Sunday, October 19, 2008

What I Remember of Novels I Read in High School

I hope Heather with her elephant-like memory will help me fill in the gaps of my required reading, 9th grade through 12th. In my memory, Heather is in every single one of my English classes in high school. I am sure that cannot actually be the case but that is certainly how I remember it. She will likely inform you that I did not actually read some of the books on the list (unless you count the comic book version of Tale of 2 Cities or the movie "Tess" or the first 10 pages of Anna Karenina) and that will be a LIE, DAMNED LIES.

Apparantly I didn't read anything in 10th grade, but I did have to recite 100 lines from Julius Caesar while wearing a toga. The experience was so traumatizing that it is all I remember from Mrs. Reilly's class. Sorry, Mrs. Reilly. Also, sorry 11th grade teachers who got completely overshadowed by Mr. Berry in 12th grade. I remember what you look like but I do not remember your names.

9th Grade, Mr. Moore
Ivanhoe
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Odyssey
Watership Down
Great Expectations
*Drama club bonus -- A Midsummer Night's Dream

10th Grade, Mrs. Reilly/Mr. Berry
Julius Caesar
%Lord of the Flies?
%Jane Eyre?
*Drama club bonus -- The Taming of the Shrew

11th Grade, Mrs. Redos/Mrs. Bertin
The Crucible
The Scarlet Letter
A Tale of Two Cities
The Great Gatsby
A Farewell to Arms
Look Homeward Angel
*Independent Study bonus -- As I Lay Dying?
*Research project bonus -- Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, Richard Rodgers
*Drama club bonus -- The Crucible

12th Grade, Mr. Berry
Anna Karenina
%Canterbury Tales
Tess of the D'urbevilles
The Illiad
Beowulf
Hamlet
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Murder in the Cathedral
The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Stranger
Pygmalion
The Sun Also Rises
A Tale of Two Cities
The Dollhouse
A Doll's House
*Independent Study bonus -- A Passage to India, A Room of One's Own, Howard's End


%Books I remembered only after checking the "great books" lists...
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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:44 PM

    For starters, we had Mrs. Bertin in 11th grade and had to write a giant research paper about art. I wrote about Victor Hugo, George wrote about Picasso (I believe) and I really can't remember who you/what wrote about... OK, back to the list. I have all my Mr. Berry books written down.

    And also, I had Mrs. McGrew for first semester of 9th grade, and I had Mrs. Redos at some point in 10th grade. Mrs. Reilly was 11th grade, I believe.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6:48 PM

    In Mr. Berry's 12th grade class:
    Anna Karenina
    Tess of the d'Urbervilles
    The Iliad
    Hamlet
    Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
    Beowulf
    The Canterbury Tales
    Murder in the Cathedral
    The Courtship of Miles Standish
    A Tale of Two Cities
    The Stranger
    Pygmalion
    The Sun Also Rises
    A Doll's House
    Plus whatever we read for our research papers (I read WAR AND PEACE among other Tolstoy works)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8:07 AM

    Also, you did not read all of those books.

    ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. MC10:04 PM

    Ok, so R&G I remembered but did not count because it's not a NOVEL... it was like icing. The whole reason we read Hamlet was an excuse to read R&G (and subsequently watch the movie, right?)

    I think you're right about Mrs. Reilly -- I was thinking we went to England in 11th grade but it was 10th grade. What else did we read in that class besides Julius Caesar?? Was Oral Communications 10th or 11th grade?

    I guess that means The Crucible was 10th grade too? And Shrew was 11th?

    My research paper was about musical theater.

    I don't remember Miles Standish AT ALL.

    I did pretty well for 9th and 12th grade. If pressed, I could even name you some poems from 12th. The middle part is a blur.

    ReplyDelete

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