Re: Who wrote Holden Caulfield
Emily Friedman (bananafish_9@yahoo.com)
Mon, 02 Nov 1998 13:22:51 -0800 (PST)
---helena kim <helena@apollo.netsoc.tcd.ie> wrote:
>
> On Fri, 30 Oct 1998, Camille Scaysbrook wrote:
>
> (re: green day)
>
> > if I was a high school English teacher I would probably
> > play this to my class and give them a copy of the lyrics to get them
> > interested in the book - especially because the lyrics do a good
job of
> > giving you an idea of the character (the only lyrics I remember
are the
> > chorus: it was something like `There's a boy who wants to take a
stand/But
> > always ends up sitting') Anyone else out there heard it?
>
> just my humble opinion, but 1) if a high school english teacher
needs to
> try and get sixteen year olds interested in catcher by using green day
> lyrics, there's something very wrong. it's not a 'difficult' book,
it uses
> easily accessable (sp?) language, and it's riddled with themes that
are
> easy to relate to for teenagers. it's not a long book that you need
> prompting to read. it's a little gem of a book that doesn't demand a
whole
> lot of serious thought on first reading.
>
> 2) as someone who was not so long ago a high school student studying
> catcher, i'd have found it almost insulting if a teacher tried to grab
> my
> attention with *green day*, of all people. it harps of one's
religous ed
> teacher playing hymns on an electric guitar in an effort to dress
them up
> and make them seem cooler.
>
> i can see the point with kate bush and wuthering heights, as that
book's a
> hefty unappetising piece of drviel, but catcher is absolutely,
undeniably
> easy, bite-sized reading.
>
> *****
>
> okay, i just got your reply to liz's post and i'd like to amend what
i'm
> about to send by agreeing that, yes, if it make's one more kid enjoy
> literature more, all the better. *but* the idea of an english tutor
> introducing institutionalised punk to a class of sentient thinking
human
> beings in an effort to make them enjoy a book that stands firmly on
its
> own two feet worries me, and is rather insulting to their capbilities.
>
> however, if it makes one more student learn a love of reading. it's
all
> been worth the while. :)
>
>
> :helena kim
>
Well I agreed with you at first. I would be insulted if my teacher
played the song because then she would be pandering to popular culture
in order to get the class interested. I just feel that Catcher in the
Rye is of a higher calibre then Green Day.
-Liz Friedman
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