So I was presented with a really cool post-grad opportunity(I'm an English major, so being more than a barista for at least a few years is something worth pursuing - and this potential job will also directly support my graduate degrees)
So the point of this - I have to take some unusual classes that are outside of my comfort zone. Namely, I am taking an education class. A teaching class, on teaching literature.
I have to select 40 books and write 3-5 page lesson plans based around each of them. They have to satisfy the following 10 categories, 4 for each category:
Youth
Modern Fantasy
Traditional Fantasy
Modern Realistic
Traditional Realistic
Animal Fantasy
Biography
Poetry(remember, books, not single poems)
Biography
Multicultural
So, most of these sound easy. I'm struggling with a few. I have to be able to argue literary merit for adult readers for all of my selections, and present why I believe essentially every person on the planet should read what I choose.
I'm really, really struggling with Animal Fantasy and Modern Fantasy. All I can think of with Animal Fantasy is, like, Watership Down and Johnathan Livingston Seagull. Maybe Animal Farm, but that's obviously pretty cliche. All of these options are cliche. It's so difficult to find adult-oriented literature from the perspective of an anthropomorphized animal.
As for Modern Fantasy I am entirely lost. I can not re-use themes(and I'm supposed to be creative and varied, so I wouldn't want to). So far I think I may use The Handmaids Tale to satisfy like the "dystopian" type theme, but I'm dying trying to come up with what essentially has to be genre fiction with literary merit. Very difficult.
Any help would be appreciated. I want to begin reading ASAP, because while I'll be using plenty of books I've already read recently, I'll still probably have to read at least half of these before this thing is due in March, on top of the 5 other classes I'm taking.
do your own work faggot
>>7468608
I've got something in Animals, but realistic, not fantasy. Does that interest you ?
Otherwise, I can think of "City" by Clifford D. Simak
>>7468616
Animal fantasy is qualified by these traits:
animal lead/narrator
human-like thoughts(i.e. no "realistic" animal thoughts)
Nothing else. Not sure why exactly it's called fantasy.
>>7468615
I'm asking for general recommendations for things to look into for a couple of very difficult categories. I figured it would start some discussion, and I've put a lot of time into trying to come up with good options for these categories without much success. I know many of my class mates will end up just using Watership Down, Fire Bringer, etc. and just focus on making the easier categories good, but if I have to read four books about animal characters I'd like to at least do something interesting.
>>7468608
That is an absurd amount of planning for an Education course. What exactly is your post-grad opportunity?
Animal Fantasy - could you use Metamorphosis? In the same vein, Ovid's Metamorphoses... transformation is a part of both works, another element to tackle.
WTF is modern fantasy even? Are they looking for something like Hunger Games?... that sort of falls under YA though.
The syllabus requires 3 categories of fantasy and nothing from the classics? What a shit course, I'm sorry OP.
How fantastical does the animal fantasy have to be? There's some good social commentary out there from an animal's point of view. Black Beauty for a critique of Victorian Britain. I am a Cat for a view of turn of the century Japan.
>>7468627
I am aware that Metamorphosis exists, but I've yet to read it or look into it too much. Following the criteria in my post, you tell me?
Modern fantasy, as per the syllabus(class starts January 3rd, so I haven't talked to anyone in person about this yet, I just want to get a jump start) is:
"Stories set in a world with some sort of mystic element. High fantasy, dystopian settings, science fiction, and more are fair game. You may consider works that are not in a strictly fantasy setting, but there must be a strong involvement of fantasy elements. Note these will be graded more harshly if you do not explicitly explain and justify your decision.
Please consider that I am not looking to see young adult books in this category. You must provide four youth books already, and that category was created because students frequently wanted to use young adult fiction here. Be conscious of the literary merit of your selections."
I think my selection of The Handmaids Tale is great personally - I just need advice on further stories that fall into this type of category, because I'm generally turned away by rather than attracted to fantasy elements. I can't afford to start blindly reading books hoping they end up satisfactory, and I just don't have the experience here.
>>7468629
It just has to be from an animal's perspective, and have literary merit. No actual fantasy necessary - the "fantasy" comes from the idea of attributing human characteristics to the animals.
>>7468627
Also I forgot to answer the "what is your post-grad opportunity" question. I'm being invited to work at my university's library under a new seminar series they are starting. They're going to sponsor me going to another grad school and everything alongside this. I've won a lot of awards for writing here and they explicitly told me they wanted recently graduated, outstanding students(I'm graduating after next semester, and the series starts after the summer).
In other words, I'll be making a teacher's salary with an undergrad degree in English, while working on my grad degree to hopefully maybe teach full time for the rest of my life. It's my dream come true, but they've thrown some serious curve balls at me for classes. I need to take this and a few computer/tech classes.
>>7468629
Oh, also:
>Traditional realistic
and
>Traditional Fantasy
both "classics" categories, technically. They're both pretty much only defined as "pre-20th century".
If anything my future teacher just has a very odd perspective on time I guess. I'm really not worried about those categories though. It's the modern fantasy stuff that really scares me. I have no experience at all.
>>7468608
I hope you come up with genuinely unique choices and fav's for Bio and poetry and don't regurgitate the same shit they make you swallow in general.
Animals- Jack London, Trumpet of the Swan (E.B. White), Roverandom- Tolkien, Jurrasic Park, Moby Dick, etc.
The rest of the categories are quite easy, if you're a grad student you should have enough favorite books to fill those.
>>7468694
some of your picks are definitely not animal fantasy as per the description I've given a few times, but thanks. Not familiar with Trumpet of the Swan - can you give me a 5 second summary of whether it fits the description here
>>7468654
>It just has to be from an animal's perspective, and have literary merit. No actual fantasy necessary - the "fantasy" comes from the idea of attributing human characteristics to the animals.
>>7468608
>Modern Fantasy
G R A V I T Y S R A I N B O W
>>7468829
Pynchon is like the only postmodern author people talk about in my classes. I feel like this choice would be in poor taste.
>>7468608
Youth
The Phantom Tollbooth
Modern Fantasy
The Deep by John Crowley
Traditional Fantasy
The Worm Ouroboros by Eric Eddison
Modern Realistic
Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Traditional Realistic
Family Happiness by Tolstoy
Animal Fantasy
We3 by Grant Morrison
Poetry
Book of Nightmares by Galway Kinnell
Multicultural
Labyrinths by Borges
Does Another Roadside Attraction fall into Animal Fantasy? It doesn't star an animal, but his shit is so off the wall it might pass.
How early is Modern Fantasy? You could go back to some PKD, Ubik or something, or Dune even. Bleeding Edge would even fit, or Neuromancer.
>>7468608
I personally dislike the book, and the author is a walking meme-machine, but I can't think of a better fit for modern fantasy than pic related.
>>7470380
Sadly no to #1, and as for modern fantasy it seems to be roughly anything post-ww2.
>>7469770
I will look into these. Thanks a ton.
>>7470397
I really don't want to read that book, but thanks for the sentiment.
Thanks for the posts, I thought for sure this thread would be dead when I came home from work.
>>7468608
>Modern Fantasy
>Traditional Fantasy
And no Science Fiction?
>>7472124
Science fiction falls under modern fantasy.
>>7468608
>Poetry
I know you said books, but Rime of the Ancient Mariner (the later versions with the marginal gloss and shit) (I dunno if the rest of Lyrical Ballads is really worth it desu)
I don't know what they were published as, but Keats' Odes.
Whatever had Kubla Khan in it.
>Fuck you, just find an anthology of British romantic era works
>Modern Fantasy
The King in Yellow, if you want to talk about how the Yellow Sign is a proto-meme
Dune
I've never read it, but Grendel sounded pretty cool.
>Animal Fantasy
Desperaux?
>Traditional Fantasy
>The Iliad
>The Odyssey
>Paradife Loft (any of these three could also be poetry if you wanted)
>>7468608
>Modern Fantasy
Night Watch. Discworld is baller.
