A Catcher in the Rye: An Abridged Text

Subject: English as an Additional Language
Level: Secondary
Age Group: 11-14 and 14-16
Order Number: 5275

Classic texts can be very difficult to understand for students not fully conversant with the English language, or who have special learning needs. However, the difficulty of the language can be addressed by an abridged version that seeks to communicate the essential meanings, themes and symbolism of the texts in more accessible terms. Moreover, characterisations can be clarified and illuminated so that students can more easily relate to and empathise with what motivates the characters.

This text has been developed to offer students of J. D. Salinger a means of understanding a complex story with mature themes of empathy, innocence, lies and imagination.

Accompanying the text are exercises written to work alongside the chapters to encourage students to recognise the personality traits of the main characters and to try to understand why they act as they do. There are also sets of quotations taken from the text that can be used by teachers with students to recall key moments in the story. Towards the end of the publication teachers will find a section on themes with examples of how these are interwoven into the novel.
<p>This abridged version of The Catcher in the Rye is designed to be used by students in Year 9 and above.</p>


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