What age is this piece of writing appropriate for kids to read? Gothic/horror piece

[TheGreenWoman]

There's a debate going on, in a local parents FB page, about this piece of writing being offered to children in secondary school in an English lesson.

What age would you be happy for your child to read this?

poestories.com/read/blackcat?fbclid=IwAR21gYxZhroIrSYn13y7tVpA7oKroyGoJUOa5DisYEO_mx2a_WSrEMUQeqs

AIBU to ask what age you'd be happy for your kids to read it, obvs! ;)

14ish - although I'm not sure mine will be ready for it at 14 even.

Secondary seems fine - although given how it handles alcoholism/domestic violence and it is quite a complex piece in terms of understanding maybe Year 9 at least to really be able to dissect it as a piece

Edgar Allen Poe is a fantastic writer. His use of vocabulary is very sophisticated, however, so I probably wouldn’t teach it to a class below Yr 10 for that reason - maybe Year 9s.

Am presuming the debate is about how challenging it is linguistically, btw - do people have a problem with the content?

There's far worse content in a lot of YA books that are commonly read by 10+ children so that wouldn't bother me.

Challenge wise, I'd say Year 9+.

Yr 10+

Bloody hell, that's grim. That would traumatise my DD and she's 25 (and an English teacher).

It could work for Y9 but, as pp stated, is grim. I would not choose to teach it.

I’d be happy for mine to read it from 9/10. Far worse happens in HP and the Hunger Games.

Whether they’d be able to get through it and/or understand it is a different matter.

Its not grim per se its actually a really insightful look into the effects of alcoholism and what it does which given that the author himself was an alcoholic as well

I dont really see what is that traumatising about it

Id be happy for my eldest to read that (in fact he probably already has) and he's 13. My youngest is more sensitive and I cant imagine him wrestling with the style and vocab even in a couple of years but by 13 I wouldnt object to the school introducing it.

Year 9 top set?

It’s quite upsetting as it deals with pretty graphic animal cruelty.

I get that there are probably ‘worse’ pieces but I think that would upset a lot of children, it would have upset mine and I am a Poe fan.

I’d be happy for my year 8 ds13 to read it. He tends to discuss the books they read in English and the themes with me at length. I’m confident he could handle it/ understand it despite not being as socially/ emotionally mature as some 13yo boys.
Dd11 would struggle with the vocabulary rather than the content.

DD studied it last year (Yr7) when she would have been 11 and a half. It didn't seem to phase her at all.

Not this piece, not with the animal cruelty. I would have thought The Tell Tale Heart would be better.

We teach the gothic genre in Year 8, and read a number of Poe's texts. His themes are grim, but that's the nature of his writing and his life. I'm sure context would be taught too. Would you feel as strongly about a play like Romeo and Juliet? Equally bleak content (teen suicide ultimately) and we teach it in year 7.

Sorry I’m laughing at it traumatising a poster’s daughter who is an English teacher!

Come on she’s an English Teacher...has she ever taught The Color Purple or The Handmaid’s Tale?? Are you suggesting she’s too traumatised to teach Poe, one of the most celebrated gothic writers ever?

Literature is about covering the expanse of human experience and often human suffering (or animal).

Anyway, the writing is very difficult so usually hear 9 though we have done abridged/easier versions of Poe in year 8. Tell-tale heart is an easier read.

I find doing work around summaries/story boards/image banks for each paragraphs...just lots of visual stuff helps them get to grips with what’s happening even if the language is too sophisticated.

And then you focus on the specific imagery and tension of particular paragraphs for effect.

I wouldn't mind my children reading it from about Yr 7, but I don't think they'd appreciate it. I'd say Yr 9 or 10 to really be able to appreciate the writing and unpick what Poe is trying to say.

16. Could especially traumatise children who have witnessed domestic abuse.

My 12 year old can not handle horror at all, he found Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children too disturbing.

I disagree I think its a more powerful story than tell tale heart in someways (although they are often paired together because of the similar meanings and studying of guilt/insanity/paranoia etc) because of the symbolism of the cat(s)

if you are focusing on the animal cruelty than you are not on the symbolism of the cat.

Which is why really Year 7 is too young to really appreciate it as a story

MrsP that is a good point I think we have romanticised Romeo and Juilet far to much - and forget it always was a tragedy!

Sorry I’m laughing at it traumatising a poster’s daughter who is an English teacher!

Come on she’s an English Teacher...has she ever taught The Color Purple or The Handmaid’s Tale?? Are you suggesting she’s too traumatised to teach Poe, one of the most celebrated gothic writers ever?

She's autistic and has cats as emotional support animals. Her current one is a beautiful black cat. That's why she would find that particular piece distressing. Any other gruesomeness wouldn't bother her at all.

She's autistic and has cats as emotional support animals. Her current one is a beautiful black cat. That's why she would find that particular piece distressing. Any other gruesomeness wouldn't bother her at all.
I'm in my thirties and it upset me. I have a black cat.

Here he is.