Reading both "Is the Literary Canon Still Racist and Sexist?" and "The Literary Canon—What Books Should Be Required Reading?" gave me two different perspectives about what kinds of books students should be reading today. "Is the Literary Canon Still Racist and Sexist?" was from the point of view of a teacher and I find this very important. This article stressed the need to not only provide students with the "classics" but also a variety of different kinds of texts. "It is possible to change the canon and, in the meantime, it is possible to change the way students look at the canon. Slowly but surely, teachers and students are chipping away at it and adding books that better represent the diversity of our nation and our classrooms." In "The Literary Canon—What Books Should Be Required Reading?" the question is raised if we are going too far with adding more texts to the canon. "Is the loss of the historical perspective gained by reading the classics detrimental to one’s liberal arts education?" This is a new idea that I hadn't considered because I've been mainly focusing on the lack of diversity in the canons. This brings up a point that I agree with, that it is important to keep authors like Shakespeare and Milton and famous works like Greek classics and the BIble in the Canon because these are the texts that helped shape the texts that are written today. It is very important for students to learn about the writing that influenced what our culture is today.
However, in my opinion, I think the canon should be expanded upon and should include works from a more recent era as well. Reading only texts from "dead European guys" is not always effective in teaching students what they need to know in school. By reading books about more recent times, students can be more engaged and can relate more to the topic being taught. I think my high school, for example, did a great job of incorporating classic literature along with novels from more recent times. They required that we read classics like Canterbury Tales, The Great Gatsby, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and The Odyssey while also integrating into the curriculum books like Anthem, The Joy Luck Club, Catcher in the Rye, The Bluest Eye, and A Separate Peace. I think this is one of the most effective ways to teach English classes because it taught us different periods of history, different ways of wrting, and how similar the themes could be even with such a large time gap.
In my own Canon, I am considering using the following:
Grey's Anatomy
My Sister's Keeper
The Invisible War
Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
SIlver Lining's Playbook
The Great Gatsby
The Story - Brandi Carlile
Things Fall Apart
The Notebook
Handle With Care
500 Days of Summer
12 Years a Slave
Catcher in the Rye
Macbeth
The Truman Show
The Bible
Half of My Heart - John Mayer
The Help
However, in my opinion, I think the canon should be expanded upon and should include works from a more recent era as well. Reading only texts from "dead European guys" is not always effective in teaching students what they need to know in school. By reading books about more recent times, students can be more engaged and can relate more to the topic being taught. I think my high school, for example, did a great job of incorporating classic literature along with novels from more recent times. They required that we read classics like Canterbury Tales, The Great Gatsby, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and The Odyssey while also integrating into the curriculum books like Anthem, The Joy Luck Club, Catcher in the Rye, The Bluest Eye, and A Separate Peace. I think this is one of the most effective ways to teach English classes because it taught us different periods of history, different ways of wrting, and how similar the themes could be even with such a large time gap.
In my own Canon, I am considering using the following:
Grey's Anatomy
My Sister's Keeper
The Invisible War
Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
SIlver Lining's Playbook
The Great Gatsby
The Story - Brandi Carlile
Things Fall Apart
The Notebook
Handle With Care
500 Days of Summer
12 Years a Slave
Catcher in the Rye
Macbeth
The Truman Show
The Bible
Half of My Heart - John Mayer
The Help