An odd and controversial book that our daughter has to read for 11th grade English...

[Igel]

30. Don't have enough info.

I've known social studies teachers who took sides because one side was weaker and there'd be no real debate or because everybody was on a side. Sort of "going native" for the sake of the debate. Depends on how she argued. No info.

A lot of schools are pushing non-fiction. The kids I teach can't read. They "read" the Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, and other stories but they read for gist, for interesting details, to put their own interpretation and understanding on the author.

Part of the reason is to evaluate arguments. "If it's in print, it must be right" is a simple-minded idea that many kids sort of have. Or they denounce the contents entirely. Either/Or, without touching Kierkegaard. Can somebody who couches an argument in completely foreign terms still have a valid point?

Look for a lot more non-fiction in English classes. Literacy is more than literature.