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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: Feb 04 2011 at 10:35pm | IP Logged
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I was surprised to see this circulating on FB:
"Twilight is now Required Reading for College Level Honors English Class"
http://www.good.is/post/twilight-is-now-required-reading-for -a-college-level-honors-english-class/
What is your take?
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Feb 04 2011 at 10:57pm | IP Logged
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Oh, please.
My son just took freshman honors English and they read four plays (modern - I read them all and they were interesting, if, well, modern) and Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. The whole course focused on the theme of sibling rivalry. It was definitely a challenging course!
I took a Science Fiction literature course at UCLA (not honors!) and we read Bram Stoker to kick things off. Some of the books we read were "easy reads" - but we had to read a book a week for 10 weeks...not easy...
I have not read any of the Twilight saga - and won't after one of my dd's friends told me that she thought it was inappropriate for 13 year olds. (Yes, she was 13.)
I could, however, see a Twilight title in a Popular Fiction course (they exist) or something like that. But, to lump Twilight titles in with Stoker, etc.? No, probably not.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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MaryM
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| Posted: Feb 05 2011 at 12:13am | IP Logged
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I think it says a lot about the state of the typical American college/university. The author of the article you linked to said as much -
" But this is also a time when the practical payoff of an undergraduate education is being reevaluated. Multiple studies are questioning the value of college, employers complain that kids coming out of school aren't prepared for the workforce, and student loan debt is through the roof. In that context, it's worth asking whether students really need to be spending their time (and money) studying Twilight"
My first thought was to jokingly suggest the title of the lit. class was something like:
ENG 108: Twaddle
Then I saw one of the comments on the linked article suggest a fitting title:
English 177: Obvious Plot Devices and Trite Prose in US Fiction
Or maybe it could be a Religious Studies course
REL 308: Mormon Theology in Contemporary Literature
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Feb 05 2011 at 12:44am | IP Logged
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No, I was thinking along the lines of:
ENG 210: Classic Horror vs. Contemporary Juxtapositions
Or, based on my expedition to buy scrapbooking supplies this evening:
ART 501: Pop Lit as Visual Expression
That would be the "dark marriage" themed scrapbooking supplies I saw...clearly All About Twilight. 
Truthfully, my dad (Caltech Ph.D, MIT grad as well) complained to me 20 years ago (or was that 30?) that he couldn't find scientists to hire who could also write. Conveyance of ideas really does matter. We need scientists, mathematicians, engineers and programmers who can explain their products to the rest of us.
Great Books, critical thinking, speech and composition classes can help with this...but "studying" vampire fiction...probably not.
For fun...yes, this class would be great. I took a class on the Japanese tea ceremony for fun (little did I know that dd would decide to study Japanese...I have enough historical and cultural knowledge to get her started!). But it was for fun. I wanted to learn about it. No honors grades, no credit in my major. My Science Fiction class was also for fun. (Ironically, 1) my prof wanted me to major in English and 2) I am now a freelance writer, proving I should have expanded my knowledge of English literature/grammar/writing...maybe I'd have discovered freelancing earlier!)
My son's honors English class emphasized each student's contribution to the scholarly conversation about The Sound and the Fury. I was daunted and impressed by the writing requirements. There is no similar scholarly conversation out there about the Twilight saga. In comparison to Faulkner, Shakespeare, Dickens, Steinbeck, Twain, Hawthorne, Mallory, Chesterton, Belloc, etc. etc., well...there is no comparison, as of now.
ETA: My son's comment: "If it entertains you, it shouldn't be in Honors English."
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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stefoodie
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| Posted: Feb 05 2011 at 8:45am | IP Logged
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uhm..... time to homeschool college? i am just half-kidding.
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: Feb 05 2011 at 9:35am | IP Logged
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Predictable.
I'll assume the Honor's Lit program at Ohio State wants a broad brush of Lit. In a way, it does broaden and make connections (science of relations.)
If a student does want a degree in Lit from a public college, then he or she will need to jump through hoops of this sort. Some Catholic students who are strong in their faith will choose to ditch the Lit degree and take their talents elsewhere or they will stick it out and bring their invaluable voice to the table.
Love,
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stellamaris
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| Posted: Feb 05 2011 at 12:24pm | IP Logged
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My take, Cay? Pathetic. Just pathetic.
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jillian
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| Posted: Feb 05 2011 at 1:59pm | IP Logged
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wow that's just wow. no words to nicely describe my thoughts on this.
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EmilyC
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| Posted: Feb 05 2011 at 3:33pm | IP Logged
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All I can say is that I would be extremely upset if I were paying thousands of dollars for my child to study Twilight.
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martinas6
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| Posted: Feb 05 2011 at 5:40pm | IP Logged
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I just don't see how we can build a nation of competitive & well educated young adults on twaddle like this? (Not too mention deep thinkers?)
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: Twilight @ College
