God, I love Thug Notes. He has, seriously, the best discussion of Hamlet I've ever come across, and one of the most accessible and concise, too. Friggin' brilliant.
My English teachers taught me to hate literature and reading. And I would be lying if I said "oh yeah, I love sitting on my ass for 10 hours reading" when I could get the general gist in about 90 minutes of movies.
OK Cap... I definitely "get" the part about English teachers.
I seriously think the tribe, despite their self-described best efforts, have done more to cause kids to hate reading and the classics than simply not doing anything would have. Sure, MAKING the kids read is part of a real education is one thing, but why, oh why is so much of it dreck, so poorly presented?
Part of it is the choice of reading material. How Fahrenheit 451 and the Orwell books stay on reading lists I don't know but having to wade through dreary dreck like Lord of The Flies left me revolted.
It would have been well, in the 1984 discussion, if he brought up the concepts of the memory hole, thoughtcrime, and newspeak (the latter especially having strong parallels to politically correct speech...)
The discussion of Animal Farm was brilliant - but that book is short enough to read for its own sake.
God, I love Thug Notes. He has, seriously, the best discussion of Hamlet I've ever come across, and one of the most accessible and concise, too. Friggin' brilliant.
ReplyDeleteIn five minutes this guy says more about books that my English teachers took weeks to do in highschool.
ReplyDeleteCheck this guy out and post it for teh lulz
ReplyDeletehttp://imgur.com/gallery/tYma4
It's a...creative report on oedipus rex. It includes the lines
"The king and queen of Corinth couldn't have a baby on their own. The king had a bad case of limp dick"
Next time you want do to a linkage humor post, include this!
"it saves me the time of reading any of these books"
ReplyDeleteDude, for... serious? I mean, seriously?
Yes Tam,
ReplyDeleteFor serious.
Seriously.
My English teachers taught me to hate literature and reading. And I would be lying if I said "oh yeah, I love sitting on my ass for 10 hours reading" when I could get the general gist in about 90 minutes of movies.
Aaron
Well I love reading books. 1984 and Animal Farm I particular I think everyone should read.
ReplyDeleteOK Cap... I definitely "get" the part about English teachers.
ReplyDeleteI seriously think the tribe, despite their self-described best efforts, have done more to cause kids to hate reading and the classics than simply not doing anything would have. Sure, MAKING the kids read is part of a real education is one thing, but why, oh why is so much of it dreck, so poorly presented?
Part of it is the choice of reading material. How Fahrenheit 451 and the Orwell books stay on reading lists I don't know but having to wade through dreary dreck like Lord of The Flies left me revolted.
It would have been well, in the 1984 discussion, if he brought up the concepts of the memory hole, thoughtcrime, and newspeak (the latter especially having strong parallels to politically correct speech...)
The discussion of Animal Farm was brilliant - but that book is short enough to read for its own sake.