As an English student at LCHS, every student will read their fair share of books. A lot of the same books are read by everyone from ninth to twelfth grade. Some of these books include To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, The Great Gatsby, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye, Frankenstein, and The Epic of Gilgamesh. There are some other books which are old and Greek, that only some kids read when they are in honor or AP English classes. Most of these are books that are read in schools across the country. These books are classics and that is why they continue to be read. In most schools, these books have not been changed to more modern books. There have been some schools where changes in the English curriculum have happened, but it is not common.
Many of these classic books such as To Kill a Mockingbird are wonderful and should be read in school forever, but there are some books that should be taken out and replaced with newer and more modern books. The older classics from over 1000 years ago are good. They just are not meant for high school students. Not only are the books hard to comprehend, but they are also not of interest to many high school students.
I think some of these books should be taken out and replaced with newer, more modern books. Some of the newer published books that are read in some schools include, All the Light We Cannot See, The Kite Runner, and The Bell Jar. These books are more modern and therefore, many of them are easier to comprehend. These books deal with more modern day topics that are more appealing to the reader. The more modern books tend to contain more modern ideas that are more appealing to today’s audiences who find modern day problems more relatable and therefore more interesting.
When reading books for school, I have found the books written in the past one hundred years to be more interesting such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and The Catcher in the Rye. I find these books are more entertaining and in a way, they are more relatable to life today.
Overall, I think that there should be some changes in the English curriculum, while there are other books that should remain in the curriculum. The books that are read should cater to the interests of the students and also support what the school is trying to teach. Finally, whether this change comes now or in the near future, this would be a good change for La Cañada schools.
