“Forgotten Hollywood”- A Provincial Reading List…
Manny P. here…
For decades, British students have grown up reading the American classics: To Kill A Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and The Crucible. Now, if students want to read those books, it will be on their own time. Harper Lee, John Steinbeck and Arthur Miller are out — perhaps replaced by the likes of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and George Eliot.
British Education Secretary Michael Gove decided the English literature list for a national exam needs to be more provincial, so he’s swapping American texts in the curriculum for British ones. The new books have not yet been announced, but Secretary Gove’s changes have prompted an outcry.
Many authors and academics note a number of the thematic parallels between the Education Department’s actions and the themes of the books getting the ax. The Crucible uses the Salem Witch Hunts as a metaphor for McCarthyism. To Kill A Mockingbird teaches lessons about tolerance and diversity.
In a statement, the UK Department of Education insist no books have been banned. The statement also notes the curriculum sets out minimum requirements and that teachers are free to add any additional texts to the syllabus. The changes, first reported in the Sunday Times, focus specifically on a standardized test known as the General Certificate of Secondary Education. The new GSCE syllabus for English Lit is scheduled to be published this week.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 12:16 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
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