tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21863196.post6463164601082892320..comments2023-10-18T04:44:08.434-05:00Comments on tales of an ordinary girl: Christian Education: EnglishAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09429263099197981481noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21863196.post-70788133827108648272008-01-19T12:34:00.000-06:002008-01-19T12:34:00.000-06:00Well that's refreshing. I wonder how many schools ...Well that's refreshing. I wonder how many schools get calls from their students' parents about studying heathens? Hopefully not many.PhillyChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03355892225956705948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21863196.post-83434530836663804432008-01-19T12:11:00.000-06:002008-01-19T12:11:00.000-06:00World literature, huh? More like Western world lit...<I>World literature, huh? More like Western world literature. Any literature for the kiddies from Asia?</I><BR/><BR/>Actually, yes. I have on my desk beside me right now a World Literature textbook for grade 12. It includes, translated of course, excerpts that come from seven African nations, nine South American countries, six Middle Eastern countries, and lots of poems and stories from China, India, and Japan.The Exterminatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14452054124550486048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21863196.post-33286782619276654262008-01-19T08:49:00.000-06:002008-01-19T08:49:00.000-06:00My bet is it's a way of saying "oh god" without ac...My bet is it's a way of saying "oh god" without actually doing so, to get around that swearing issue for christians, like geez which became gee wiz.<BR/><BR/>World literature, huh? More like Western world literature. Any literature for the kiddies from Asia?PhillyChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03355892225956705948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21863196.post-20820793843262134262008-01-18T21:46:00.000-06:002008-01-18T21:46:00.000-06:00Babs asks:Egads? Where the heck did that come from...Babs asks:<BR/><I>Egads? Where the heck did that come from?</I><BR/><BR/>That's how Christian bloggers spell <I>Degas</I>.The Exterminatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14452054124550486048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21863196.post-24660906974975015192008-01-18T21:38:00.000-06:002008-01-18T21:38:00.000-06:00Well, things have certainly changed since I was in...Well, things have certainly changed since I was in HS. The only recommended reading on the list that I had was Pilgrim's Progress. Egads, how I hated that book. <BR/><BR/>Egads? Where the heck did that come from?Babs Gladhandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05120612577936100239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21863196.post-41190117320592700492008-01-18T17:18:00.000-06:002008-01-18T17:18:00.000-06:00Oh, Philly, you're so mired in rationality. What a...Oh, Philly, you're so mired in rationality. What are you, an atheist or something?<BR/><BR/>Most states nowadays include requirements for the teaching of world literature in a middle- or high-school subject called "English."The Exterminatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14452054124550486048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21863196.post-24613454141981800522008-01-18T08:51:00.000-06:002008-01-18T08:51:00.000-06:00The choices might be fine, but I'm sure the way th...The choices might be fine, but I'm sure the way they were taught must of sucked, with everything put into some sort of biblical context. Still, Poe? Surprising. Well, I suppose something like The Tell Tale Heart would be a morality story.<BR/><BR/>As for Euro-centric, the course is called "English", is it not? It's not called "Literature". Technically anything not written natively in English should be a bonus and not expected. As such, I can't remember anything I read in high school or middle school that wasn't from Europe or America. In my high school, they had a good amount of AP classes available so junior and senior year would have been for AP American Lit and AP Brit Lit. I went contemporary lit and got to read the fun stuff like The Shining, Slaughterhouse 5, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. <BR/><BR/>It would be nice if kids were exposed to more world lit. That's probably hoping for too much.PhillyChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03355892225956705948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21863196.post-41413733648965671842008-01-18T08:17:00.000-06:002008-01-18T08:17:00.000-06:00I think whoever developed the curriculum had a bac...I think whoever developed the curriculum had a background in English and cares more about the quality of work, as long as it doesn't conflict with the dogma being taught. Certainly the ignorance isn't as profound as it is in say, Science or History.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09429263099197981481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21863196.post-22664603035087635832008-01-18T07:23:00.000-06:002008-01-18T07:23:00.000-06:00Tolstoy and Thurber? In 'christian' education? I...Tolstoy and Thurber? In 'christian' education? I thought that Lenin and Stalin (cue the bad organ music for the atheist bugaboo) venerated Tolstoy (or at least held him up as a moral force more acceptable than the bible)? And Thurber? What I remember of Thurber was sarcasm, making fun of his mother, and really cool minimalist cartoons. These two authors struck me as, well, jarring.<BR/><BR/>I remember reading Silas Marner (we called it Sillyass Marner), Julius Caesar, The Scarlet Letter and Clemons (among others) in a public school. I would think that the fact that these writers are used in (godless) public schools would automatically disqualify them.<BR/><BR/>Oh well. Just a few thoughts.-********The (Parenthetical) Atheisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07724096266805744174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21863196.post-10348891849869262952008-01-18T02:36:00.000-06:002008-01-18T02:36:00.000-06:00Long comment coming. Sorry.The Euro-Centric curric...Long comment coming. Sorry.<BR/><BR/>The Euro-Centric curriculum reminds me of what we studied in public school back in the 60s. Mine was worse than Euro-Centric; it was Anglo-Centric with a few oddities thrown in. I think I read pretty much the same authors and works throughout high school as <I>A Beka Book</I> students do. We had Dostoevsky instead of Tolstoy, though -- good choice! The Odyssey instead of Hugo -- good choice! and various second and third-rate American playwrights with a political axe to grind (Lillian Hellman/Arthur Miller/Thornton Wilder) instead of Goethe -- outrageously bad choice! We also "did" lots of pomes (as we called them in New York City), mostly, if I remember correctly, by Emily Dickinson, whom I hate to this very day, and Whitman, Whitman, Whitman, Whitman, whom I still think is an egomaniacal pain-in-the-ass.<BR/><BR/>While the Beka curriculum is religiously oriented, mine was definitely inspired by the local schoolboard's desire to please working class left-liberal parents. The Beka course's propaganda subject is Christ's legacy; ours was Roosevelt's legacy. I think I'd have to compare specifics to see which one was more offensive.<BR/><BR/>In any case, I think it's commendable that this course doesn't resort to "Young Adult" novels, or graphic novels, or condescending units on "Authors of Color" or "Immigrant Voices," or "Literary Ladies" or "Thoughts from the East." Nothing against any of that stuff in principle, but far too many teachers give teens that kind of material to read (mostly short stories about being victimized or free-verse poetry about the weather) because it's impossible for many high-school students to get through <I>Huckleberry Finn</I> or <I>Great Expectations</I> or even <I>A Catcher in the Rye</I>. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, although the descriptions are ridiculous and offensive, and the anti-Darwin diatribe is odious, those are just advertisiting copy. I don't find much wrong with the lists of books mentioned. Of course, one wonders what else is shoveled at the students. For instance, how come, aside from the two additional readings, no specific literary works or authors are included for 12th grade? <BR/><BR/>And, really, who the hell reads Whittier any more?The Exterminatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14452054124550486048noreply@blogger.com