Texts and Human Experiences: Related Text Ideas

 

One great thing about the new HSC Common Module is that the nature of the rubric allows for the inclusion of any text that concerns human experiences... which is arguably just about every text ever written! That said, the mileage of a text (students must study at least ONE related text in conjunction with this module) will vary depending on each individual teacher's approach, preference, and the level of sophistication identified with said text.

 

I'm thinking this particular blog entry will change over time as the Texts and Human Experiences Common Module becomes more of a familiarity than the uncharted waters that it currently seems. For the moment, here are some of the Related Texts that I'm suggesting to my students.

Novels
Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
Breath by Tim Winton
Blind Faith by Ben Elton

Non-Fiction
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
My Thinning Years by Jon Croteau
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
No Fixed Address by Robyn Davidson
Tibet, Tibet by Patrick French
Marching Powder by Rusty Young

Graphic Novels
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Blankets by Craig Thompson
The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil by Stephen Collins
In Real Life by Cory Doctorow
Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba
Skim by Mariko Tamaki
Blue by Pat Grant

Film/TV
Redfern Now Season 1, Episode 4, 'Stand Up' directed by Rachel Perkins
New Boy directed by Steph Green

Poetry
'Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night' by Dylan Thomas
'O Captain! My Captain' by Walt Whitman
'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' by Oscar Wilde
'Monster' by Samuel Wagan Watson
'Where the Sidewalk Ends' by Shel Silverstein
'O What is That Sound That So Thrills the Ear' by W.H. Auden
'Invictus' by William Ernest Hemley

Short Stories
'The Most Dangerous Game' by Richard Connell
'A Straight Bat' by Roger Holt
'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson
'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' by Ambrose Bierce
'The Veldt' by Ray Bradbury
'The Last Night of the World' by Ray Bradbury

Speeches
Keynote address at the Seneca Falls Women's Right Convention, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
'We Choose to Go to the Moon' by John F. Kennedy
'Freedom from Fear' by Aung San Suu Kyi
'It's Not Always Easy to Say Where we Come From' by King Harald of Norway

Here's the list as a PDF with some extra information about each text.