Is there more benefit in having today's students reading the works of Shakespeare as opposed to reading a .

Question

popular novel by a modern day author ?

Answer 1

Ideally schools and teachers should strike a balance. Some more modern works are great! Some provide examples of excellent writing, bring up issues that students can immediately identify as relevant, and can be less intimidating to students who shut down at the mention of Shakespeare because they think it is going to be too difficult.

Still, we live in a society where there are so many references to Shakespeare's works and so it makes sense that students should be exposed to his works. For this reason, i would say that while it is fine to include modern Y.A. Lit, it can also be argued that they should be exposed to the the classics as well.

Is there MORE benefit? I think that in order to answer this question you have to consider the group of learners that you are dealing with, the course you are teaching, and what your lesson objectives are. If you think that you will not be able to effectively engage the students in Shakespeare, and that you will have more success getting them engaged with a modern piece...then I'd teach the modern piece. You could still highlight connections between the modern play/novel and Shakespeare by giving them a summary of the Shakespearean play and playing an appropriate clip from the film.

Answer 2

Shakespeare is a glimpse into another time. It also shows the timelessness of certain situations and emotions. I found the language challenging. I think for a student that is a good thing. I can't see replacing Shakespeare with something modern. I was glad that my literature class covered some modern authors though. The classics are classics for a reason. A student may read a modern author on their own. They will probably never pick up anything by Shakespeare. That would be a loss.

Answer 3

So many people look at course materials with the thought that some of them are automatically better than others.

The best teachers look at it differently; they ask "what do I want the class to learn" and then they look for the best materials for that goal.

If you're trying to use literature to get young students familiar with reading, then Shakespeare is completely wrong; the language is outdated.

If you're hoping to teach students some aspects of literary criticism, then Shakespeare is more or less equal to any other literature; does the Shakespeare piece illustrate the principle well, or would ee cummings or Edna St. Vincent Millet or Charles Schultz be a better choice?

If you want to teach about the history and development of English literature, then Shakespeare would be at the top of the list.

Answer 4

Popularity is not and should not be how we decide the merit of literature. Literary merit is based on artistry (complexity combined with coherence, etc). Yes, ideally, a timelessness is helpful, but not what proves merit. Just as the winners write the history books, the in-power choose what 'lasts' and those in power are, of course, not always right.

I would argue that Shakespeare's poems are, generally, poor examples of poetry if not entirely irrelevant given all of our other choices. His plays are a somewhat different matter, but for poetry there are SO many other, better choices, both from his day, ours, and in between.

Finally, reading modern literature is crucial to grabbing and maintaining the interest of students; without modern lit, modern students perceive that there is little in literature to relate to.

Answer 5

Yes, modern things may not prove to be popular later. Shakespeare has been popular for 400 years, even if he did catch a lucky break.

Answer 6

I believe that the classic works such as Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Julius Caesar are always relevant in their message.

Answer 7

probably the language (English) skill level.