Korean Job Discussion Forums

[v88]

I know this should probably be in the job discussion forum, but the only questions that get brought up there are about employment but not about teaching. So I'm posting this here because there are far more people viewing and who might be interested in short stories.

I'm teaching a reading class on short stories and am looking to broaden my collection. Currently I have some Stephen King (a bit too dark and hard for students, but I figure good for entertainment value), Roald Dahl and Isaac Asimov (I Robot).

Wondering what others might think would be could for Korean learners of all skill levels from relatively low to high (obviously the low level stuff will be hard to come by, but I'll make do).

Edit: I'm not really worried about age too much, as long as it would be good for middle school and up. I'm currently teaching university students though. I find that a lot of stuff good for high school students and even middle school is reasonable for ESL students at university. Keep posting whatever you think is good. If it happens to be better for younger students, that's fine. I like to know about people's favourite books and stories. The class I'm going to be teaching is going to be open to all students with no leveling process. So I will need material for high and low students. So far I'm using stuff here for my higher students and will be using graded reading from either ESL books or from young readers collections (like some of the Oxford graded readers and possibly Readers Digest).

[Patrick Bateman]

Alvin Schwartz published a bunch of scary stories I liked as a kid. I've used a few of them in my classes with success.

[DIsbell]

Hemingway and Bradbury have some interesting stuff. If you can tell a little bit about your student's level it might be helpful.

[kimchikowboy]

I've used:
Garcia Marquez: "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" and "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"
"The Monkey's Paw"
Kafka: "The Hunger Artist" and "Report from an Academy"
Hemingway: "Hills Like White Elephants" and "The Brief, Happy Life of Francis Macomber"
"A Good Man is Hard to Find"
"The Lottery"

For adults, you may try some Ray Carver (What we talk about when we talk about love).

[peacemaker]

[crisdean]

I always liked "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

[v88]

Thanks for the ideas. This has turned into a nice thread.

So far I've aquired many of the suggestions and will be reading through them.

I've also come across a few to add. I've chosen to look through stories and books that have been made into films so that I can use the films either as incentive to read the book or to help with understanding.

Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption - Stephen King: A bit long, but a great story that many Koreans know about.

The Body - Stephen King: the basis for the movie Stand By Me

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet - Richard Matheson: This was a Twilight Zone episode (with Shatner no less). He has had may other stories and novels turned into films

Minority Report - Philip K Dick: Again, many of his stories and books have been turned into films.

[kimchikowboy]

Unless I missed it, you haven't told us the age level. If younger, then you could do a search of that middle school/high school classes generally teach. If uni or above, although it is not a short story, a short novel that is actually very easy to read is "Being There" by Jerzy Kozinksi. The movie with Peter Sellers is fantastic. There is one sexual scene, but you could skip/work around that. Actually, in the past the movie was all available on Youtube.

Edit: Although I have not used it, you may take a look at "The Most Dangerous Game." Someone else mentioned "The Lottery." For middle school (depending on level) or above, that would be an excellent choice.

Edit again: For older students, perhaps Cheever's "The Swimmer." Terrific story.

Edit the third: What about essays? I've used a couple by David Sedaris ("Me Talk Pretty One Day" and "Jesus Shaves.") Very funny. I'll try to stop editing this now and get back to editing the abstract on my desk. This is much more interesting, though.

[v88]

Some other stuff I might use:

The Minority Report - Philip K Dick
The Snows of Kilimanjaro - Hemingway
Cathedral - Raymond Carver
The Forty-seven Ronin
Memento Mori - Jonathan Nolan
Eisenheim the Illusionist - Steven Millhauser
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Francis Scott Fitzgerald
The Long Walk to Forever - Kurt Vonnegut
The Landlady - Roald Dahl
A Sound of Thunder - Ray Bradbury
All Summer in a Day - Ray Bradbury

[alljokingaside]

I've tried a few at the ridiculously low-level school I'm in with the intermediate-level kids I have here, with little success.

Kafka's "A Little Fable" is short and easy enough, being flash fiction, but pretty much goes over their heads. Like the kids understood what was happening (in terms of vocab and grammar), but really couldn't digest it. It is Kafka.

I've also used Dahl's "Lambs to the Slaughter", which didn't quite work, but more due to time; I imagine it can be fun if given its due.

[v88]

http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/index.htm

http://www.feedbooks.com/publicdomain

Two good resources for free material.

[erasmus]

I think O. Henry would be good as they're really plot driven, catchy little stories that have almost pop song tightness.