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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I was a college English major and I’ve read and loved all types of literature. I think we need to separate different kinds of “hard,” because one matters and the other is a distraction. One reason Dickens is hard is the antique language. When Bleak House was written it was the beach read of the times - it wasn’t considered difficult. Because it was written in the vernacular. I see no real urgency in making sure people can read Shakespeare or Chaucer. Should English majors? Yes, even if they don’t love it, they should read some of where our language and literature came from.

All kids should be taught how to read, analyze, and understand meaningful text, though. Plot, metaphor, argument, character development, voice…those are all important. I’m not particularly fussed, though, about what sort of books kids read in order to understand those things, though. Pride and Prejudice is chick lit, but “hard” to read because of language. Harry Potter is easy to read because of its simple language written for children, but it can serve just fine to train kids to identify the important elements in literature and enjoy them.

I wonder if this study had used modern literature - say, The Kite Runner, Life of Pi, etc - whether they would have had different results. Archaic language doesn’t making literature better, it just makes it old.[/quote]

I agree, well written.  Archaic language turns a lot of kids off.  There are so many quality books written in the last hundred years that are overlooked because they won’t let go of Shakespeare.

I like fiction with stories that happened during a significant time in history.  A family living in Alabama in 1963 for example.  There are excellent quality books about the civil rights movement or the Holocaust that have much more value than yet another Shakespeare play. [/quote]

Here's the value in the Shakespeare play and Dickens and Homer that you don't get in a well-written modern book (most especially a well-written completely contemporary book): temporal bandwidth. Cultures from the past thought differently about things than us, had different blind spots than we do, had different values than we do, thought different things were sins than we do, thought different things were admirable than we do. Sometimes they were [b]right[/b] about their differences and we are currently wrong. Having that temporal bandwidth gives kids a chance to assess modern culture in a way they simply can't if they aren't exposed to the past. And there's no better way to get exposed to the past than fiction, myths and fairy stories, and possibly poetry. Essays and history are simply just not going to give that up-close-and-personal view of the values of a time period.

If we could hear the perspectives of future cultures they'd be valuable for the same reason, but we can't. If we could talk to people from pre-literate cultures in the past that too would be amazing, but we can't. All we have is writing. And we should use it. Even if it's hard work.[/quote]

It’s a whole big world out there but when I was in school we only focused on Western Civilization.  Why not expand and start to limit books from England.  You mentioned Homer and Dickens and they are readable for high school students. Shakespeare isn’t and plowing through ancient English serves no purpose.  Asian authors should be studied.   Tang Xianzu has a play translated into readable English.   A nice substitute for Shakespeare whose works should be retired.

[/quote]

Shakespeare isn't ancient English. That's Beowulf. Both Beowulf and Shakespeare have value, and they are very, very different. Honestly in some ways Beowulf reads more like ancient Mesopotamian myths (like say Luglabanda) than it does like anything from the Renaissance or later.

When I was in school we did both Shakespeare and some really cool Chinese mystery novels in English. Why not both?[/quote]

Anything to get away from so many bland English writers.   Maybe one Shakespeare and that’s it.   I had to go see the middle school play “The Winter’s Tale” because my son was in it.  I had no idea what it was about.  I left so confused.  [/quote]

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