To think Michael Gove has actually got something right for once?

[privitandpetunias]

Article in the guardian saying that Mr Gove wants to remove the American literature from the GCSE curriculum and replace it with English literature (sorry can't do links). This is something I have often thought that there are so many great novels out there that are part of our cultural heritage that it would be great for our children to study.

[mrsruffallo]

Polar Bear- From what I understand, that is part of the curriculum. There is room for other authors to be studied.

[dawndonnaagain]

'Dead White People'- an ignorant label if there ever was one-
You see, I think that's ignorant.
Okay lit crit. Toril Moi, Barthes, Kristeva, Lamarque& Olsen, Mills, Graham Allen. Of the top of my head.

[dawndonnaagain]

I do think sarinka it's a bit unreasonable to say someone is shit just because you don't like them!

[mrsruffallo]

I like Angelou. I am not particularly impressed by what I have read by Zephaniah though tbf I haven't read his work extensively

[dawndonnaagain]

off

[Trooperslane]

Haven't red the thread op but YABVU.

It's tragic that kids won't get the breadth of experience they once would have. Speaking as an English lit graduate.

Americans DO speak English too.

Steinbeck, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Twain etc? FFS

[TheFillyjonk]

Like many others on this thread, I also think this is a dodgy move. Gove is pathetically nostalgic for the Schooldays of Old. I think schools have stuck with To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men because time after time, kids get something out of them. The themes are universal. I'm not saying that there aren't British novels that can do this, but there's a reason that these texts are so popular amongst teachers.

I studied a British novel for GCSE English Literature - L. P. Hartley's The Go Between. A fantastic book, but bloody hell, it was hard work. The context was very, very specific and not very relatable. I learnt it in a higher ability English class and we coped, but I think a lot of kids would struggle with the language. I've read it again a few times since, as well as rather enjoying Alan Bates in the film...

I'm also not sure which British texts Gove would approve of. I'm guessing stuffy Victorian novels which I can't even read NOW with the aid of matchsticks to keep my eyes open.

[Springheeled]

junkfoodaddict that sounds like Roll of Thinder, Hear My Cry to me. Mildred D. Taylor

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

Agree it's Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, junkfoodaddict

[junkfoodaddict]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I am going to enquire about buying the book now!

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

It part of a box set of penguin children's classics. They'll almost certainly do it separately.

[Chipstick10]

I agree with OP the English classics are the best IMHO

[dawndonnaagain]

TheFilly Pinter did the screenplay for the film - figures, doesn't it!

Chipstick Why?

[blueemerald]

Roll of thunder hear my cry, junkfoodaddict! Great book!

[nobodysbabynow]

Surely the point is that it isn't the role of a government minister to micro manage the curriculum? Hasn't he got other priorities, like, for instance, making sure there are enough school places for our children?

[Icimoi]

Gove is, as usual, being utterly ridiculous. These are books written in English, and written well. Those should be the only criteria. After all, the vast majority of the texts children study in English are British in origin, and they have plenty of time to read English texts outside lessons.

[Ewieindwie1]

The Romantic poets .... Oh God.

Please let's consider the Metaphysicals!

Trying to work out what my school could study without buying all new texts. Maybe Pride and Prejudice or Far From the Madding Crowd? I hate being told what to teach by Gove and the exam boards.

What I find really scary is how little many teenagers read these days. I think many schools may respond to this by making Literature an option rather than something most candidates take. This could have the effect of making Literature more elitist.

And if anyone knows where my school can get 245 exam copies of some novels for free, my hard pressed school would be delighted.

[LaurieMarlow]

Gove, the most frustrating man on the planet strikes again.

This much emphasis on pre-20th British writing is only going to grind the kids down. 20th/21st century classics from the US & Commonwealth add a fresher, more modern voice into the mix - how can this be deemed a bad thing when it comes to engaging kids and cultivating a genuine love of literature?

The pre-20th century British novel requirement is particularly onerous, particularly for boys (I guess Austen will be the fallback option for girls). I've taught Victorian lit at Uni level and much as i love Dickens, Thackery, Elliot, Hardy, etc, it's going to be a huge struggle to engage the average 15/16 year old.

And the fact that Gove's personal preferences are influencing the curriculum is mind blowingly ridiculous. Imagine if the Health Secretary had a similar influence on how we treat cancer patients?

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

And if anyone knows where my school can get 245 exam copies of some novels for free, my hard pressed school would be delighted

This is exactly where all Gove's plans fall down. He has an idea and then put it into action without really thinking anything through. He the has to make a U-turn to make it work. No problem with changing the exam curriculum, but he's going to need to put the money up to resource it if he's going to make a change like this. If it was about academic rigour the could do that by adjusting expectations with the current texts.

If it's about a narrow curriculum with students just being pushed enough to get the C grade and too many resources available to them so they don't need to be able to do the work, then this doesn't even begin to deal with that problem. he's just shifted it to a new set of texts.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

And if anyone knows where my school can get 245 exam copies of some novels for free, my hard pressed school would be delighted

This is exactly where all Gove's plans fall down. He has an idea and then put it into action without really thinking anything through. He the has to make a U-turn to make it work. No problem with changing the exam curriculum, but he's going to need to put the money up to resource it if he's going to make a change like this. If it was about academic rigour the could do that by adjusting expectations with the current texts.

If it's about a narrow curriculum with students just being pushed enough to get the C grade and too many resources available to them so they don't need to be able to do the work, then this doesn't even begin to deal with that problem. he's just shifted it to a new set of texts.

[MyrtleDove]

Quoth mrsruffallo:

''What about Caribbean lit or Nigerian, plenty of decent books written in all languages from all cultures'

This takes the prize for the most idiotic remark on the thread. We are talking about the study of ENGLISH Literature.'

You realise that English is a language that many people in the Caribbean and Nigeria speak? And that many children in English classes in England will be from the Caribbean and Nigeria or have those countries in their heritage? Who's ignorant now?

You may want sexism, racism and imperialism to be part of the curriculum, I do not. We get to know people by their stories - that's why it's important to get to know authors that are women and/or non-white and/or non-straight. As long as the curriculum is dominated by studying dead straight white men, those are the people who will be considered the most important.

Ewie y to the metaphysicals! Donne would be great for GCSE, all Jesus and shagging. Also Marlowe is surely overdue for some attention - queer spies? Yes please.

[therealeasterbunny]

IMO YABU

There is a huge amount of amazing American Literature, and I think it's great that it is represented on the curriculum. I loved Of Mice and Men, it is probably the reason I did a Literature degree. There is a lot of English literature on the curriculum, so I think there is room for some am lit too!

[noblegiraffe]

he's going to need to put the money up to resource it

He doesn't need to do anything of the sort. They certainly haven't when changing the maths GCSE every sodding year or two for the past decade. My department has had to buy tonnes of new GCSE textbooks to keep up, and a textbook is way more expensive than a penguin classic.

Anyway, Austen, Dickens, Shakespeare and co are all available for free on Project Gutenberg.