Current Events > Why do schools make students read garbage books for english class

(+) Yeah! (+)

Shit like The Great Gatsby is a great tool for making people hate reading

If you don't think Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is the best book ever written... you're wrong.
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Gatsby is an example of a very good book commonly assigned in HS English tho
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It was hit or miss with me. Some of the classics were remarkable, and discussing them in class made them better. But, sometimes they stick you with a book you hate for weeks and makes you hate reading.

Without being required in school, I would have never read books like Fahrenheit 451, Of Mice and Men, A Separate Peace, Lord of the Flies, or some Shakespeare plays by myself and I loved them.

PesticideDream posted...

It was hit or miss with me. Some of the classics were remarkable, and discussing them in class made them better. But, sometimes they stick you with a book you hate for weeks and makes you hate reading.

Same. Some books get a lot of hate for no reason ... but others just flat out deserve it. >_>
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I thoroughly enjoyed every assigned reading except The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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your point is based on an objectively false premise (that The Great Gatsby is a "garbage" book).

that being said: why do you consider it such, why do you think it is not widely regarded as such, and what are some alternatives you would suggest?
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there are some bad books commonly assigned in high school, yeah, but gatsby is not one of them
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I should clarify that I didn't like Gatsby at all when I read it for class, then fell in love with it when I read it again like half a year later.

Also The House of the Spirits is one of/maybe the best book I read for HS English.

Godnorgosh posted...

TC if you'd said The Scarlet Letter we might be on the same page.

And god, this.
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problem with The Great Gatsby is people reading it and coming away with the lesson "rich people who throw wild 20s themed parties are cool!"
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averagejoel posted...

your point is based on an subjectively false premise (that The Great Gatsby is a "garbage" book).

that being said: why do you consider it such, why do you think it is not widely regarded as such, and what are some alternatives you would suggest?

like assholes, everyones got an opinion. and a lot of people are of the opinion that the great gatsby is crap. and to be honest it was written that way intentionally, since its opening is self important and every character is self absorbed the reader is left with a bunch of people to hate and a plot to be annoyed by.
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*gets Ethan Frome flashbacks*
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monkmith posted...

averagejoel posted...

your point is based on an subjectively false premise (that The Great Gatsby is a "garbage" book).

that being said: why do you consider it such, why do you think it is not widely regarded as such, and what are some alternatives you would suggest?

like assholes, everyones got an opinion. and a lot of people are of the opinion that the great gatsby is crap. and to be honest it was written that way intentionally, since its opening is self important and every character is self absorbed the reader is left with a bunch of people to hate and a plot to be annoyed by.

characters being unlikable does not make a work of fiction garbage.

an opinion would be "I hate The Great Gatsby." it's a boring opinion that adds nothing to any discourse, but it's still an opinion

TC phrased it as though it was a fact, which it is not. thus, the premise is false.
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Godnorgosh posted...

monkmith posted...

since its opening is self important and every character is self absorbed

I hate to be that guy who goes "That's the point," but...

That's the point. You're not supposed to like most of the characters.

yes, you're supposed to hate the characters and the plot and the premise and the setting... which means you're supposed to find the book amazing?

what the fuck is there to find amazing? the excruciating detail? the long rambling? people shit all over tolken for the same damn things but the great gatsby gets a pass?

averagejoel posted...

characters being unlikable does not make a work of fiction garbage.

an opinion would be "I hate The Great Gatsby." it's a boring opinion that adds nothing to any discourse, but it's still an opinion

TC phrased it as though it was a fact, which it is not. thus, the premise is false.

arguing semantics, the premise in and of itself is subjective.
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You can pour nourishing waters on a rock and not one drop will penetrate.
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The Great Gatsby was good though. An example of a garbage book would be something like Great Expectations
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Scarlett Letter and Heart of Darkness were such a pain:(
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KobeSystem posted...

Scarlett Letter and Heart of Darkness were such a pain:(

What's dumb is that The Scarlet Letter is actually really good if you just look at the plot or symbolism, but Hawthorne used such complicated diction that it was a chore to read through. >_<
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Fahrenheit 451 is incredible; I keep a copy in my Kindle long after it has become required reading.

That being said, as someone about to get his Masters in English, just about everything else I read in class blew. Either the message was too heavy handed or they tried to throw a million unapparent themes into it
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I loved all of the readings in HS besides Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is a whiny little bitch.

I loved Shakespeare. Found it great to read.
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The Great Gatsby belongs in a garbage bin.
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Godnorgosh posted...

TC if you'd said The Scarlet Letter we might be on the same page.

This. Fuck the scarlet letter.
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HylianFox posted...

problem with The Great Gatsby is people reading it and coming away with the lesson "rich people who throw wild 20s themed parties are cool!"

nobody does that
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I greatly disliked The Catcher in the Rye
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I remember being totally triggered as a freshman in HS for having to read Red Badge of Courage while another class taught by the same teacher was reading The Hobbit.
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Scarlet Letter is just not my kind of book.
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Eevee-Trainer posted...

KobeSystem posted...

Scarlett Letter and Heart of Darkness were such a pain:(

What's dumb is that The Scarlet Letter is actually really good if you just look at the plot or symbolism, but Hawthorne used such complicated diction that it was a chore to read through. >_<

Fr. It's bad when literal Crime and Punishment is easier to get through than this shit and CnP is like 10 times longer or whatever
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meralonne posted...

I remember being totally triggered as a freshman in HS for having to read Red Badge of Courage while another class taught by the same teacher was reading The Hobbit.

Red Badge of Courage generated so many memes with my friends though.

WE RAN HIMBLY AND JIMBLY THROUGH THE HOLLER
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I honestly cant remember having books forced on me when I was in higher school. Mostly pick a book and read it.

Take that back, I had to read this book called, Yellow Raft in Blue Water, which might be the wrong name
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KobeSystem posted...

Eevee-Trainer posted...

KobeSystem posted...

Scarlett Letter and Heart of Darkness were such a pain:(

What's dumb is that The Scarlet Letter is actually really good if you just look at the plot or symbolism, but Hawthorne used such complicated diction that it was a chore to read through. >_<

Fr. It's bad when literal Crime and Punishment is easier to get through than this shit and CnP is like 10 times longer or whatever

I'm 90% sure I fell asleep in class one time while reading The Scarlet Letter, >.>
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