Blog 6

Who gets to decide what good writing is?  Who should decide?  Why?

I think the reader and the reader alone should decide if the writing in a book is good. Everyone has their own opinion on a book and even though you make like a book doesn’t necessarily mean someone else will like the book. The adjective “good” is determined by the person reading the book. Good for one person may not be good for another. So when critics completely trash a book I think it’s not fair to the author or future readers because someone might have really enjoyed that book, but won’t anymore because of the bad review it has.

Should we add more genre fiction to the curriculum?

I think we should add more genre fiction to the curriculum so we can put the love back into reading. When I was younger and I could actually choose the books I read I would read all the time and actually enjoy doing. But since seventh grade the amount I read and the joy I get from reading and has dramatically decreased. If we introduced genre fiction into our curriculum I think kids would be more motivated to read. If kids are reading a book everyone else is reading I think they might be more motivated to finish so they can relate to the book and be part of that “in” crowd.

Are you good with swapping out Of Mice and Men for Twilight, for example?  Or Macbeth for Hunger Games?

Personally I’m ok with tit and I don’t see a problem with switching them out. When we do switch them out though, I think we should still study the message those books conveyed and how it relates to modern day. I don’t think we should completely get rid of the classics but I do think we should find a better way to mix modern day with the classics. I think the student should choose personally if they would like to read Macbeth or The Hunger Games and once the students are done, compare and contrast with a student who read the opposite book that you did.