Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Independent Reading Project: 1st person narratives

portrait of LL Cool J by Kehinde Wiley
My biggest goal this year (since it is your senior year) is to transition you to life beyond high school--in other words, to make myself unnecessary in your life (in less than ten months.) So, I must hand over much of the responsibility of the class to you. In addition to what we study as "whole class texts," you will also be reading books in literature circles as well as independently this year. Our first "unit" (obviously with the college essay in mind) will cover 1st person narratives (fiction or non-fiction). As you choose a book, you may also want to start to consider what "topic" you are interested in, because we will develop reading plans for ourselves after this first memoir. Here's a short list of suggestions, but it is up to you to do the research on the books and make sure they fit your criteria. My criteria is that they should be at least 200 pages long. 
 

Memoirs:
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Chasing Ghosts by Paul Rieckhoff
Chronicles by Bob Dylan
Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni
Kafir Boy by Mark Mathabane
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean
Gray's Anatomy by Spalding Gray (or anything by Spalding Gray)
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris (or anything by David Sedaris)
When I Was Cool by Sam Kashner
The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley)

And some other first person narratives (fiction):
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
On the Road by Jack Kerouac (or any number of his novels)
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Nadja by Andre Breton
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Native Son by Richard Wright
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

You will need a copy of the book you choose on Monday, September 27th in class.  I would also like you to post the title of your book in the comment stream below (for posterity) with a 1-2 sentence explanation of why you picked it.

22 comments:

Nate LK said...

Tyrell By Coe Booth

The reason I picked book is because it relates to me in a way. Also the only types of book I like to read are ones on inner city kids.

chokyabs said...

I picked that book beacuse i like to know little more about Jewish life in WW2, and in that book they tell is from 2 sides views (Jewish and non-jewish .

Cathy P. said...

I chose the book wasted by Marya Hornbacher because I wanted to experience why people want to be anorexic and bulimia.

Shuping M said...

My book is "Kite Runner".The reasons I chose this book were because it is a novel about friendship and betrayal.reason#2 is that I bought this book two years ago,but I don't have time to read it.Now,I would like to take this opportunity to read it.

Kelvin.T said...

The book that I pick is called All Souls by Michael Patrick MacDonald. I pick this book because this book seem interesting, is about a family growing up on Southie.

Hieu Nguyen said...

BRING DOWN the SUN by Judith Tarr is the book that I picked. And the reason i chose this book because on the front of this book is showing the woman wearing a dark robe with the python surround her. And i think the title of the book and the woman above are connecting with the other !

LILY said...

I chose the book named Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and it's a fiction. I heard many comments from my friends about how it's a good story, and also it post as No1 New Your Times Bestseller.So i think that's a book worth me to read.

charles said...

The name of my book is Walden:"Life in the woods" by Henry David Thoreau.The reason why i pick this book is because i want to know more informations about the author's life and the book seems really interesting.

Michael "Mike" S said...

I chose Chasing Ghosts because it has to do with a solider in the army during the war

Patrick2 said...

I chose the the book MY BEST FRIEND IS A WOOKIEE by Tony Pacitti. I am a Star Wars fanatic and I collect a variety of Star Wars items and this book looks and sounds interesting to me.

Joseph "Joe" D said...

I choose the book Kafir Boy by Mark Mathabane. I read a little of the book at the beginning of last year, but i didn't get that far into it, but i found the book interesting, and would like to read the whole book.

Felipe C said...

I chose the book First The Killed My Father because it's about a little girl from cambodia who's family was focred to disperse.Her siblings got sent away to a labor camp while she was training to be a soldier and if her family member survived they will be reunited.

Xiuying said...

I choose the book "The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan".
I choose this book because it related to my life somehow. It's a novel and talk about Chinese American immigrant families live in San Francisco, i'm also a immigration from China, so i think i would love to read this book.

Jamila said...

I chose the book "Jay's Journal" by an Anonymous writer. I chose this book because I'm interested in books that explain how people get into drugs, addicted to them, and how they deal with drug addiction throughout their lives.

smeedhleyb said...

my book's name is: "failures and facades in Iraq: a soldiers's perspective.
i picked this book because i'm a passionate about war and since i never really had the chance to know more about the iraq war. i picked this book so that it gives me a direct perspective of the war since it was written by a soldier himself.

Teddy F said...

i picked this book because it was recommended to me from a friend, and it seems it would really interrest me

Luis. M said...

I chose the book "Chasing Ghosts" because i like to hear about life experiences that people had dring the wars.

Nataly Inoa said...

I piked the book Annie's Baby because i can truly ralate to how she felt. The things she's gone through is heartbreaking and I always like to read a good story with meaning. You never know this book might change the way i see things, and thats what I like to read !

Zack H. said...

I picked Tyrell by Goe Booth. I picked this because i heard a lot about it by my friends. Also the book works for the requirements.

Kev J said...

I chose the book "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden, because a lot of my friends read it and said that it was a great book and now was a perfect time to read it.

Brittany A. said...

The book I chose to read for my independent reading is "Distorted" by Lorri Antosz Benson and Taryn Leigh Benson. I chose this book because from the cover and reading the back it seem like a very interesting book that will actually make me keep reading.

Cyntia B said...

at first i picked money hungry from sharon G flake. Then I relized I should read a higher level book. In class you sugguested books and the Malcolm X autobiography told by Alex Haley caught my ear. i was always interested in the civil rights movement. I always viewed the side of Martin Luther King Jr, who didn't believe in violence to gain african their rights, but Malcolm X who was willing to do anything to earns his rights