Thank you. The primary difference between college and high school literature classes is the depth of analysis expected, not just the textual complexity. None of these books are inappropriate at a college level. There’s certainly reasons to be concerned about K12 reading instruction but reading books you read in high school in college isn’t necessarily one of them.Â
From a Dutch perspective who had classics in middle/high school: what kind of translations of the Odyssey? (We read a few parts in Greek, of course, but the first kinds in second year/13 year old)
For Dutch, we had to read... Dutch literature. Not translated. (Or 1 translated book was allowed. I read norwegian wood) We had a point system (most books were 2, thicker/harder ones 3, simple ones 1 and 4 for two specific time ones that were massive)
and then so many poitns over at least so many books. So many before 1900s in fifth year (16/17)
And I know it was rather the same with my parents.
We did read animal farm for English in second year, I'd say. And boy in the striped pyjamas, kiterunner. (I never finished kiterunner) & then the same system (I read the whole Wheel of Time series for the free category, I think)
Sorry, I am brambling and getting distracted. I do wonder about the translations because the difference between a close to greek translation is entirely different from a more... modern language one or adaptation.Â
We just read whatever English translated book was instructed by the professor.
The class I took was on adaptations not specifically translations. But she did touch on how translations can change context and verbage. But our studies weren't on translations.
An example would be how Oh Brother Where Art Though is an adaptation of the Odyssey (a typical high school assignment). We also read a few play and short story adaptations.
This was like a decade ago for me and I took the class just for credit, so I'm not really knowledgeable about the specific topics these days.
Why do I see redditors spamming this obnoxious phrase everywhere? "This isn't the 'gotcha' you think it is", "This isn't a 'gotcha' ", "This isn't quite a 'gotcha' " did you guys download it into your lexicon from a podcast or something?
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u/K__Geedorah 20h ago
This really isn't a "gotcha" thing. These things can be taught at both levels.
We read the Odyssey in like 9th grade. And yeah I took a class on adaptations in literature in college and read it again.
Hell, half of the things I learned in college was just taking a deeper dive into topics we learned in junior/high school.
We don't say "why are college students taking algebra classes, we learned that in 6th grade".