Literature Education in High School

[UED77]

In high schools around the world, students are required to take literature courses. An average US high school mandates 4 English classes to be taken, the curricula of which consist mainly of literature. In such classes, students are given a class block to analyze a poem they have never read before, and write a three-page essay on it — all within a hundred minutes.

Furthermore, they are given lengthy home- and classwork assignments that consist of having to write three or more pages per poem assigned — sometimes as many as four for a weekend.

Upon turning in homework, many of them are shocked to find out that they "misanalyzed" the poem by interpreting it differently from what the teacher's answer key states.

The same can be extended for novels, in which case even lengthier material needs to be read and processed by the students.

The question is, is mandatory literature education necessary?

For those who will go into fields such as professional composition or literature analysis later on, the knowledge they gain in high school is inadequate. For those, however, who will go into engineering, computer science, or basically any other non-BA fields are not going to read a poem ever again.

Why should sciences remain mandatory then? What makes literature different from sciences? Sciences deal with what people do in everyday life. While the usefulness of calculus, chemistry, and physics might be debatable, it must certainly be admitted that they provide people with basic knowledge (and a little more) to get around in life and solve certain problems. Knowing how to calculate friction undoubtedly has much more usefulness than knowing all the sonnets of Shakespeare — in order.

What are your thoughts on the issue?

UED77

[Neo]

I think most literature education is kind of wacked in the sense that they go about teaching it the wrong way, but I don't think it should be optional..

We already have to many illiterate grammer-lacking people walking around as it is.

Besides a little Romeo and Juliet never hurt anyone =P (Though personally I liked Julius Ceaser more)

-Neo

[Ragnarox]

I have got to agree with you on this one UED. I have never truely found a use for the superfluous amounts of poems, borning novels and seemingly useless assingments(of course I am also quite bias because it is the only class that I have not yet found something intriguing about...yet). I would also have to say that the vocabulary tests are relatively useless. I can see the use for some words they teach us (i.e Objectivity, Auspicious) but others, such as Juricprudence, I do not see much use for and several others I simply cannot remember because too many are being forced upon us at once.

Misanalysis of poems in essays has not been a severe problem in my school however because most, if not all of our LA teachers do not grade by a key, but I do think that the simple assigning of the analysis is redundant. Like yourself, I question the use for such work because I fail to identify a significant use for it later in my life.

On the other hand, the sciences I consider extremely important because, as you stated, a portion of them actually have significant relevance to how people live their lives, especially political scieneces. This may (is) also be a bias comment on my part because I myself wish to become a physicist and micro/macro-engineer in my later life. Aside from that though, I believe at least elementary knowledge in the field of genetics is important when considering child-birth and in some cases, occupation (i.e, working with substances that could possibly damage a genetic code).

In more blunt words, Anatomy can teach you how to take care of a broken bone, the writtings of Fransisco (sp?) Petrarch, cannot.

[frazz]

Literature stinks.(little bias there) There is virtually no point in all of that. It is absolutely, 100% useless. I do not know why it is taught. It's just a waste of time. And it's being forced on millions of students all over the US. It must be stopped!

[Spartan-II]

Luckily, I never had to deal with that. We did a small section on poetry, but for the most part we read classical literature and plays. We go over everything in class and are just expected to take a test regarding content, vocabulary, and give your own opinion on a few things. (You're graded on what you put into it, not your opinion.)

Some teachers expect the students to be robots and draw the same conclusions the book gives. It's unrealistic and moronic. I enjoy my English classes because it's not 'Write X amount of pages on X amount of material.' Essays are usually reserved for stories we write ourselves, summaries, or state testing.

I agree to the fact that people should learn what they need to learn. Learning advanced Calculus when you are seeking a job as a Botanist is redundant and a complete waste of resources. Teach what needs to be known, not frilly things that help you sound intelligent.

[GenocideAlive]

In more blunt words, Anatomy can teach you how to take care of a broken bone, the writtings of Fransisco (sp?) Petrarch, cannot.
If you don't choke on the irony of this sentence, I might. Suffice to say that anatomy doesn't teach you how to care for a broken bone, and a few more hours spent on Literature might help you spell words with confidence.

Literature will always be important, and literature is irreplaceable. To understand why a cog works is an elementary undertaking of seconds. To understand why we make cogs is a lifetime's worth of learning. And if you want a quick, simple answer: Literature gives all of those different majors something to talk about when they're stuck in a room together.

[Prozerran]

Literature Education in High School does suck, but not for all of the reasons you're mentioning. I'm not afraid to sit down and write a paper. I'm certainly content with the work. What I hate about most literature teachers is their influence on free thought early on. The whole point of liberal education (Literature falls into this category) is to promote free thought - the ability for one to be able to teach himself or herself. A lot of teachers cram literature down kids' throats and expects them to pick up on the themes, but it's just not working. The distinct difference I experienced between High School Literature and College Literature was this:

The focus in High School was reading and interpreting. The focus in College was first on the elements of writing (character, imagery, structure, etc...) and the interpretation was left up to us. Obviously, you want to, as a teacher, explain what isn't blatantly obvious to your students. Interpretation and analysis tend to be blurred at this juncture. So, students writing a paper based on their interpretation of the material getting a bad grade based on an answer key seems a bit out of place. A student writing a paper based on the elements of writing is more reasonable in a grading system designed to measure the students knowledge of the subject matter of literature.

Fortunately, I had a great high school teacher for my senior English class who actually enjoyed doing her job. I have more respect for her than any other teacher I had in High School.

[Ragnarox]

If you don't choke on the irony of this sentence, I might. Suffice to say that anatomy doesn't teach you how to care for a broken bone, and a few more hours spent on Literature might help you spell words with confidence.

Literature will always be important, and literature is irreplaceable. To understand why a cog works is an elementary undertaking of seconds. To understand why we make cogs is a lifetime's worth of learning. And if you want a quick, simple answer: Literature gives all of those different majors something to talk about when they're stuck in a room together.

I didn't say that Literature wasn't important, just that the majority of the assignments our teachers give us in LA, such as analyzing poems, are a waste of time. There are aspects of it that are important I believe that do come in handy when typing up your resume or when writting a letter.

Anatomy may not directly teach you how to care for a broken bone, but it can assist you greatly when dealing one. About the spelling error I made on Francesco Petrach, I could not remember how to spell it, I did have the time to look it up. So why should I not ask for assistance when I am having trouble as to its spelling? Also, I don't see how the comment about cogs has anything to do with liturature.

When you say liturature is irreplaceable, are you saying that science is replacable?

[hammocksleeper]

If your teacher is not open-minded about the way you analyze a work, he's just simply a poor teacher. English and lit courses are very important to the overall education of a man, and I know that I personally would never hire anyone who was not educated in critical thinking and analysis unless his job was to be flipping burgers, or data entry (although even that's pushing it). The primary purpose of such education is not so you are knowledgable about the literature, but rather that you are able to look at something critically, interpret it and draw greater conclusions about the author, the subjects, the world, and everything.

It teaches you how to think. It teaches you how to write. When y'all gain more experience you will hopefully realize the benefit that such an education provides.

[GenocideAlive]

I didn't say that Literature wasn't important, just that the majority of the assignments our teachers give us in LA, such as analyzing poems, are a waste of time.
You didn't say it wasn't important, you overwhelmingly implied it.
Anatomy may not directly teach you how to care for a broken bone, but it can assist you greatly when dealing one.
Um, wrong again. Vastly. Horribly. You should either ask me what anatomy can do for you in repairing broken bones, or you should stop trying to salvage this horrible error on your part. By the way, anatomy has nothing to do with helping you cope with broken bones. In case you wanted to ask.
Also, I don't see how the comment about cogs has anything to do with liturature.
That's because your capability to evaluate what you're reading sucks. As in, you need more literature reading. A cog is a very simple part in some very complex machines. If you can make a cog, whoopee, it does little good by itself. Someone has to know how to make the machine that uses the cog, and how it applies.

[Ragnarox]

Well...here we go again...

You didn't say it wasn't important, you overwhelmingly implied it.

I implied that certain assignments they give us are unimportant (i.e. analyzing essays). I was not implying that iturature as a whole was unimportant.

Um, wrong again. Vastly. Horribly. You should either ask me what anatomy can do for you in repairing broken bones, or you should stop trying to salvage this horrible error on your part. By the way, anatomy has nothing to do with helping you cope with broken bones. In case you wanted to ask.

Ok...where do I start here? I don't know if maybe you have X-Ray vision or something or know where every single bone in the human body is supposed to be, accurate to the nearest picometer, but most people do not possess these attributes. Have you ever tried to re-align a busted rib, jutting out at such an awkward angle that it seems like it belongs in the socket above where it actually is while at the same time the person with the injury is flailing and howling in pain with their muscles are spasming from shock, making it increasingly difficult to identify the correct socket? Its hell, and it really doesn't work too well (hey, that rhymes!), ah the wonderful things you do in MOFA. Anyways the point is, as long as you have a grasp of anatomy, you don't have to to search for the correct socket. This is because you know exactly where the correct socket is and you don't need to cause unecessary pain to the person in question by poking your fingers around looking for an abnormal depression.

That's because your capability to evaluate what you're reading sucks. As in, you need more literature reading. A cog is a very simple part in some very complex machines. If you can make a cog, whoopee, it does little good by itself. Someone has to know how to make the machine that uses the cog, and how it applies.

So knowing why a person wrote the poem is a useful tool in my life is what your saying. Oh I see, being able to analyze a poem and know why that person wrote that poem is now a useful tool in figuring out how to make motors smaller now is it? I see your reasoning when using that example with the cog, but I can't identify it's relevance to what I was speaking of earlier, which was analyzing poems. However, maybe I'm merely short sighted, maybe I'm unwilling or unable to see what you see in the advantages of being able to analyze poems. If this is the case, please, indulge me, I am very interested (NOT sarcasm).

In the words of Sergeant Adib Julian, "Stick that in your pipe then smoke it!" :D

[Whiteknight]

If your teacher is not open-minded about the way you analyze a work, he's just simply a poor teacher. English and lit courses are very important to the overall education of a man, and I know that I personally would never hire anyone who was not educated in critical thinking and analysis unless his job was to be flipping burgers, or data entry (although even that's pushing it). The primary purpose of such education is not so you are knowledgable about the literature, but rather that you are able to look at something critically, interpret it and draw greater conclusions about the author, the subjects, the world, and everything.

It teaches you how to think. It teaches you how to write. When y'all gain more experience you will hopefully realize the benefit that such an education provides.

I'm sorry, but I just had to doubly point out that Hammock hit it right on the nail. English may not be relevant to daily life but it does allow you to think critically.

However, I still disagree with needing English to graduate. One does not need to follow up on any of the sciences or maths to graduate from high school but they must have a 30 level english course. I don't believe it should be that way.

[GenocideAlive]

Ok...where do I start here? I don't know if maybe you have X-Ray vision or something or know where every single bone in the human body is supposed to be, accurate to the nearest picometer, but most people do not possess these attributes. Have you ever tried to re-align a busted rib, jutting out at such an awkward angle that it seems like it belongs in the socket above where it actually is while at the same time the person with the injury is flailing and howling in pain with their muscles are spasming from shock, making it increasingly difficult to identify the correct socket? Its hell, and it really doesn't work too well (hey, that rhymes!), ah the wonderful things you do in MOFA.
1. If you're not a medic, you shouldn't be attempting to perform medical roles. You'll be liable and you'll probably fuck it up.
2. I don't have X-ray vision, but if you don't know where ribs go before an anatomy class, there's not much it can do for you.
3. There are multiple types of broken bones, and x-rays are generally needed in all circumstances to elect the proper method of repair. You don't just look at someone's busted bones and start pushing and pulling.
4. That paragraph contained one of the worst run-ons I've seen in a while. Seriously, legibility please.
5. My analogy was geared towards pointing out that there are many things that science/math teaches, but there are some things it doesn't. Humanity plays a large role in the WHY of those subjects.
6. It gives everybody something to talk about. Seriously. Why do they have book clubs?

[singo]

So, will you be happy when the English vocabulary is down to only a few hundred "necessary" words?

Not wanting to cast insults around, but this thread smells of "student gets essay, student doesnt like essay, student complains" syndrome.

The fact remains, analysing poems and whatnot gives you an expanded vocabulary and teaches you how to bluff your way through something. both ESSENTIAL skills in and of themselves.

Also, it might not be directly related to the job you get, but not everything is work you know?

It helps all sorts of things, like making you a person instead of a money making machine. And gives you a running chance in pub quizzes, gives you something to talk about and who knows, maybe impress a member of the opposite sex with your knowledge.




And do bones really have to be set to the nearest picometre? My little fingers both work and look fine and one of them was broken by a cricket bat and got taped to the next one in my kitchen. Hardly accurate.

If a rib needs to be set to distances measured to the nearest picometre I will eat my scrotum. Bear in mind atoms are tens or even hundreds of picometres in radius.