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freyalorelei t1_iu0c678 wrote

If high school teachers taught only books that students read for pleasure, the curriculum would be all YA novels and comic books. Assigned reading isn't purely for fun; it's to expand literary horizons and teach critical thinking.

(Not denigrating comic books, many are truly literature, but there's a vast difference between something like Maus or Watchmen and Superman: At Earth's End.)

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knerled OP t1_iu0e6x3 wrote

>the curriculum would be all YA novels and comic books

I couldn't disagree more. I read much "true" literature on my own in high school and earlier. Even reluctant readers in high school could probably take an interest in Jack London, Dostoyevsky, Dickens, or whatever, if they have a chance to experiment a bit and find something they can relate to.

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PartyPorpoise t1_iu7597r wrote

Many people complain about those books too. Nothing has universal appeal. Hell, if my high school had only assigned YA in an attempt to engage kids I would have been pissed; I could read YA on my own, and I liked assigned reading as a way to expose me to new and important stuff and help me understand it.

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