DieHardBrownsFan Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 Brits cut American classics including 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' 'Of Mice and Men' from school curriculum Published May 30, 2014FoxNews.com Facebook689 Twitter228 Gplus5 AP Next Schoolkids in Great Britain won't be reading such American literary masterpieces like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Of Mice and Men" under new orders from the national education secretary, who is replacing the Yankee classics with works from England's homegrown authors. The new English literature syllabus for secondary—or high school – students will not include the classics by Harper Lee’s 1960 classic or Steinbeck’s 1937 work about migrant workers during the Great Depression. Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” was also dropped for the reading list, London's Sunday Times reported this week. ADVERTISEMENT As national exam boards unveiled their booklists Friday, it was clear that Minister of Education Michael Gove is pushing for more British literature in schools. A statement from Britain’s Education Department said it is not banning any books. "In the past, English literature GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education standards) were not rigorous enough and their content was often far too narrow. We published the new subject content for English literature in December. It doesn't ban any authors, books or genres. It does ensure pupils will learn about a wide range of literature, including at least one Shakespeare play, a 19th-century novel written anywhere and post-1914 fiction or drama written in the British Isles,” the statement said. The head of one of Britain's exam boards, Paul Dodd, suggested to the Sunday Times that Gove’s new changes are based on his personal preference. "Of Mice and Men," which Michael Gove really dislikes, will not be included. It was studied by 90 percent of teenagers taking English literature GCSE in the past. Michael Gove said that was a really disappointing statistic," Dodd told the Times. Gove has been outspoken on his views of what children should be reading—suggesting that kids should read 50 books a year, starting at age 11. Last year, Gove told a conference of independent school heads that he would prefer to see a child reading George Eliot’s “Middlemarch,” than one of American Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” novels. Gove is facing a backlash from academics and readers over the reports. More than 30,000 people have signed online petitions calling for the American novels to be reinstated, London's Telegraph reported. Many took to social media to express their anger. Exam boards and individual schools are free to supplement their curriculum with extra books, but the new rules have left them very little room for any 20th-century writing from outside Britain. Oxford University professor John Carey said "the idea of cutting out American books because they are not British is crazy." Gove wrote an opinion piece for the Telegraph this week answering the outrage. "I have not banned anything. Nor has anyone else. All we are doing is asking exam boards to broaden – not narrow – the books young people study for GCSE," Gove wrote. “There are, in reality, four exam boards that can offer GCSE English literature and there are no rules requiring them to exclude or marginalize any writer. If they wish to include Steinbeck – whether it’s 'Of Mice and Men' or 'The Grapes of Wrath' – no one would be more delighted than me, because I want children to read more widely and range more freely intellectually in every subject. In English literature, I want young people to encounter as many books as possible from different cultures. I want pupils to grow up able to empathize with Jane Eyre as well as Lennie, to admire Elizabeth Bennet as much as Scout Finch,” Gove stated in his article. Bethan Marshall, a lecturer at King's College London and chair of the National Association for the teaching of English, said the new list could turn kids off from continuing English literature. She said: "Many teenagers will think that being made to read Dickens aged 16 is just tedious. This will just grind children down." Nobel Prize-winning American writer Toni Morrison attacked Gove's reported plans and warned against dividing literature into "nationalistic categories." "I tell you, [they] will regret it," Morrison’s told London’s Telegraph. “It may be that the academies will catch up with the artists who write literature, and it won't have these nationalistic categories and so on. So that you'll [just] have literature.” Morrison, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her 1988 novel, “Beloved,” said the Education Secretary would regret the decision, joking that it was "payback" for U.S. universities replacing English literature with American literature on the syllabus in the Twentieth century. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicIsForSquares Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 An educator is pushing homegrown products over foreign ones. I thought that most of the people on here would love that sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 Just like Texas pushes for creationism in schools... Their book lol. Just for the record, I took honors English classes throughout school and I never read "If Mice and Men". I did read "To Kill A Mockingbird" though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calfoxwc Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 Was that because you're a mouse, not a man, or a woodpecker, not a mockingbird? Or, you do numbers, not reading? The latter seems to have a little evidence on the board, maybe.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westside Steve Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 An educator is pushing homegrown products over foreign ones. I thought that most of the people on here would love that sort of thing. Well no. there's a difference between an asshole an idiot even though they are not mutually exclusive. I don't suppose anyone here with suggest we eliminate Shakespeare from our reading or drop English literature from senior English. Except for Woody and he falls into both the aforementioned categories. WSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 I am not a big fan of all the fictional literature in the curriculum. After a certain point each year of English gets incredibly repetitive. You aren't learning anything new. Maybe some writing techniques here or there. The occasional research paper too. Generally though all of the fictional stuff seems dumb. After awhile how many times are you gonna talk about the theme of a book or symbolism here or there. It isn't real and affects nothing. I guess it teaches good bullshitting techniques though haha. People push these fictional books on students in school, but not enough math or science (or practical things like taxes). No one thinks poorly of an adult that says "I'm terrible at math!" And that's an issue. The English curriculum could be expanded IMO. But yes, I thought I was mainly wasting my time with all of the fictional books and their themes, plots, characters etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osiris Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 I certainly don't want to stereotype British attitudes toward American literature, but one of the online writing groups I frequent there were a few British writers mocking American Literature and saying it didn't deserve to be called English, and generally being pompous about it. Maybe Chris could tell us how prevalent this attitude is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieHardBrownsFan Posted June 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 Who cares what they think? They talk funny and spell words incorrectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 I agree, they do talk funny and spell words funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cysko Kid Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 I certainly don't want to stereotype British attitudes toward American literature, but one of the online writing groups I frequent there were a few British writers mocking American Literature and saying it didn't deserve to be called English, and generally being pompous about it. Maybe Chris could tell us how prevalent this attitude is. Ah they're just mad Stephen King outsells the entire country himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gftChris Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 Yeah, this hasn't gone over too well here. It's seen as incredibly jingoistic - there's a funny word for you - to think that only British literature should be taught in schools. Why? Because no great literature has ever come from another country? All the great literature of the world was written on this island? I doubt it. Michael Gove, the education secretary, has a popularity rating of about 3%, I'm sure. I have no idea what's behind this latest stunt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osiris Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 Yeah, this hasn't gone over too well here. It's seen as incredibly jingoistic - there's a funny word for you - to think that only British literature should be taught in schools. Why? Because no great literature has ever come from another country? All the great literature of the world was written on this island? I doubt it. Michael Gove, the education secretary, has a popularity rating of about 3%, I'm sure. I have no idea what's behind this latest stunt. I think it's notable that the original Faux News article makes no mention of the low popularity among Brits of such a move. Classic case of the news lieing by omission. "Let's omit that most Brits disagree with us so we can paint them as snobs snubbing our own classics." Par for the course for Faux News though. I think their mission statement must place a high value in sowing the seeds of division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 Wrong Osiris, only Obamao and the libs cause division in this country........ ..... ............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osiris Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 Wrong Osiris, only Obamao and the libs cause division in this country........ ..... ............. Oh yeah. I'll get back in my box now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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