Connecting modern novels and classics?

[BlackCat]

Should English classes teach classics, while encourage students to read modern novels and find the link between them? Would this make people more interested in reading classics and develop and sense of literary interest?

[Aspirational]

That sounds good to me. :) It would be a reasonable approach, certainly for schools with responsive students. I think the main problem would be that classics may be harder to learn (though more rewarding in most cases) than modern literary novels, so it would be far more arduous to teach a bunch of bored, brainless schoolchildren classics as opposed to something written in a modern dialect.

[lowradiation]

I think as long as English classes cover enough bases then it's fine, possibly no need to study in a comparative lit way until a higher level.

Speaking of which I have a friend who's using the representation of the 'hero' to connect The Odyssey and Ulysses, I know it's a natural framework for Joyce anyway but he was going to attempt to try and fill the gap between with a few other texts, such as Paradise Lost.

But I'm unsure about comparing things, as it means you technically you have to get into the nitty gritty such author's influences (Do you think Pynchon read Joyce? e.g), especially over long periods of time between works, and we've even gone into Genetic Criticism with Joyce which becomes a bit of an obsession really. But I guess this is at a higher level, at lower level classes maybe it should be avoided making direct fleeting comparisons.

[Charles Darnay]

I agree that using Classics to lay the foundation for the Modern in literature is a great approach to higher level studies (universities) - although interestingly enough, my alma mater is moving away from this approach.

I don't think this has a place in high schools. It is a method better suited to those who already have a passion for literature, and who enjoy digging through a text to find some connections. I do not not see it necessarily increasing appreciation.

There are some instances where it works in small doses. If you are teaching a text, and this text makes a significant allusion to an older work - by all means, introduce a relevant piece from the older work. But keep in mind that not everyone in an English class cares about literature, and it is not the job of a teacher to make students care about literature. The study of English should be becoming more holistic than reverting to a 19th century systematic approach - as much as I love the Classics, my students do not have to feel like they are worse for not knowing them.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Most schools teach classics and contemporary texts, and everything in between. Linking texts like those thematically and otherwise is a bit above the average high school level English class, though, as someone mentioned.

[lowradiation]

I agree that using Classics to lay the foundation for the Modern in literature is a great approach to higher level studies (universities) - although interestingly enough, my alma mater is moving away from this approach.

I don't think this has a place in high schools. It is a method better suited to those who already have a passion for literature, and who enjoy digging through a text to find some connections. I do not not see it necessarily increasing appreciation.

There are some instances where it works in small doses. If you are teaching a text, and this text makes a significant allusion to an older work - by all means, introduce a relevant piece from the older work. But keep in mind that not everyone in an English class cares about literature, and it is not the job of a teacher to make students care about literature. The study of English should be becoming more holistic than reverting to a 19th century systematic approach - as much as I love the Classics, my students do not have to feel like they are worse for not knowing them.

Yeh pretty much what I meant to get across. Where relevant it can work nicely, whether it's a fleeting old reference in a modern text or something which harks completely back to an ancient framework (Ulysses, technically, whether it's an actual framework or merely a parody is another thing altogether).

But I think it's definitely applied to those who already show a high interest in literature at a reasonably high level, probably above high school age.

[Charles Darnay]

Yeh pretty much what I meant to get across. Where relevant it can work nicely, whether it's a fleeting old reference in a modern text or something which harks completely back to an ancient framework (Ulysses, technically, whether it's an actual framework or merely a parody is another thing altogether).



I spent too much effort during my first reading of Ulysses trying to pick out exact Odyssey connections. "Oh the first three parts are about Stephen and then it switches to Leopold - how like the Odyssey." "Oh it's about Leopold trying to find a home for himself in this world in which he is a stranger - how like the Odyssey." In my opinion this effort takes away from the novel more than it gives.