The Catcher in the Rye

Title: The Catcher in the Rye

Author: J. D. Salinger

Lexile Level: 790L

Qualitative Level (Based on SCASS Qualitative Measures Rubric: LITERATURE)

• TEXT STRUCTURE: Very Complex
• LANGUAGE FEATURES: Moderately Complex Sentence Structure, Very Complex Vocabulary and Conventionality
• MEANING: Very Complex
• KNOWLEDGE DEMANDS: Very Complex

Source: Salinger, J. D. (1991). The catcher in the rye. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Co.

Format or text type: Novel

Summary & Justification: Holden Caulfield, is about to be kicked out of yet another boarding school and instead of going straight home, he decides to go runaway to New York for the three days left before Christmas break. The Catcher in the Rye is a classic often taught in high schools for it's complex, and unreliable main character, unique narrative style and multiple levels of meaning and symbolism.

There are multiple similarities between Catcher and Aristotle and Dante, including the unreliable teenage boy narrator and stream of consciousness narrative style and also in that both are haunted by an absent brother and both have a red object (hat/truck) which makes them feel more confident in themselves.

Although there are many allusions to Catcher in Aristotle and Dante, today's students are much more likely to connect with Aristotle, a lower-middle class Mexican-American boy in the 1980s, than with Holden, an upper class prep school student in the 1950s.

Additional useful notes:

• Independent or peer supported; Below grade level
• We recommend using The Catcher in the Rye as a companion novel with Aristotle and Dante, possibly by having students read Catcher as a summer reading, literature circle, or independent reading assignment while reading Aristotle and Dante with the class.