The Importance Of High School Literature

To many freshman the first day of high school is the opening chapter of a new novel, a fresh start to a sometimes embarrassing middle school experience we would all just love to erase from our memories. August 13th, 2012 was the beginning of my four year long narrative at Cypress Bay High School. Despite my desperate desire to grow up, become an adult, and move far away from my parents for college all that did not seem possible because I had never previously attended a public school. I was struck with fear that I would not be able to adjust to the fast pace dynamics of a large high school.

Literacy is about more than reading and writing - it is about how we communicate in society. It is about social practices and relationships, about knowledge, language and culture. Being literate is a key aspect in life, hence why throughout student’s lives, reading is so important and so valued. A variety of famous literature are part of history, and many other famous novels take place in historic time periods, such as the Ancient Greek Era, The Great War, and The Great Depression. One truly known example of a masterpiece in literature is the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. In the tenth grade english curriculum, literature is one of the main focuses (considering the “OSSLT”). The curriculum includes a variety of well-known novels students read in the course. Inquiry and research into

I think I speak for many people when I say high school is a critical point in one’s life. Coming into high school, things seemed to be tightly-knitted between my peers and I; those of us who had just

As we go on in life we face many challenges and new situations that we deal with. A new situation that most people deal with is college and all the changes that come along with it. What many people don't realize is that high school, in many ways, is similar and differrent from college. Not only are people changing but the surroundings and work change as well. There are some things that seem to never change such as some work and people.

High School culture has changed since the “old days.” Students from all grades are not only striving for academic success, but also participate in many extracurricular activities as outside forces continue to impact social life. With this comes the typical struggles of students figuring out who they are, and what kind of person they want to become as college becomes a daunting factor.

Isn’t it awful being forced to read long, drawn-out books in school, only to find that they’re boring and irrelevant? Most teenagers, including myself, can relate that when it comes to forced reading in teen literature, most of the books are more of a burden than enjoyable. When in the process of reading unwanted books, it’s almost as if instead of appreciating and grasping the author’s writing, we’re skimming through as fast as possible in order to get an A. Personally, I felt like in school there were lists after lists of tiresome stories that weren’t any fun to read, that was, until I read Harper Lee’s most famous book. Deserving all the hype it gets, To Kill a Mockingbird is a heartfelt text about a young girl’s childhood who, at only six

The topic of whether literature classic novels should stay or not in a school curriculum is a daunting task. Novels like “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Slaughterhouse-Five” have been accused of inappropriate language and questioning topics. These great pieces of literature should stay in the curriculum because of the moral and values they possess.

For some, high school is a breeze, while for others it’s a real life Hunger Games. How you handle the situations you encounter ultimately decides which fate awaits you. As seniors at Coopersville High School, we have seen both sides. We have made the mistakes that no one mentions. Now, it’s our turn to pass on our knowledge on to you. With the right relationships, intelligence, involvement, and fashion high school will go smoothly. Without these vital pieces of information, you may find yourself in a battle of survival of the

Most high school students are required to read and understand many classic literary works throughout their schooling, such as Romeo and Juliet, Fahrenheit 451, Macbeth, and Frankenstein (“Popular High School Classics Books”, n.d.). These books have no doubt stood the test of time by remaining so popular today. However, is it really beneficial to have students read so many older works? The lack of contemporary literature in high school classes is quite worrisome. There are many great books from more recent times that should be represented in high school curriculums but aren’t. Is it because they have not yet passed the test of time like the classics? Or is it because people are too attached to the classics? Whatever the reason, this issue needs to be recognized and addressed.

Literature teaches cultural awareness that can foster an understanding and tolerance for others. It provides education for the whole person motivating people to use their imagination and be creative. Literature engages emotions and helps develop empathy for others. In addition to building a rich vocabulary it also fosters language awareness. Teacher pedagogy plays an important factor in making the decision on which titles to use. There are many advantages of using classic literature in the classroom. It aligns with the educational standards outlined in the Common Core standards to encourage rigorous English and Language arts skill development. It is a excellent match for the text complexity that students needs to attain these goals however, if students are not interested in the subject of these books or if they are not academically prepared to find success in the reading then the assignment can turn into a negative experience which can result in aliteracy. Modern young adult literature also has a plethora of advantage for students. More modernized characters and themes are easier for students to connect with and make it easier to build literacy skills and use literacy

In our forever changing society, it is important to have teen literature as a source where young adults can learn about and enhance their knowledge on issues related to adolescence and the progression into adulthood. Young Adult novels such as ‘Tomorrow, When the War Began’ by John Marsden and others alike provide an escape where young people can be introduced to and understand certain concepts, whether they deal with growing up or just life in general. In the novel, ‘Tomorrow, When the War Began,’ first published in 1994, the teens make many choices, both good and bad, and through this it conveys to the audience that these choices are essential to the fundamentals of life. With the book having a mostly young audience, this type of information is important because it shows that youth is about learning to make good choices and how these choices are the catalyst to becoming an adult. Examples of how teenagers are represented include: heroic, intelligent, brave, noble and powerful, just to name a few. From this characterisation, it empowers readers to reflect upon how they act in their daily lives and this then allows them to know that they themselves can have any of these qualities in their lives. If readers can identify with given themes from a novel, it allows them to relate the themes to situations that they may be going through and in turn, it lets readers normalise the struggles that they may be facing in their lives. In the journey of the characters in the novel,

High school has brought on a lot of new pressures regarding learning and preparing for

Last year in Honors English at Lenape Tech my instructor was none other than the great and wonderful Mrs. Kirsch who has been teaching for eight years. One day, in late spring, she assigned each individual classmate a classic novel to read and discuss of their choice. The objective was to explain the events of the fictional story that was assigned to you in specific detail, and relate it to the real world. I was assigned

Yet, the education does not stop at middle school, for high school really puts all the basic skills from elementary and middle school to work as the assignments and the exams become more challenging. We do not only learn about reading, writing, history, and math, we learn about the people around us as we associate with different personalities, and as we see what we have grown up to be and what we want to be later in life. Accordingly, the high school years are a time when teachers emphasize the importance of graduating and attending college in order to have a “succesful future.”

Moving from one grade to another can be a very nerve-wrecking time, such as you moving on up from Middle School to High School. Your parents might have got you some new threads, new school supplies, and when you get to the school itself, you’ll feel a cool breeze hit you as you enter the front doors. You’re feeling a new start grow deep inside you, Freshman year of any kind of school is a perfect chance to redefine yourself, to challenge assumptions you previously thought were true, to make a new you overwrite the old you, to lay out the foundations for the road that you pave for the rest of your life. You’re probably thinking ‘Wow, where to start then?’, I am in my senior year of High School and I will be teaching you some words of wisdom on how to make it through your school years, or what I call “Tyler’s declassified school survival guide”.