2008 Woodie Awards
What's so great about Shakespeare, anyway?
Karen Tableiou
Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: Opinion
The canon has ruined reading for most students of our and new generations. In high school literature class, students are required to read the classics: "The Great Gatsby," "Romeo and Juliet," "Of Mice and Men," "The Heart of Darkness." Let's be honest, while I won't contest the importance or the greatness of these novels, most people are unable to connect with the stories told. We're trying to cling to a style of teaching literature from over 200 years ago.
News flash: our way of living has dramatically changed and the classics don't necessarily apply to new generations of students. They can't connect with the stories. It's a hard concept to grasp: living during the Great Depression or the horrors and prejudices of colonization.
Today's students are more concerned with the newest movie to be released or the hot new cell phone. They don't care about a moldy book written by Ernest Hemingway or Jane Austen that revolutionized literature today. It's a little funny that kids, when they're young, love to read or be read to. Children's novels are simple, full of pictures and appropriate for their age. When does that love of reading stories change? Why is it necessary for a book to be dry and thick in order to be deemed as good and canonized?
Instead of looking to the far past, let's look at the present. Have you ever picked up a young adult novel to read for fun? Give it a try; they may surprise you in their quality and great storytelling. Not all the young adult books out there are gems, but what makes them so great, so interesting, is that they deal with issues students today are going through. There's more of a connection in the reading of modern novels than the classics.
Ever heard of Lois Lowry's "The Giver?" It tells the story of a futuristic society that has become a utopia. In this perfect world, people don't get sick, there are no wars, people are living in harmony and the community is wholesome. Being a young adult novel, it is told from the perspective of Jonas, a young boy about to be given his job assignment. The book discusses issues of what a utopia really is, how important memory is in our lives and what it means to be truly free. This book is a top read for young adults; they feel a connection with Jonas and his struggle to find his own identity and place in a world changing before his eyes.
So, instead of teachers assigning "Huckleberry Finn," why not use "The Lovely Bones" or "The Secret Life of Bees?" Give students a variety in what they are reading. Mix the old with the new. Stay away from the canon; find novels that students are interested in, that they'll be able to connect with. Maybe we can rekindle that love of reading students had as children. If they're actually able to understand and interpret a piece of modern day young adult literature, they'll be more willing to keep reading, for fun. English teachers, it's time for a change. Raise your voice and make a difference in a student's life. Teach what students like to read; teach what they know.
News flash: our way of living has dramatically changed and the classics don't necessarily apply to new generations of students. They can't connect with the stories. It's a hard concept to grasp: living during the Great Depression or the horrors and prejudices of colonization.
Today's students are more concerned with the newest movie to be released or the hot new cell phone. They don't care about a moldy book written by Ernest Hemingway or Jane Austen that revolutionized literature today. It's a little funny that kids, when they're young, love to read or be read to. Children's novels are simple, full of pictures and appropriate for their age. When does that love of reading stories change? Why is it necessary for a book to be dry and thick in order to be deemed as good and canonized?
Instead of looking to the far past, let's look at the present. Have you ever picked up a young adult novel to read for fun? Give it a try; they may surprise you in their quality and great storytelling. Not all the young adult books out there are gems, but what makes them so great, so interesting, is that they deal with issues students today are going through. There's more of a connection in the reading of modern novels than the classics.
Ever heard of Lois Lowry's "The Giver?" It tells the story of a futuristic society that has become a utopia. In this perfect world, people don't get sick, there are no wars, people are living in harmony and the community is wholesome. Being a young adult novel, it is told from the perspective of Jonas, a young boy about to be given his job assignment. The book discusses issues of what a utopia really is, how important memory is in our lives and what it means to be truly free. This book is a top read for young adults; they feel a connection with Jonas and his struggle to find his own identity and place in a world changing before his eyes.
So, instead of teachers assigning "Huckleberry Finn," why not use "The Lovely Bones" or "The Secret Life of Bees?" Give students a variety in what they are reading. Mix the old with the new. Stay away from the canon; find novels that students are interested in, that they'll be able to connect with. Maybe we can rekindle that love of reading students had as children. If they're actually able to understand and interpret a piece of modern day young adult literature, they'll be more willing to keep reading, for fun. English teachers, it's time for a change. Raise your voice and make a difference in a student's life. Teach what students like to read; teach what they know.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Annie
posted 10/12/08 @ 9:10 AM CST
If only Shakespeare had cell-phones!
I can only hope the author holds on to this article, and reading it 25 years from now looks at it with embarrassment. (Continued…)
Teacher--leave the kids alone
posted 10/12/08 @ 9:41 PM CST
Well, golly gee, 'Annie'--got a LAST NAME to go with this attack? Only a coward attacks a student journalist who put HER NAME next to her opinion.
Do you also show up with a BAG over your head and heckle people at public events? Like to shoot wolves out of helicopters, too?
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