Katy's post, postscript

Months ago, Katy asked me to come up with some historical fiction that could be used in a history class. I didn't forget, I just had a tough time getting to it. But now that I'm feeling better, I can finally reply. Or start to reply. This entry is the postscript, which I'm doing first, so that I can take this pile of books off my dresser. Really, that's the reason. After three months, I want to clean off my dresser---and these books sit, waiting to be blogged about.

I'll do the real list as soon as I can find it. It's in a notebook. Somewhere.

So here's the postscript. Postscript because I'm not sure this is what you need, Katy, but here's what else I was thinking about. It's not necessarily historical fiction and I'm not sure you can use it, but you might find something here.

For ancient Japan: The Tale of Gengi is your best bet. VERY ancient Japan courtly love. Very classic poetry and music themed. Very romantic, if you will. But I wouldn't use the whole book, or assign the whole book. Just assign the first chapter and have them do a short answer on it. Maybe a question about how this reflects the importance of the arts in ancient Japan. Honestly, I don't think most high schoolers could get through the entire book. I still want to keep looking for good historical fiction of ancient Japan. This isn't it, but the only thing I could find.

Late 1880-early 1920's in American history: You can't overlook Cather's My Antonia, about the immigrant family on the prairie. Cather is a genius writer, and the story is great. I'm still unclear what "progressive" is in American history, so I wonder if this is the time period you want. I would think that you AP juniors could handle this. Don't dizzy the freshman with it.

Ancient Islam (I think that's one you were looking for). This one stumped me. I tried all sorts of historical fiction---there isn't much, and I couldn't find anything to recommend. So give them snippets of the Koran. I studied the whole thing in a history of civ class and I really enjoyed it. I think most religious writing is absolutely beautiful, and the Koran is a shining example of lovely language.

You could do an extra credit assignment with your upperclassmen where you chose a few passages and asked them to compare the concepts in these passages with their own belief (or non-belief) in the Divine. Tell them you wouldn't be grading on their belief (or lack thereof), just on their comparison and their understanding of the concepts in the Koran. Hey, if you'll make the assignment due before February or after April, I'd even grade them for you. :)

To elaborate further on other religions (which have to be a topic if you are dealing with the cooresponding historic time periods)

Zen Buddism: Well Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Pirsig, of course. I could never get through this one myself, but I'm sure you could find a student or two who would eat this up. Not for the whole class, I don't think, just as an extra credit option for someone who wanted to tackle it.

And Taoism: The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff. Again, you'd have to have students self-select into reading the entire works. But they are worth the trek to understanding Taoism.

And, incidentally, the best commentary/contrast explanation I've ever read, the most succinct yet interesting, about the differences between Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, is found on pages 1-7 of The Tao of Pooh, in the chapter called The How of Pooh. Excellent contrast. That chapter would be worth taking in your classroom.

So that's the tip of the iceberg so far, Katy. I'll post the rest of the iceberg when I can unearth it.