What should a reading heritage be for pupils in 2015?

You might as well devise a checklist of mathematical formulae that no pupil should leave school without "reading".

MrP

<<You might as well devise a checklist of mathematical formulae that no pupil should leave school without "reading".

MrP >>

They do.

Yes, that list is very multy-cultural. Perhaps too, as it seems to miss many of the classics including the Bard. Though, Ive never heard of any escaping high school in the US without having read him.

<<You might as well devise a checklist of mathematical formulae that no pupil should leave school without "reading". >>

So what would you suggest? No list at all?

<So what would you suggest? No list at all?>

I had no idea that was the only alternative.

MrP

<So what would you suggest? No list at all?>

I had no idea that was the only alternative. >

Who said it was?

How should our literary heritage be defined, given the changes in our society?

I would have hoped that contributors to this Forum would have come up with an interesting list of books. There is a big split between American English and British English, and all the other Englishes out there. The Irish have their own literary heritage which they promote in their bookshops.

A lot of academic English courses are moving away from Shakespeare in an attempt to be more relevant. Every now and again, The Times publishes lists of books that it considers to be of interest or merit. Like the top ten 'tear jerkers' for instance etc. I remember 'Jude the obscure' by Thomas Hardy came top of that list.

The Times - Books

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/






Waterstone's Classic Fiction

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/bestSellersCategory.do?ctx=1000920052&searchType=7




Top 10 paperbacks - fiction
The Sunday Times Bestseller List, April 12, 2009

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4304971.ece


WH Smith Book Charts

http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/chart-books.aspx?promotionID=2ndNav_Book_Charts

Borders: is another good bookshop, and they display what they are selling in an interesting and attractive way.

http://www.borders.co.uk/


I almost forgot: Amazon


http://www.amazon.co.uk/books-used-books-textbooks/b?ie=UTF8&node=266239

It is a lot to wade through

Whatever, any of the works of Linton Kwesi Johnson and Madhu Singh should be on the reading list of all British schoolchildren. There's no heritage to be had without those two.

<I would have hoped that contributors to this Forum would have come up with an interesting list of books.>

Perhaps the phrase "literary heritage" is the problem; and the naive notion that simply working through a checklist would confer such a thing, if it existed.

Besides, the original quotation does sound a little like the kind of burble a minor cabinet minister might devise, while in transit between focus groups.

MrP

<Perhaps the phrase "literary heritage" is the problem; and the naive notion that simply working through a checklist would confer such a thing, if it existed. >

Still, it will be done, so...

For those who remain interested in the thread question: what works would give one an idea of/hint at (which is mostly what education is about) of a literary heritage in your country?

For those who remain interested in the thread question: what works would give one an idea of/hint at (which is mostly what education is about) a literary heritage in your country?