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Entertainment
September 8, 2017
prospectornow.com
Students, teachers reflect on summer books the years. The list used to be four novels and background work. Now it is some mythological and Biblical excerpts, one novel and a t was a perfect day for senior Alyssa Shakespearean tragedy. O’Connell at Myrtle Beach, South Kruse said that the reason she gives the Carolina. On a sunny, 80 degree day, particular summer reading books is because O’Connell opened the Shakespearean trage- of their usefulness for the AP test in the dy Othello to enjoy in the slight breeze. spring. In addition, she believes it would be Othello was part O’Connell’s summer extremely difficult to fit these readings in reading for AP Literature. The class had to throughout the year due to time constraints. read excerpts from the Bible, “Mythology” Required reading during the year also by Edith Hamilton and one out of six novels may not be a bad thing for some students. of choice. Junior Emma Eggebrecht does not mind asO’Connell finished Othello in South Car- signed books because she doesn’t think she olina and completed the rest of her readwould have time to read otherwise. Howeving requirements er, since required throughout the reading usually course of the sumcomes with annotaA Prospect Favorite: The mer. tions, she does preGreat Gatsby “ [ R e a d i n g fer reading without during vacation] doing classwork actually worked because she finds it According to the Center for Learnout because I remore enjoyable. ing and Teaching of Literature, “The ally like reading Like EggeGreat Gatsby” is the ninth most widely brecht, senior Piotr Shakespeare, and it taught book in high schools. At Proswas fine because I Klos believes annothought it was easy pect, it has been part of the curriculum tations bring down to read and kind the level of enjoyfor longer than the 16 years English of fun,” O’Connell ment in a book. He teacher Michael Andrews has been said. sees consistently teaching at Prospect. In fact, it is AnH o w e v e r , stopping to annodrews’s favorite book that he teaches. O’Connell and her tate interrupts a “It never gets tiresome,” Andrews friends’ initial reacreader’s tempo, in said. “I’ve taught it so many times. I tion to the reading turn taking away list was very differpractically have the book memorized. from the book. ent. However, acAnd every time I teach it, it’s a dif“When we saw cording to English ferent experience because a different the list last year, I teacher Michael group of students will bring something think all of us said Andrews, there are else to it that I had never considered.” to ourselves, ‘OK, very beneficial efAccording to Andrews, the reasons why did we sign up fects of annotating. why “The Great Gatsby” has been part for AP Lit?’” O’ConAndrews undernell said. “Like of the curriculum for so long is bestands that the exmost of the kids perience of a book cause of its timeless themes, relevance in that class liked could get bogged to American history and quality of to read, but at the down with over-anwriting and imagery. same time we were notating instead of like, ‘We are just usfreely reacting to ing our summers to what you are readread four books.’” ing. But he finds it very important to teach Students have different opinions about annotation skills since they can be used to whether or not required readings during jog a student’s memory regarding what they the year and summer are enjoyable. Some have read the night before. This way, readalso disagree on whether the workload ing is more than “letting your eyeballs go that comes with these books are necessary. over the words,” as Andrews puts it. Sometimes, curricula can be changed and Choosing books is not just up to individexcessive amounts of assigned work gets cut ual teachers. According to Andrews, alll down. Prospect English teachers are part their According to AP Literature teacher Karown Professional Learning Communities en Kruse, the curriculum’s summer reading (PLC) team. These groups discuss what they list has actually been cut down throughout want to emphasize in classroom lessons and
BY GRACE GIVAN Executive Entertainment Editor
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READING AT THE BEACH: Senior Alyssa O’Connell does her summer reading on vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Many highschools require students to read Shakespeare, with three of the five most popular required reads being Shakespeare plays, According to the Center of learning and Teaching Literature . “Reading during vacation actuaally worked out because I really like reading Shakespeare,” O’Connell said. (Photo courtesy of Alyssa O ‘Connell) decide on what books to teach. The College Board is also a factor for teachers like Andrews to cater their lessons around. According to Andrews, the teachers end up setting up objectives as a whole, but they go about them individually in other ways such as giving different reading quizzes and posing different questions in class. According to Andrews, there is sometimes even a need to reverse what the PLC has decided in the past and change the books in the curriculum. “Maybe you are not seeing the success level that you want,” Andrews said. “Maybe you have some other ideas and want to try something else to see if it works better.” For example, last year Andrews was plan-
ning to study “The Crucible” in class, but decided to read “Of Mice and Men” because it was a better fit for the aftermath of “The Great Gatsby.” “Books are a way into empathy,” Andrews said. “You spend a lot of time in other people’s shoes, you consider points of view that are unfamiliar … and you’re able to see things in a broader point of view.”
Q: What is your favorite form of artwork? A: I like realisic art and more cartoony art. Q:What do you like about art? A: It can give you a freeedom of expression in a way that you can’t really get when talking to someone ... you know people say a picture is worth a thousand words. Q: Is art only for talented people?
JenniferDeSalvo-Sophmore
A: I think anyone can do art. I mean, you look at modern art; that doesn’t take a lot of skill. You just pick a couple colors and put shapes on a page. It’s an expression of your emotions and how you feel, and you can do that in any way.