5 ms·

Why would you not read the book in it entirety first as home work or in the holiday before you are due to cover the book in class? I certainly read all of my a

Why would you not read the book in it entirety first as home work or in the holiday before you are due to cover the book in class? I certainly read all of my assigned texts an din the case of classical studies several other books and plays in the cannon.

dagw 9y ago
Why would you not read the book in it entirety first as home work or in the holiday before you are due to cover the book in class? Because they're teenagers with better things to do with their time than reading old 'boring' books by a bunch of pointless dead people.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  Well, the irony is they really don't have better things to do and someday they'll regret not putting the time into such things when it was available to them. But you know the old saw -- youth is wasted on the young.
  - khedoros1 9y ago
    There were some required reading books that I enjoyed and learned from, and some that I still don't see the point of. On the other hand, some things that I did in my own time in high school laid the foundations for my career and current interests. I can't see that as completely wasted time.
    - emodendroket 9y ago
      Well, I had more free time than I'll probably ever have again and I frittered away a lot of it on bad TV, lame forums, etc.
      - KGIII 9y ago
        This may sound strange, but I'm sometimes grateful that, when I was a wee lad, Internet wasn't invented and computers took up whole rooms. I think I'd have wasted even more time than I did. It means I read a lot of great books, for example. I used to read them and then write about them. I'd spend almost as much time writing and thinking as I did reading the books. I'd make notes, quotes, and tie things in with other literary works. If I'd had computers and the Internet, I'd have spent that time watching porn and posting fart jokes.
        emodendroket 9y ago
        It doesn't sound strange. Even as an adult I feel like it's a mixed bag sometimes.
        KGIII 9y ago
        Some of the comments from people whom I infer are significantly younger than I, seem aghast at the idea of having enjoyed the non-connected life as a youth. They are similarly quizzical when they learn that I seldom carry a cell phone and still maintain a landline. That was the reasoning for my pointing out that it may sound strange. Even as a well-grown adult, I still go outside and play, sans any compute devices at all. I often hike, snowmobile, ski, snowshoe, ride an ATV, etc and don't even bother with a GPS unit or bring a cell phone. Mentioning this sometimes nets some responses expressing everything from curiosity to suggesting that I'm recklessly endangering myself and others. Yes, yes I have had (online) people tell me that my doing so is actively endangering others who may need to come rescue me. I'm never quite sure how to respond politely to those types of comments. I guess it is difficult for some people to understand that life existed before the ubiquity of communication devices and always-on networks. They sometimes express more dismay when I point out that, in some locations, not even cellular service is available. Ah well... But, yeah, it sounds strange to some folks - given the responses I've had to similar commentary.
    - Tenhundfeld 9y ago
      Yeah, I think that's true for a lot of people. The other aspect of this is that your enjoyment/appreciation of a book can greatly depend on what's going on in your life at the moment. So, it's not just if a book is good or not; it's also if it finds you at the right time. I don't just mean maturity; I also mean what big ideas are swirling around your head at the time. For example, I read One Hundred Years of Solitude in HS and hated it. I read it again several years later, having mostly forgotten it, and I loved it, thought it was a masterpiece. I recently reread it, several years passing and having mostly forgotten it again, and I couldn't finish it, just didn't resonate the same way and moved too slowly to keep my attention. If you try reading a classic and are still hating it after 50 pages or so, I recommend just putting down and trying again later in life. Of course, that doesn't work so well for required reading when a teacher wants everyone in the class to discuss the same book.
- lostboys67 9y ago
  ok so you get a U if you cant be arsed to put the work in why did you sign up for Eng Lit
Broken_Hippo 9y ago
Why would you not read the book in it entirety first as home work or in the holiday before you are due to cover the book in class? Because not everyone has that sort of luxury. Pre-college, I never had an actual syllubus detailing such things. Sometimes we'd get told we'd start a book every x weeks or something, but we never actually knew. Most common method of introducing books was to hand them out in class, giving a reading assignment for that night with discussion beginning the next day.
- lostboys67 9y ago
  Strange in the UK you knew up front what books where to be covered even more so now
setr 9y ago
From my own experience, I didn't have the slightest bit of trust for any book recommended by the school, mostly due to the generally horrible treatment they give in class discussion. I didn't even realize the picked books might have any value until I accidentally read 1984 on a friend's recommendation, not realizing I'd have it for class the following semester. And I still couldn't stand the class discussion of it. So if I was going to do any reading, I had more incentive than not to avoid anything the school recommended: they'd kill anything I liked about the book anyways. I think my worst experience was being assigned voltaire (candide iirc), and realizing no else one was laughing, not even the teacher
Tenhundfeld 9y ago
FYI, I think you mean canon, not cannon. I'm not trying to be an OT pedant; given your comment, I thought you might appreciate the feedback.
bzbarsky 9y ago
Because the teachers explicitly tell you not to. And then they have assignments that assume that you have not read the book and that you will fail if you have, unless you carefully disguise this fact.

dagw 9y ago

Why would you not read the book in it entirety first as home work or in the holiday before you are due to cover the book in class? Because they're teenagers with better things to do with their time than reading old 'boring' books by a bunch of pointless dead people.

emodendroket 9y ago
Well, the irony is they really don't have better things to do and someday they'll regret not putting the time into such things when it was available to them. But you know the old saw -- youth is wasted on the young.
- khedoros1 9y ago
  There were some required reading books that I enjoyed and learned from, and some that I still don't see the point of. On the other hand, some things that I did in my own time in high school laid the foundations for my career and current interests. I can't see that as completely wasted time.
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    Well, I had more free time than I'll probably ever have again and I frittered away a lot of it on bad TV, lame forums, etc.
    - KGIII 9y ago
      This may sound strange, but I'm sometimes grateful that, when I was a wee lad, Internet wasn't invented and computers took up whole rooms. I think I'd have wasted even more time than I did. It means I read a lot of great books, for example. I used to read them and then write about them. I'd spend almost as much time writing and thinking as I did reading the books. I'd make notes, quotes, and tie things in with other literary works. If I'd had computers and the Internet, I'd have spent that time watching porn and posting fart jokes.
      - emodendroket 9y ago
        It doesn't sound strange. Even as an adult I feel like it's a mixed bag sometimes.
        KGIII 9y ago
        Some of the comments from people whom I infer are significantly younger than I, seem aghast at the idea of having enjoyed the non-connected life as a youth. They are similarly quizzical when they learn that I seldom carry a cell phone and still maintain a landline. That was the reasoning for my pointing out that it may sound strange. Even as a well-grown adult, I still go outside and play, sans any compute devices at all. I often hike, snowmobile, ski, snowshoe, ride an ATV, etc and don't even bother with a GPS unit or bring a cell phone. Mentioning this sometimes nets some responses expressing everything from curiosity to suggesting that I'm recklessly endangering myself and others. Yes, yes I have had (online) people tell me that my doing so is actively endangering others who may need to come rescue me. I'm never quite sure how to respond politely to those types of comments. I guess it is difficult for some people to understand that life existed before the ubiquity of communication devices and always-on networks. They sometimes express more dismay when I point out that, in some locations, not even cellular service is available. Ah well... But, yeah, it sounds strange to some folks - given the responses I've had to similar commentary.
  - Tenhundfeld 9y ago
    Yeah, I think that's true for a lot of people. The other aspect of this is that your enjoyment/appreciation of a book can greatly depend on what's going on in your life at the moment. So, it's not just if a book is good or not; it's also if it finds you at the right time. I don't just mean maturity; I also mean what big ideas are swirling around your head at the time. For example, I read One Hundred Years of Solitude in HS and hated it. I read it again several years later, having mostly forgotten it, and I loved it, thought it was a masterpiece. I recently reread it, several years passing and having mostly forgotten it again, and I couldn't finish it, just didn't resonate the same way and moved too slowly to keep my attention. If you try reading a classic and are still hating it after 50 pages or so, I recommend just putting down and trying again later in life. Of course, that doesn't work so well for required reading when a teacher wants everyone in the class to discuss the same book.
lostboys67 9y ago
ok so you get a U if you cant be arsed to put the work in why did you sign up for Eng Lit

Broken_Hippo 9y ago

Why would you not read the book in it entirety first as home work or in the holiday before you are due to cover the book in class? Because not everyone has that sort of luxury. Pre-college, I never had an actual syllubus detailing such things. Sometimes we'd get told we'd start a book every x weeks or something, but we never actually knew. Most common method of introducing books was to hand them out in class, giving a reading assignment for that night with discussion beginning the next day.

lostboys67 9y ago
Strange in the UK you knew up front what books where to be covered even more so now

setr 9y ago

From my own experience, I didn't have the slightest bit of trust for any book recommended by the school, mostly due to the generally horrible treatment they give in class discussion. I didn't even realize the picked books might have any value until I accidentally read 1984 on a friend's recommendation, not realizing I'd have it for class the following semester. And I still couldn't stand the class discussion of it. So if I was going to do any reading, I had more incentive than not to avoid anything the school recommended: they'd kill anything I liked about the book anyways. I think my worst experience was being assigned voltaire (candide iirc), and realizing no else one was laughing, not even the teacher

Tenhundfeld 9y ago

FYI, I think you mean canon, not cannon. I'm not trying to be an OT pedant; given your comment, I thought you might appreciate the feedback.

bzbarsky 9y ago

Because the teachers explicitly tell you not to. And then they have assignments that assume that you have not read the book and that you will fail if you have, unless you carefully disguise this fact.