What are we reading for?

In starting to think about developing my own English classes and curricula, I have recently been putting more and more thought into what types of books I would include in my list of required reading.  Until recently, I had been basing most of my perspective reading choices on books that I, myself have enjoyed reading, and therefore I want to teach it in my class. As an English major, I appreciate classic novels that perhaps are no longer exactly relevant to today's world any longer.  However, just because they are classics does not give these books enough credit to actually be taught in the classroom. There has to be a better reason for getting students to read these books. 

Chapter 8 in Deeper Reading looks at addressing why we read certain texts to students. It is not enough to merely tell students "we are reading this book because it is a classic, and everyone needs to read this book!" Like students, we as teachers have to address why everyone needs to read the books we are teaching. Gallagher looks at the case for 1984, which just so happens to be one of my favourite novels.  Yes, it is an older novel, having been written in the 1949. However, many of the themes in the novel are relevant and satisfy several cross-curricular competencies, drawing in social studies elements from the elements of propaganda and totalitarian society in the novel.  The key here is to ensure that if we DO indeed decide to teach a novel like 1984 in our classrooms, we need to be sure we correctly frame the texts in a relevant way with students.  It has to resonate in a tangible and relevant way with students if we expect them to adequately understand the themes and message that the author was intending to get across. If we do not do this, then there is no point in teaching these older classics. As well, students will have much less chance of developing an appreciation for classic works, similar to mine.

I wrote our recent iSearch assignment on books I felt are truly life changing and great for students to be reading at the high school level. The assignment made me challenge the reasoning behind my novel selections at the high school level. The books I used in my assignment were not classics by any means, but they all portray essential life lessons in an engaging and effective way. I think that's more in line with what English class should be all about.