I teach an essay by the novelist Francine Prose with a fairly rude allusion in the title: “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read.” Unsurprisingly, based on the title, the essay deals with the mediocre books taught in high school and the oversimplified, boring way good books are taught in high school.
Prose argues that books like To Kill a Mockingbird spoon-feed students moral lessons with a character like Atticus Finch, an unquestionably moral pillar of the community who represents all…