is enjoying being a self centered little snot.
An early case of Affluenza.
Is that a fancy way of saying he was boring?
Because he does not seem to be anything new, just your run of the mill bore.
At the time his voice was completely new. The alienated urban adolescent. Hard to believe now because it’s so ingrained.
Sure it was. Why every kid I knew growing up off Arthur Avenue, Flatbush, 3rd St and Avenue A, Roosevelt Avenue, and dem places in Brooklyn and Staten Island, dey all said, "Man, dis Holden guy, it's like he's living my life!"
The fact that he came from a blue blood privileged background added to the irony of his position.
I know people like to think that they are cutting edge but I bet Og in his cave would have recognized Holden as that brat from downstream.
It is cliche to say the least.
The irony is that he’s upset even through he seems to have nothing to be upset about. It’s more than just a generation gap...it’s tied to a specific time and place and has been endlessly imitated.
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