Is Shakespeare not taught in DCPS?

[Anonymous]

Melville is better

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Failing to teach native English speakers about Shakespeare would be like if Italian kids read no Dante, or if Chinese children didn’t read Li Bai or Du Fu.

Also, Shakespeare is remarkable in how well it holds up even now. Yes, there is racism and misogyny (obviously) but way less than you’d expect and often happens in ways that provide useful jumping off points for discussing these issues. Reading Merchant of Venice and discussing anti-Sémitism is worthwhile. Othello raises a ton of issues- anti-black racism, colorism, Christian bias. Taming if the Shrew an opportunity to discuss misogyny. In many ways, approaching these concepts through Shakespeare is useful in helping kids see how old snd persistent these issues are.

And other plays are just masterpieces. Macbeth, Hamlet, Much Ado… these are classics for a reason and I’d rather kids read Shakespeare then almost any other dead white guy. Certainly preferable to Chaucer.

The only reason people think that Shakespeare is the pinnacle of English language achievement is because they've only been exposed to a very limited amount of great English literature.

Au contraire, my friend. I would argue that the most well-read would consider Shakespeare to be “the pinnacle”.

+1. The PP above, do tell us what authors you think is the pinnacle since you are implying such vast exposure to English literature.

The phrase pinnacle of the English language achievement betrays exposure to a very limited amount of great English literature.

np: And, as PP asked, can you give some examples of authors you would hold put on the same tier as Shakespeare?

You can’t??

Of course not. PP throws out a statement with nothing to stand on. Then when called out to defend, silence.

Dear lord! Pp here. Saying pinnacle of English language achievement shows such a limited vocabulary and poor word choice, it’s downright laughable. Not to mention it’s non-sensical. What does language achievement mean to you? And what’s the pinnacle of it? Again, you don’t read great literature by amount. You might as well say by pound or foot.
You can’t just berate people appreciating Shakespeare in a post written at 3rd grade level. Actually you can, but at least don’t be surprised that you’d be laughed at.

Most people who study and write about English literature for a living disagree with you. Dianne Ravitch, in The English Reader: What Every Literate Person Needs to Know writes that Shakespeare “stands at the very pinnacle of English literature.”

https://books.google.com/books?id=lH3gO8t5YswC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=shakespeare+is+the+%22pinnacle%22+of+English&source=bl&ots=P9p_gaeLQL&sig=ACfU3U3QJJjR1KZ2VdwzqKGZDPOKN4DZsQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSzLCA9Jj1AhXxoXIEHco-AcQ4ChDoAXoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=shakespeare%20is%20the%20%22pinnacle%22%20of%20English&f=false

As early as the 1790’s, Shakespeare was described as “chief among English authors” and “the demigod of English literature.”

Claiming that people who hold this view are not widely read is quite silly - unless you want to contend that most university English professors for the past 230 years are “not widely read.”

lol wait I though it was only the lowly illiterate who would talk about a pinnacle of English literature.