If you were an english teacher. what would be required reading in your class?

for that would have to be

catcher in the rye

Watchmen

Zombie survival guide

WWZ

Harry Potter

Who goes there?

At the mountains of madness

A scanner darkly

Every Dr. Seuss book.

EDIT: Oh and Where The Wild Things Are.

For a high school level class:

World War Z
Huck Finn
1984
And some other stuff.

Assuming High School level:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Divine Comedy
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Bram Stoker's Dracula

Others... but I cannot recall right now.

I'd most likely be a mean teacher.. so.. first semester would be an in depth analysis of atlas shrugged.. and the second would be an analysis on Snooki - A Shore Thingimaps3fanboy

Probably the book Hitler wrote while serving time.

Probably the book Hitler wrote while serving time.

sherman-tank1

You forgot lord of the flies...

Oops, I misread thread title. Probably the longest single story book I can find...:P

[QUOTE="sherman-tank1"]

Probably the book Hitler wrote while serving time.

22Toothpicks

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

The Hobbit by Tolkien

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradburn

Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal

It depends on the type of class, really. I guess Hamlet (you just have to) among a couple other works of Shakespeare, To Kill a Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451 or Brave New World, Catch-22, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Of Mice and Men, etc.

If I had a choice, it would have to be something along:

Fast Food Nation (Along with the Jungle), The Overachievers, Tale of Two Cities, The Once and Future King, The Divine Comedy, Crime and Punishment, Rebecca, Frankenstein, and a few others that don't quite come to mind at the moment.

My basis for these are books that both me and my fellow classmates have enjoyed the most and works I believe that have a strong message/themes/etc. Sadly, if I do end up becoming an English teacher (and i very much want to) I wouldn't have the liberty to choose =(

I would never make anything required reading. All I'd set for guidelines is that it has to be a novel, and it has to be at your reading level (so no kiddie books in highschool). Reading is only pleasurable when you can read what you want. If you're forced to read boring things in your youth, you'll hate reading in adulthood because you'll feel that it's boring. I'd allow as much freedom as possible to each student when choosing books to read to ensure they actually get something out of the novel.XilePrincess

How can you instruct a classroom if everyone reads different material? You need some required books in order to base lessons and analyses off of, no?

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, Crime and Punishment( would love to teach a class based around Dostoevsky's work), The Picture of Dorian Gray, Cosmos and/or A Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan, Slaughterhouse Five, etc.

for that would have to be

catcher in the rye

Watchmen

Zombie survival guide

WWZ

Harry Potter

Who goes there?

At the mountains of madness

A scanner darkly

legend26

The Great Gatsby

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Catcher in the Rye

The Hobbit

Pride and Prejudice

The Stranger - Albert Camusspazzx625

The Tempest

The complete works of Tolstoy

Animal Farm

The Count of Monte Cristo

ATale of Two Cities

And if I'm feeling really mean,The Gormenghast Trilogy, with full analysis of the characters and the castle itself.

Oh, and to lighten things up a bit, both of Billy Connolly's biography.

That would depend on what grade I'm teaching and what the government requires. Obviously, having your 2nd Grade english class read 1984 wouldn't be a very good idea. I'd like my class though to read Of Mice and Men, Catch 22, 1984, The Grapes of Rath, To Kill A Mockingbird, Flowers for Algernon, etc. And if I was to get into teaching, I'd be a history or social studies teacher.

For an A Level cIass (16 - 18 year olds)

Jerome K. Jerome's 'Three Men In A Boat',

Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing',

Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' (I did this book at A Level and it's an awesome novel to study).

Malorie Blackman's 'Boys Don't Cry',

Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre',

Michael Crichton's 'Jurassic Park' or maybe 'Next'.

For an A Level cIass (16 - 18 year olds)

Jerome K. Jerome's 'Three Men In A Boat',

Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing',

Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' (I did this book at A Level and it's an awesome novel to study).

Malorie Blackman's 'Boys Don't Cry',

Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre',

Michael Crichton's 'Jurassic Park' or maybe 'Next'.

MissLibrarian

None, reading is boring and the students wouldn't enjoy it. You shoudln't force someone read what you think is a good book as they probably won't enjoy it if they're forced to.

Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' (I did this book at A Level and it's an awesome novel to study).

MissLibrarian

Yessss. Someone knows about this awesome book.

I'd like to also add Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka.

None, reading is boring and the students wouldn't enjoy it. You shoudln't force someone read what you think is a good book as they probably won't enjoy it if they're forced to.

StealthMonkey4

I thought Jurassic Park was a terrible book :?parkurtommo

The Grapes of Wrath -Animal Farm -1984 -The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -Fahrenheit 451 -Of Mice and Men.LZ71

Depending on the students I might've chosen Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road' instead. MissLibrarian

The Dictionary. Every freaking page.

Yessss. Someone knows about this awesome book.mrmusicman247

[QUOTE="StealthMonkey4"]

None, reading is boring and the students wouldn't enjoy it. You shoudln't force someone read what you think is a good book as they probably won't enjoy it if they're forced to.

spazzx625

I'm being serious. Books are outdated and pointless and forcing uninterested students in reading a book they don't care about is just dumb.

[QUOTE="spazzx625"][QUOTE="StealthMonkey4"]

None, reading is boring and the students wouldn't enjoy it. You shoudln't force someone read what you think is a good book as they probably won't enjoy it if they're forced to.

StealthMonkey4

I'm being serious. Books are outdated and pointless and forcing uninterested students in reading a book they don't care about is just dumb.