tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464382918796251124.post6568977471353625064..comments2021-05-16T13:41:12.015-04:00Comments on The Chaos Beast: The Problem with High School EnglishScott Delahunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735796666483741699noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464382918796251124.post-72829457459720876012013-07-24T23:00:21.130-04:002013-07-24T23:00:21.130-04:00I got the book in three different schools - Grade ...I got the book in three different schools - Grade 8 (IIRC), Grade 10 (twice, one was summer school), and I may have seen it again in Grade 11. I did "writing" that I didn't think off as writing - it was for a hobby, therefore it didn't count.<br /><br />English, for me, was Grade 8 repeated all through high school. Very little changed year to year. Structure came from other classes. Hidden meanings weren't hidden; "Lord of the Flies" was a tedious exercise of finding symbols, something I really didn't care about. I didn't want to find out about people here on Earth. There were worlds out there with far more interesting tales. I didn't want to read a plodding story about archetypes/stereotypes of characters I didn't care about. And, given how I felt about English, going pro was the last thing on my mind. Seventy-five minutes of tedium. Given that almost all the books assigned to be read in class were dry, filled with dull characters who did next to nothing, I had no reason to read anything for class.<br /><br />Fortunately, I did keep reading, mainly because I ignored the assignments.<br /><br />Today, no idea. I haven't heard anything from actual students or parents of students on reading material, except that "Hunger Games" is in use for the non-university track and a Dickens book for the U level. I still question the purpose of English class; why it's mandatory, why a heavy focus on destroying reading as a pleasurable pastime. I'd like to know if things have changed.Scott Delahunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06735796666483741699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464382918796251124.post-79936854212784875472013-07-23T11:05:51.021-04:002013-07-23T11:05:51.021-04:00Sorry to hear about the turn-off; it does kind of ...Sorry to hear about the turn-off; it does kind of baffle me that you got the same book so often. I'd have thought there were checkpoints or alternatives for that. I do see a key difference between us though - I kept English writing as a separate entity from recreational writing.<br /><br />I've kept journals all through my life. Very much off-and-on, but I've stumbled into diaries I kept in first year of high school. (Oh, look at that, I didn't fit in back then either...) Probably the sort of thing that you couldn't really tap into on account of the injury. But it was a way to express myself separate from class. I also did some other forms of "recreational" writing, like writing reviews for the first few "Trek: Voyager" episodes or creating the "Knight Rider Drinking Game" (I think that was in University?).<br /><br />English class was for proper structure, and delving into hidden meanings and things of that nature. Basically the stuff if you wanted to be a pro; I had no designs on that. But then, I wasn't bad at it either, and could memorize Shakespearean passages with the best of them. I like predictability. So... maybe the system was designed for people like me? I don't know. I do recall that in senior year, we were told to do a book report on 'Any book you like, subject to approval', and I totally froze up. I had to ask the teacher for a recommendation, because while I read tons, I didn't think any of my choices were "the right sort of book" for English class.<br /><br />Now, is that what things are like TODAY? I don't know. I grant that most of my own experience with English teaching comes from being a student, which is a very poor benchmark. (Everyone thinks they know education because they were a student - yet, go figure, fewer people think they are medical experts because they've been a patient.) Suppose I can always check with the upstairs crowd in September.Gregory Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06547180132612659893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464382918796251124.post-15323008359497360092013-07-03T22:25:51.734-04:002013-07-03T22:25:51.734-04:00I had Shakespeare each grade from 9 through 12. I...I had Shakespeare each grade from 9 through 12. I also wound up leaving space open in my last semester of grade 13 in case I failed grade 12 English in the first semester. (I didn't, thus got a spare.)<br /><br />I never had the option of a different version of English class; it was always the overall course. And, yes, I ignored assignments, like first drafts, like poetry, like book reports on the books I read, like adding to my writing folder (emptiest folder ever). I was in the class because the class was mandatory. Didn't mean I had to expend effort.Scott Delahunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06735796666483741699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464382918796251124.post-61181206131896573602013-07-02T22:58:42.373-04:002013-07-02T22:58:42.373-04:00I know there were a few times I was supposed to re...I know there were a few times I was supposed to read Shakespeare, but I honestly never did. I faked it and bluffed my way through quite a few times. I remember I ended up taking 9th and 10th grade English during my 10th grade year. <br /><br />I did take creative writing, but struggled due to disagreements between myself and what the teacher felt was "real" writing. I ended up passing, but only because I spun a lot of bullshit. I maybe handed in half the assignments I was supposed to.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464382918796251124.post-932010403840643672013-07-02T22:20:20.912-04:002013-07-02T22:20:20.912-04:00I failed grade 10 and managed to fail grade 11 twi...I failed grade 10 and managed to fail grade 11 twice for the same reasons. I didn't bother with the homework, didn't submit any creative writing to my work folder, didn't care about the class to bother to participate. I was there because the province said I had to be there. I didn't even have the chance to choose what to study, either.<br /><br />I do remember reading Bradbury "A Sound of Thunder" and answering questions about it, but that was a rare moment. I think Poe's "A Cask of Amontillado" also came up, because I remember making the connection between it and the wine in the old TSR Top Secret module "Operation: Sprechenhaltestelle". Beyond that, all the poetry, all the short stories are long forgotten.<br />Scott Delahunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06735796666483741699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464382918796251124.post-15686404741216167942013-07-02T21:30:52.857-04:002013-07-02T21:30:52.857-04:00High school was rough for me when it came to Engli...High school was rough for me when it came to English also. I had no desire to write essays on boring crap other people wrote. I had ideas that I wanted to tell. I ended up failing Ninth grade due to just not giving a crap and not doing homework. Was just a few points shy of passing a few classes. I think I did pass one or two because I still managed to finish everything in four years, but had to double up some classes. <br /><br />I hated everything we read in every English class except the year my 10th grade English teacher let the class vote on a book and we picked the first Dragonlance book. Which I happily re-read and even helped create questions for homework assignments.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464382918796251124.post-62171081132526116162013-07-02T19:17:12.468-04:002013-07-02T19:17:12.468-04:00No arguments about how broken the teaching is. Th...No arguments about how broken the teaching is. There was nothing in English class that I didn't learn in other courses. As for "Lord of the Flies", different locations. First was in Grade 8, then in Grade 10 summer school, then again in Grade 11, at three different schools in the city. I'm aware there are people who like the book. For me, it was an exercise in tedium. I later found out that hte book won an award. I now count that award as being a warning sign.Scott Delahunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06735796666483741699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464382918796251124.post-6025355047051835692013-07-02T18:51:45.885-04:002013-07-02T18:51:45.885-04:00The way we teach reading, or specifically literatu...The way we teach reading, or specifically literature, is completely broken. Just on a basic logistical level: how the heck do you get stuck with "Lord of the Flies" three times in a row in different grades!?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com