The ever generous Beth Fedyn sent me an ARC of David Denby’s Lit Up. David Denby, movie reviewer for The New Yorker, spent a year observing how reading is taught to high school students, mostly 10th graders. Denby hung out at the Beacon school in Manhattan, the James Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Conn., and the Mamaronneck High School in Westchester. As anyone in the teaching profession can tell you, this upcoming generation of students would rather fiddle with their cell phones and tablets than read a book. Denby’s book shows how teachers are reaching some of these kids and turning them on to reading despite their short attention spans and lack of focus. This book also gives the casual reader some insights into what is happening in classrooms and the problems teachers and students have with the learning process today. If you’re interested in reading, teaching, and learning you’ll be fascinated by Lit Up. Beth, thanks again for sending this wonderful book my way! You’re the best! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION XIII
CHAPTER ONE
BEACON, SEPTEMBER: THE FIRST DAYS OF ENGLISH 10G 1
CHAPTER TWO
BEACON, OCTOBER: FAULKNER AND HAWTHORNE 12
CHAPTER THREE
BEACON, OCTOBER: SYLVIA PLATH AND CONFESSIONS 29
CHAPTER FOUR
BEACON, NOVEMBER: NUTS MATTER, AND BOLTS, TOO 35
CHAPTER FIVE
BEACON, NOVEMBER: HUXLEY 44
CHAPTER SIX
BEACON, DECEMBER AND JANUARY: ORWELL 63
CHAPTER SEVEN
MAMARONECK, ALL YEAR: PERSONAL CHOICE 78
CHAPTER EIGHT
BEACON, JANUARY: SATIRE 97
CHAPTER NINE
BEACON, FEBRUARY: COELHO AND HESSE 107
CHAPTER TEN
BEACON, FEBRUARY: VONNEGUT 120
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BEACON, MARCH: VIKTOR E. FRANKL 131
CHAPTER TWELVE
HILLHOUSE: THE YEAR 144
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MAMARONECK, SPRING: TENTH-GRADE ENGLISH 178
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
BEACON, APRIL AND MAY: DOSTOEVSKY 184
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
BEACON, MAY AND JUNE: SARTRE AND BECKETT 203
AFTERWORD 222
Appendix 1: Reading Lists 239
Appendix 2: Beacon Students’ College List 242
Bibliography 244
Acknowledgments 248
Index of Authors and Works 251
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Denby was my favorite movie reviewer at NEW YORK magazine in the years I read that, and I enjoyed his GREAT BOOKS a lot, so I will definitely check this one out.
There is quite the difference between the books Beth sends you and the paranormal romance books she sends Jackie!
Jeff, Beth knows our tastes in books! Denby’s GREAT BOOKS was a great book, too. I’ve read all of Denby’s books. He can tell a riveting tale.
You start out saying ” spent a year observing how reading is taught to high school students, mostly 10th graders” so I certainly hope what you mean is what we called English, such as Freshman English with it’s list of books and poetry, as well as report writing basics, grammar, etc. Sophomore English, with a different list of books and poetry, more grammar, lots of book reports and analysis, etc. I’d certainly expect a high school sophomore (i.e. 10th grade) to be able to read.
I don’t understand why students are allowed to fool with or use their electronic devices, except school-provided laptops, at all during class. Don’t say it’s personal freedom, this is a classroom!. Sometimes I think we’re fast becoming an illiterate society, as each generation passes on.
Rick, you would be astounded at the lack of reading ability of High School Students. One of the big problems the teachers in LIT UP faced was stopping students from using SPARK NOTES to do their homework instead of actually reading the books. Many students just opted to cheat rather than read.
* * * S I G H * * *
I have to confess I did that too – 55 years ago when we were assigned to read totally irrelevant and boring books …
We had an old Catholic teacher in the Gymnasium for “German” and some of the authors he preferred were really strange for an a-religious person like me …
And he also was almost a fascist, extremely conservative and prejudiced – oh how happy we all were when we got a new, younger teacher …
Wolf, teachers can make all the difference in the world. But in America, “learning systems” and COMMON CORE curriculum are all the rage.