Literary Canons: A Literary Analysis

There has recently been a renewed interest and passion in the issue of censorship. In the realm of the censorship of books in schools alone, several hundred cases have surfaced each year for nearly the past decade. Controversies over which books to include in the high school English curriculum present a clash of values between teachers, school systems, and parents over what is appropriate for and meaningful to students. It is important to strike a balance between English that is meaningful to students by relating to their lives and representing diversity and satisfying worries about the appropriateness of what is read. This burden often falls on teachers. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss

In Francine Prose’s essay “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Sing” Prose tends to evoke her unsureness on why schools use certain books to teach students their moral values. Prose argues that certain books should be taught in English classes, that in fact, teach students their values. Prose uses several literary examples, such as Frankenstein, How To a Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, etc. She also provides several controversial opinions, such as using different books to try and teach students, like The Diary of a Young Girl, Teaching The Novel, and many more that she has personally read in her lifetime. She also claims that teacher should start teaching curriculum that has meaning and that will provide skills that a student would

The American literary canon presents a one sided view of women, due to the dominance of male authors. Classic American books generally present images of women in a male-centered viewpoint, creating a biased representation of women in literature. In “Feminist Literary Criticism: From Anti-Patriarchy to Decadence,” Anne Barbeau Gardiner states that the American literary canon is “strikingly narrow…prepared by white men whose judgment was prejudiced and whose language was full of gendered meanings.” (Gardiner 395). Gardiner

Throughout the essay, Prose argues that literatures in high schools are dumbing down the English curriculum. She says books that are “chosen for students to read are

The literary canon is those works considered by scholars, critics, and teachers to be the most important to read and study, which collectively constitute the “masterpieces” of literature. (Meyer 2175) In the past there has been much debate on whether non-fiction should be considered for inclusion in the canon, but non-fiction writers being considered part of the canon is not unheard of, and is already a reality – George Orwell, Henry David Thoreau, Ernest Hemingway- all had a significant body of non-fictional work and are well respected, well established members. Sonja Livingston’s work is part of a genre called creative non-fiction. As stated in his article for The Writer, Lee Gutkind states, “Creative nonfiction-also called "new

“To appear in the Norton or Oxford anthology is to have achieved, not exactly greatness but what is more important, certainly-status and accessibility to a reading public. And that is why, of course, it matters that so few women writers have managed to gain entrance to such anthologies” (Landow). If our nation were to follow the Norton or Oxford anthology, we would be mainly limited to the point of views of males, and we would only see the issues and themes that they try to portray through their writing. We would become oblivious to other issues that different genders and races have to go through. There are plenty of books which discuss these issues, but they were banned due to many different reasons. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is banned due to racist slurs that make the majority of the public uncomfortable. The book is banned even though the many themes in the novel can still be applied to today. If a national curriculum were to be put in place, would our nation choose these banned books to be required text or would they steer clear of these texts to avoid

Although I don’t feel I’m qualified to determine what deserves a place on your oh so high and mighty official canon list, I am entitled to my own opinion, and that is what entitles me to make suggestions toward changes in this ever changing, ever evolving canon list of influential works of literature.

In the late sixteenth century, a religious reform arose among the church of England. The puritanism reform brought foundation to the religious, intellectual, and social structure in New England. Puritanism closely relates to the Amish which is a christian church that connects to the protestant reformation also in the sixteenth century Europe. The puritanism and Amish both are hundreds of years old as is the American Literary Canon. This canon consists of american literature from different authors at different times. The Judgement by Beverly Lewis should be a part of the literary canon because it opens deeper perceptions about the lives of the Amish women. It also provides insight for readers to the complex struggles Amish women faced with religion, society, culture and the self.

Whether society desires to recognize it or not, race defines human behavior in America. In a benign world, society would see race as a countenance to culture, and therefore endeavor to exalt one another’s way of life. However, that is not the case. For example, in literature, an African American writer cannot just be great; they are often looked as a great writer— for a Negro. Society is quick to presume African American writers as great for their heritage, rather than great as an all-encompassing ideal. Therefore, this matter is prevalent in Ralph Ellison’s writing. By assuaging the issue, Ralph Ellison pursues the process of an American classic novel; he is then able to be to deliver his message with a broad perspective. With these difficulties

The two articles that I chose both went hand in hand with the struggle of learning and teaching literature. I chose the article “One High School English Teacher” because it complements my first article, “Death to High School English”. In this essay, I will summarize and interpret the first article to show the deeper meaning of it. Then I will research my second article and show the author 's credibility to help prove my argument, and finally I will tie together all my main points of my essay.

Throughout the years, we as a society have read through billions of books in our lifetime. We were always told what books or authors were good for us to read, and we see how we have read the same things past generations have read as well. But have you ever wondered, why? In today’s modern canon, a lot of people have a hard time understanding what the criteria is when including literary works into the canon. We need to understand how come certain people can be included in the canon. Also, what other factors dealing with picking what is allowed in the canon, and what effects will they have on it.

There are different forms and examples of exemplary and classic literature which have been deemed as significant works that are highly esteemed worldwide. These examples of literature would awe the world with how much literary skill they entailed when they were composed and written: attention to details as to formation of characters, the most crafty of plots, the most eloquent speeches and lines, the most astounding of twists of scenes, and most of all, the most universal and meaningful of themes. The theme of any literary work is what makes it great as it should be able to encompass the immense diversity of the world and as it would be able to transcend the boundaries of religion, age, race, gender, etc. Two examples of this great and

Literature is an imitation of societal values and is thus a reflection of the human experience of a time period. Written works emphasize the elements of culture, by means of characters, particular events, setting and theme, specific to the time period in which it was composed. Furthermore, literature mirrors the troubles or hardships of society and projects the core values that define said society. Thus, as culture has changed over time, literature has remained a critical facet in representing time periods of the past. Essentially, the culture of a time period is manifested through writing in the projection of society’s values, symbolism of the center of community and literature itself.

The contrary side may infer that all students of high school English must read particular texts, such as literary canon books because they are most genuine, preeminent and beneficial. This is quite erroneous, though. According to George P. Landow’s article, “The Literary Canon,” “To enter the canon, or more properly, to be entered into the canon is to gain certain obvious privileges” (Source A). Landow, in essence, states that to become part of a “canon,” a literary work must transcend certain criteria. For example, dramatic works, such as “To Kill Mockingbird” and “Romeo and Juliet,” have been inaugurated into a canon, known as the “literary canon,” due to their profound, cohesive and well-accepted form of writing. Consequently, the opposition desires for all students of

I believe all children can learn to read in a classroom that is integrated with differentiated instruction and has a safe and engaging learning environment which is rich with a variety of literature to light that spark in the children to want to learn. I will make an effort to get to know my children in order to be able to provide a classroom library with nonfiction books to inform the inquiring mind, picture books for the artistic mind, and fiction books to entertain. All books will be chosen based on their curiosity, interest, personal connection, and learning profile, in order to attract and enchant the young readers into going back to the book area again and again.