Book #3: Pride And Prejudice And Zombies

THE ORIGINAL: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

THE NEW TWIST: This book has become a cult classic during the few years it has been out. For the most part, this is exactly the same book as Pride & Prejudice. However, there is the interesting and entertaining subplot added in by Seth Grahame-Smith which involves a zombie outbreak across England. The book still continues as it normally does, and the basic plot and messages all remain the same. However, every so often the characters will acknowledge the zombies, the zombies will kill some character, or characters will discuss this frightening new world around them. This book is definitely suited for a high school audience and beyond. I wouldn't necessarily substitute the original with this, but it is a good way to get students excited in Pride & Prejudice and in an educational setting it can be used as a tool to read a couple chapters out of to compare and contrast as well as keeping things interesting.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Supernatural culture (Zombies, Vampires, Aliens, etc) is becoming huge in pop culture, what positives and negatives does this offer?

How do you feel about the reworking of classic literature?

Book #2: The Odyssey (Graphic Novel)

THE ORIGINAL: The Odyssey by Homer

THE NEW TWIST: This book is the same as the Odyssey epic poem. The main difference with this text is that it has been written as a graphic novel. For those students and/or educators that are not familiar with graphic novels, they are stories with dialogue and sequential art, much like a comic. This is much more inviting than the huge epic poem of the Odyssey. Students like illustrations. Adults like illustrations. The art by Gareth Hinds is excellent and it never feels too childish or goofy.

The Odyssey is almost always taught in the high school setting, and it's usually not the most exciting unit to teach. However, I found it a lot easier to read through this version and the illustrations made it flow much easier. Additionally, actually being able to follow the dialogue closer made seeing all the communication much easier. This book can definitely be substituted in the classroom for just the text of the poem. I would also recommend reading this for pleasure outside of an academic setting.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What benefits does reading a graphic novel offer?
What are the negatives to reading a graphic novel as opposed to the original?

Book #1: A Tale Dark & Grimm

THE ORIGINAL: Miscellaneous stories of The Brothers Grimm (specifically Hansel & Gretel)

THE NEW TWIST: Adam Gidwitz composes a wonderful story that he says are the "real and awesome versions of the Grimm Fairy Tales". Most of the story follows Hansel & Gretel through many different adventures, one of the first of course being their visit to a certain house made out of gingerbread. A lot of these stories appear to be new creations from Gidwitz and just using the inspiration and characters from the original Grimm Fairy Tales. Due to this, teachers may want to beware if they're looking to stay strict to the Grimm content.

However,  while there is a lot of new and creative storytelling it still stays true to the messages the Grimm's were trying to put across in so many of their famous tales. Gidwitz captures the essence of the original stories and really creates a wonderful fairly tale world of his own, an alternate universe to that of the Brothers if you will. This is an easy read, and might be too easy for some high school classes, I'd definitely recommend it as more of a young adult read, between 7th-9th grade.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Does Adam Gidwitz create a tale that can become a classic fairy tale like so many of those by the Brothers Grimm?

Fairy tales are classic for teaching children important lessons, what are some major lessons and virtues taught through this story?

Introductions

The goal of this blog is to offer a reading plan for students that are hesitant to read. It can be used for all students, but it is specifically tailored to offer an alternative to students that struggle through classic literature. There are three texts that will be focused on, and more can be added in the future.

This blog will be an aid to compare and contrast these books to their original texts. How they can be used in a classroom as an alternative or as a way to interest students more in a text.

The three classic texts being focused on for this workshop are The Complete Fairy Tales of The Brothers Grimm, The Odyssey, and Pride & Prejudice. The three "alternative texts" being discussed are A Tale Dark & Grimm (Adam Gidwitz), The Odyssey: The Graphic Novel (Gareth Hinds), and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (Seth Grahame-Smith).

I hope that this resource proves to be useful to you whether you are an educator, a student, or just someone looking for alternative readings. While these books are fun and inventive ways to introduce the subject material to reluctant readers, keep in mind that there is a reason these original texts are considered "classics". I highly recommend you look into each one if the alternatives prove to be entertaining and/or interesting to you.

Happy readings!

-Matt Boswell