Should high school students have to read Harry Potter?

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by theducks

Optional;
HP on a High school required reading list

6th Grade, maybe. These are Juvenal's fer crying out loud.
(Yes I own them and I haven't occupied a grade school desk in half a century )
IMHO the last few were really 'dark', The first one, was a 'romp'

Have you seen the lousy education some American high schoolers have?
Maybe a juvenile book reading list might help!

[wyndslash]

it would be nice if there was simply a recommended reading list.

i'm just wondering when life has become so complicated

or maybe it always was, from the time when human beings discovered they wanted to destroy each other by trying to one-up the other

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

i'm just wondering when life has become so complicated

Life is difficult, but then again it can be quite simple. Either way.

[Mortis]

Anything that gets kids reading is a good thing, to a point. When I was in school teachers had very few options so we read a lot of books that none of us could relate to. I hardly read until one of our teachers gave us "2001: A Space Odyssey" to read and write a paper on. I wish I still had that paper, it was the only A+ I ever saw, because of that I was hooked on reading and decided to peruse English Lit. I didn't come away with a degree in English Lit, but I did keep a love of reading and have since read every book Clarke wrote, that I could get my hands on.

[GeoffC]

Anything that encourages reading.

From memory I was 'forced' to read at school ...
Lord of the Flies
and a play by Shakespeare - name not remembered .... for what was UK O-level (age 15-16 .... hated both and failed miserably.....

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Anything that encourages reading.

From memory I was 'forced' to read at school ...
Lord of the Flies
and a play by Shakespeare - name not remembered .... for what was UK O-level (age 15-16 .... hated both and failed miserably.....

Have you read Lord of the Flies since? I did, and I thought it sucked all over again

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

Maybe a juvenile book reading list might help!

It was common in Poland in my times (and think still is)
two lists per school-year: one mandatory, the other optional.
both 8-12 books

I was usually 2 years ahead with both + books which weren't listed on.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Have you read Lord of the Flies since? I did, and I thought it sucked all over again

Once bitten ... a 2 year spell of it was enough.

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

Seriously, should they have to read that slop?

That is a matter of taste. Be glad they can read, I would say.

[Mortis]

Calling a book "Slop" is pretty strong, I have only heard a few people who didn't like it and they admitted that the books were just a little to juvenile for them.

I can't say I have read any of the HP series, and I have heard everything from "Slop" to "Great", my sister in law loves them. As long as it is better than the Twilight Series of which I have read 1/2 of the first book and I really did find it difficult to read. I wouldn't call it crap though, I have read worse and it just wasn't my kind of read, hence why I have yet to read any HP

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Calling a book "Slop" is pretty strong, I have only heard a few people who didn't like it and they admitted that the books were just a little to juvenile for them.

I can't say I have read any of the HP series, and I have heard everything from "Slop" to "Great", my sister in law loves them. As long as it is better than the Twilight Series of which I have read 1/2 of the first book and I really did find it difficult to read. I wouldn't call it crap though, I have read worse and it just wasn't my kind of read, hence why I have yet to read any HP

Comparing Potter and Twilight is like comparing scrambled eggs to cereal: They're both breakfast foods that can be made with or without milk; the similarities pretty much end there.

*For the record I've read all of both series and enjoyed both (although I had to force my way through books 1 and 2 of Twilight in order to get to the "good stuff" in books 3 and 4).

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

Comparing Potter and Twilight is like comparing scrambled eggs to cereal: They're both breakfast foods that can be made with or without milk; the similarities pretty much end there.

*For the record I've read all of both series and enjoyed both (although I had to force my way through books 1 and 2 of Twilight in order to get to the "good stuff" in books 3 and 4).

I wasn't comparing the two series, I have only read part of the Twilight series and I was expressing that I hoped the Harry Potter series was better. I must have confused you, that happens, in fact many people I converse with have said that at one time or another.

I liked you "Breakfast Food" analogy, I could understand it and thats pretty good.

I am also very happy that you finished both series, I have to give credit where credit is due, I couldn't stomach the Twilight series, but as I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not the target audience Stephenie Meyer was after when she penned the books. I could be wrong and she just missed the mark for my tastes.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by Mortis

I wasn't comparing the two series, I have only read part of the Twilight series and I was expressing that I hoped the Harry Potter series was better. I must have confused you, that happens, in fact many people I converse with have said that at one time or another.

I liked you "Breakfast Food" analogy, I could understand it and thats pretty good.

I am also very happy that you finished both series, I have to give credit where credit is due, I couldn't stomach the Twilight series, but as I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not the target audience Stephenie Meyer was after when she penned the books. I could be wrong and she just missed the mark for my tastes.

I wasn't pick on you or your post Mortis! I hope it didn't come across that way - I know you were not comparing them. I was explaining (in my own awkward way, I guess), that I did not think they should be compared, becuase they were not really that much alike (IMO). I'm very sorry for the misunderstanding.

As for being the target audience, neither was I (nor my husband), but we both really liked the Harry Potter series. My husband wouldn't even look at the cover of the Twilight books, much less read them - not that I blame him.

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

I wasn't pick on you or your post Mortis! I hope it didn't come across that way - I know you were not comparing them. I was explaining (in my own awkward way, I guess), that I did not think they should be compared, becuase they were not really that much alike (IMO). I'm very sorry for the misunderstanding.

As for being the target audience, neither was I (nor my husband), but we both really liked the Harry Potter series. My husband wouldn't even look at the cover of the Twilight books, much less read them - not that I blame him.

No I didn't think you came across as picking on me I was just being sure what I meant was what was understood I'll stop that now

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by Mortis

No I didn't think you came across as picking on me I was just being sure what I meant was what was understood I'll stop that now

Ah, ok! What a comedy of errors! But at least we now know that we understand each other!