The value of teaching classical literature in high school language curriculum

Teaching classic literature as the focus of a language curriculum for high school is an issue that has enjoyed considerable attention. Some critics feel that there is little purpose in focusing on ancient works of literature when attempting to cultivate a love of reading in children. Others again feel that an important part of human history and culture is lost when these works are ignored. According to the latter group, the way in which literature is taught determined whether it is useful or not, rather than the content of the literature as such. An argument stemming from the same basis relates to some negativity towards the way in which classics are taught. Some critics claim that authors such as Shakespeare are being used to further dogmatic political goals. These views will be examined to determine whether using the classics as a focus for language education is a valid educational tool.

Arguments for the Classics in the Classroom

The argument raised by Stevenson is for teaching the classics as a vehicle towards ancient human culture, thus contributing to the learning experience beyond the language itself. The main problem with teaching literature, as explained by the author, is that the subject is not based on the intellect, but mainly upon imagination and taste. Thus, to impart the qualities aimed for by a specific author of classic literature, a large amount of work is required of teachers. Furthermore textbooks handed out to students are dull and boring, detracting from the taste that students might develop for classic literature.

Stevenson cites the above problems to demonstrate the importance of teaching classic literature in an adequate and appreciative way. Classic literature is important, but the way in which it is taught does not reflect this, and this, according to the author, is why so many are against teaching the classics in school. For Stevenson, classic literature offers the reader a "living truth," that is worth the effort to decipher. The problem lies in the inadequate resources offered to both teachers and students. Indeed, literature is to be taught in an imaginative way, in order to stimulate young imaginations. This is the true purpose of classic literature. It is because this purpose is not recognized nor fulfilled, according to Stevenson, that so many have discarded the classics as unimportant and irrelevant to young lives.

Kern agrees with the fact that classic literature should be used as a focus to connect a student's mind with the beauty of the human soul. The imagination that is to be stimulated within each student is the same imagination used to create the works of classical literature. Not teaching this kind of literature then, according to this author, would represent a loss to education and to the English language. Kern calls this the development of the "intellectual virtues." This is a quality that develops the intellect to a point where students are better able to deal with all elements of life, including facts, ideas, relationships and other human beings. Another element of learning through classical literature that Kern mentions is poetic knowledge. By this is meant the learning experience that occurs during the reading process. This is a knowledge that is deeper than mere intellectual learning.

Indeed, the intuitive knowledge cultivated by reading a work of classic literature endows the student with a deeper wisdom than other, more pragmatic subjects. This, according to Kern, is why teaching classical literature is of such primary importance in language teaching. Like Stevenson, Kern believes that the classics offer more than a number of archaic expressions and situations that students fail to understand. When understanding is cultivated in an adequate way, as suggested by Stevenson, then intellectual virtue and poetic knowledge will lead to a deeper and more effective expression of humanity that students will retain for a lifetime. Of course, this will take much more effort than providing students with substandard textbooks and hastily prepared, dull lessons. When done correctly, the classics can cultivate not only a love for reading, but also a love for humanity in oneself and others.

According to Cowan, it is therefore of fundamental importance to begin teaching the classics as early as possible. She advocates the paradigm of offering to children material that is at a level beyond their intellectual grasp, but that can yet touch them on a deeper level with the beauty of its rhythm and sound. These are qualities that children learn to distinguish long before developing speech, and this is the quality in classical literature that Cowan stresses for its value.

In terms of the classroom, Cowan emphasizes that having cultivated children's minds with the beauty of the classics in their early years, helps to cultivate their critical faculties in terms of classical literature. This is brought into the classroom, and enables the student to learn from what is being read on both and intellectual and intuitive level. As Stevenson emphasizes however, much of this learning occurs as a result of treating the text correctly in the classroom.

Conclusion

Reading, as stated by the critics above, is very much a matter of personal choice. While some enjoy the archaism in the classics by Shakespeare and Homer, others enjoy reading about contemporary issues affecting the youth of today. In a school curriculum, it is unfortunate that the choice is never with the students, but often rests on the shoulders of one teacher with a single set of ideals, likes and dislikes.

I do believe that the classics have considerable value in terms of culture and humanity. Any worthy work of literature is something that can cultivate both intellectual virtue and poetic knowledge (Kern). Developing these faculties however is not the soul domain of the classics. I therefore believe that a school curriculum should mainly incorporate works that address students' concerns directly (La Vigne). It should be kept in mind that not all students were taught the beauty of rhythm and sound by means of the classics from childhood. In today's heterogeneous society, students from a wide variety of backgrounds arrive in the English classroom. All these students' needs should be taken into account. This can only be done when the focus is their, rather than the teacher's, concerns in terms of lifestyle and history.

Lessons of virtue and criticism are much easier to learn from a message presented in immediately understandable form, rather than works obscured by archaic language and paradigms. College curriculums on the other hand can contain classics for those who choose to study them. While I believe that the classics have much to offer in terms of the intellectual faculties mentioned above, I also believe that more modern works of literature can develop critical and intellectual faculties as adequately as can any work by Shakespeare or Homer. For a school curriculum I therefore believe it is much more adequate to give students reading material that will stimulate them rather than tax them and eventually defeat them.

Sources

Cantor, Paul A. "Shakespeare-"for all time"? - politicizing the teaching of Shakespeare's works." In Public Interest, Winter 2004. The National Affairs, 2004.

Donelson, Ken. "The Student's Right to Read." http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/cens/107616.htm

Kern, Andrew. "Teaching Classical Literature Classically." Memoria Press, 2004. http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/classicallit.html

La Vigne, Michelle. "Firing the Canon: Teaching Literature in Secondary Schools." Notes from the Hartland, 2004.

Stevenson, D. "The Teaching of Literature." In Parents' Review, 2004, p. 102-108. http://amblesideonline.homestead.com/PRTeachingofLit.html