Hello fellow educators! I could really use your help here. I am putting together proposals for American, World, and European Literature courses for a school that seems to strictly use textbooks. Eek! The American Literature textbook is 15 years old (!) and I'm hoping to suggest a better and more current textbook. Any suggestions out there? This one is by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Educational Division. It is the Macmillan Literature Series, Signature Edition. Put plainly, it is outdated and sucks.
The World Literature textbook is a 2000 textbook by Prentice-Hall, Inc. On the cover it says Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes- World Literautre. It is not bad, but I feel that it is missing a ton of great, classic lit. I don't like using textbooks- straight out, and hate when there are only excerpts from texts. I believe texts should be read in full. Any alternative suggestions would be appreciated!
The school does not currently have a European textbook- so perhaps this is my chance to pursuade them to purchase a really good one if they must insist on using them. Please do forward your suggestions here!
Also, in general, I would love to hear others' experiences teaching lit from textbooks.