True stories

It has to be 100% true It ruins the point of a true nonfiction novel it’s supposed to be real if I wanted to read something fake I would get a fiction book. A Nonfiction book is something usually used to study or for someone else to learn from, I would be mad if I was using my History textbook (nonfiction) and learned the whole book’s truth was stretched because then all the information I had learned is basically useless and not true. When reading a memoir you have to understand it is based on a true story some things may be stretched. I believe half-truths are ok if it is ok as long as it is in a memoir otherwise no. I don’t really think it matters if Frey and Mortenson bent the truth because the story is still more than 90% true. Some things are just stretched. I think the border between Memoirs and Fiction need to be broken but for textbooks or informal books, it can’t because if someone was reading a book on how to build a car then made thousands of cars and sold them, and later found out the book was stretched on something and all of the cars blow-up or break then he will be in serious trouble. But on the same hand the differences between fiction and a memoir aren’t much, someone could write a true story and just call it a fiction novel. So basically, fiction and memoir should be combined, but true non-fiction textbooks, Informal’s, etc. for learning should stay 100% true.

Genre Fiction

•             If Gallagher’s argument is true in Readicide, should we continue to teach literary fiction so exclusively? 

No I completely disagree with that because a lot of the books we read at school make me not want to read. Ex.) Cry, the Beloved Country, this book has a great point and meaning but drags on and teaches it in a boring way. It makes me not want to read and almost have a stereotype on books. I think some literary fiction is important to teach, but at the same time it shouldn’t be the only thing they teach because it gets really boring after a while and there are more interesting ways to teach some values. Also some genre fiction can give more values than just one that is usually focused on in literary fiction

 •            Should we add more genre fiction to the curriculum? 

Yes, genre fiction is more interesting and exercises your imagination and at the same time can teach most values that come from a literary novel, but more interesting. If we added more genre fiction more kids may like reading more and it wouldn’t be such a hassle to read, and less people would use Sparknotes on the boring Literary fiction books. Also the Genre books you can do a lot in class with because you can guess what happens in a certain scene or a chapter. In most literary fiction it’s very clear what is going to happen.

•             Are you good with swapping out Of Mice and Men for Twilight, for example?  Or Macbeth for Hunger Games?

Mice and Men for Twilight, no. The only thing that would have to change if more genre fiction was added into the curriculum would be class decisions on certain books do the literary version or the genre fiction version. Just because of the reason that some genre fiction versions may be for boys mostly or girls mostly. The only upside of literary fiction is that is for both boys and girls.

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