Senior in HS, my World Literature teacher is SOOOO nice for no reason. We've pushed back essay due dates by several weeks just by complaining, we constantly fail the small reading quizzes she gives us but still get A's anyway. My friend and I are always vidchatting on skype with some kids who have a free hour in the computer lab... during class.
Anyways... every senior gets this 10-page "research paper" on whatever we want to talk about; their suggestion is that we write about a topic related to our future careers or Wednesday internships... or hobbies.
So of course, I'm writing about Korean E-sports (SC <3)! Topic was approved by lit teacher today, and when I showed her this pic: + Show Spoiler +
She was like :0!
In other news... come Jan 1st, I need a Terran practice partner :/ out of the 12 or so kids from my HS that play SCII, not a single one is Terran. Nearly all of them are really bad too, only Animostas is good. Apparently these two Korean girls are getting SCII and playing Terran.. not that that would help
I feel like anyone can be that nice but the way I see it is that your teacher isn't doing you a favor by letting you not achieve your full potential to get you ready for further education. The way I see it, she is getting away easy by not doing enough efforts to get you to learn and you ruining your chances of education.
On December 21 2010 12:15 sc2lime wrote: I feel like anyone can be that nice but the way I see it is that your teacher isn't doing you a favor by letting you not achieve your full potential to get you ready for further education. The way I see it, she is getting away easy by not doing enough efforts to get you to learn and you ruining your chances of education.
/pessimist
High school isn't education. Literature classes have always been bullshit, I've never learned a thing from them - not even essay writing.
Blah...lucky you, synapse...I actually have to work for my grade =_= (i got a 91.7 A- in Weems...fffffuuuuuuu)
At one point, I considered doing something specific about bw for my senior paper, like how did Bisu's corsair/dt build (circa 2007) affect the PvZ matchup at the time, but I felt like there would have to be soo much explaining, so I instead stuck with some WWI-related topic. =\
wait...
Apparently these two Korean girls are getting SCII and playing Terran.. not that that would help
On December 21 2010 12:15 sc2lime wrote: I feel like anyone can be that nice but the way I see it is that your teacher isn't doing you a favor by letting you not achieve your full potential to get you ready for further education. The way I see it, she is getting away easy by not doing enough efforts to get you to learn and you ruining your chances of education.
/pessimist
High school isn't education. Literature classes have always been bullshit, I've never learned a thing from them - not even essay writing.
Then you didn't go to a good high school. This is in response to the original post too.
Teenagers love teachers who are pushovers because kids don't actually want to do any work. They don't recognize the importance of getting a good education (and apparently your teacher doesn't care enough about giving a good education); they'd much rather just fool around.
Saying that you're happy that your teacher doesn't actually make you do anything just shows how immature you are. And honestly, I don't blame you; your teacher should be holding you responsible for this material. Students are too young to care.
Surely you have some teachers that properly educate you though? (And hopefully you don't completely despise them for not letting you dick around in class or drop any Fs you guys get on quizzes?)
On December 21 2010 12:15 sc2lime wrote: I feel like anyone can be that nice but the way I see it is that your teacher isn't doing you a favor by letting you not achieve your full potential to get you ready for further education. The way I see it, she is getting away easy by not doing enough efforts to get you to learn and you ruining your chances of education.
/pessimist
High school isn't education. Literature classes have always been bullshit, I've never learned a thing from them - not even essay writing.
Then you didn't go to a good high school. This is in response to the original post too.
Teenagers love teachers who are pushovers because kids don't actually want to do any work. They don't recognize the importance of getting a good education (and apparently your teacher doesn't care enough about giving a good education); they'd much rather just fool around.
Saying that you're happy that your teacher doesn't actually make you do anything just shows how immature you are. And honestly, I don't blame you; your teacher should be holding you responsible for this material. Students are too young to care.
Surely you have some teachers that properly educate you though? (And hopefully you don't completely despise them for not letting you dick around in class or drop any Fs you guys get on quizzes?)
Quote from Wiki:
The Bergen County Academies (sometimes referred to as Bergen Academy or BCA) is a magnet public high school located in Hackensack that serves the high school population of Bergen County, New Jersey.[2] The school was conceived by the late Dr. John Grieco. The current principal is Russell Davis; Raymond Bath is the Academic Dean; Dr. David Ostfeld is Admissions Chair. [3] The Academy is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the United States.[4] Newsweek considers Bergen County Academies to be an "elite" high school,[5] while Bloomberg Businessweek cites Bergen County Academies as New Jersey's best high school.[6]
I've learned far more in math and the natural sciences through my own reading / studying than my school classes. My history classes have never taught me anything I didn't already know (my dad is a historian, so yeah). As for Lit - I really despise the whole "literary analysis" thing. Maybe if the literature curriculum involved learning to write with style / eloquence rather than reading old classics and answering questions, I would pay a bit of attention. Not that I have anything against reading good books, I just don't see how literary analysis has any part in a non-english-major curriculum.
On December 21 2010 12:24 blahman3344 wrote: do I happen to know either of them? o_O
On December 21 2010 12:15 sc2lime wrote: I feel like anyone can be that nice but the way I see it is that your teacher isn't doing you a favor by letting you not achieve your full potential to get you ready for further education. The way I see it, she is getting away easy by not doing enough efforts to get you to learn and you ruining your chances of education.
/pessimist
High school isn't education. Literature classes have always been bullshit, I've never learned a thing from them - not even essay writing.
Then you didn't go to a good high school. This is in response to the original post too.
Teenagers love teachers who are pushovers because kids don't actually want to do any work. They don't recognize the importance of getting a good education (and apparently your teacher doesn't care enough about giving a good education); they'd much rather just fool around.
Saying that you're happy that your teacher doesn't actually make you do anything just shows how immature you are. And honestly, I don't blame you; your teacher should be holding you responsible for this material. Students are too young to care.
Surely you have some teachers that properly educate you though? (And hopefully you don't completely despise them for not letting you dick around in class or drop any Fs you guys get on quizzes?)
The Bergen County Academies (sometimes referred to as Bergen Academy or BCA) is a magnet public high school located in Hackensack that serves the high school population of Bergen County, New Jersey.[2] The school was conceived by the late Dr. John Grieco. The current principal is Russell Davis; Raymond Bath is the Academic Dean; Dr. David Ostfeld is Admissions Chair. [3] The Academy is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the United States.[4] Newsweek considers Bergen County Academies to be an "elite" high school,[5] while Bloomberg Businessweek cites Bergen County Academies as New Jersey's best high school.[6]
I've learned far more in math and the natural sciences through my own reading / studying than my school classes. My history classes have never taught me anything I didn't already know (my dad is a historian, so yeah). As for Lit - I really despise the whole "literary analysis." Maybe if the literature curriculum involved learning to write with style / eloquence rather than reading old classics and answering questions, I would pay a bit of attention. Not that I have anything against reading good books, I just don't see how literary analysis has any part in a non-english-major curriculum.
You quoting an article about the general success of your high school obviously doesn't properly represent the class you're particularly speaking about. (You also just said that your high school is good but you can learn everything better on your own >.>) We're talking about you not having a good English class and a good English teacher. You need one that doesn't let you walk all over her. Or else of course you're not going to take the class seriously and not learn anything.
You're not learning from that class because you're not expected to... because your teacher lets you get away with anything you want.
On December 21 2010 12:15 sc2lime wrote: I feel like anyone can be that nice but the way I see it is that your teacher isn't doing you a favor by letting you not achieve your full potential to get you ready for further education. The way I see it, she is getting away easy by not doing enough efforts to get you to learn and you ruining your chances of education.
/pessimist
High school isn't education. Literature classes have always been bullshit, I've never learned a thing from them - not even essay writing.
Then you didn't go to a good high school. This is in response to the original post too.
Teenagers love teachers who are pushovers because kids don't actually want to do any work. They don't recognize the importance of getting a good education (and apparently your teacher doesn't care enough about giving a good education); they'd much rather just fool around.
Saying that you're happy that your teacher doesn't actually make you do anything just shows how immature you are. And honestly, I don't blame you; your teacher should be holding you responsible for this material. Students are too young to care.
Surely you have some teachers that properly educate you though? (And hopefully you don't completely despise them for not letting you dick around in class or drop any Fs you guys get on quizzes?)
Quote from Wiki:
The Bergen County Academies (sometimes referred to as Bergen Academy or BCA) is a magnet public high school located in Hackensack that serves the high school population of Bergen County, New Jersey.[2] The school was conceived by the late Dr. John Grieco. The current principal is Russell Davis; Raymond Bath is the Academic Dean; Dr. David Ostfeld is Admissions Chair. [3] The Academy is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the United States.[4] Newsweek considers Bergen County Academies to be an "elite" high school,[5] while Bloomberg Businessweek cites Bergen County Academies as New Jersey's best high school.[6]
I've learned far more in math and the natural sciences through my own reading / studying than my school classes. My history classes have never taught me anything I didn't already know (my dad is a historian, so yeah). As for Lit - I really despise the whole "literary analysis." Maybe if the literature curriculum involved learning to write with style / eloquence rather than reading old classics and answering questions, I would pay a bit of attention. Not that I have anything against reading good books, I just don't see how literary analysis has any part in a non-english-major curriculum.
You quoting an article about the general success of your high school obviously doesn't properly represent the class you're particularly speaking about. (You also just said that your high school is good but you can learn everything better on your own >.>) We're talking about you not having a good English class and a good English teacher. You need one that doesn't let you walk all over her. Or else of course you're not going to take the class seriously and not learn anything.
You're not learning from that class because you're not expected to... because your teacher lets you get away with anything you want.
I am not saying that my high school is "good" by my own standards, but rather by others' perception of high schools in general.
But yes, my current lit teacher indeed does not teach us anything. My point, though, is that literature classes have never taught me anything. What am I supposed to gain through analyzing poetry or reading a book and remembering the plotline? Please, enlighten me.
On December 21 2010 12:43 synapse wrote: I am not saying that my high school is "good" by my own standards, but rather by others' perception of high schools in general.
But yes, my current lit teacher indeed does not teach us anything. My point, though, is that literature classes have never taught me anything. What am I supposed to gain through analyzing poetry or reading a book and remembering the plotline? Please, enlighten me.
LMAO. Pretty much sums up the amount of education you are getting from your school.
On December 21 2010 12:15 sc2lime wrote: I feel like anyone can be that nice but the way I see it is that your teacher isn't doing you a favor by letting you not achieve your full potential to get you ready for further education. The way I see it, she is getting away easy by not doing enough efforts to get you to learn and you ruining your chances of education.
/pessimist
High school isn't education. Literature classes have always been bullshit, I've never learned a thing from them - not even essay writing.
Then you didn't go to a good high school. This is in response to the original post too.
Teenagers love teachers who are pushovers because kids don't actually want to do any work. They don't recognize the importance of getting a good education (and apparently your teacher doesn't care enough about giving a good education); they'd much rather just fool around.
Saying that you're happy that your teacher doesn't actually make you do anything just shows how immature you are. And honestly, I don't blame you; your teacher should be holding you responsible for this material. Students are too young to care.
Surely you have some teachers that properly educate you though? (And hopefully you don't completely despise them for not letting you dick around in class or drop any Fs you guys get on quizzes?)
Quote from Wiki:
The Bergen County Academies (sometimes referred to as Bergen Academy or BCA) is a magnet public high school located in Hackensack that serves the high school population of Bergen County, New Jersey.[2] The school was conceived by the late Dr. John Grieco. The current principal is Russell Davis; Raymond Bath is the Academic Dean; Dr. David Ostfeld is Admissions Chair. [3] The Academy is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the United States.[4] Newsweek considers Bergen County Academies to be an "elite" high school,[5] while Bloomberg Businessweek cites Bergen County Academies as New Jersey's best high school.[6]
I've learned far more in math and the natural sciences through my own reading / studying than my school classes. My history classes have never taught me anything I didn't already know (my dad is a historian, so yeah). As for Lit - I really despise the whole "literary analysis." Maybe if the literature curriculum involved learning to write with style / eloquence rather than reading old classics and answering questions, I would pay a bit of attention. Not that I have anything against reading good books, I just don't see how literary analysis has any part in a non-english-major curriculum.
You quoting an article about the general success of your high school obviously doesn't properly represent the class you're particularly speaking about. (You also just said that your high school is good but you can learn everything better on your own >.>) We're talking about you not having a good English class and a good English teacher. You need one that doesn't let you walk all over her. Or else of course you're not going to take the class seriously and not learn anything.
You're not learning from that class because you're not expected to... because your teacher lets you get away with anything you want.
I am not saying that my high school is "good" by my own standards, but rather by others' perception of high schools in general.
But yes, my current lit teacher indeed does not teach us anything. My point, though, is that literature classes have never taught me anything. What am I supposed to gain through analyzing poetry or reading a book and remembering the plotline? Please, enlighten me.
While I'm currently teaching high school math and not English (and so I don't profess to be an expert in the latter), I would think that the important things that you can carry over and generalize from reading different literary works are not merely "I memorized this plot" or "I memorized that rhyme scheme", but being able to interpret writings in your own way, and delve deeper than just the superficial meanings of books and poetry. Learn how to think critically and read comprehensively, in general. Formulate your own opinions, arguments, and projects, and be able to defend them based on given ideas and evidence. Look for meaning. Things of that nature. If you're not learning to do these things, then you're missing out. (And it's probably your teacher's fault for letting you get away with stupid shit.)
Also, it's a pity that not all of our teachers were guys like this:
On December 21 2010 12:15 sc2lime wrote: I feel like anyone can be that nice but the way I see it is that your teacher isn't doing you a favor by letting you not achieve your full potential to get you ready for further education. The way I see it, she is getting away easy by not doing enough efforts to get you to learn and you ruining your chances of education.
/pessimist
High school isn't education. Literature classes have always been bullshit, I've never learned a thing from them - not even essay writing.
Then you didn't go to a good high school. This is in response to the original post too.
Teenagers love teachers who are pushovers because kids don't actually want to do any work. They don't recognize the importance of getting a good education (and apparently your teacher doesn't care enough about giving a good education); they'd much rather just fool around.
Saying that you're happy that your teacher doesn't actually make you do anything just shows how immature you are. And honestly, I don't blame you; your teacher should be holding you responsible for this material. Students are too young to care.
Surely you have some teachers that properly educate you though? (And hopefully you don't completely despise them for not letting you dick around in class or drop any Fs you guys get on quizzes?)
Quote from Wiki:
The Bergen County Academies (sometimes referred to as Bergen Academy or BCA) is a magnet public high school located in Hackensack that serves the high school population of Bergen County, New Jersey.[2] The school was conceived by the late Dr. John Grieco. The current principal is Russell Davis; Raymond Bath is the Academic Dean; Dr. David Ostfeld is Admissions Chair. [3] The Academy is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the United States.[4] Newsweek considers Bergen County Academies to be an "elite" high school,[5] while Bloomberg Businessweek cites Bergen County Academies as New Jersey's best high school.[6]
I've learned far more in math and the natural sciences through my own reading / studying than my school classes. My history classes have never taught me anything I didn't already know (my dad is a historian, so yeah). As for Lit - I really despise the whole "literary analysis." Maybe if the literature curriculum involved learning to write with style / eloquence rather than reading old classics and answering questions, I would pay a bit of attention. Not that I have anything against reading good books, I just don't see how literary analysis has any part in a non-english-major curriculum.
You quoting an article about the general success of your high school obviously doesn't properly represent the class you're particularly speaking about. (You also just said that your high school is good but you can learn everything better on your own >.>) We're talking about you not having a good English class and a good English teacher. You need one that doesn't let you walk all over her. Or else of course you're not going to take the class seriously and not learn anything.
You're not learning from that class because you're not expected to... because your teacher lets you get away with anything you want.
I am not saying that my high school is "good" by my own standards, but rather by others' perception of high schools in general.
But yes, my current lit teacher indeed does not teach us anything. My point, though, is that literature classes have never taught me anything. What am I supposed to gain through analyzing poetry or reading a book and remembering the plotline? Please, enlighten me.
While I'm currently teaching high school math and not English (and so I don't profess to be an expert in the latter), I would think that the important things that you can carry over and generalize from reading different literary works are not merely "I memorized this plot" or "I memorized that rhyme scheme", but being able to interpret writings in your own way, and delve deeper than just the superficial meanings of books and poetry. Learn how to think critically and read comprehensively, in general. Formulate your own opinions, arguments, and projects, and be able to defend them based on given ideas and evidence. Look for meaning. Things of that nature. If you're not learning to do these things, then you're missing out. (And it's probably your teacher's fault for letting you get away with stupid shit.)
I like what you just said. I like it a lot. But somehow, literature classes have never done it for me.
You can argue all day about whether Huckleberry Finn is racist or not; there is evidence supporting both sides of the dispute. But ultimately, it's all just opinion, and it doesn't matter to me. I don't need to understand literary masterpieces to formulate an opinion. If thinking critically and devising arguments were the actual subjects of teaching, I would much prefer a mandatory (modern) politics course.
You can write a novel with some deep, clandestine truth, but you can also string entirely random words together as a famous poet; someone out there will call it profound or ingenious. To me, it seems that all too often these literary criticisms only give an opinion of the authors (of the criticisms), and an extremely biased one at that. People see what they want to see in literature.
Maybe I've just never been one for opinions, or maybe I'm just waiting for that one good lit teacher.
On December 21 2010 12:24 DarkPlasmaBall wrote: Saying that you're happy that your teacher doesn't actually make you do anything just shows how immature you are.
I forgot to respond specifically to this: I never said that I was happy that my teacher was a total pushover, I said that she was overly nice (aka total pushover), and that I loved her for letting me write about SC for my research paper.
On December 21 2010 13:26 sc2lime wrote: With that attitude you have towards literature (OP), this is what I foresee in your future.
I can't believe people would come in this thread and argue about the quality of your school or about how you should be angry that a teacher gave you a break.
On December 21 2010 14:05 TheCabDriver wrote: I can't believe people would come in this thread and argue about the quality of your school or about how you should be angry that a teacher gave you a break.
HOLY FUCK.
Yeah, I kind of just wanted to give some context as to why my teacher let me write about SC (and not have this blog be a one-liner).
On December 21 2010 12:15 sc2lime wrote: I feel like anyone can be that nice but the way I see it is that your teacher isn't doing you a favor by letting you not achieve your full potential to get you ready for further education. The way I see it, she is getting away easy by not doing enough efforts to get you to learn and you ruining your chances of education.
/pessimist
High school isn't education. Literature classes have always been bullshit, I've never learned a thing from them - not even essay writing.
Then you didn't go to a good high school. This is in response to the original post too.
Teenagers love teachers who are pushovers because kids don't actually want to do any work. They don't recognize the importance of getting a good education (and apparently your teacher doesn't care enough about giving a good education); they'd much rather just fool around.
Saying that you're happy that your teacher doesn't actually make you do anything just shows how immature you are. And honestly, I don't blame you; your teacher should be holding you responsible for this material. Students are too young to care.
Surely you have some teachers that properly educate you though? (And hopefully you don't completely despise them for not letting you dick around in class or drop any Fs you guys get on quizzes?)
Quote from Wiki:
The Bergen County Academies (sometimes referred to as Bergen Academy or BCA) is a magnet public high school located in Hackensack that serves the high school population of Bergen County, New Jersey.[2] The school was conceived by the late Dr. John Grieco. The current principal is Russell Davis; Raymond Bath is the Academic Dean; Dr. David Ostfeld is Admissions Chair. [3] The Academy is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the United States.[4] Newsweek considers Bergen County Academies to be an "elite" high school,[5] while Bloomberg Businessweek cites Bergen County Academies as New Jersey's best high school.[6]
I've learned far more in math and the natural sciences through my own reading / studying than my school classes. My history classes have never taught me anything I didn't already know (my dad is a historian, so yeah). As for Lit - I really despise the whole "literary analysis." Maybe if the literature curriculum involved learning to write with style / eloquence rather than reading old classics and answering questions, I would pay a bit of attention. Not that I have anything against reading good books, I just don't see how literary analysis has any part in a non-english-major curriculum.
You quoting an article about the general success of your high school obviously doesn't properly represent the class you're particularly speaking about. (You also just said that your high school is good but you can learn everything better on your own >.>) We're talking about you not having a good English class and a good English teacher. You need one that doesn't let you walk all over her. Or else of course you're not going to take the class seriously and not learn anything.
You're not learning from that class because you're not expected to... because your teacher lets you get away with anything you want.
I am not saying that my high school is "good" by my own standards, but rather by others' perception of high schools in general.
But yes, my current lit teacher indeed does not teach us anything. My point, though, is that literature classes have never taught me anything. What am I supposed to gain through analyzing poetry or reading a book and remembering the plotline? Please, enlighten me.
While I'm currently teaching high school math and not English (and so I don't profess to be an expert in the latter), I would think that the important things that you can carry over and generalize from reading different literary works are not merely "I memorized this plot" or "I memorized that rhyme scheme", but being able to interpret writings in your own way, and delve deeper than just the superficial meanings of books and poetry. Learn how to think critically and read comprehensively, in general. Formulate your own opinions, arguments, and projects, and be able to defend them based on given ideas and evidence. Look for meaning. Things of that nature. If you're not learning to do these things, then you're missing out. (And it's probably your teacher's fault for letting you get away with stupid shit.)
I like what you just said. I like it a lot. But somehow, literature classes have never done it for me.
You can argue all day about whether Huckleberry Finn is racist or not; there is evidence supporting both sides of the dispute. But ultimately, it's all just opinion, and it doesn't matter to me. I don't need to understand literary masterpieces to formulate an opinion. If thinking critically and devising arguments were the actual subjects of teaching, I would much prefer a mandatory (modern) politics course.
You can write a novel with some deep, clandestine truth, but you can also string entirely random words together as a famous poet; someone out there will call it profound or ingenious. To me, it seems that all too often these literary criticisms only give an opinion of the authors (of the criticisms), and an extremely biased one at that. People see what they want to see in literature.
Maybe I've just never been one for opinions, or maybe I'm just waiting for that one good lit teacher.
I think you raise a good point, and I certainly understand where you're coming from. A lot of the stuff you read in high school is crap, or (at the other end of the spectrum) you can't fully appreciate some of the stories until you get older anyway. I think English class should be mainly based around reading comprehension, critical thinking, grammar (no one seems to be able to put together a coherent sentence in this day and age), spelling, vocabulary, and things of that nature. In other words, basic elements of reading and writing that everyone needs.
Sure, some books and poety may be good, but I think that the intentions may be lost on many of the students. You don't want to force students to read *just because the curriculum says so*. Heck, I loved to read as a kid... because I found books that interested me.
But there's a justification for these books.
The thing is, a lot of the basic elements have already been taught at lower levels in education, so we need a way to teach higher-level thinking and harder concepts. Generally, we turn to more complex language for this kind of instruction... and English teachers find this in books. These stories subtlely work on the more advanced versions of those elements of reading and writing, while not explicitly stating, "Now class, we're going to learn new vocabulary!" It's just *in* the story. You figure it out based on the context clues. The same line of reasoning goes for the other elements I listed above. Continuous reinforcement in realistic scenarios. (You're going to be reading in the future.)
But to digress again to your original post: It doesn't seem like your English teacher is doing the subject justice. Obviously, English class is not a lost cause. In fact, the only two subjects you continuously get evaluated on throughout your entire education career is math and English (standardized tests, SATs, GREs, etc.). I feel that a better teacher might foster more optimism for the subject matter.
On a side note, I have a friend who went to that high school. I live in New Jersey as well Small world.
On December 21 2010 12:15 sc2lime wrote: I feel like anyone can be that nice but the way I see it is that your teacher isn't doing you a favor by letting you not achieve your full potential to get you ready for further education. The way I see it, she is getting away easy by not doing enough efforts to get you to learn and you ruining your chances of education.
/pessimist
High school isn't education. Literature classes have always been bullshit, I've never learned a thing from them - not even essay writing.
Then you didn't go to a good high school. This is in response to the original post too.
Teenagers love teachers who are pushovers because kids don't actually want to do any work. They don't recognize the importance of getting a good education (and apparently your teacher doesn't care enough about giving a good education); they'd much rather just fool around.
Saying that you're happy that your teacher doesn't actually make you do anything just shows how immature you are. And honestly, I don't blame you; your teacher should be holding you responsible for this material. Students are too young to care.
Surely you have some teachers that properly educate you though? (And hopefully you don't completely despise them for not letting you dick around in class or drop any Fs you guys get on quizzes?)
Quote from Wiki:
The Bergen County Academies (sometimes referred to as Bergen Academy or BCA) is a magnet public high school located in Hackensack that serves the high school population of Bergen County, New Jersey.[2] The school was conceived by the late Dr. John Grieco. The current principal is Russell Davis; Raymond Bath is the Academic Dean; Dr. David Ostfeld is Admissions Chair. [3] The Academy is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the United States.[4] Newsweek considers Bergen County Academies to be an "elite" high school,[5] while Bloomberg Businessweek cites Bergen County Academies as New Jersey's best high school.[6]
I've learned far more in math and the natural sciences through my own reading / studying than my school classes. My history classes have never taught me anything I didn't already know (my dad is a historian, so yeah). As for Lit - I really despise the whole "literary analysis." Maybe if the literature curriculum involved learning to write with style / eloquence rather than reading old classics and answering questions, I would pay a bit of attention. Not that I have anything against reading good books, I just don't see how literary analysis has any part in a non-english-major curriculum.
You quoting an article about the general success of your high school obviously doesn't properly represent the class you're particularly speaking about. (You also just said that your high school is good but you can learn everything better on your own >.>) We're talking about you not having a good English class and a good English teacher. You need one that doesn't let you walk all over her. Or else of course you're not going to take the class seriously and not learn anything.
You're not learning from that class because you're not expected to... because your teacher lets you get away with anything you want.
I am not saying that my high school is "good" by my own standards, but rather by others' perception of high schools in general.
But yes, my current lit teacher indeed does not teach us anything. My point, though, is that literature classes have never taught me anything. What am I supposed to gain through analyzing poetry or reading a book and remembering the plotline? Please, enlighten me.
While I'm currently teaching high school math and not English (and so I don't profess to be an expert in the latter), I would think that the important things that you can carry over and generalize from reading different literary works are not merely "I memorized this plot" or "I memorized that rhyme scheme", but being able to interpret writings in your own way, and delve deeper than just the superficial meanings of books and poetry. Learn how to think critically and read comprehensively, in general. Formulate your own opinions, arguments, and projects, and be able to defend them based on given ideas and evidence. Look for meaning. Things of that nature. If you're not learning to do these things, then you're missing out. (And it's probably your teacher's fault for letting you get away with stupid shit.)
I like what you just said. I like it a lot. But somehow, literature classes have never done it for me.
You can argue all day about whether Huckleberry Finn is racist or not; there is evidence supporting both sides of the dispute. But ultimately, it's all just opinion, and it doesn't matter to me. I don't need to understand literary masterpieces to formulate an opinion. If thinking critically and devising arguments were the actual subjects of teaching, I would much prefer a mandatory (modern) politics course.
You can write a novel with some deep, clandestine truth, but you can also string entirely random words together as a famous poet; someone out there will call it profound or ingenious. To me, it seems that all too often these literary criticisms only give an opinion of the authors (of the criticisms), and an extremely biased one at that. People see what they want to see in literature.
Maybe I've just never been one for opinions, or maybe I'm just waiting for that one good lit teacher.
Thanks, I'll remember not to misspell every other word in my future essays.
First of all, Huckleberry Finn is the protagonist in a novel by Mark Twain, (Samuel Clemens nom de plume), entitled Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Second of all, you're using the semicolon the wrong way (it isn't used as a convenient way to string your sentences together), see: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/566/01/
Third, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, that is the novel itself, is a racist one. I'd like to know who taught you otherwise and forgot to tell you that Twain focused on realism in his work. Additionally, you sound extremely naïve when you quote novels as having "deep, clandestine truths" and poets having "profound" and "entirely random words" that are strung together; in fact, you sound simply ignorant.
Tell me why Shakespeare invokes the beautiful boy in his sonnets, tell me what The Road Not Taken is, or tell me why Huckleberry's father is a drunk and a child abuser. Tell me why Jim is Huck's seemingly one true friend, and he's also the same who is seeking freedom? Tell me why Paradise Lost is sympathetic towards Satan. Tell me of the relationship to the story of the battle of troy in The Iliad to classic mythology? Why is it framed in dactylic hexameters?
You see, literature, poetry, and criticism isn't just what you make of it, it's what you get out of it. At the core, it's learning how to be smart, which is the most valuable possession.
On December 21 2010 14:05 TheCabDriver wrote: I can't believe people would come in this thread and argue about the quality of your school or about how you should be angry that a teacher gave you a break.
HOLY FUCK.
Did you read the OP? His teacher doesn't *give the class breaks*.
She gives them free As when they earned Fs, and she pushes essays back for weeks on end. She also has no control of the classroom.
The fact that this teacher isn't keeping the students responsible probably relates to the reason why synapse doesn't give a shit about his English class.
But yeah, the StarCraft thing is cool too. He just prefaced it with something that some of us considered worthwhile to talk about.
EPT![[image loading]](http://www.helloliefje.com/wp-content/uploads/starcraft-stadium-kr.gif)
It's frickin hilarious lol 
