Do kids still read 'Animal Farm' & '1984'?

[Philosoraptor]

When I was in jr. high, we were required to read '1984' and 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell. I was profoundly moved by '1984', and I realized even though it was written in 1948, it made me paranoid for most of my life. I always figured it was a great book for young people to read as a warning to us from our immediate elders, 'beware, lest this become your world'.

Are they still teaching this book to modern students? Should they be? Is it relevant? Are there real lessons and warnings in this book? Is it too far fetched? Could any of it happen here? Has it already?

I have watched much of it become fact with alarm, and sometimes I'm convinced that bushco has used it as a manual to achieve the exact same outcome. The similarities are frightening. bush is always reminding us of 'the lessons of September the eleventh', but I'm always remembering the lessons of the Nazis, the fascists, and the sombre lessons of George Orwell's '1984'.

I love Big Brother, and don't let anyone tell you different.

[LSK]

1. I read 1984 for the 1st time last year n/t

[tom_paine]

2. I would suspect that Loyal Bushies are working as hard as possible to suppress

those "liberal" books.

I would also guess, taken as a whole, fewer percentage of high-school students are made to read those books (don't forget 'Farenheit 451' and 'Brave New World', as lesser lights in that consciousness-raising pantheon), for the reason I stated above and others.

I suspect that even Loyal Bushies who don't understand WHY they don't like these books are operating from the "gut knowledge" that such books are threats to their budding freidnly-fascist oligarchy.

(but hell, most Loyal Bushies don't even know what an oligarchy IS, let alone be self-aware enough to even recognize that's the end their Fuherers are programming them to bring about)

[Philosoraptor]

4. 'Farenheit 451' and 'Brave New World'

Bradbury and Huxley. I read those too.

I'm still a bit shocked that 'things' have turned out like they have, and I'm starting to feel like a character in one of these books.

[tom_paine]

5. Starting to...? 'raptor I have felt that way almost since 12/12/2000

It's archive all the way back to my first thousand posts here at DU in 2001.

I remember speaking of the new and unpleasant Soviet Feeling or Orwellian Realities that were even then overtaking us like the frog in the slowly boiling water.

Part of me is shocked and part of me understands that every most free nation that ever were ended like ours...being captured by tyrants and stripped of it's freedoms so the tyrant could possess that phat and lucrative prize.

[Philosoraptor]

6. I'm a stranger in a strange, brave new world.

As a frog in boiling water, I'm about half cooked, but of course, it's too late and there's no escape.

[iamjoy]

11. You Forgot "The Jungle"

while the others were about a dystopian future, Upton Sinclair's book was a very real depiction of our past as well as the future we may have if enough Libertarians and Republicans get their way.

I think young people can learn to appreciate Liberalism and progressive values far more by reading depictions of every day life (for "ordinary" people) in the past rather than reading future worst case scenarios

[leftchick]

36. that is probably the most influential book of my junior high years

and sadly it seems we are heading full speed back wards as far as all of our safety nets are concerned. History repeats. :(

[TahitiNut]

21. Don't forget "Lord Of The Flies"

:shrug: Those FIVE books should be absolutely required reading, without exception, for every student BEFORE they're even allowed to graduate high school.

[blogslut]

3. Mine was required to read both books

That was about 4 years ago.

[grilled onions]

7. Also Have They Heard The Songs That Dealt With War Etc?

Songs Like In The Year 2525,War,Eve Of Destruction. We spent more time listening to the cryptic words of songs then we did "head bobbin' and finger snappin" to the music. It seemed if those books were not required reading the kids heard enough about it that they were curious enough to read them on their own. It was an era where students wanted change and were more receptive to protecting the planet then even their parents were.

[OregonBlue]

8. That's a great question. I hope parents of school age children will

respond and let us know if these books are being read. Are they being read in some states but not others?

[no_hypocrisy]

9. Both are worth re-reading with some experience applied when you're older.

You see different things, nuances, that you didn't find the first time.

[ellisonz]

10. In California, novels are no longer read in the classroom unless the teacher is really motivated.

That includes the above and Huck Finn and To Kill A Mockingbird.

Test-takers, not students
Test madness and centralized curriculum control squeeze creativity out of the classroom.
By Janet Ewell, JANET EWELL is a high school teacher in Orange County. E-mail: janet.ewell@ yahoo.com
May 26, 2007

IT IS POPULAR TO blame the federal No Child Left Behind Act for California's educational woes, but our misery is largely homegrown and predates the 2001 law.

A friend who teaches at a prestigious suburban school recently told me that she was on leave and didn't think she was going back. "I can't stand giving kindergartners timed standards tests and watching tears trickle down their cheeks," she said. "It's just not right."

I know how she feels. This fall, we were at first forbidden to teach novels — any novels — in the college preparatory English classes at our high school. We must teach from the textbook because "the Holt textbook is aligned to the California content standards," the principal said. No "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." No "To Kill a Mockingbird."

-------

In a crescendo of circular logic, "high-achieving schools" have become those whose students are successful test-takers, without asking if they are prepared for work, for college, for citizenship or for a meaningful life.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-ewell26may26,0,7619447.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail

[Berry Cool]

12. How sad. I found one paragraph of that story especially telling.

As long as progress is primarily measured through multiple-choice tests, to educate will mean to teach content, and teaching content will squeeze the development of innovative, well-read and organized humans, especially among poor and immigrant children.

Well, isn't that just what they want? An ignorant populace who can't think is ripe for being taken over by despots.

[ellisonz]

29. It's a servile economy!

:spank:

[zanne]

13. "Hiroshima"

The most important book on the high school reading list. Horrifying and a must-read. I read it in civics class.

[JitterbugPerfume]

14. In my little corner of the world,

it is hard to find a kid who reads anything but Harry Potter

[brentspeak]

15. Nothing wrong with Harry Potter, though

In a kid's world saturated with Playstations and Game Boys, J.K. Rowling has performed a public service to get so many children to read books.

[JitterbugPerfume]

16. Absolutely not!

I was thrilled when my 8 yr old granddaughter read it.(I was thrilled that an 8yr old COULD read it):D, but there are wonderful books out there that they are never encouraged to read

[brentspeak]

27. You must be a Tom Robbins fan

"Jitterbugperfume". :)

[JitterbugPerfume]

28. yes I am!

:hi:

[JTG of the PRB]

17. I was required to read "Animal Farm"...

... as was my sister. Neither of us, however, were required to read "1984" for school. We had to do that on our own. "1984" is currently on my reading list so I can re-read it after many years.

[WinkyDink]

18. Yes, in the Lehigh Valley, PA (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton area).

[tinfoil tiaras]

19. We read "Animal Farm" in 7th grade and we read "1984" in 10th grade

but then again, I go to a pretty liberal school

[MelissaB]

20. It's required in Florence, AL at our county school.

:hi:

[Blue Diadem]

22. I still have a paper back copy of '1984' from my kids' school days.

I plan on keeping it for my grandchildren to read in case it's not required reading through their school.

I thought the kids had to read Animal Farm. Hmm..I'll have to search the attic and see if there's a paper copy packed in one of their boxes up there.

I re-read 1984 a couple years ago and yes the similarities are frightening.

[Beelzebud]

23. In high school I never heard of these books. I found them myself years later.

[derby378]

24. I tried reading 1984 for a book report in high school...

...but that was during either my sophmore or junior year. My teacher recommended that I put it off until my senior year, during which time we were assigned the book anyway, so at least I was ahead of the curve on that assignment.

I think I was exposed to Animal Farm in either junior high or my freshman year, though.

[LWolf]

25. "Animal Farm"

is read as a freshman in our local high school. I don't know about 1984.

Both are on the shelves of my classroom library, where my 6th -8th graders have access, but they are not required reading.

I doubt if there is one single novel that is read/taught universally across the nation at any level.

[Ishoutandscream2]

26. Animal Farm is required reading by the Freshman in my school

Yes, here in a very Red town in Texas. Imagine that.

[BlooInBloo]

30. Americans don't know how to read. Or think.

[etherealtruth]

31. Not my children ...

I'm the mother of a 25 year old, a 13 year old and a 10 year old ... there seems to be very little "required reading" ... reading itself is required, but it appears that the specific books read is left up to the kids.

I have insisted that my children read 1984, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies ... and many others.

I will admit that the public school teachers seeing the kids read these things seemed genuinely pleased ... but there seems to be "something" preventing teachers from requiring it (?)

[TrogL]

32. Mine did

Didn't leave them any choice.

They've also seen both movies - repeatedly.

[buzzard]

33. All three of mine read these books I think it was in grade 8. n/t

[uberllama42]

34. I read both on my own and loved them

I also read Bradbury and Huxley. All exciting and eminently relevant to life in America today. The one year I didn't take Honors English in high school was my sophomore year- the teacher was extremely unpopular. 1984 and Brave New World were both required reading in her class.

My history professor this past semester taught an Honors class on Orwell, but he said he won't be teaching any longer. Major disappointment.

These books, despite being so important, are on top of the most-banned lists. That shows you how fatuous and servile censorship is. I'll grant that their are some things which elementary-age kids shouldn't be exposed to, but once students are in high school they need to grow up. These books are graphic but so if life. School boards do a greater disservice to students by squelching books like these.

[Swamp Rat]

35. I read those, as well as "Fahrenheit 451" and "Brave New World" my first year in middle school

It forever changed me. My class also read other books like "Lord of the Flies" and "Fountainhead." After I grew up, every time I saw my teacher (she looked and dressed like Mortisha of the Addams Family) I thanked her. Hurricane Katrina has eliminated many like her from my life... I wish I knew where she is today so I can continue to thank her.