It's extra credit time again...need your recommendations
Apr 10th, 2006, 02:12 PM
#41
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How can a student get extra credit in a Spanish class for reading a book completely unrelated to the class? I thought this was some kind of social studies, history or literature class, but I think you should have a book with some relevance to Spanish if you are giving credit for it.
My father was a Spanish teacher and he never would have dreamed of letting kids boost their grades by just reading some book unrelated to the class, regardless of how good a book it was. I don't think the school would allow it, either. Things sure have changed since I was in school. Now if they are reading them in Spanish translations, or the original in Spanish (like Allende's memoir), that would be different.
My father was a Spanish teacher and he never would have dreamed of letting kids boost their grades by just reading some book unrelated to the class, regardless of how good a book it was. I don't think the school would allow it, either. Things sure have changed since I was in school. Now if they are reading them in Spanish translations, or the original in Spanish (like Allende's memoir), that would be different.
Apr 12th, 2006, 07:24 AM
#43
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OK, so how about "The Children of Sanchez"?
I read it (in Spanish) for my high school Spanish class and loved it - although it's not a novel, it reads like one.
(BTW, I highly recommend the original poster's listing for "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" - not a novel either.)
I read it (in Spanish) for my high school Spanish class and loved it - although it's not a novel, it reads like one.
(BTW, I highly recommend the original poster's listing for "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" - not a novel either.)
Apr 12th, 2006, 11:34 AM
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Anything by Edward Rutherford... he writes historical fiction about a variety of places, including London, Russia and Dublin, following the lives of a certain set of characters, and their descendants, throughout a couple thousand years.
Apr 26th, 2006, 06:43 PM
#48
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Thanks again, everybody. So many of these books are SO GOOD!!! Christina, I give the students a long list of books to choose from, and they may pick something that relates to their own interests. The idea is that they will LEARN something and enjoy it too. I should not have used the word "novel" in my original post, since obviously many of the ones I mentioned were non-fiction. Thanks again, everyone for their wonderful ideas. I know what I'll be doing all summer!
Apr 27th, 2006, 01:59 AM
#49
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I have read almost all of the above and think they are all good suggestions. I have a few more to add:
V.S. Naipaul, Among the Believers; India: A Wounded Civilization; Almost any book by Naipaul could be on your list. A brilliant thinker and writer, he poses questions about life and culture as well as the worlds major religions and their role in modern culture. The first book is a description of his journey to various Muslim nations and could be quite timely for your students, he also wrote a sequel called Beyond Belief. The second book is a rather frank look at India and its issues.
Vikrem Seth, Two Lives; A Suitable Boy. I just finished Two Lives recently and think it would be really great for students, it is now in my top 10 list of all-time favorite books. It is autobiographical, in that it is the life of the author's uncle, and Indian who married a German woman who fled Nazi Germany and settled in the UK. It is the story of India, Germany, a marriage of mixed cultures and religions, Nazi Germany and the author's coming to terms with his own culture as well. The second is one of my favorite books, but it is about 1,000 pages, so you have to be dedicated. Funny, sad, touching story about an Indian girl in 1960's India whose mother is determined to find her the right husband. This was on the US bestseller list in 1993.
Life and Death in Shanghai, the Good Earth, Wild Swans Three Daughters of China, and Dream of the Red Chamber are classic books about China generally.
George Orwell, Burmese Days. Before he wrote Animal Farm, George Orwell lived, worked and traveled in SE Asia. Down and Out in Paris and London is another excellent book about being a waiter in rather reduced circumstances.
James Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim. Both classis
Somerset Maugham. Short stories Volumes 1, II, III or IV. He traveled extensively in SE Asia and lived at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore for several years.
E.M. Foster, The Razor's Edge, Passage to India.
Arundhati Roy, God of Small Things.
Rabindranath Tagore, The Post Office; any collection of his poems. He was primarily a poet (and was awarded a Nobel Prize for his poetry), but wrote some novels, the Post Office is his best known.
Paul Scott , The Raj Quartet. A wonderful series, but it is in 4 volumes so it is not for everyone. The first volume would be good if that is all you want to commit to the whole quartet. It is the story of an English family living in a hill station in north Indian before and during WWII. You will learn a lot about the British rule in India, good and bad.
Jhumpa Lahri, Interpreter of Maladies; The Namesake. These books are not about India so much as there are about the Indian immigrant's experience in the US. Interesting to see how she interprets US culture.
V.S. Naipaul, Among the Believers; India: A Wounded Civilization; Almost any book by Naipaul could be on your list. A brilliant thinker and writer, he poses questions about life and culture as well as the worlds major religions and their role in modern culture. The first book is a description of his journey to various Muslim nations and could be quite timely for your students, he also wrote a sequel called Beyond Belief. The second book is a rather frank look at India and its issues.
Vikrem Seth, Two Lives; A Suitable Boy. I just finished Two Lives recently and think it would be really great for students, it is now in my top 10 list of all-time favorite books. It is autobiographical, in that it is the life of the author's uncle, and Indian who married a German woman who fled Nazi Germany and settled in the UK. It is the story of India, Germany, a marriage of mixed cultures and religions, Nazi Germany and the author's coming to terms with his own culture as well. The second is one of my favorite books, but it is about 1,000 pages, so you have to be dedicated. Funny, sad, touching story about an Indian girl in 1960's India whose mother is determined to find her the right husband. This was on the US bestseller list in 1993.
Life and Death in Shanghai, the Good Earth, Wild Swans Three Daughters of China, and Dream of the Red Chamber are classic books about China generally.
George Orwell, Burmese Days. Before he wrote Animal Farm, George Orwell lived, worked and traveled in SE Asia. Down and Out in Paris and London is another excellent book about being a waiter in rather reduced circumstances.
James Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim. Both classis
Somerset Maugham. Short stories Volumes 1, II, III or IV. He traveled extensively in SE Asia and lived at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore for several years.
E.M. Foster, The Razor's Edge, Passage to India.
Arundhati Roy, God of Small Things.
Rabindranath Tagore, The Post Office; any collection of his poems. He was primarily a poet (and was awarded a Nobel Prize for his poetry), but wrote some novels, the Post Office is his best known.
Paul Scott , The Raj Quartet. A wonderful series, but it is in 4 volumes so it is not for everyone. The first volume would be good if that is all you want to commit to the whole quartet. It is the story of an English family living in a hill station in north Indian before and during WWII. You will learn a lot about the British rule in India, good and bad.
Jhumpa Lahri, Interpreter of Maladies; The Namesake. These books are not about India so much as there are about the Indian immigrant's experience in the US. Interesting to see how she interprets US culture.
Apr 27th, 2006, 04:32 AM
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Two thought provoking books for me:
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. this is more than a mystery, it concerns history revision.
other favorites:
Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser
Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. this is more than a mystery, it concerns history revision.
other favorites:
Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser
Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Apr 27th, 2006, 04:37 AM
#56
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<u>A Confederacy of Dunces</u> by John Kennedy Toole. It is a wonderful book that they will actually enjoy reading. The New Orleans setting is timely, and life in the 60's interests high schoolers, who should have had modern US history by that time.
Apr 27th, 2006, 04:59 AM
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You're welcome, Traviata! My son read the book this year for school and he LOVED it. It was his favorite until he read Catcher in the Rye, and now he carries around that book to re-read and the word "phony" surfaces in his vocabulary unsurprisingly often!
