Books school has ruined (1 Viewer)

[B35tY]

BNW - i read that one holidays (at the teachers' insistence) and really enjoyed it. We got back to school and it just got worse and worse.

It isn't a book but Psycho would've been a lot better outside of school too.

 

[suzieee]

BNW... although it wasnt ruined by us studying it, it was boring before that... i skipped the middle and just read the beginning and end and read a summary. i hate science fiction...
oh and BR was so boring that i fell asleep... so i didnt even know in the exam that roy died (or who roy was or how he died...) haha i wonder what kind of marks i will get
and even looking at any maths textbooks makes me feel sick, cos i know i did really badly in the exam, which means i really should be studying for chem right now since it will be counted for my uai...

 

[BlackDragon]

and english is similarly about studying language and meaning

yeah. english is about the beauty, language and meaning of texts. and that's what we do in HSC english - examine the ways inwhich texts create their language, beauty and meaning. It's about gaining an understanding of the texts.

with this in mind, the HSC english courses could still be improved greatly.

 

[jhakka]

it's seems bizarre to be opposed to the 'analysis'
it's like saying you like the numbers of maths, but not those damn algorithms

is the course suppose to be just viewing texts and writing that you 'enjoyed' them??
analysis can be dry and can be difficult, but it's good for the brain and what english is all about

I'm not necessarily opposed to analysis of a text, but I am opposed to overanalysis of a text and drawing conclusions from it that shouldn't be drawn unless we're trying really hard to apply it to a certain concept (ie: in HSC English).

I do agree that English is about the analysis of texts, and I think the main reason I hate books that I've had to overanalyse is because the analysis we're supposed to make is not about appreciating the text as a whole, but rather about drawing the same conclusion over and over again.

I read to relax so it seems like a bit of a drag for me to be consciously analysing something that I would otherwise be reading for entertainment and for the sake of the story itself.


BlackDragon: You're contradicting yourself a bit, aren't you, since that post is very inconsistent with your previous one?

 

[kami]

I'm not necessarily opposed to analysis of a text, but I am opposed to overanalysis of a text and drawing conclusions from it that shouldn't be drawn unless we're trying really hard to apply it to a certain concept (ie: in HSC English).

I do think that analysis [including what some would term over analysis] is something we can come to do reflexively though, especially if we've been trained to some degree in Literature/Cultural/Media studies. I know with some books that I've reread constantly that I almost seem to have a deep analysis in my brain simply waiting there to be used and I don't think its a bad thing to have created these theories and conclusions and even discussing them with others.

 

[m0ofin]

The Great Gatsby and Emma were ruined for me.

But analysing Shakespeare's plays has made me appreciate his works more.

 

[Josie]

I hated high school English (did all 4 units, suicidal, etc)
However, I love Uni English. Probably because it's more about the texts themselves, than some perceived meaning we're meant to be finding in them with 40050695096858 examples.

 

[watatank]

Technically all books I've read during high school English. I see myself analysing techniques everywhere! Sucks.

 

[becthelank]

ill always love the great gatsby because we did it for english ext...and thats just analysing...not finding the stupid meaning. blade runner is a really shit movie...i hate science fiction. we watched it in class and the teachers were like 'write notes on how the rain and the darkness relates to nature' but they never told us what 'in the wild' actually is. stupid teachers.
funny thing happened at our school, in year 11 we studied les murray poems for 'belonging'. the teachers got les murray to come in and talk about his poems to the year above us...apparently the teachers asked all these questions and he replied that his poems have nothing to do with belonging at all....how embarrassing! so that proves why english advanced is a piece of crap.

 

[hurikai]

I like english, it's good finding meaning in books and films and it changes the way I see life.

But I really hate the 2U topic we're doing atm, 'change'. So generic.

 

[Z66R2V]

English ruined 1984. I was always so bitter about that. We had 3 weeks to read it in grade 10 or so and they just repeated the same shit over and over, every day. The only problem was our teacher had some random political vendetta against something, and tried to convey his bullshit idea to us, using parts of the book as 'proof'. I can't remember what it was, but I remember that I disagreed completely, and his whole 'this book is amazing because it outlines all my ideas' scheme ruined it. Asshole.

I'm just glad they didn't make us read Pride and Prejudice. Having read it because I wanted to, at my own pace, it became my most favourite book of all time - taking the time to appreciate all the subtlety that Austen has to offer was pretty awesome. Rushing through it, or being forced to read it without completely understanding everything would have sucked.

 

[white lady]

Looking For Alibrandi *DAMN U CRAPPY MCCRAP CRAP ENGLISH!!!!!!!!*

 

[P_Dilemma]

I hated Bowling for Columbine vecause it had a fat person in it and the english head teacher was a fat person.

HSC english:

@&(^(*&*%#&$#^_(*&_*&)^_*&+*%^%$%#&%(&)*&^%(&^%(&_(*^):burn:

-P_D

 

[nicole21290]

School hasn't ruined any books for me at all. I generally read books I like several times anyway so reading them several times isn't a problem. Analysing them doesn't bother me either - I'm happy not to do it but I find it gives me a better appreciation of the text. The texts I've done in the last few years are People Might Hear You (Robert Klein), Animal Farm (George Orwell), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare), The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare), Bend It Like Beckham, A Man For All Seasons (Robert Bolt), Gwen Harwood poetry, Clueless and Emma. Studying these, especially the Shakespearean ones, Bolt's and Animal Farm really helped me understand them better. With movies I've watched (sorry, viewed) Clueless 7 times in a month and knowing more about Emma and Clueless simply make me enjoy them more. Some texts, however, are just boring and no amount of anything could save them.

 

[grace@mac]

i think studying texts in general at school wrecks them for the rest of ur life. here are a few texts i wish never to see or here fof again

1. emma(most boring book of all time?)
2. king lear
3. clueless
4. anything from the stimulus booklet in particular robert frost
5. poems by skyrznecki
6. LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI stupid stupid stupid hate hate hate i cant watrcgh this movie withouyt analysing it and makes me want to kill things

 

[m0ofin]

- Bridge to Terabithia
- Lockie leonard: Human Torpedo
- The Secret Garden
- Tom's Midnight Garden
- The Cay
- Top Kid
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Emma
- Merchant of Venice
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- The Great Gatsby

Sure, they're all terrific novels in their own right and some are well known classics but I hate them all regardless. The only exceptions being Othello, Keats and Coleridge where I'm actually appreciating them for their worth, something that couldn't have been done without having analysing them.

 

[mabel.]

the fiftieth gate. i hated the module, hated the book.

but apart from that, i loved pretty much every other text i've had to study in school. especially shakespeare's othello and king lear, if anything, i think studying them made me appreciate them for more than just being 'famous' and i will know i'll definitely read more shakespeare after school.

 

[Taketheatrain]

Schools don't ruin books for me. They get me into them (books) if anything. If it wasn't for school, I would have never appreciated Shakesphere.

Man, do I feel weird now.

 

[pinkly]

The Outsiders - S.E Hinton

 

[ccc123]

books can be more rewarding if you analyse them

Hmm yeah, in some cases perhaps, analysing a text can help you to appreciate them more. But for the most part, I think that by systematically dissecting texts, technique by technique, you are actually denigrating their worth. I mean, isn't the beauty of literature supposed to be its subjectivity?