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I read it in Grade 7.

We read... um... nothing I can remember, in Grade 4.

Granted, I am now at a university and purposefully enroll in abundant literature courses that require elaborate discussion, but I enjoy critiquing and analyzing fiction.
Though, I do remember what regular school was like. I was fortunate enough to go to a fantastic public school where every book we read was amazing (save for the Crucible, which I abhor). To name a few, The Island of the Blue Dolphins, Catch 22, Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, of Mice and Men, Animal Farm, The Giver, Fahrenheit 451, A Brave New World, etc.

I did dislike our discussions regarding Shakespeare, however. The classes were always divided into Shakespeare haters or those who thought they had a grip on what he was saying, and very obviously did not.

I can't really complain about reading at my school. Just recently, we had to read aloud A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was pretty fun, as everyone got a part and read that one. I was Helena. whee

And, actually, in English class we're starting into Edgar Allen Poe, and learning a lot about his life and how it affected his writings.

Again, I just can't complain. Unless I want to complain about how no one in my English class knows how to use their voice to read Poe out loud... I swear, it's like listening to robots.

I'm Currently reading Macbeth alone, but then again my teacher taught us how to understand Shakespeare, at least at the literal level, and if you were paying attention to the sound and emphasis, so on and so forth... But going back to the subject of the thread, I don't believe reading in class or for a class is ever a bad thing... If it takes too long and you forget the beginning then, by all means, reread the beginning. It won't kill anyone, that I can say for sure. If people pronounce incorrectly, then they can learn, and they only give us a ton of work on books, is:

To give us grades
To make sure we understood correctly
((you get the point))

I meant there is a reason for the work, and right now I would be glad to have those question worksheets as a reference to ensure I'm getting the most out of the books I am reading, because I would kill myself before I ever touched spark notes.... So class work on a book is not at all that bad...I don't see it so anyway. 3nodding

Exact same here...

There is also the fact that of the very small number of books I really disliked, most of them have been those assigned to me for English. The latest was Dubliners by James Joyce, a book which I found moderately offensive.

My favorite thing to read in class happen to be plays, because some teachers assign different students to play the parts. I had one teacher who was hysterically funny when she read the part of Blanche Dubois from A Streetcar Named Desire

Try making notes on Post-Its. Most teachers accept this.

I hated reading and analyzing books before this last semester because it always seemed that the teacher wanted us to think the exact same way on the book that he or she did. It really irritated me because I like my free thought and freedoms. However I thoroughly enjoyed the novels we analyzed during my Writer's Craft class because instead of just questions on paper the teacher would direct a class discussion on a particular subject. I loved the debates and everything and sometimes the questions were better than what a teacher's handbook could come up with (this statement is just opinion not fact)