Envision yourself as an English teacher in high school (or whatever it is in the British system). Were you to wish all incoming students had read just one book, what would it be? U.S. high school teachers were surveyed, and 90% agreed on the book.

It may just be a no-brainer for most of you.

Wow Kalleh - this is a hard one! I can't wait to hear what folks say! I can't decide!

I read the article too, so it wouldn't be fair for me to answer. But CW (and others)? Put down your thoughts.

Catcher in the Rye?
1984?
Animal Farm?
To Kill a Mockingbird?

These are just guesses... I'm old and out of the loop, except I know what my children had to read.

I'd guess at Catcher in the Rye as well. To the others on KHC's list I'd add Catch 22.

Coming in to high school it'd have to be something junior: some introduction to the joy of reading or language. The only young, universal work fitting that that I can think of is Alice in Wonderland.

It depends what you mean by important.

Even as an atheist I'd say the most important book interms of the development of the language was William Tyndale's Bible as it stimulated an interest in reading among ordinary people and if the church had been 100% successful in stopping it (they wanted the Bible to remain in Latin) the development of English might have been set back a very long way.

If the question is what would I most like the new students to have read then the answer is "as much as pssible" but if it has to be only one book I'm a bit stuck. Maybe Animal Farm as the book has a social dimension as well as a literary one.

Of course Alice in Wonderland is my own favourite but I don't consider it especially important.

In terms of usefulness a dictionary or encyclopedia is most iomportant but I certainly wouldn't expect anyone to have read either.

In short, I have no idea.

Since it's a US survey I would guess it's a US book. So what are the US classics? Tom Sawyer, maybe?

Otherwise I'm as clueless as the rest.

I will let a few other people express their opinions before I will say what 90% of the teachers said.

Kalleh, you've posted 7777 times! Lucky! Congratulations!

Still no idea what the most important book would be. The Bible, perhaps? The Dictionary?

I have thought about this all day... and now tend to think that Richard is correct... The Bible.

Perhaps we are all way off-base... Tell us the answer soon!

This book deserves at least to be mentioned in this discussion.

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If the question is what would I most like the new students to have read then the answer is "as much as pssible"

This is what made my own conjectures so difficult. To say just one book is nearly impossible!

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This book deserves at least to be mentioned in this discussion.

Now had I posted that link I would have had my knuckles verbally rapped for being anti-American

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Originally posted by Richard English:

Now had I posted that link I would have had my knuckles verbally rapped for being anti-American

Not by me you wouldn't!

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
Envision yourself as an English teacher in high school (or whatever it is in the British system). Were you to wish all incoming students had read just one book, what would it be? U.S. high school teachers were surveyed, and 90% agreed on the book.

It may just be a no-brainer for most of you.

Most of the ones I would recommend have already been suggested, but Lord of the Flies by William Golding would be high on my list.

Sorry for the delay.

Our 2 librarians got it...which is how it it should be...the book is the Bible, not a U.S. book, Richard!

According to the article there are countless biblical references in poems, novels, and speeches. College professors say that students now seem perplexed about Noah and the ark or even Moses! One teacher gave up using Charles Portis's novel "True Grit" because of its many biblical allusions.

I am sure I wouldn't have guessed the Bible, but it makes perfect sense.

And I bet very few people, including the teachers, have read the entire Bible.

Tinman

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Originally posted by Dianthus:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by tinman:
And I bet very few people, including the teachers, have read the entire Bible.

Tinman

I have - twice . I must admit to skim-reading all those long lists in Numbers though. They were very hard going indeed .

I bet even fewer people have read the Apocrypha. That's absolutely fascinating. I got started on that because of a couple of paintings of Judith and Holofernes. One by Artemesia Gentileschi and the other by one of the Pre-Raphaelites (but I can't find a depiction of that because I can't remember which artist painted it).

Being a singer, I've also sung Handel's Judas Maccabaeus and couldn't find that in the Bible either.

I wanted to find out the histories behind these depictions, so I bought myself a bible which contained the Apocrypha and found all sorts of interesting stories in it - including the story of the Maccabean uprisings.

The Bible is, I understand, the world's best-selling book - but I doubt that many people read it cover to cover.

And how would Muslims feel about reading it at all? And Jews feel about reading the New Testament? And Hindus, Bhuddists and so on feel about the idea of being forced to read about a belief that they don't hold?

I believe it is a bad choice, even in a predominently Christian country.

I kind of agree RE, although the OT wouldn't be alien to Muslims as Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all Abrahamic religions. Nor the NT I suppose, because Jesus is considered another prophet like Mohammed (PBUH), just not the Son of God.

Looking at it culturally, rather than religiously, it's true that it'd help students if they could recognise and understand Biblical references in other works, as much of Western literature (particularly from the times when Christianity had more of a hold) is peppered with them.

It's not the easiest book to read though (not least because it's full of contradictions, but that's another debate!). I've had a go a couple of times, and I don't like most of the translations I've looked at; I'd go as far as to say that some of them are what I consider to be bad English and actually unpleasant to read.

Not that that last sentence was the greatest example of written English ever.

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According to the article there are countless biblical references in poems, novels, and speeches

That's true. Someone on the Junior Wordcraft site asked about the origin of the phrase a rose among the thorns. See the thread there. After some Googling I found, somewhat to my surprise, that it comes from Song of Solomon 2:2.

The texts of the bible and Shakespeare are the origins of a great many English phrases and idioms that are taken for granted by most English speakers.

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The texts of the bible and Shakespeare are the origins of a great many English phrases and idioms that are taken for granted by most English speakers.

This is very true. And since there are no Scots on this board (or if there are, they've been very quiet) I will point out that Robbie Burns, in his short and hectic life, also introduced a tidy number of phrases into the language.

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And I bet very few people, including the teachers, have read the entire Bible.

You don't have to. I think the Pentateuch, Kings, Chronicles, Daniel, the famous Psalms, Job, the four Gospels + Acts and Revelations should cover about 95% of literary references.

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Originally posted by neveu:

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And I bet very few people, including the teachers, have read the entire Bible.

You don't have to. I think the Pentateuch, Kings, Chronicles, Daniel, the famous Psalms, Job, the four Gospels + Acts and Revelations should cover about 95% of literary references.

The original question was "Were you to wish all incoming students had read just one book, what would it be?" Reading just the parts you mentioned does not constitute reading one book, unless, of course, you count each book of the bible.

Tinman

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Originally posted by Dianthus:
- including the story of the Maccabean uprisings.

I had never heard of the Maccabees until I heard this song .

Tinman

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I had never heard of the Maccabees until I heard this song.

Tinman

I like that, thanks . Here is a site which tells you all about Judas Maccabeus by Handel (with a background clip of the most famous piece from it - which you'll probably know immediately when you hear it !).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dianthus,

Not being Christian myself, I too questioned the Bible as the one book that kids should have read. Yet, when I think about it, reading the Bible is education, not having a religious agenda. I want myself, my kids and my students to be well-educated. Therefore, I can certainly see it as a legitimate choice, though I agree that you'd not have to read every word. I couldn't find the original editorial in the Chicago Tribune, but I did find this take-off on in from an Indiana newspaper.

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The original question was "Were you to wish all incoming students had read just one book, what would it be?" Reading just the parts you mentioned does not constitute reading one book, unless, of course, you count each book of the bible.

My point was simply that if cultural literacy is your goal then reading the books I listed would suffice.

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The texts of the bible and Shakespeare...

And Shakespeare alluded to the bible on occasion! See Hamlet, for instance: "Oh, Jephthah....."

The Bible is certainly an important book and it is true that there are many biblical references in all kinds of modern activities. My worry is when it is taught too literally.

As we now know, it is riddled with inaccuracies and half-truths and to suggest that the people who wrote it were infallible "as they were guided by God" is, I believe, as best a very sketchy hypothesis.

If St Paul were to step into any one of our hosues today, he wouldn't even recognise the functions of 90% of the things he encountered, let alone how to use them. To suggest that such a man's writings can be considered more than just outline good principles for living in today's society (as all too many do) is dangerous in the extreme.

As an English teacher I can confirm that The Bible is indeed crucial to a proper understanding of literature. Oddly enough, this topic just came up on Wordcraft Junior - weird. I've never read the entire Bible and I'm certainly not a card carrying Christian yet many of my students sometimes think I must be a religious nut because I am always referring to aspects of the Bible when interpreting various literary texts.

My religious education when I was a child was poor, at best. Even though I am Jewish now, I was raised a Catholic. My Sunday school focused on the Catechism where we memorized things like, "Where is God?" "God is everywhere." I don't know if other Catholics study the Bible, but we sure didn't. Definitely I noticed the lack of bibilical education when I was reading literature. I have caught up mostly now, but every once in awhile some biblical reference will be used that I don't know.

It was my own personal experience that made me understand why English teachers think having read Bible is an asset for understanding literature...no matter what your religion.