Thread: What books should an English Literature teacher know best?

I'm currently studying towards an English Lit degree with a view to becoming a teacher of that subject. I intend to work with teenagers in further education colleges at GCSE / A-Level standard. (UK qualifications) I will hopefully be qualified in the next three years. I will obviously be studying Shakespeare, who I love, but what do other members think the key texts that English teachers should know to properly instruct their students and have a good grasp of the area themselves?

This should include drama and poetry as well as prose fiction....

Hi Paul

I can't answer your question in detail, though I do know Faulks' Birdsong is on the A-Level syllabus in schools.

I'm sure you would be able to find reading lists and such like if you scour the appropriate websites.

Scott.

Best basic manual for the understanding of poetry is How Does a Poem Mean? by John Ciardi.

No Eng Lit background can be said to be rounded out without an intimate and working knowledge of the famous Australian Outback poem McArthur’s Fart.

Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky would be my first guesses.

If you want to keep your students interested teach Twilight or Harry Potter or the like. If you stick with 'literature' you will find yourself restiricted to a small group of academics.

I agree with BoredMormon, if you want to keep students engaged and be able to identify with them you need to read what they are reading. Ive read almost everything by Jane Austen and Tolstoy but I don't recall ever discussing these pieces of literature with anyone... ever. I have on the other hand had countless conversations about Kim Harrison, Kelley Armstrong and even Stephanie Meyer. So if you enjoy the classics by all means read them but my advice would be to read a little of everything. IMHO

I know I would tune right out if someone wanted to teach me and used Harry Potter and Twilight as references. It would feel, to me, like they were stooping to appeal to what perceived to be modern tastes. I think I'd resent it and honestly prefer to be taught "serious literature".

Obviously I'm not everyone, so maybe do as is suggested, but find something contemporary and 'edgy' that still has a little meat on its bones.
Maybe Ian McEwan or Cormac McCarthy. Something with a modern film adaption that is still, y'know, mildly challenging (no offence to Harry Potter fans).

Good ideas. Not overly sure about Harry Potter, but I appreciate the young people would expect me to be aware of them. Cormac McCarthy would be fantastic to teach. I remember studying Lord of the Flies and Adrian Mole at school. I wonder if they are still relevant. I doubt Adrian Mole is, but Lord of the Flies is timeless. George Orwell must be an obvious choice?

George Orwell is important, yes. But I'd follow that thought and delve into some of our more current authors that are also telling it as they see it.
Spare your students Dicken's Great Expectations. Oliver is much better. Or at least the movie was, lol.
To Kill A Mockingbird is worthy.
Lord of the Flies, well, you never, ever forget that book. A Handmaids Tale is another like that, or it was for me.
Billy Budd, please Gods no! And I read it twice, being in Italy with nothing else to read in English. It was not good the second time around either.

It's funny, but I did not read half of what I was supposed to, and I loved reading. I started Clan of the Cave Bear at fourteen and was into the thousands of pages of those works, as well as anything else I could get my hands on like those, but could hardly make it through A Tale of Two Cities. I groaned, I procrastinated, but I did finish it.

Edited to say there needs to be relevance I think. Give a good mix of then and now. Then maybe you'll get at least half the books read by them.

I am trying to recall the books I bought for my daughter's eighteenth birthday, I have always felt that literature was for expanding your perception rather than confirming your prejudices.
Graham Green, "Travels with my Aunt"
Louis DeBernier, "The war of Don Emanuell's nether parts"
Both, in different ways, mind expanders.

You speak of it being "Your" reading, but if you are looking for books to get young people reading C S Forester writes simple, clear English and good exciting stories, don't get stuck on the "Hornblower" series, Brown on resolution is an excellent novellette, there are stories about the Spanish Peninsular war that contain plenty of blood and thunder and "The Ship" is an excellent illustration of how an author can develop a story, it is the story of a Mediterranean action during WWII written after a day visit to a warship in Portsmouth harbour.

Alice in Wonderland is always rubbish when they try and make shortened "easy" versions and little girls almost always love the full version, so do a lot of boys.

I have been thinking about this, you asked which books the teacher should have a good grasp on, try "Frogs into princes" by Bandler and Grinder, it will show you how to engage them.

Originally Posted by garza

Best basic manual for the understanding of poetry is How Does a Poem Mean? by John Ciardi.

I agree with you as it is a good one to refer.

Thanks for all your ideas - I've added Frogs into Princes and How Does a Poem Mean to my Amazon wish list - I've also gone for some Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky to cover the classics side. I love Graham Greene and Cormac McCarthy, but I have some reservations around Ian McEwan. Can anyone recommend anything around plays / drama that would be suitable? Shakespeare is a given...

Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet if you want a masterclass in dialogue. Simply unbelievable. But do everyone a favour and show them the movie as well. "Brass balls, gentleman!"

That Tennessee Williams bloke is meant to be something, and I guess Beckett (but the wee chillun's eyelids might get heavy).

Brecht might be worth a shot if you're interested in the whole "what is a play?" angle, but that might be better saved for a drama class.