<p>My 15 year old daughter could pass for Elle Wood (from Legally Blonde)....beautiful, very bright, not a reader, has no particular intellectual interests, not interested in politics, loves America's Next Top Model.</p>
<p>Next year she's taking a blocked World History/English GT class where they each have to write a major paper (in excess of 50 pages) on a philosopher. "Philosopher" is loosly defined as anyone who has written anything (including songs, poems, etc.) that express ideas and a point of view. My son took the same class last year; he wrote about Dante. He loves Dante. My daughter wouldn't read Dante if a gun was put to her head.</p>
<p>Please give me some idea of authors, poets, essayists that might just spark some intellectual light in my daughter's pretty little head.</p>
<p>only if you introduce me..</p>
<p>i'm just kidding.
If she's weird, try Dickinson. I personally like Orwell, Dickens, Sophocles, Ibsen, and uhhh sorry, senioritis.</p>
<p>I should add that the author must be easy to read and understand. She does not like to put effort into reading.</p>
<p>how about something actually fun to read, like.......Dave Sedaris?</p>
<p>i just read one thousand splendid suns, and it was really good. very interesting, and it's not a tough read.</p>
<p>I don't know if this would qualify as "easy to understand," but Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse is a tremendously thought-provoking book. The writing is also beautiful. It's not a very long book, so definitely try it out. </p>
<p>Another option is Moliere's THE MISANTHROPE. It's a play, but much easier to understand and IMO a wonderful piece of work.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I should add that the author must be easy to read and understand. She does not like to put effort into reading.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Hahahahah</p>
<p>Look, if she needs something deep enough to write a 50-page essay on, she's going to have to suck it up and actually put effort into reading and comprehending intellectual material. It's not like it has to be Hume or Kant, but let's get real here. </p>
<p>Given what little I know about your daughter, I would recommend looking into pop-culture critics like Chuck Klosterman, who definitely have ideas and points of view, but are very accessible because of their subject matter.</p>
<p>Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes. It doesn't get much easier to read than that.</p>
<p>This might be odd..but if you could have her watch The Matrix..and then read Allegory of the Cave..its a perfect comparison, and watching first could help her understand the concept, which is in the end really, really interesting..and really will get her thinking cause it is so abstract.</p>
<p>Try The Kite Runner, it is amazing.</p>
<p>Ayn Rand is always a good choice...</p>
<p>Maddox.</p>
<p>Or Coleridge.</p>
<p>But seriously, Maddox is great.</p>
<p>Books by Salinger are usually pretty easy to get into.</p>
<p>ah yes, catcher in the rye.</p>
<p>loved that book...</p>
<p>
[quote]
ah yes, catcher in the rye.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'm doing a 5+ page essay diagnosing Holden and providing recommended treatment. He is one seriously messed up kid.</p>
<p>MARGARET ATWOOD.</p>
<p>she won't be one of those kids whose favorite books are just the ones they're required to read in English class. stay away from the overused, cliche books.</p>
<p>i'm telling you, Atwood is accessible and girls like her because she's got this hint at feminist flair. it's intellectual, inspiring subject matter written in an easy-to-digest form, and it's all very provocative and earth-shattering. these are books that follow you around for months.</p>
<p>i'd start with handmaid's tale, and then move on to oryx and crake.</p>
<p>trust me.</p>
<p>maybe she's not interested in being intellectual. no offense OP, but you sound like those antagonistic fathers in kids movies that push their sons to play baseball when they really want to be artists.. lol.. just let her do what she wants with her life (she'll be happier that way)</p>
<p>That's fine, but she's taking this class next year where she has to write a 50+ page paper on a philospher for which she will have to read a lot; she chose to talke the class and I'd just as soon her not hate what she has to read. If her reading that she doesn't hate sparks an intellectual fire, so much the better.</p>
<p>I didn't sign her up for baseball when she really wanted to take art. She chose to take the class.</p>
<p>try reading 9 stories, by JD Salinger. It's short, and the stories are very deep and thought provoking at the same time.</p>