A little help?
Jan. 13th, 2011 11:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lucoI have a question for you guys.
As most of you know, I never finished High School. I got to the middle of Grade 10 and then everything else became too overwhelming. And, even though I've gone to College, an Animation course is NOT your typical College experience.
Add that all to the fact that I've been lost in my own world for most of my life and well, I'm more then a little out of touch. It hadn't bothered me before, but lately, it has. There are books and plays and writers and musicians that I don't recognize. There are historical facts and events that are common to everyone else that I have no clue about. There are shows and myths and trends that escape me and don't even get me started in maths and sciences!
I've recently been wanting to basically teach myself all that I missed out on, but I don't even know where to begin! So, that's where you guys come in. Because all of you are intelligent, talented and thoughtful people. All of you have such strong opinions and you can't even begin to know how much I admire you for that. How young and childish I often feel...
So, I was wondering if you guys could help give me a direction. Can you name books you think should be read, or were asked to read. Plays and poetry, writers, history, myths, sciences, just ANYTHING! What were you guys taught? What would you consider common knowledge? And not just school-wise, but world-wise as well! I don't even know how to properly describe what I'm asking, but hopefully you guys can figure it out. I just need a good starting place. A list of something to work from because I'm tired of my own little world, but am not quite sure how to step outside.
And even if you're still in High School, please don't hesitate to add your own input. I wasn't able to be where you are now.
Thanks.
As most of you know, I never finished High School. I got to the middle of Grade 10 and then everything else became too overwhelming. And, even though I've gone to College, an Animation course is NOT your typical College experience.
Add that all to the fact that I've been lost in my own world for most of my life and well, I'm more then a little out of touch. It hadn't bothered me before, but lately, it has. There are books and plays and writers and musicians that I don't recognize. There are historical facts and events that are common to everyone else that I have no clue about. There are shows and myths and trends that escape me and don't even get me started in maths and sciences!
I've recently been wanting to basically teach myself all that I missed out on, but I don't even know where to begin! So, that's where you guys come in. Because all of you are intelligent, talented and thoughtful people. All of you have such strong opinions and you can't even begin to know how much I admire you for that. How young and childish I often feel...
So, I was wondering if you guys could help give me a direction. Can you name books you think should be read, or were asked to read. Plays and poetry, writers, history, myths, sciences, just ANYTHING! What were you guys taught? What would you consider common knowledge? And not just school-wise, but world-wise as well! I don't even know how to properly describe what I'm asking, but hopefully you guys can figure it out. I just need a good starting place. A list of something to work from because I'm tired of my own little world, but am not quite sure how to step outside.
And even if you're still in High School, please don't hesitate to add your own input. I wasn't able to be where you are now.
Thanks.
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no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 04:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 04:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 04:17 pm (UTC)So don't think that you're out of touch or stupid or childish or whatnot, because you studied something from the arts department! It seems that people tend to specialize pretty early on in life and university just adds to that specialization instead of bradening your overall knowledge (at least here it does..).
I'm often frustrated when I watch shows like "who wants to become a millionaire" because I hardly know any of these questions..
BUT! That might also be a good place to start. I doubt there is any kind of "system" of getting to know all the common knowledge stuff. Start by watching the news (so you get a feeling for politics and other countires) and maybe some quiz-shows like that. And whatever you don't know and think you should know, just look it up.
I know this sounds totally all over the place, but I am the type that hates studying, so something more fun and game-like (with a bit of background research here and there) is how I stay motivated. Not sure if it works for you, but try it out?
And if you ever wanna know certain things about medicine or Germany, just let me know and I'll see if I can answer your questions ^.~
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 04:28 pm (UTC)Dracula.
Poems by Robert Frost.
The Old Man and the Sea(a short story and a source of shared pain for many, not REALLY a rec) ;)
T.S. Eliot, more becuase I think he's awesome than becuase most other people liked his stuff. (I guess you can skip him, but reading poem "the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" out loud was especially fun for me, as well as dissecting bits of "The Wasteland" in class. "the Wasteland" is more fun in a group, though.)
...and it's pretty obvious I only really concentrated on English in school, huh. I have no idea how to go about math for fun. History books..."The People's HIstory of the United States" was pretty good, although that was about a lot of the stuff they DON'T teach you in school.
If you really want to learn Physics, I used "Physics for Dummies" a lot in HIgh School, as our textbook almost gave me an aneuresym.
One of the coolest classes I ever took was an ethics class, oddly enough. The professor gave us excepts of"The Jungle" and more modern editorials and none of us could eat meat for a week. (In my case, three months.)
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 04:56 pm (UTC)If it helps, I only felt I learned things two out of my four years of high school, so I'm not sure what you've not learned, in terms of missing stuff.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 05:21 pm (UTC)Shakespeare
The Twelfth Night
MacBeth
Othello
King Lear
The Merchant of Venice
Hamlet
The Great Gatsby
To Kill a Mockingbird
Not Wanted on the Voyage - Timothy Findley
Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood
The Chrysalids ( I rather enjoyed this one)
Lord of the Flies
Catcher in the Rye
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Heart of Darkness (as difficult as it may be I really liked it)
Lives of the Saints
Emma
Jane Austen stuff of course
Animal Farm
Fahrenheit 451
Wuthering Heights
Wrath of the Grapes
Jane Eyre
For poetry:
The Highwayman (personal favourite)
The Interlopers
Lamb to the Slaughter
Shakespeare's sonnets
Also I would recommend Greek mythology and my favourite authors that I was starting to read in high school were Piers Anthony (his Incarnation of Immortality series was what I read in the library throughout grade 11), also Agatha Christie.
If I remember anything else I'll post. I hope that helps with the basis of the English front of high school.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 08:31 pm (UTC)Is that the sequel to The Grapes of Wrath?
Kidding! Kidding! Don't hit! :D
To Luco, I add a +1 to what everyone has said about Shakespeare, but if you haven't read a lot of it, make sure you get a copy with a Modern English translation as well, because Middle English is tough to slog through if you're not prepared.
I'll also throw a vote in for Candide because it's amusing in addition to being a classic, which is the best of all possible worlds.(see what I did there?
I'll also add a comic to the fray, since I LOVE sequential art, I do. You should read Maus, because it is an amazing story about the holocaust, even if it is cripplingly depressing. Seriously, read it, but during the day, and with a box of tissues.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 08:49 pm (UTC)But, yeah The Grapes of Wrath is what I meant....kinda wishing now there was a book titled that. LOL.
And I will agree with getting a translation copy.
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Date: 2011-01-14 02:59 am (UTC)...it seems like it would be like one of those cheap direct-to-DVD Cheapquels, where they take something time-honored and awesome and totally wreck it up. Like...Giant grape monsters menacing poor folks during the great depression, and the hero has to find food for his family while fighting off the fruity horde...
...or maybe I'm just hungry too. haha!
no subject
Date: 2011-01-14 08:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 11:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 11:44 pm (UTC)I remember the first time I read it was in grade 7. It's had me since then. And I did like cartwheels in grade 10 when the teacher used it for our ballad class.
Have you ever heard Loreena McKennitt sing it? If not I would totally check it out.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 11:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 05:30 pm (UTC)I graduated high school, earned my bachelor's degree with honors, have a master's degree in a relatively academic field, and work in a field which includes doing relatively academic things like publishing research and presenting at conference.
I doubt I am any "better read" than you, in terms of the classics. I read To Kill a Mockingbird and Romeo & Juliet in high school, but never took any English classes other than the required 101 class. I almost failed Liberal Arts 103 (in which we read and analyze literature) because I didn't like reading and analyzing literature, and haven't taken a comparative class since.
It sometimes embarrasses me a little, because I'm "smart" and "academic" and by that definition, shouldn't I have read "the classics"? Then I remind myself that instead of "the classics", I've read and studied and practiced a lot of things that I find interesting, and excel at, rather than use other people's lists.
Not that you shouldn't compile and work through lists of things you think you read, of course. Just don't feel too self-conscious or unworthy for not having taken a more traditional route of learning.
Also, your art is amazing. I say that not just in a fangirl way, but in a "wow, that girl has a talent" way. I draw and sketch and paint, but I am not and will never be an artist like you.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 07:36 pm (UTC)Not knowing some "classic" literature doesn't really matter. Sure, I know basic story of usual Shakespeare stuff, but we never actually read those - probably for the simple reason that those are the English classics, and we happen to be Finnish. We read a lot of boring Finnish books that I can't remember much about since they were uninteresting to me, with a couple of rare exceptions.
So yes. Look into stuff, but if it appears uninteresting, skip and/or find a summary and move onto next subject until you find stuff that's interesting! I like the stuff we studied on our free time (mythology stuff for example) way more than anything they taught in high school.
...That, and you realize? Most math and sciences = wtf did we learn that for, I really have NO use for that in real life. Plus I've forgotten most stuff anyway, so not much difference.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 07:14 pm (UTC)As far as reading goes, try
The mortal instruments series by Cassandra Clare
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary.
Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...
It sounds really silly, but it is a fantastic read, very well thought out, and highly addictive, waiting for the next book was always torture for me.
and try
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett
Good Omens is the story of an angel and a demon who are both trying to do their jobs that are part of the Great Plan. Although Aziraphale and Crowley are adversaries by nature and profession, their relationship develops into a friendship merely because of the time spent together over thousands of years. In this unlikely pairing, compromises are made between the two of them so that they can both appear to be accomplishing their missions without overcoming the other too much. When the birth of the Antichrist occurs, they agree to work together and try to see if their influences on the child have any effect. By the time they locate the correct child, it is almost too late as Armageddon is about to begin. Events unfold and the world is saved. At the end,.....
This is honestly my favorite book ever, it's completely snarky and hilarious, whatever you do, son't start reading it in a public place if you're embarressed by laughing like a maniac. Also, Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett are two extremely good writers, their powers combined? = perfect.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 08:22 pm (UTC)Pick up a natural history book or two, as well as something about astronomy. The history of our planet and our universe is endlessly fascinating, and books about them tend to be very visually arresting, with lots of gorgeous paintings and photographs.
I'll blanket second the recs that have been made for classic literature. From what I saw most of the ones rec'd were genuinely good books, so they have value beyond simply what some academics in a university lounge assign to them.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 09:19 pm (UTC)I don't have any suggestions for you on the academic front, because I've been out of school since forever, but I can tell you what I like to do.
- Learn a new language. Obviously a class would be best, but since anything that isn't French is kinda hard to come by here in Canadia (also, expensive) there's always the option of language software, or if you're trying to avoid spending money altogether, library books and internet resources. I've got a lot of good resources collected for Japanese if you're inclined that way. :)
- Read nonfiction. Hit up your local bookstore or library and browse. Read in subjects you think you might be interested in. Read in subjects you don't think you'd be interested in. Read about horses, about mechanics or World War II, read about landscaping or Ireland's history or the architecture of the Vatican. Read everything you can get your hands on, because the best way to expand your knowledge is to expose yourself to as much as possible.
- Learn a new skill for the sake of knowing it. Take martial arts. Learn to knit or sew. Learn how to build web pages. Play an instrument. Learn to whittle. Anything that strikes your fancy and is within your means.
I'm on something of a mission to expand my horizons myself, so I can definitely relate. My only advice is don't try to do everything all at once. Learning takes time, and there are only so many hours in the day. It's an ongoing experience. :)
Good luck!
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 09:56 pm (UTC)Though I will add:
1. Edgar Allen Poe, his works are on the dark side but excellent
2. The Odyssey by Homer, has always been a favorite of mine (make sure you get one with english translations)
3. Any folklore you can get your hands on no matter the country it originated with. These are usually some of the best stories you could read.
4. Check online with Barnes & Noble or Borders bookstores and see what's on the bestseller lists and then read reviews from other people who have read the book; that how I've read most of my books.
Enjoy yourself and remember to have fun!!
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 10:21 pm (UTC)I would go into this with the attitude that you're going to have fun -- because you are. This is all exploration and discovery in the highest degree!
Science is FUN. Yes to Mythbusters, and I recommend the show "Rough Science" (you can get it on DVD through Netflix and maybe elsewhere - A group of scientists with various specialties go out into wild/abandoned areas and perform assigned tasks -- using Science!).
For tougher subjects like physics, chemistry, and astronomy I recommend looking for books by Isaac Asimov. Asimov is known best for his science fiction (still damn good stuff after all these years), but he also wrote mysteries and nonfiction books, including lots of science books. Asimov is an excellent *storyteller*, so you get an entertaining read about real subjects, with some of the cool history behind many scientific discoveries and developments.
Astronomy -- the study of the planets, stars and space -- is awesome to me. Of course I geeked out VERY early in my life over Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, 'cause I managed to stay awake long enough to watch it happen on TV. (I was young enough to fall asleep before Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon ten minutes later!) Spaceweather.com is a great source of what is happening right now in our solar system, and really cool with lots of pics of the sun, auroras, eclipses and the planets as seen from Earth, and a link to a satellite finder page so you can watch when the International Space Station flies overhead at night. ^^
Physics can include optics -- the study of light and why it does what it does. I HIGHLY recommend the site "atmospheric optics" ( http://www.atoptics.co.uk/ ) -- you'll see stuff you want to see in real life and draw in your pictures! I could go through the halo section a million times and not get bored. (Okay, maybe just a thousand...)
Last for now (and not least at all), I recommend the book "Lies My Teacher Told Me", which sets a lot of American education's myths and fallacies straight. (I am fairly certain that a lot of these myths and fallacies are taught in Canadian schools as well... either way it's a kick-ass read!)
If you get the idea that I think knowledge for knowledge's sake is fun, you're right! ^____^ And you'll find that you end up using a lot of your knowledge in your art, one way or another. ♥
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 10:28 pm (UTC)Anything I want to reference for Celtic/Western-European (even Eastern) is all over the place and kinda text-book-y. ^^;; Far from essential.
You could also maybe go through Wikipedia for lists of popular/high-grossing movies, best-selling artists, etc. And for most of the music, you should be able to sample it on YouTube.
In high school, we read Dickens's Great Expectations during freshman year, and To Kill a Mockingbird during sophomore year.
I would also highly recommend a basic Earth Science book. I didn't get an Earth Science class til college, but the material covered was pretty basic (I just didn't know it! ha!) - about Earthquakes, how rivers flow, etc. If you hit up a library, ask if they can recommend something like this.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 11:12 pm (UTC)9th: Mythology/Greek Tragedies (Sophocles especially)
10th: American Writers (Edgar Allen Poe, Ernest Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald)
11th: British Classics (Jane Austen, Bronte, Shakespeare, Agatha Christie)
12th: Modern 'New Media' (Pink Floyd's "The Wall" for instance)
I don't remember much of College English except we read more excerpts and Shorts than actual novels (and my English 201 Professor rewarded those of us who could name the most Simpson literary references).
Science...to be entirely truthful in Science and Math I didn't actually *DO* the work. I traded my skills in History and English with classmates who could do Science/Math, as such I don't remember much. Variables and formulas and at one point in Chemistry I know we learned how to build a bomb from household materials (to be fair that teacher was later arrested for criminal charges).
What I remember best about HS are my electives--Creative Writing, Theatre 1 and 2, Speech, Art 1 and 2, Computer classes...I didn't often have friends in those classes so I had to pay more attention and branch out (so to speak) to get by. Of and Criminal Justice/Sociology was a hoot--we watched Law and Order all the time ::rolls eyes::
As far as history goes, I had three years of American History (from 1650 to about 1949) in which we covered the basics--the founding of America, the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, French-Indian War, Civil War, WW1, WW2, Great Depression, had to learn all the States, their Capitals and when they joined the US, had to learn all the Presidents (and their Vice Presidents) and how long they served. My 11th grade teacher also spoke to us about the Pop Culture of 1900-1930--Flappers, the rising Mob issues, and Stock Market Crash.
I had one year of World history, which I find more interesting, and really it only covered Ancient World History. And the bare minimum of that even--Egypt, Rome, Greece, Persian Empire, the Celts, Vikings and Picts. Each week was a different 'Culture' and we learned whatever could be fit into that week--religion, social structure, politics, monarchy, war tactics, cultures, food...
This is about eh ten years ago? I graduated in 2002 and from what I understand from my sister (who's a senior right now in my old HS) things have DRASTICALLY changed. Especially in regards to reading requirements, history and the arts.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 11:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-14 12:34 am (UTC)Shakespeare is better seen than read. If you can find local performances, I strongly suggest going to them rather than reading the plays. (And if you find a performance where they remember to do Shakespeare without DRAGGING, you are in luck. This was popular entertainment, people! It is meant to be entertaining!)
You might look into the Very Short Introduction series to see if any of the topics grab you. I've found them to be pretty good.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-14 01:28 am (UTC)I'll second what others have said about you not really "missing" much. You have a very specialized skill set, just like everyone else. I have forgotten most of what I learned in high school and college, particularly the math. But we all take away what we need and leave the rest. Nothing wrong with that.
That said, here's some suggestions:
Check out TED.com. They have lots of short videos of experts giving talks on...god, just about anything. They're usually not geared towards a specialized audience, so they should be interesting to people without any specialized knowledge. They won't teach you like a course will, but they will totally give you bits of info and be entertaining at the same time.
Also, Google Books and The Gutenberg Project have just about any classic you might want, for free. I'd check them first.
I'll also speak up for science. Science is nothing short of observing earth and life and how things work. Why do different things freeze at different temperatures? Why do drugs work? How do our bodies work? How do animals behave, and how does that help them survive? How was our planet and solar system formed? etc etc etc. This is all science. Personally I think that everyone should have enough biology to know what DNA, proteins, and cells are, and why they're important. Also to know what evolution is and how it works, because it's the basis of understanding a lot of how every life form got to where it is. Also enough ecology/environmental science to know things like the water cycle and what an ecosystem is and how everything in it is interconnected.
Also important is the scientific method and an idea of how science is done (that entire little astronomy 101 site looks promising).
For non-science things, folks have mostly hit you with suggestions for classics reading. I hated most classics...found them boring as snot. One exception was Jack London, who wrote about the gold-rush era in...Alaska? I'd suggest reading Call of the Wild, which is the shorter of his novels but quite good. Both it and White Fang were about dogs, and showed some of the cruelty (both dog on dog and man on dog cruelty) of a dog's life, so keep that in mind.
For history...god, I'd hit up Wikipedia. Try "history", and then just pick up on an area or period you're interested in, and start link surfing. I've learned more in an afternoon on Wikipedia than I ever did in History class. Same with geography: check out some maps and have an idea of where things are and what kind of people live there.
Politics is also important. Know what the main political parties stand for, what types of laws they like and dislike, that kind of thing.
That'll keep you busy for awhile, I imagine. :D Just have fun with the learning.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-14 03:21 am (UTC)But seriously you're not childish, you've put up with so much and always offered such good advice to me. School's a lot of book work and things you don't remember the next day so don't be too worried about it please?
no subject
Date: 2011-01-14 06:11 am (UTC)I also don't know if it's different in Ontario, but here in BC (or at least the Vancouver area?), it's free for anyone who has not earned their highschool diploma. You're free to pick and choose any courses that you want to take, and are about 3-4 months long per semester.
I have always found that I am able to learn more with the help and direction of a teacher/TA/tutor/ANYONE, rather than trying to learn things on my own. especially when it comes to understanding all the literature and shakespeare that's being suggested. But if you do it on your own, SparkNotes.com (I think it was) is also a good reference point if you ever get stuck in a book.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-14 06:41 am (UTC)Since you want to continue learning new things and what you've missed, I'd recommend reading some foreign literature along with classic English stuff like Shakespeare. "Snow Country" by Kawabata is an easy read, but it's very haiku-like so you can get a real feel of Japanese writing style. I also enjoyed "100 Years of Solitude" by Marquez. "The Encyclopedia of the Dead" by Kis, and anything by Borges, if you like really fantasy-ish stuff. For poetry I'd recommend the classic Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass", as well as Carl Sandburg.
For math and sciences, there are often textbooks in libraries that you can borrow and read through. Most of the stuff learned in high school isn't really required for anything unless you take a job specific to a certain area though, so most people never remember that stuff.
World-wise, I think learning how to cook or sew (home economics kind of stuff) is really important since it helps a lot in life, so maybe read some cooking books or handcraft books or take some lessons. Also, I feel that learning finance or economics can be helpful too, so maybe learn basic things like what a stock is, or how to manage your finances. For things not that needed in daily life, learning a new language can be a nice challenge. It also allows you to learn about other cultures and even meet new people. I've learned Japanese myself, and also Chinese through school.
In the end, I think it depends on what you yourself want to learn the most. I don't think it's too late to keep on with your education, whether you go back to school or not. Hope this helped!
no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 12:19 am (UTC)I'm gonna suggest a few unusual ones, but I think you'll benefit from them.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
The Alanna series by Tamora Pierce
A Wrinkle in time by Madeline E'Lingle
A day no pigs would die by Robert Newton Peck
The Giver
Fahrenheit 451.
Where the red fern grows.
Dragonriders of Pern by Anne Macaffery
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 12:20 am (UTC)I'm gonna suggest a few unusual ones, but I think you'll benefit from them.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
The Alanna series by Tamora Pierce
A Wrinkle in time by Madeline E'Lingle
A day no pigs would die by Robert Newton Peck
The Giver
Fahrenheit 451.
Where the red fern grows.
Dragonriders of Pern by Anne Macaffery
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-16 10:05 pm (UTC)Literature has been covered pretty well by others, but I would remind you that there are many Russian classics like Anna Karenina, The Master and Margarita... Also European literature outside Shakespeare and Austen like The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas, The Egyptian by Mika Waltari and Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. We were also told to read poetry by Baudelaire and Edith Södergran in high school, although admittedly I never got around to do that. There are also classics outside the western world like The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which you could try.
I would also recommend a few of Sherlock Holmes short stories, a James Bond movie, a detective novel by Agatha Christie, a Philip Marlowe novel, Lord of the Rings (preferably the books, but the movies will also give you a pretty good understanding of what happens), Dracula by Bram Stoker, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller and Naïve. Super by Erlend Loe if you are not only trying to gain knowledge about classical but also iconic literature.
I can't really help with physics or other natural sciences that much, since they were never my forte. You could try borrowing a high school level textbooks about them from a local library and browsing them.
You could also read philosophy a bit. I think out basic course in high school covered Sokrates, Platon, Aristoteles, Hume's critic of causality, Hegel's zeitgeist, Hume's and Locke's opinions on the monarch's right to rule and the basics of metaphysics. Since philosophy may not be that useful for you, I think wikipedia might suffice as a source for information on these. Of course, if you want even more books to read, go check the closest library for any of those topics.
I also second the idea of learning (at least the basics of) a new language.
I agree with the previous commenters that knowing the basics of the history of your own country is pretty much expected. I'm not sure where you live, but knowing what happened in the first and second world wars is also considered common knowledge (at least in most of the western world). The same goes for Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, Columbus, Louis XIV of France (the Sun King), Elisabeth I of England, the French Revolution and the revolutions of Russia in the early 20th century.
This might already be totally familiar to you (or at least interest you more than centuries old plays and books), but we also had the basics of different art periods in Europe (from Ancient Greece to 1990s) as mandatory stuff to learn. Please note that architecture is also included in art. We had to be able to recognize famous paintings, sculptures and buildings like the Laocoon, Mona Lisa, Birth of Venus, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Guernica, Casa Milà, Michelangelo's frescoes, The Pieta, different types of pillars from Ancient Greece (no, I'm not making this up), the basics types of churches and temples from different periods... list goes on and on.
This paragraph only applies if you are a Christian, but the origins of the institute of popes (and the name of the current pope, of course) along with the birth of the Anglican church of Great Britain and Martin Luther of Germany and the reasons for both events are, as far as I know, common knowledge. Also the basics of Jesus' life, but if you are a Christian over the age of ten, you likely already know the most important stuff. :)
I'm sorry I can't offer anything more specific, but what is common knowledge and mandatory reading in high school depends so much on where you live. I mean, unless you live in Finland, you likely don't need to read Kalevala or The Seven Brothers in high school. Actually, if you don't live in Finland, you probably have never even heard of those books (if you have time and inclination, read Kalevala. You can find the English translation in the internet legally and while it sucks as a novel due to the plot jumping around a bit too much, the mythology behind it is amazing and the poetry is pretty).
no subject
Date: 2011-01-17 05:49 am (UTC)First of all, while you may admire people for having strong opinions or finishing school, I think it's just as admirable to want to continue your education on your own.
Secondly, I agree with other posters that "common knowledge" is subjective, especially once someone has graduated college. For example, I graduated with an English degree and promptly forgot nearly everything I ever learned about math or science. Also, due to my elementary school changing the math curriculum halfway through my years there, I never even learned how to do long division despite it being common knowledge. Someone who graduated college or grad school with a Physics degree probably doesn't remember much about reading a Tale of Two Cities.
I also agree with a previous poster that if you dislike a classic don't bother finishing it. One of the objectives of reading classics in High School was to develop critical reading and thinking skills, such as recognizing and learning how to utilize rhetoric; being able to figure out the symbolism in imagery; figuring out an author's message on a certain subject through their prose; and knowing how to decipher complex and/or plain ridiculous syntax. You can get that just as easily by reading books you actually like.
Here is a list of some popular and classic novels I enjoyed:
Dracula, Bram Stoker
Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
Chronicles of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Dante's Inferno
The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Macbeth, Othello, the Tempest, and Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, unknown author
Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory (very difficult to get through, and not common knowledge)
A bunch of Stephen King novels (his books' value as literature is debatable, but I consider him to be a skilled writer)
The Great Gadsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami
The Southern Vampire series, Charlaine Harris
The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
The Sherlock Holmes stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (I prefer his short stories to the novels)
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
Beowulf
The Lais of Marie de France, Marie de France
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Wicked, Gregory Maguire
Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden
Ordinary People, Judith Guest
Novels and authors I did not enjoy:
The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemmingway
Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Wolf
The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro
Martin Eden, Jack London
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath (the last thing someone with depression needed was to read a novel by and about a depressed person)
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (it really isn't necessary to spend two pages describing Jane putting clothes on and walking down the stairs)
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Twilight has been read by a large number of women, but it is probably the worst example of English literature I have ever read.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-18 05:12 am (UTC)I'm trying to think of what else I can add. For poetry, Robert Burns is an excellent choice. I've also enjoyed the works of Oscar Wilde, and if classic literature is your forte, anything by Alexandre Dumas is SWEET (at least in my humble opinion). Also Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
Astronomy is a great science to get into, and teaching yourself the constellations is rather easy and fulfilling. Being able to look up at the night sky and -know- what it is you're staring at is a feeling I can't even begin to describe.
I also suggest doing some reading on religion in general, not just Christianity, but things like neopaganism, Buddhism, Shinto, Islam, Judaism, and other earth/ancestor-based religions, simply because it's amazing to understand more of the worldview of others. If you are atheist, it'll just give you more of an idea of why people behave the way that they do, and if you believe in some sort of a deity out there, it's one of the best ways to come to an understanding of Him/Her/Them/It. I've found that my spiritual journey is perhaps one of the most grounding aspects of my life to date.
Closely related to this would be mythology, which is an area of study that will never get boring. And I'm not just talking about your classic Greek/Roman mythology, either. Celtic and Germanic lore are fun to cut your teeth on, and then there are countless other directions you can go as well. Lately I've been stuffing my head full of Slavic mythology, and I can't even begin to tell you how much fun that's been.
Also? Psychology is -amazing-. Us artistic types tend to love observing people (even if we don't interact all that much), and learning about what makes people tick and how the mind works is rather fascinating. There are countless different perspectives out there, just like with religion, and each has its own merits and downfalls.
Now, as far as practical things go, cooking, cleaning, and sewing are always pretty useful. I say that even as a guy here, 'cause all come in handy like whoa. And I mean learning new techniques or recipes or styles for the cooking thing, if you already know how to do the basics, or some good old-fashioned cleaning tips that most people just don't care to learn anymore. Do you know how to get candle wax out of a tablecloth, or disinfect without harsh chemicals, or the best way to wash various stains out of laundry? If not, look it up and see what you can learn!
So yeah, those are a few of my ideas, at any rate. I could throw tons more ideas from the above at you, but I don't want to overwhelm. You're always free to poke me about them if you want some more suggestions. :)
Links and Recommendations
Date: 2011-01-18 06:22 am (UTC)It's at http://stellarium.org/ and it should have info on how much space and video memory that you need there.
If you haven't heard of it, tvtropes.org is a time-sucking wonder of nearly all media related information, and how they follow specific formats and guidelines. It has multiples of links in every article to related information and also has individual pages on popular and not so popular media, with links to the tropes that each portrays.
If you want to learn a language, there are word-a-day sites that I've found to be helpful (only four so far, but...). Chinese: http://www.learnchineseeveryday.com/
Japanese: http://www.japanesewordoftheday.com/
Spanish: http://spanish-word-a-day.com/
Russian: http://everydayrussian.org/ (but remember to click on the beginner Russian link if you don't know the Cyrillic alphabet)
Also, if you have a general idea of what you want to see or read about, Wikipedia and Google are good starting points since the first will provide sources (usually) and the second gives you many options, that will lead you to books to buy/rent/look up.
That's all I have right now, and I'll add links later if I can remember more. Also, if you're in the US (my memory is shoddy, but you might actually be in Canada, so ignore this if this is the case), NOAA has pretty accurate information on weather, both current and historic, but the historic bits take a bit of digging. The weather portion is at http://www.noaa.gov/wx.html
akiarashi0822, who has forgotten her password, again, and usually lurks quietly and anonymously (partly due to said forgetfulness).
no subject
Date: 2011-01-24 03:53 am (UTC)www.slate.com has a variety of articles, generally tinted with opinion but still well researched, every single day and they're never more than 3-4 pages. I get general information about events and cultural stuff (I'm not up on most pop music or television much of the time and I rely on them for this!) from them regularly and I love their Supreme Court reporter because she demystifies the judicial process so well. I'm sure there is a similar Canadian-centric site out there that could help.
Beyond that, start with what interests you. I love history so I read all kinds of stuff randomly. Good books with well-placed chapters make it easier, imo, to work through as well so you don't feel overwhelmed and can track your progress.