Reply to Is Shakespeare not taught in DCPS?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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.[/quote]

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.[/quote]

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

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

The phrase [b]pinnacle of the English language achievement[/b] betrays exposure to a very limited [b]amount[/b] of great English literature.
[/quote]

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

You can’t??[/quote]

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

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