Common Reading Program

Overview

The transition to college in the first year can be very significant. One of the major academic adjustments that students have to make is the increase in the level of and importance of reading.  The common reading requirement is designed to help you with that transition. Students will need to develop the skill to read actively and critically, and to discuss challenging, sometimes conflicting ideas.

You are asked to read the book over the summer and to be prepared to complete an assignment that will be given within the first few weeks of your FYE 101 Experiential Learning course.  During the fall semester, you will participate in additional discussions and activities based on the themes in the book.  There is also a campus-wide activity associated with this book planned within the first semester.

2009 Book

To Sir, With Love, E.R. Braithwaite

The story of To Sir, With Love is set in a different place and a different time, London’s east end during the 1950s, but you will find many lessons that will cause you to pause and reflect on how relevant these lessons still are today.

The book is described as follows: “He shamed them, wrestled with them, enlightened them, and ultimately learned to love them.  Mr. Braithwaite, the new teacher, had first to fight the class bully. He then taught defiant, hard-bitten delinquents to call him “Sir,” and to address the girls who had grown up beside them in the gutter as “Miss.”  He taught them to wash their faces and to read Shakespeare.  When he took all forty-six to museums and to the opera, riots were predicted, but instead of catastrophe, a miracle happed.  A dedicated teacher had turned hate into love, teenage rebelliousness into self-respect, and contempt into consideration for others.  A man’s own integrity – his concern and love for others – had won through.”

READING GUIDE

The Reading Guide for To Sir, With Love is now available on this site.

To Sir, With Love Reading Guide (Requires Acrobat Reader).