What books/literature should be read as part of the UK GCSE curriculum?

[Bazzer]

The main books I recall were both plays; The Royal Hunt of the Sun and The Long The Short and The Tall. The latter in particular, has unpleasant memories.

 

[Once a Wheeler]

The set curriculum is just about good enough and there are a lot of good suggestions in this thread. I would add:

• Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
• H G Wells, The Time Machine
• Denys Watkins Pitchford ('BB'), Brendon Chase
• Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey
• Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey
• John Wyndham, The Chrysalids
• C S Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet

I would also suggest that half-a-dozen key passages of about 100 words each be identified in each work and that the exam should include an oral test in which students should recite from memory one of the passages of their choice from each of the books. Marks given for accuracy, understanding, clarity and expression. The internalization of great writing transforms personal expression.

This also goes some way to solving the synopsis problem: I know at least one person who passed GCSE English Literature on the basis of studying the books in Comic Classic format. Presumably he did at least have the ability to transform the language from mid-atlantic to British English. And one of the joys of language is that it is never definitive: the plot can always continue…

 

[AuroraSaab]

Dr Jekyll is on the GCSE study list for some boards. Dorian Gray is a great book too, though goes a bit odd in the middle. John Wyndham seems out of fashion at the moment, which is a shame as he wrote a number of great books. These are old books, granted, but the themes are universal and a good teacher can make any classic relevant and enjoyable.

 

[matticus]

the exam should include an oral test in which students should recite from memory one of the passages of their choice from each of the books. Marks given for accuracy, understanding, clarity, syncopation, costume, expression and footwork.

FTFY.

Actually I like this - we should be producing the next generation of Lucy Worsleys!

 

[Ian H]

The main books I recall were both plays; The Royal Hunt of the Sun and The Long The Short and The Tall. The latter in particular, has unpleasant memories.

Ah, you've reminded me. we studied The Long the Short & the Tall in, I think, the 4th year. It was bowdlerised for school-use. Ma'am Griffiths had to explain the bit where the enemy soldier is shot 'right between the cheeks', because the fact that he'd dropped his trousers to have a crap was censored. Also, she had to explain that cheeks were not just on the face.
Royal Hunt of the Sun was the school play one year, as was Oh! What a Lovely War (succeeding years, but I can't remember in what order).

 

[Ian H]

I'd like to see more non-fiction - biographies, notable diaries, micro-histories, etc.

 

[icowden]

At my Worcestershire grammar school in the 70s we had English language and English literature.

You were at Worcester Grammar School?

I was at Kings Worcester (although not until the 80s). I remember having to do Hard Times and Othello at GCSE, and Hard Times and North and South and the metaphysical poets at A-Level. I hated A-Level. The books and poems were all awful. I also remember being held up to ridicule by my teacher who had asked us to write a creative piece entitled "Mother". He had anticipated that we would all write something bloody awful related to hard times.

I wrote a Pratchettesque piece about a baby sheep seeing the hole appear from the french digger creating the channel tunnel. It was far more fun, but he didn't see the funny side.

 

[theclaud]

It was bowdlerised for school-use.

Thomas Bowdler is buried just behind the smoking yard of my local boozer. It's interesting (to me, anyway) that when Bowdler's Shakespeare was published, 'King Lear' on stage essentially meant Nahum Tate's happy-ending Restoration adaptation, in which neither Cordelia nor Lear dies and Lear regains the throne, which had been dominant for about 140 years, including the reign of actor-managers like Betterton, Garrick and Kemble. Which just goes to show that there's really no such thing as Shakespeare, and that what matters much more than which texts are chosen for young people to read is how they experience their textual encounters.

 

[matticus]

Thomas Bowdler is buried just behind the smoking yard of my local boozer.

Excellent local historical trivia. 👍

It's interesting (to me, anyway) that when Bowdler's Shakespeare was published, 'King Lear' on stage essentially meant Nahum Tate's happy-ending Restoration adaptation, in which neither Cordelia nor Lear dies and Lear regains the throne, which had been dominant for about 140 years

If I was into The Bard, this would definitely qualify as Quite Interesting. But I'm not.

 

[theclaud]

Excellent local historical trivia. 👍

If I was into The Bard, this would definitely qualify as Quite Interesting. But I'm not.

Fairy Nuff! Its interesting to me not because I think people should know or care about any particular performance history or adaptation, but because it tells you something about the historical processes by which 'English' or 'Literature', or indeed 'English Literature' is constructed and contested.

 

[Ian H]

Thomas Bowdler is buried just behind the smoking yard of my local boozer.

"Here lies T―― B――" [etc.]
I found a copy of his essays in the big 2nd-hand bookshop in Alnwick. I imagine it's still there.

It's interesting (to me, anyway) that when Bowdler's Shakespeare was published, 'King Lear' on stage essentially meant Nahum Tate's happy-ending Restoration adaptation, in which neither Cordelia nor Lear dies and Lear regains the throne, which had been dominant for about 140 years, including the reign of actor-managers like Betterton, Garrick and Kemble. Which just goes to show that there's really no such thing as Shakespeare, and that what matters much more than which texts are chosen for young people to read is how they experience their textual encounters.

The proper way to experience Shakespeare, or any playwright, is to see the plays. Then perhaps the words on the page will mean more. But I don't think I'm imagining that, even in my lifetime, Shakespeare's language has moved further from easy comprehension. Plus he's fetishised to a ludicrous degree (cf. Desert Island Discs).

 

[qigong chimp]

The proper way to experience Shakespeare, or any playwright, is...

... to sleep with them, surely?

What I'm getting from this thread is that thinking outside the 'canon' is difficult for people schooled within it. Quite simply, we don't know anything else.

 

[Ian H]

... to sleep with them, surely?

What I'm getting from this thread is that thinking outside the 'canon' is difficult for people schooled within it. Quite simply, we don't know anything else.

Shakespeare certainly hathaway with him.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Shakespeare certainly hathaway with him.

The choice of books is much ado about nothing.




Well, you started it.

 

[AndyRM]

This seems to fit here.