SmithUPLAN+(Brainstorming)

Brainstorming - J.D. Salinger's //The Catcher in the Rye//

Questions: Why is it worth teaching? What do I want students to get out of it?

Salinger's controversial classic has a special place in my heart, so I must admit I am biased in thinking it has extraordinary value. I have focused on //The Catcher in the Rye// in my personal research in my time here at Bloomsburg and I have also focused on it in the past in my own high school career. From my experience, I can honestly say that this novel is worth teaching because it is well written in a DIFFERENT STYLE. Students go through school and they see the same old texts that use the same form and the same vocabulary. This novel is such an interesting piece to examine on all levels, the level of language, the level of character, and the level of plot. Holden's relationships and the way he interacts with his reader as the narrator of the story speak volumes about a young man lost in a world that, as he has learned from personal loss, will continue spinning without him. He is disillusioned with society and I think that is a relatable attitude that students should be able to explore. Holden is mentally ill and he represents a lot of students out there. I know a couple of Holdens personally and I know that all of them read and loved //The Catcher in the Rye// because, perhaps for the first time, they felt as though they understood a character. So, what I guess I really want students to get out of reading this novel is that there are a bunch of things that make a novel, it isn't just the plot. You can hate the plot and love the novel, which is how I feel about many novels to be honest, and I feel that students will be able to look closer after reading this and get more out of everything that they read.

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