<p>My d is reading from her summer reading list for DA and is extremely frustrated by the extreme overuse of "purple text." Any other parent or adult have any feeling about such?</p>
<p>I am not familiar with the term “purple text”? Is it a genre? (Yes, I have read Jane Eyre).</p>
<p>Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle
Stevenson, Robert L. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</p>
<p>Abbott, Edwin. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
A classic novel that explores the perception of dimensions. (Recommended for Geometry)</p>
<p>Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
Clashing against old-world restraints and tempting new freedoms, four sisters from Santo Domingo lead new lives in the U.S.</p>
<p>Bainbridge, Beryl. The Birthday Boys
Travel across Antarctica on the doomed Robert Falcon Scott expedition in 1912. Determine if the explorers were heroes or fools.</p>
<p>Barrows, Annie and Shaffer, Mary Ann. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Living under Nazi rule on Guernsey, the islanders find comfort in books, letters, and friends.</p>
<p>Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone
A former boy soldier escapes the horrors of the war in Sierra Leone.</p>
<p>Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451
Imagine a world without books-or the joy they can create.</p>
<p>Bront</p>
<p>sadie, did you know that off the top of your head? You must be from a very impressive English dept.</p>
<p>Oops. It is copied and pasted from the DA site, I tried to edit but ran out of time. It is the 9th and 10th grade summer reading list - with instructions to pick 4 . </p>
<p>Im still wondering what “purple text” means?</p>
<p>“Purple Prose” is when an author makes something that could be simple into something needlessly complicated by using long, fancy words, too many adjectives, and an abundance of unclear metaphors.</p>
<p>Explained really well here:</p>
<p>[Purple</a> Prose - Television Tropes & Idioms](<a href=“http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PurpleProse]Purple”>http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PurpleProse)</p>
<p>[Purple</a> Prose - Television Tropes & Idioms](<a href=“http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Quotes/PurpleProse]Purple”>http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Quotes/PurpleProse)</p>
<p>Thank you goldilon…my d says she couldnt have explained it better herself—lol</p>
<p>PS—I am a math science mom of a humanities/language/english kid—go figure</p>
<p>Great selection of books—thanks for listing them</p>
<p>The Bronte sisters are products of their time–and, perhaps, of their solitary upbringing and wildly romantic imaginations. Still, their style fits right into their era–doesn’t feel quite fair to label it “purple” though I can understand where your daughter’s coming from. Tell her to read it like she’d read Shakespeare–after a while, the story takes over and your brain sort of adopts the voice.</p>
<p>Thank you goldilon. Now I hear a faint bell in the background - the word
text
substituted for
prose
maybe wasn’t loud enough to wake me from my post schooldays slumber 
</p>
<p>Very good point/advice by classicalmama.</p>
<p>I enjoyed reading Wuthering Heights, by sister Emily Bronte, much more, but maybe because I read it first. Of course I was a sucker for any romance back in my youth (ha ha). </p>
<p>By the way, when finished with Jane Eyre, the movie with William Hurt is really excellent. </p>
<p>Looks like a lot of great reading this summer for high school students! :)</p>
<p>I agree with classicalmama and try to see the value in the descriptions, lyrical prose.
My favorite novel of all time, Middlemarch, by George Eliot is in a similar vein.</p>
<p>BTW, I dusted off an old copy of Catcher in the Rey from the recommended summer reading list above and thought I would pay homage/tribute to Salinger and his recent passing…couldn’t get into it, no matter how hard I concentrated.</p>
<p>Redblue…have you tried 9 Stories? I really think it’s Salinger’s best work, though many people have never heard of it. I love Franny and Zooey too, but it’s not for everyone.</p>
<p>Thanks, CM. I will give it a try. RB</p>
<p>Jane Eyre is a great book. Encourage your daughter to approach it with an open mind and tolerance for a literary style of a past century rather than getting frustrated.</p>
<p>If she’s truly a humanities girl, she’s going to need to jump into all kinds of literature and savor it. Jane Eyre may be one of the more accessible classics…</p>
<p>Here’s what I love about Jane–everybody abuses here, mocks her, tries to dominate her, and she’s got that stubborn, angry streak in her that just won’t let them get at her. Love the end especially–when she only agrees to live with Rochester after he’s maimed and blind. Honestly, I think she helped me get through adolescence–I had lots of Jane Eyre moments :)</p>
<p>Has anyone read Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys? It’s the story of Bertha Mason (a.k.a. the madwoman in the attic)–and a great read beside Jane Eyre.</p>
<p>@ classicalmama -
No - but I am a huge Bronte/Austen fan - started reading these books as a young teen and have re read them periodically ever since. I love getting book recommendations - I will pick up Wide Sargasso Sea. Any other books that you particularly like? Have you read the A.S. Byatt books? Possession was on my D’s reading list but I don’t think she is ready for it (at 13) - I might have her read the little black book of short stories, however.</p>
<p>Do you parents screen the books before letting your kids read them?</p>
<p>I think any book that our schools put on the reading lists is appropriate for any kid going into high school to read. I honestly don’t see the need to screen the books. My parents don’t at least. I guess it is up to the individual parents </p>
<p>btw I am not a parent just speculating</p>
<p>At almost 15 I don’t screen my d’s books. I think I stopped whens he was about 10. Way back then I would ask friends that were readers and/or english teeachers for recommendations. But I tend to stick to the classics.</p>
<p>For years I used Dana Hall’s summer reading list to guide me.</p>
<p>I enjoy reading, but am no where near the reader my d is.</p>