I used to read a bunch as a kid, but as I progressed through school I started to read fewer books because schools forced you to read books and write reports and it sucked the fun out of reading. I managed to AP out of English which is the only good thing about taking English. I remember I had to do research reports which involved reading literary criticism of various works, and these "literary critics" would come up with all these theories about what this symbol meant or whether this was an allegory for that etc. I would later read what the author said about what something meant and realized a lot of the these "literary critics" were making up stuff. We have Phd's doing thesis on Shakespeare's writing and Shakespeare probably had a middle school education. I think we would be better served if instead of English class they just let you read a book or write for an hour.
I know you can't assign twilight but a lot of the things English class forces you to read makes many people to simply hate reading. And they won't ever pick up a book again for the rest of there lives.
I'm sorry, what?? If you really feel this way, I am deeply saddened for you. Considering the era he was in, Shakespeare was undoubtedly brilliant. The fact that he has influenced modern english to such a large degree should be enough to suffice. The comment about having a middle school education is wrong, and quite frankly, completely irrelevant considering the impact he has had on the way we view art. If I were an English major, I would take this very personally, as you have succeeded to put down an entire field of study. Something many are very passionate about. I suppose Mark Twain isn't a valid subject either. Why don't you ask the numerous artists and musicians he has deeply influenced. Creative writing is no different from any other art from, and many writers have changed the course of artistic aesthetic. There would be no Stravinsky without Mark Twain. Did that ever occur to you? Perhaps you don't understand enough about either of the two to make a semblance of a connection there, or maybe any serious artist or musician is no more than a joke to you. You have already stated how you feel about writers, which in essence is no different. Shakespeare is a very profound artist. His phrasing is brilliant and many of his lines suggest double meanings. If you don't find validity in this, you might as well throw out the Bible. Jesus spoke in the same way. I really think you missed out on Shakespeare. You might want to go back and reassess things. The guy has had such a profound impact on art, it isn't even funny. I can't imagine what you feel about other artists through time, in any field, if you can't even come to terms with brilliance within the confines of your own language. I'm really sad for you. You are missing out on a lot IMO. At the very least, please don't insult the livelihood of millions of people who become English majors. Just because you seem to think it is worthless to study Shakespeare, doesn't mean people who do are wasting their time. There is a reason people are passionate about him and many others in their field of study. Thanks and good luck to you....
I have no idea. English does suck the fun out of reading. I cannot tell you the last time I have read a book cover to cover. In elementary school/middle school I really enjoyed reading. Then HS hit and it was awful. The only fun part was finding cliffnotes. No one in their right mind wants to read shake-a-spear. Cool story, brah: In my 11th grade english class, I did a book report on Pete Rose's book. Not having read the book, and my teacher being a woman, she gave me some layup questions like "why was he banned from baseball?" and "why does the book have the title it does?" Pretty easy A if I say so. And I agree, thank goodness for AP english.
If everyone continues to write in that way, no one will care. Hence, the written language will be lost. It's the same excuse people will use to do things this way... "you understood me anyway!"
The problem is they make you take literature and read doom and gloom poetry. English should be a grammar and reading class. Literature and poetry should be an optional elective course. No one would take it and they could finally stop teaching it. A lot of the books they make you read in high school-intro college courses are very boring, one-sided and opinionated garbage.
"I don't read because HS English sucks" just sounds like a cop out to me, a way to excuse why you don't read. I had some crappy band teachers in HS but it didn't stop me from enjoying listening to or playing music. For some of us, English makes us read book we wouldn't otherwise and we become more avid readers because of it.
I didn't say Shakespeare wasn't a great writer or a genius. People still copy his plot points to this day. However my only contention is the fact we have to micro analyze it to the point where we can't just enjoy a story. Shakespeare was like the J. K. Rowling of his time. He wrote plays people liked. In 500 years will people be analyzing JK Rowling the same way they analyze Shakespeare? Sometimes you just want to read something without thinking about all the little thing the author may or may not have meant. Another example is great expectations. It is a great book and story, but when you have to analyze what the prisoner's chain is supposed maybe symbolizes it takes the fun out of the story. It was a very successful serial of the day, did Charles Dickens really intend for all those symbols the "literary critics" of today discovered or was just trying to tell an interesting story to sell some papers?
