Saturday 15 June 2013
Should Shakespeare still be taught in high school English classes?
I think that Shakespeare should be taught in high school. It is only given to the academic classes to read so it should not be that difficult for them. While it is in a more ancient form of English, I for one was able to understand it fine, and read it at only a slightly slower than normal pace. It provides a slight challenge for reading and forces you to pay attention and read closely, as you cant just try to scan and absorb it. The plays are old but still carry powerful messages, themes, and literary devices that are perfect practice for analyzing texts. It is not too long, but still long enough to be taught as a full unit. The summaries and translations help with any problems understanding, so I see no reason why Shakespeare should not be taught in high school English classes.
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Very true, but at the same time, most people do have trouble understanding it even if they are at an academic level. And although there are several ways to help your understanding like translations and summaries, I personally think that is a waste of time in English class because you are there to learn more about how to write properly, not how to translate and understand old English plays. I agree that there are some very good literary devices etc. in Shakespeare but I also think that you can find the same amount of literary devices, themes and powerful messages in other texts that are much easier to read and don't take any extra time to translate or understand.
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