Huck Finn Gets Some Changes

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

I'd rather kids read something more equivalent to the Diary of Anne Frank than Huck Finn if the point is learning about slavery in America.

Roots, maybe?

Tangent, Anne's gotten edited on & off over the years as well. Some people weren't cool with her rhapsodising about another girl's boobies.

As for The Great Gatsby, I don't think it should EVER be taught to HS students. It's one of those books you can't appreciate till you're older. I didn't read it till I was in my early 30s and it's one of my 2 favorite books. I know I wouldn't have "gotten it" in HS.

Re dreck: The Red Badge of Courage. Yuk.

[Shellfish]

Originally Posted by 33girl

One of these days I'm going to make a dossier of "Movies That Would Have To Change Their Whole Plot Because Of Cell Phones." Foxes is #1 on the list.

The Blair Witch Project! I always use this as an example of how cell phones weren't all that common even in 1999, which must surprise young people.

As for edited books, last year I was reading about the authors of the Nancy Drew books, and it turned out that many were revised in the 1960s to lose offensive stereotypes in the originals from the 1920s and 1930s. I have to admit that this made me want to get hold of one of the older versions just to see how bad they were, because I'd probably only read the newer versions.

[Alumiyum]

Doing a word replacement using "slave" is kind of a sloppy fix, but as long as the original is available, whatever. I can see the revised version being a better choice in schools, mostly for the reason k_s talks about. To be honest, I didn't like that book much anyway and neither did my peers. I like a lot of Twain's works, but not that one.

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

I remember reading this book in middle school. I lived in an affluent suburb at the time, but was not uncomfortable using the word in that context. Everyone else got nervous while reading it, to the point where they were asking me to say it every time the word came up.

/random sidebar

I don't remember ever reading HF out loud in class (we always read required reading books outloud in class), and I have always suspected it's because of the school I went to. It is also in an affluent suburb that tends to be PC to a fault in reaction to certain local assumptions. There is no way in hell anyone would have said that word out loud in class.

Originally Posted by 33girl

As for The Great Gatsby, I don't think it should EVER be taught to HS students. It's one of those books you can't appreciate till you're older. I didn't read it till I was in my early 30s and it's one of my 2 favorite books. I know I wouldn't have "gotten it" in HS.

Ditto on Gatsby. I thought it was just tedious to read in high school, but went and read it a couple of years ago to see if I hated it just because it was a required book (which is the case for many classics that I dislike) and now I love it.

Originally Posted by Shellfish

As for edited books, last year I was reading about the authors of the Nancy Drew books, and it turned out that many were revised in the 1960s to lose offensive stereotypes in the originals from the 1920s and 1930s. I have to admit that this made me want to get hold of one of the older versions just to see how bad they were, because I'd probably only read the newer versions.

I didn't know that about Nancy Drew. I read copies at my grandmother's house, but I'm sure they were from the 60s because they all had either my mother or aunt's name written in them. Now I want to go back and see which version they were and find the older ones if they were from the 60s.

[sceniczip]

It's just weird to edit it. I read it in HS and hated it but don't remember any real awkwardness reading it out loud and we did read some out loud.

I LOVED Gatsby in HS! It was my favorite book I read all through high school.

I'm teaching a Modest Proposal to my students this semester. So excited

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Shellfish

As for edited books, last year I was reading about the authors of the Nancy Drew books, and it turned out that many were revised in the 1960s to lose offensive stereotypes in the originals from the 1920s and 1930s. I have to admit that this made me want to get hold of one of the older versions just to see how bad they were, because I'd probably only read the newer versions.

I have a couple Bobbsey Twins (from the same writing stable) that are 1950s editions, and they refer to their "colored" maid and handyman. It's more a sort of patronizing attitude than anything else. Although one also involved supposed Gypsies and I don't think that flies nowadays either.

As far as the Brontes, I think it took me 2 months to read Jane Eyre - and this was back when I plowed through multiple books in a week.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I have a couple Bobbsey Twins (from the same writing stable) that are 1950s editions, and they refer to their "colored" maid and handyman. It's more a sort of patronizing attitude than anything else. Although one also involved supposed Gypsies and I don't think that flies nowadays either.

As far as the Brontes, I think it took me 2 months to read Jane Eyre - and this was back when I plowed through multiple books in a week.

The only reason I want to read Jane Eyre is because I read the Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (good surrealistic series btw) and I think it'd make more sense if I'd read the book before. You know, since the plot involves the main character, Tuesday Next, IN the book.