Literature is deeply personal, and books resonate with readers for MANY reasons. i had students who loved TSL; others hated it. Some LOVED Great Expectations; i HATE IT. Some loved Macbeth; others were turned off by the challenge and never read it beyond Spark Notes https://twitter.com/coachhicks1914/status/1343928886938251270

there is NO one PERFECT way to bring literature (canonical, modern, YA) to a classroom. inevitably, the book you think they’ll love, some will not and the book you’ll think they’ll trudge through will spark a flame in someone’s mind.

Should students ONLY read books >50 years old? Well, i wouldn’t structure my classroom like that. Conversely, should they ONLY read modern texts? I wouldn’t do that either

The beloved classics ARE limiting;they tend to be narrow in race, ethnicity&perspective (far fewer texts that amplify women;written by Native/Asian/African/South American authors). But =/= they’re not compelling to some readers;Ss should have opps to see what classics engage them

Some modern lit IS NOT as linguistically or syntactically complex as classics. That’s important to me too—as an English T, part of my job was to teach Ss how to read text that is, well, HARD TO READ—and not just because of the plot

there is not enough time to read all the things. the reality is, EVERY YEAR Ts omit books (even if the omission is by selection). why? lol physics. we only have 35 actual instructional days to do it ALL

but to say Ss should never read the canon or never #DisruptTexts is sheer madness to me. i enjoyed reading the canon in high school (so did several of my friends who did not end up English teachers); i enjoy reading a lot of modern lit and think some of it should be taught

but anyway, it tracks that folks want to end 2020 in sheer angry madness. go at it i guess