Books Every Student Should Read

On the Internet there are hundreds of lists advising what books are must reads: Books for the college bound, most important picture books, the 100 most important books for teens, the list goes on and on.  Any of these lists can act as a guide for reading in order to gain a broad understanding of the world we live in.  British must reads for young readers is very different from what I consider to be the quintessential American canon for young people.

A group of books that are considered to be an essential part of an education, both academic culture and social culture, is called a canon which is defined, as it relates to literature, as:

·         any officially recognized set of sacred books.

·         any comprehensive list of books within a field.

 

Of course the accepted canon of literature changes with the times and the opinion of the culture. 

The real question is, why is it important to have read a majority of these tomes?   Because it helps each of us to understand ourselves and the world we currently live in. Remember the rock band Uriah Heep?  Their name is a literary allusion.  To learn more about Uriah Heep read, David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens.  When we understand the history of a reference or saying we understand how we as both individuals and a society came to be.  It helps to plan our future.  It helps us to avoid mistakes.  It helps us formulate a healthy and happy persona.  Instead of being a victim of circumstances we become the conductor of our own symphony.

Martin Luther King, Jr., alluded to the Gettysburg Address in starting his "I Have a Dream" speech by saying 'Five score years ago..."; his hearers were immediately reminded of Abraham Lincoln's "Four score and seven years ago", which opened the Gettysburg Address. King's allusion effectively called up parallels in two historic moments.  Comparing these two landmark changes in race relations guides us to make better future decisions both as individual citizens and as a government.

There are four classifications of Cultural Allusions: Biblical, mythological, historical, and literary.  Even picture books for young children are filled with various allusions.  Here are two examples of historical allusions:

·  Boycott: Captain Charles CunninghamBoycott was an English land agent in Ireland. In 1880, in the midst of controversy over the “Irish Land Question,” he and his family were ostracized by the community. An organized refusal to deal with, or buy from, a given person or company is now referred to as a boycott. The club decided to boycott any cosmetics company that tested products on animals.

·  Casanova: Giovanni Giacomo Casanova (1725–98) was a famous Venetian adventurer and writer who romanced well over a hundred women in the course of his travels. In modern parlance, a Casanova is a charismatic man with a reputation for having many romantic conquests. I know he's a Casanova, but I can't resist those eyes.

Two examples of literary allusions you probably recognize:

·  Peter Pan: Peter Pan, the protagonist of a 1904 play and 1911 book by J. M. Barrie, is famously a boy who refused to ever grow up. These days, an adult who acts immaturely is sometimes said to be suffering from “Peter Pan syndrome.” Let him fix his own cocoa; you don't need to indulge his Peter Pan syndrome by mothering him.

·  Pollyanna: The title character of Pollyanna, a 1913 novel by Eleanor Porter, was a poor girl faced with difficult obstacles who nevertheless managed to stay relentlessly upbeat. While the original Pollyanna was well aware of her challenges but chose to play the “Glad Game” of finding the silver lining in every dark cloud, the name is now applied to somebody who is blindly optimistic, or overly upbeat out of naïveté. “She's such a Pollyanna,” grumbled Mary Anne, “she thinks the IRS auditor is calling to make sure they don't owe her any money.”

I like to ask people what books from their childhood do they remember and that where important to them. 

Some of mine are as follows

Babar the Elephant- I remember questioning the morality of trophy hunting (that is hunting for reasons other than for food)

Pippi Longstocking- The first novel I read independently.  I was home from school with the mumps in third grade.

My Side of the Mountain-Reading this book helped me forge a strong bond with the natural world.

To Kill a Mockingbird- first read out loud to me by my 5th grade teacher. (They would never be allowed to read this book now.)  Brought my attention and interest in civil rights and social justice into my conscious thoughts.  They are cental issues in my life choices and my work today.

 

 

Books Every Student Should Read

On the Internet there are hundreds of lists advising what books are must reads: Books for the college bound, most important picture books, the 100 most important books for teens, the list goes on and on.  Any of these lists can act as a guide for reading in order to gain a broad understanding of the world we live in.  British must reads for young readers is very different from what I consider to be the quintessential American canon for young people.

A group of books that are considered to be an essential part of an education, both academic culture and social culture, is called a canon which is defined, as it relates to literature, as:

·         any officially recognized set of sacred books.

·         any comprehensive list of books within a field.

 

Of course the accepted canon of literature changes with the times and the opinion of the culture. 

The real question is, why is it important to have read a majority of these tomes?   Because it helps each of us to understand ourselves and the world we currently live in. Remember the rock band Uriah Heep?  Their name is a literary allusion.  To learn more about Uriah Heep read, David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens.  When we understand the history of a reference or saying we understand how we as both individuals and a society came to be.  It helps to plan our future.  It helps us to avoid mistakes.  It helps us formulate a healthy and happy persona.  Instead of being a victim of circumstances we become the conductor of our own symphony.

Martin Luther King, Jr., alluded to the Gettysburg Address in starting his "I Have a Dream" speech by saying 'Five score years ago..."; his hearers were immediately reminded of Abraham Lincoln's "Four score and seven years ago", which opened the Gettysburg Address. King's allusion effectively called up parallels in two historic moments.  Comparing these two landmark changes in race relations guides us to make better future decisions both as individual citizens and as a government.

There are four classifications of Cultural Allusions: Biblical, mythological, historical, and literary.  Even picture books for young children are filled with various allusions.  Here are two examples of historical allusions:

·  Boycott: Captain Charles CunninghamBoycott was an English land agent in Ireland. In 1880, in the midst of controversy over the “Irish Land Question,” he and his family were ostracized by the community. An organized refusal to deal with, or buy from, a given person or company is now referred to as a boycott. The club decided to boycott any cosmetics company that tested products on animals.

·  Casanova: Giovanni Giacomo Casanova (1725–98) was a famous Venetian adventurer and writer who romanced well over a hundred women in the course of his travels. In modern parlance, a Casanova is a charismatic man with a reputation for having many romantic conquests. I know he's a Casanova, but I can't resist those eyes.

Two examples of literary allusions you probably recognize:

·  Peter Pan: Peter Pan, the protagonist of a 1904 play and 1911 book by J. M. Barrie, is famously a boy who refused to ever grow up. These days, an adult who acts immaturely is sometimes said to be suffering from “Peter Pan syndrome.” Let him fix his own cocoa; you don't need to indulge his Peter Pan syndrome by mothering him.

·  Pollyanna: The title character of Pollyanna, a 1913 novel by Eleanor Porter, was a poor girl faced with difficult obstacles who nevertheless managed to stay relentlessly upbeat. While the original Pollyanna was well aware of her challenges but chose to play the “Glad Game” of finding the silver lining in every dark cloud, the name is now applied to somebody who is blindly optimistic, or overly upbeat out of naïveté. “She's such a Pollyanna,” grumbled Mary Anne, “she thinks the IRS auditor is calling to make sure they don't owe her any money.”

I like to ask people what books from their childhood do they remember and that where important to them. 

Some of mine are as follows

Babar the Elephant- I remember questioning the morality of trophy hunting (that is hunting for reasons other than for food)

Pippi Longstocking- The first novel I read independently.  I was home from school with the mumps in third grade.

My Side of the Mountain-Reading this book helped me forge a strong bond with the natural world.

To Kill a Mockingbird- first read out loud to me by my 5th grade teacher. (They would never be allowed to read this book now.)  Brought my attention and interest in civil rights and social justice into my conscious thoughts.  They are cental issues in my life choices and my work today.

 

 

 
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