Galt's Gulch

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  • Posted by $ Mimi 11 years, 5 months ago
    Tony Morrison’s books have been on the reading list for most high schools since the mid-nineties. Oprah made her a household name and Ms. Morrison became the nobel laureate.
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    • Posted by CircuitGuy 11 years, 5 months ago
      Yes. I read Beloved in high school in '92.
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      • Posted by $ Mimi 11 years, 5 months ago
        How was the book, Beloved? I thought the movie was jarring and just all over the place with the theme. It was awful.
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        • Posted by khalling 11 years, 5 months ago
          As with all of her books, a major them is entrapment. Entrapment is played out in Beloved several ways. What disappointed me about the movie was a literal interpretation of Beloved as a ghost/demon/spirit. There was no need for a literary device of mysticism to bring the story to its crux. As well, slavery or the threat of it is not as key as self-entrapment, and the movie did not choose to focus on that.
          Finally, Toni Morrison was widely taught in University english classes before O had her reading list. She already enjoyed much acclaim in literary fiction circles and I believe it was well deserved. I can't stand her politics or when she speaks about political issues. She is divisive.
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          • Posted by CircuitGuy 11 years, 5 months ago
            I didn't finish the book b/c I got confused by the broken sentences and white space left at apparently random place in the text. I remember think, "I just want to know who is talking or thinking and what they're saying complete sentences." I think if I re-read it now, I'd get more out of it. I certainly got more out of Things Fall Apart when I read it a few years ago at 34 years of age.
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          • Posted by $ Mimi 11 years, 5 months ago
            Ah. I was troubled with the on-again-off-again appearances of spirits. It was too distracting. I’ll give the book a whirl. Lol, you don’t have to give me the lady’s credentials. I admit unreasonable bias about anyone who owes their overnight success to Oprah. I didn’t like O’s choice for President. *wink*
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      • Posted by $ Mimi 11 years, 5 months ago
        My kids had the option of reading “I know Why the Caged Bird Sing”. It was on their reading list, but I’m the one who read it.
        i dig her prose at times, but I feel the only reason she is anybody is because of Oprah. There is nothing spectacular about Morrison.
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        • Posted by khalling 11 years, 5 months ago
          wow. I thought you and I would agree on this one mimi. She is a very talented writer. and while I don't always appreciate her themes, I respect her ability to tell a good story. Beloved was one of the most finely crafted novels I've read.
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          • Posted by $ Mimi 11 years, 5 months ago
            ETA: I’m glad to hear the book was good. I thought there was the potential of a great story with the movie, but they lost the theme. I trust your opinion I will read it now.
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          • Posted by $ Mimi 11 years, 5 months ago
            Reread. I hadn’t read Beloved. The movie was awful and I was commenting on it. I have read 'why the cage bird sings' which was part of my kids reading list; it was good, but not worthy of the attention it was getting.
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  • Posted by $ Tap2Golf 11 years, 5 months ago
    I don't know the participants who are making this and other sellections for the reading list, but if I had kids that were going to be exposed to this, I would sure find out. Can't you think of a way to expose this at least in your local communities? I doubt if the principals, teachers and members of local school boards are all aware of the content of this book (and I suspect there are others similar). I love the tactic of sending them all a copy with a short cover pointed cover letter showing cc's to everyone. I mean everyone... Stick the POTUS on there, and legislators, and newspaper editors, etc, etc. This is utterly disgusting and certainly not appropriate for age 10, 11, 12 Idono what age it becomes appropriate to be shared in public school.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 11 years, 5 months ago
    It's hard to believe my 5 y/o will be reading this 11 years. I won't try to hide it from him, or my daughter who two years younger. They have to learn to think critically, proceeding logically from core axiom/values.

    In a few years (I think it's age 10 or 11) my kids' school will have them read an unexpurgated version of Gilgamesh, the oldest story known to humanity. They'll get to read about Gligamesh's successful plan to domesticate Enkidu by sending a prostitute to sleep with him.

    But you were babies just moment ago!?
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    • Posted by lmarrott 11 years, 5 months ago
      I just read that article as well. This common core stuff is garbage and needs to be gotten rid of.

      Luckily my kids are years away from this so hopefully it will be gone by then.
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      • Posted by Non_mooching_artist 11 years, 5 months ago
        We are currently in the process of visiting private schools, as we are disgusted by the school system. Common core is a flaming bag of dung.
        I recommend doing some research about the school system in your area. Find out if they have plans for incorporating Common Core. If so, find other options.
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        • Posted by lmarrott 11 years, 5 months ago
          Unfortunately I'm not in a financial position at this time to take my kids to private school. We found one we liked near my work, but will have to wait for now. Not very happy about that.
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          • Posted by khalling 11 years, 5 months ago
            check out the charter schools in your area. Some charters have great curriculums and the kids test higher than other schools.
            Personally, I believe by 11th grade, you can handle Toni Morrison. We would all recommend Atlas Shrug, would we not? I am more concerned with how the material is discussed in class. Morrison's stories all have strong themes that could be "coached" a certain way in the classroom. As a parent, I would be interested in reviewing the teaching material. But an 11th grader has lived with you long enough to develop their own opinion about novels. You have already "raised" them.
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            • Posted by lmarrott 11 years, 5 months ago
              We did look at one Charter School and it was a dump. Another one nearby was full, and we had heard good things about that one.

              As far as recommending Atlas Shrugged I would definitely recommend it to an 11th or 12th grader. Atlas Shrugged does have some sexual themes but nothing I think I would object to for a High School reading assignment.

              However the description of this book I think goes beyond some basic sexual themes to being pretty explicit as well as wrong. Not that reading things we disagree with shouldn't be done, but I'm not sure about High School students. Probably something I'd want to read before I let me kids read it.
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              • Posted by khalling 11 years, 5 months ago
                I understand your concerns. I ask that you go back in time and remember yourself as an 11th grader. think of your parents as 11th graders and then consider your child as an 11th grader. the US is hugely victorian about sex. it's dumb and ignorance can always be used against you. check out my profile quote. If an 11th grader is simply innocent, they will choose to engage or not engage with sexually explicit material in a book. Good parenting means open discussion regarding adult themes and a rational approach to things as old as time.
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                • Posted by lmarrott 11 years, 5 months ago
                  That's a damn good quote. I like it.

                  I think I also struggle with it a bit because my oldest is 8 and so in my mind they still need a lot of protection and guidance. However I may feel a lot difference by the time they are in High School.

                  If I compare to myself as an 11th grader then I think I may have been ok with it, my mom at that age, maybe, my dad at that age, definitely not. At least from stories I've heard about my parents.

                  I agree that many of these kinds of problems need to be addressed in the home. I went to this fair kind of thing in a park the week of the 4th and they had some games about the constitution. One of my favorite ones was a bean bag toss. The bottom hole was huge and labeled family. Then it went community, state, nation. And the holes go progressively smaller until the hole for nation was barely big enough for the bean bag. The idea was that like throwing a bean bag through a hole, problems are easier to solve, and should be, at the family level, and get harder as you go up.
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                  • Posted by khalling 11 years, 5 months ago
                    interesting sounding game. Your oldest is 8 and you'll have some time. and there is a difference between how you'll react (because there's a healthy dose of that) whether your 11 grader is a girl or boy.With some exceptions, I'll admit, but in one respect there is a drive to make sons into men but keep daughters girls, retard in some way the becoming of a woman. This is counter to many other cultures, and a little generalized, but I think quite true. Really what happens, is the more they know this is a goal, the less likely they are to open up to you with questions. Even parents who think their kids are discussing everything with them, are probably not. this is part of maturity. I liken this to the silly ritual of Santa Claus. They no longer believe (if ever) way before you find out. You didn't tell me?? lol
                    some Objectivist is going to give me crap about santa now-
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              • Posted by Non_mooching_artist 11 years, 5 months ago
                That's how I feel. Intimacy is completely different from the explicit descriptions in the excerpts provided in this article. I've read books I wasn't familiar with before giving them to my kids. I think AS and The Fountainhead would be absolutely perfect for HS students. I think they should be mandatory reading, quite frankly. They could help stem the tide of the entitlement attitude so prevalent in higher education.
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          • Posted by CircuitGuy 11 years, 5 months ago
            Did you fill out their aid forms? My understanding is they can usually knock a lot off tuition. I don't know the details, but I know people eligible for BadgerCare who use private schools.

            The people at school you like may share your concerns about the public schools and cut you a good deal.

            There's no problem quite like having your kids spend the day with someone you think is not a positive influence. I've been there.
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        • Posted by CircuitGuy 11 years, 5 months ago
          We are using Waldorf. At this age (5 y/o) they're doing mostly creative play. I will definitely stay on top of it. We are fortunate to have four choices of secular private school in Madison.
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    • Posted by Non_mooching_artist 11 years, 5 months ago
      I'm certainly no prude, and I despise the idea of limiting the access to books, but maybe at the college level, this would be a better age to be reading this. A maturity level really needs to be in place, otherwise it's just a bunch of teenage boys getting lewd. I know, I hear it when I pick my son up after practices.
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      • Posted by overmanwarrior 11 years, 5 months ago
        Sorry. That common core stuff is designed by idiots for the use of statism. Sexual randomness serves the chaos of the state. That is all they are after. I feel bad for parents who have to make the hard decision about public school these days.
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