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Michael Gove drops American writers in English literature GCSEs
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Can't say this is a bad thing, no one I know enjoyed Mice of Men -my class did Hamlet instead and it was way better.
Of Mice and Men was the saving grace of GCSE lit. A decent read (albeit at a shockingly awful group reading pace) that took my mind off the poetry anthology. Miles better than the likes of Great Expectations!
(edited 10 years ago)
Definitely a bad thing.. This has made me really angry, I really enjoyed having to read books from a variety of cultures rather than just british. Tradition shouldn't be enforced, it should come naturally.
It's a terrible shame.
"To Kill A Mockingbird" is a powerful well written novel about racism that took some serious gumption and bravery to be written by Harper Lee.
Somehow forgot to mention the fact that Atticus Finch is a fantastic character who could easily be considered a universal role model.
And "Of Mice and Men" is an equally powerful novella from Steinbeck.
I'll always be particularly grateful for the inclusion of this book in my GCSE not only because it was great in its own right, but that it also led me to read another book by Steinbeck: "The Grapes of Wrath", which always moves me to tears and is an absolute favourite of mine.
"To Kill A Mockingbird" is a powerful well written novel about racism that took some serious gumption and bravery to be written by Harper Lee.
Somehow forgot to mention the fact that Atticus Finch is a fantastic character who could easily be considered a universal role model.
And "Of Mice and Men" is an equally powerful novella from Steinbeck.
I'll always be particularly grateful for the inclusion of this book in my GCSE not only because it was great in its own right, but that it also led me to read another book by Steinbeck: "The Grapes of Wrath", which always moves me to tears and is an absolute favourite of mine.
(edited 10 years ago)
I hate Gove so much. 
Original post by redferry
What a surprise - removing texts about the struggle of the working classes, the civil rights movement and the persecution of women (the crucible)
Exactly.
There's a similar thread to this knocking about - see my post on there.
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He just wants to change things for the sake of it!
Ban is a very loaded, and more than slightly unfair, word to use in this situation.
The Department of Education have changed the list of books to be studied at GCSE. Some have gone out, some have come in. Syllabi change all the time. To declare he is in any way banning books is a very politically motivated use of language, and an absurd way to view the situation.
We read To Kill a Mockingbird at GCSE. I thought it was a good book, but I scarcely think it unthinkable a GCSE reading list could be compiled without it.
The Department of Education have changed the list of books to be studied at GCSE. Some have gone out, some have come in. Syllabi change all the time. To declare he is in any way banning books is a very politically motivated use of language, and an absurd way to view the situation.
We read To Kill a Mockingbird at GCSE. I thought it was a good book, but I scarcely think it unthinkable a GCSE reading list could be compiled without it.
Good. It's not "American" literature GCSE's, it's ENGLISH literature GCSE's! Plus, John Steinbeck was an idiot. I didn't like The Catcher in the Rye, either. Call it a god-damned classic and I'll have your head off.
To Kill a Mockingbird, on the other hand... please, please don't axe it. It was a wonderful book. Every Law student should have to read it.
I doubt Gove gives a **** about who we study in English lit. He just wants to be seen to do something and show the elderly people that he's toughening up education so it can be what it was in the "good old days".
Original post by A Perfect Circle
It's a terrible shame.
"To Kill A Mockingbird" is a powerful well written novel about racism that took some serious gumption and bravery to be written by Harper Lee.
Somehow forgot to mention the fact that Atticus Finch is a fantastic character who could easily be considered a universal role model.
And "Of Mice and Men" is an equally powerful novella from Steinbeck.
I'll always be particularly grateful for the inclusion of this book in my GCSE not only because it was great in its own right, but that it also led me to read another book by Steinbeck: "The Grapes of Wrath", which always moves me to tears and is an absolute favourite of mine.
"To Kill A Mockingbird" is a powerful well written novel about racism that took some serious gumption and bravery to be written by Harper Lee.
Somehow forgot to mention the fact that Atticus Finch is a fantastic character who could easily be considered a universal role model.
And "Of Mice and Men" is an equally powerful novella from Steinbeck.
I'll always be particularly grateful for the inclusion of this book in my GCSE not only because it was great in its own right, but that it also led me to read another book by Steinbeck: "The Grapes of Wrath", which always moves me to tears and is an absolute favourite of mine.
I'm pretty sure To Kill a Mockingbird changed my life. The Crucible was also one of my texts, and was almost as brilliant, Arthur Miller is the writer; another American. The only British book I read, Shakespeare notwithstanding (I did Macbeth and I enjoyed it), and by far the least enjoyable book of my English GCSE was A Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde which is of course Robert Louis Stevenson who was a Scot, if Scotland votes for independence then I assume he won't be on the list either!
I think Gove is needlessly depriving a generation where reading for pleasure is quite uncommon of some of the greatest books ever written because for most KS4 pupils, the only literary fictions they read all year are in these English classes.
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by Rinsed
Ban is a very loaded, and more than slightly unfair, word to use in this situation.
The Department of Education have changed the list of books to be studied at GCSE. Some have gone out, some have come in. Syllabi change all the time. To declare he is in any way banning books is a very politically motivated use of language, and an absurd way to view the situation.
We read To Kill a Mockingbird at GCSE. I thought it was a good book, but I scarcely think it unthinkable a GCSE reading list could be compiled without it.
The Department of Education have changed the list of books to be studied at GCSE. Some have gone out, some have come in. Syllabi change all the time. To declare he is in any way banning books is a very politically motivated use of language, and an absurd way to view the situation.
We read To Kill a Mockingbird at GCSE. I thought it was a good book, but I scarcely think it unthinkable a GCSE reading list could be compiled without it.
No one has actually used the word ban on here yet...
I agree with you in principle, but I think the reason people are saying it's politically motivated is because he has not simply removed these texts as part of a syllabus shake up, he has removed these texts as part of a move to drop all texts not written by British authors. So it's not just him randomly changing the syllabus, it is him omitting texts which he doesn't feel are appropriate.
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Original post by Algorithm69
I would have loved to have read that for my English Literature GCSE. Instead I had to endure the pain of Romeo and Juliet.
Oh, God. The only bad play Shakespeare ever wrote. I loved The Merchant of Venice---laughed all the way through, especially at Portia's crazy plans. Also loved The Comedy of Errors---reads like a forerunner to "Oscar".
But R+J is a tragedy (in more ways than one), so let's look at the good tragedies the Bard wrote. Hamlet was good, and so was King Lear (but not as good as Hamlet)---but Macbeth.... that was distilled spirits of pure awesomesauce. It reminded me of one of my favourite British epics: House of Cards. The plot's the same!
Related discussions
- English Lit with Creative writing or English Lit and Creative writing at Newcastle
- english lit or lang a level
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- is not have any Sciences or modern languages a problem?
- need your opinions!! ( AS English Lit or Lang? Edexcel)
- What subjects go well with English lit?
- Gcse science
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