Book Matters

I was very happy to discover that EMC, the publisher of my new textbooks, has a decent website with pdf files of the table of contents of each book. After browsing through the contents, I feel pretty good about this book. During my student teaching, I observed the teachers go through the book selection process, and everyone pretty much felt enthusiastic about this series compared to those of Holt and Prentice Hall. If you follow these links, you can click on the contents for each book to download the pdf file.

World Literature

Ninth Grade Literature

I like that the units develop around themes rather than regions because I'd love to highlight commonalities instead of just what sets us apart. Also, the themes aren't as infantile as I've seen in other books. Selections represent the ancient world and the modern. There's some Kafka for my friend Hoffman, Bessie Head for my dear Mary, Pablo Neruda and Derek Walcott for me and some Wordsworth and Pope to keep criticism at bay.

Now, if only the book would arrive.

Anyone have general comments on the quality of this book, or favorite selections from it?

Comments

[Peter Temes]

Hey, for whatever it's worth, you sound primed beyond what any of us ought to expect for your new students. I think they'll be lucky to have you.

From my own experience teaching literature to middle-schoolers, the very best starting point I've found for talking about literature is William Carlos Williams' "This is Just to Say" - - it's perfect for asking simple questions that evoke deep answers.

I worked for a few years with the Great Books Foundation, and though they never used WCW, the spirit of what they do - - encouraging teachers to teach by asking questions, not by giving explict anwers (at least for good chuncks of time) -- is a high path to walk.

best, Peter

[hipteacher]

Peter, thank you for your kind words and suggestions.

I'll try out that WCW poem. I've been a fan ever since I read the "Red Wheelbarrow" in the 10th grade and nearly lost my mind trying to figure out what makes poetry poetry.