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Should Shakespeare Still Be Taught In Schools Essay

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Should Shakespeare still be taught in the high school curriculum? Shakespeare has been part of our and previous generations for a long time. However, some people, including me, believe that he should not be taught in schools anymore for various reasons. One reason includes Shakespeare teaching the “wrong things” like racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. Having students read this in school would not be the right choice because students should not read about this kind of stuff. Another reason why Shakespeare should be removed from middle schools and high schools is because of his unmodernized text. His text includes words that are not used and aren’t heard anymore. Shakespeare's work may not always be the right thing for students to read. For example, …show more content…

The author also includes the student’s point of view when talking about Shakespeare, “We can also rethink how we use his texts. Can we involve students in the conversation, teaching them to interrogate why Shakespeare is more prevalent in our society than James Baldwin, Lois-Ann Yamanaka, or other writers from nonwhite backgrounds? Could we use excerpts of Shakespeare’s works as supplemental reading in conversation with other texts for critical analysis? Could we provide students experiences with Shakespeare while still making space for authors whose voices should not be ignored” (Text 3, Line 58-63). Even though Shakespeare has been part of our generation for a long time, other talented writers aren’t getting the credit they deserve because Shakespeare has been the main writer for centuries. Another reason the author believes Shakespeare shouldn’t be taught in schools is shown in text 3, “My kids deserve to study stories that represent and validate their experiences and cultures, something I know is important for their development. Questioning how well Shakespeare serves that goal is crucial, especially considering that, as National Public Radio’s “Code Switch” podcast recently explored, some of his stories perpetuate problematic and outdated ideas about gender roles and historically oppressed cultures. The Merchant of Venice’s treatment of its Jewish character, Shylock, for instance, is widely criticized as anti-Semitic” (Text 3, Lines 24-30). The author explains that Shakespeare did not support all genders and criticized certain religions, which proves that students should not be learning about these

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What are your thoughts on Shakespeare ? Do you think it’s hard to understand a pretty big majority of the time ? well, if so , don’t worry because you aren’t alone. Michael Mack, the author of the text “why read shakespeare?”thinks that although reading shakespeare is quite the challenge, it’s worth your effort. Mack incorporates an effective argument that truly relates to what the readers may think of shakespeare, he shares his thoughts and how he felt the same as everyone else through the beginning through his use of background knowledge and claims.

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In Michael Mack’s speech “Why Read Shakespeare?”, he argues the merits of reading Shakespeare no matter your intended major, however, his argument has weaknesses due to the bias and fallacies in his speech.  As a matter of fact in his speech, he say,”I am a professor of Shakespeare, which, given my topic today”(Mack,1). For the reason that he is an english professor would make him bias due to the fact that he would favor Shakespeare. As a matter a fact, he would arrange for the students to read Shakespeare even those whom major is not on English. Those whom major is a another major should not need to be convinced by a english professor.

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(Lines 30-34) “This phenomenon of people having difficulty understanding Shakespeare is hardly new. It predates by centuries our truncated attention spans and our preference for the fast cuts of modern video. It is a problem that the editors of the First Folio addressed in 1623, just seven years after the death of Shakespeare.” Using this piece of evidence Mack proves that even people from Shakespeare’s time admitted it was difficult to grasp Shakespeare’s way of writing. They knew well that it took multiple reads to understand the meanings behind Shakespeare’s words in his plays.

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Shakespeare, also known as the “Bard of Avon” (the nickname was provided by wikipedia), is one of the most famous and influential authors of english literature. In September 2008, at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC, Michael Mack (a professor) presented his opinion on the value of reading Shakespeare as a speech to college freshman. While presenting his opinion, Mack makes a compelling argument that even though reading Shakespeare is hard, it is worth it in the end and not only is it as important as other courses you may take in college but you will also gain something from it. His use of rhetorical devices and claims helps him support his argument.

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476 Words | 2 Pages

The most known play written by William Shakespeare is called Romeo and Juliet. This play demonstrates how love and hate can cloud your judgement when making decisions. For various of people around the world, they believe that the tragic and heartbreaking romance shouldn’t be taught in school. Despite the negative and crucial result coming out of it, there is an important lesson to be taught in high school. I believe that it should be taught throughout freshman year and be reevaluated throughout high school.

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642 Words | 3 Pages

William Shakespeare’s work has been involved in the high school curriculum for many years. Many say that Shakespeare’s ideas reveal the true human nature and that's why young adults need to study about him; However, the more that teens study Shakespeare some have agreed that it shouldn’t be apart of the standard High School curriculum due to the fact that the old English has no importance to them. Although William Shakespeare is an amazing dramatist and his works show the true reality of the world, Shakespeare’s writings and ideas need to be offered as an elective rather than having it forced on students in the normal English classes. Young teenargers today believe that the peices William Shakespeare wrote are irrelevant to them, and they are correct.

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675 Words | 3 Pages

The story of Romeo and Juliet should cease to be taught in schools because of the pedophilia the story promotes and the racism that the popularity of Shakespeare does. The first point to be brought up about this story is the very obvious pedophilia shown throughout the entire story, and this is why in remakes Romeo and Juliets ages are modified to be more similar. The age gap between Romeo and Juliet is already a gap too large, but something else to bring up is the age difference between Juliet and Count Paris. It’s absolutely disgusting when Paris says things like, “Younger than she are happy mothers made. ”(Paris 1-2-12) or “Do not deny to him that you love me.

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Being an aspiring high school English teacher, questions about how to teach certain books or subjects in class is something that has to be considered. One of the biggest issues with Shakespeare to students isn’t that its boring or a bad read, but reading old English is the difficult part. No Fear Shakespeare was created for just this reason, to allow students to be able to read the same story as Shakespeare wrote but in modern terms. While this is convenient and an easier way to understand the text, it shouldn’t be used as the only source of reading the story. The words that Shakespeare chose were chosen for a reason, and some of these “translations” from old English to modern English can take away from the story.

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For instance, on createdebate.com, Reyna states “Most students in high school are not interested in Shakespeare's work because either it bores them or they have difficulty understanding all of it. It's hard enough to get students to do their work and will be even harder when they aren't interested in doing it. Students want to read about things going on in their lives, stuff they can relate to and not something that doesn't interest them”. Additionally, in the createdebate website, on “the language is too confusing and they completely miss out on all the humor Shakespeare has to offer”. For this reason, students have a hard time understanding what they are learning and it does not interest them.

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Should Shakespeare be taught in schools? What names pops up in your head when someone mentions plays? Shakespeare, right? As legendary as his plays are, some people are hesitant when asked if Shakespeare should be taught in schools; tragic? I am with you on that one.

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998 Words | 4 Pages

The play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare has been taught in school for many years now. Some say that we should continue to allow our teens to read this tragic love story, while many argue that this play should no longer be allowed in schools. The issues concerning this tragic love story are the inappropriate jokes, the unrealistic view of love, and the promotion of suicide. These issues will indeed prove why Romeo and Juliet is ill suited to be taught to freshmen. Ninth graders should no longer read Romeo and Juliet because it is has very inappropriate jokes that should not be associated with school.

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498 Words | 2 Pages

Shakespeare should be studied in schools, many of us have mixed feelings when we think of studying Shakespeare at school, but regardless of our opinion of Shakespeare we speak his language every day. It is estimated that Shakespeare added around 1500 new words to the English language. Shakespeare challenges students and benefits them in multiple ways, with difficult language and style using timeless themes and emotions in his plays. Shakespeare should be studied in schools because of the extraordinary quality within them, this exposes students to a multitude of literary techniques. Shakespeare wrote his plays over 400 years ago.

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463 Words | 2 Pages

Historical events such as Truth’s speech and stories by Shakespeare should be taught in today’s classroom, because it tells is how much we achieved, and it is simply out history , and from that we need to take lessons. Students should be taught the role of women back in Shakespeare's time. They need to know how they were treated and thought about about by men. This way, the students can see how much history has evolved over the course of one-hundred years, and see what we achieved over those years.

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698 Words | 3 Pages

Finally, the Bard of Avon shouldn’t be taught in classes because it’s difficult for students to understand, his work is not culturally diverse, and is outdated for today’s students. Of course though some people would disagree and say that Shakespeare should continue on being taught in class because “Shakespeare is truly a writer for for the whole world” (378). Yes, he may be a great writer but classrooms everywhere so diverse culturally this generation. Dana Dusbiber a english teacher from Sacramento who refuses to teach Shakespeare to her students said “I do not believe that a long-dead, British guy is the only writer who can teach my students about the human condition” ( Bradford Thomas). A dead 400 year guy year old guy shouldn’t be the only one who teaches students of today’s generation the values of love, war, and life.

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In the twenty-first century, the plays of William Shakespeare may at first appear dated and irrelevant: they use archaic language, are set in the age of Kings and Queens, and the Kingdom of England. However, it would be plainly mistaken to construe that Shakespeare’s works do not still remain integral to a twenty-first century society. Shakespeare’s plays gave the words and expressions one uses every day, revolutionized the art of theater as it was known, and forewarned about issues that would unknowingly still apply centuries later. Therefore, Shakespeare has had a profound effect on our lives by enriching our language and culture, as well as providing ideas that would still apply five centuries later, and it would thus behoove us to learn from his works and life.

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