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| ▲ | IAmBroom 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| Poor choice. Animal Farm is way, way more than an allegory of one historical event. It's a broadbrush statement on the kind of people likely to seize power at every opportunity (or if you prefer, the effect unrestrained power has on most people), and a humorous jab at authoritarianism. The other books mentioned (Gatsby et al.) really require context, but literal pigs sitting down to dinner with powerbrokers is something a 14yo can grasp. |
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| ▲ | jayspell 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I read Animal Farm in 9th grade and it had a profound impact me. Hmmm is that you Napoleon? |
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| ▲ | QuercusMax 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Same with things like (picking at random) The Great Gatsby and a lot of literature having to do with adult relationships and romance. How on earth is a 16-year-old in 2025 going to understand what's happening in Gatsby? I read it, wrote some papers and got As on them, but didn't really make sense of it at the time. |
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| ▲ | teachrdan 3 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | In addition to being a short classic, I think teens could identify with Gatsby being obsessed with getting the approval of people who have nothing but contempt for him. There's a devastating scene at the end where the narrator, Nick Carraway, organizes a funeral for Gatsby and literally none of his friends show up. I think that might resonate deeply for more than a few teen readers. | |
| ▲ | threetonesun 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | The Great Gatsby is an Americanized version of a Greek tragedy, I don't think it's too hard for a 16 year old to understand. It's no "Rabbit, Run", at least. | |
| ▲ | forgetfreeman 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | That's more a commentary on 2025 than 16 year olds I assure you. In the 90s adult relationships weren't particularly mysterious to your average 16 year old. | | |
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| ▲ | shuntress 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| Reading allegory is the way start building mental context. |
