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Getting With the Times  Why teaching “The Classics” in high schools is not only important to our education, but relevant to our culture today When I first started this project I had wanted do some sort of paper on “The Classics” in high school. I learned through multiple instances that a lot of students struggle with finding the meanings in classic literature and teachers struggle with sparking their interests in it. The paper was going to focus why I found classics interesting and ways to encourage student’s motivation to read them. I realized that through the course of this class, I had gained plenty of insight on techniques to help students with their reading comprehension and critical thinking of literature. I could write a two-page paper on these alone. What I did not learn enough about what why we do read “The Classics” in school, their purpose in the classroom, why students struggle with reading them, and the role of external factors on students’ views on classic literature. My essential question has strayed away from the how to teach these, to the why?

I believe the best way to motivate students to read is to get them on your level. With more understanding comes more reasons to participate in something. How can I get my students to trust my telling of them to read a certain book when the reasons they are given to read it are hazy? I researched what constitutes a piece of work to be a classic and what values they give to a high school curriculum. As a teacher I not only want to explain to my students what classic piece of work we are going to read, but why we are reading it, and even further, why we are to read classic literature in high school. I believe the more information students are given on why they are doing something, the more they can see the benefits it will give them, and the more motivation they will have to complete it.

From my research I could not decide on one person’s definition of “The Classics”, but favored more of a combination of many. While the older definitions are less accurate to today’s thoughts, they still have relevance in the history of classic literature and why it was originally considered to be important. First off, the word classic came from the Latin “classicus,” meaning of the first rank. In relation, “The Classics” were considered to be the first rank of literature (Funk 309). They are to be a piece of literature recognized to have superior status in literary history. In earlier times this meant it would be compared to the masterpieces of Greek and Latin literature. The author also came into play, he was to have a similar standing to his work (Holmon). As time went on, the definition began to shift away from ancient standards, and compare more as an individual.

Notable authors were asked what their opinions on “The Classics” were. The definition I came to is a classic piece of literature should be challenging to read. It is not meant to reveal all of its information at once, but gradually as time goes on. Reading it once should leave you with a sense of accomplishment, but in no way lead to the belief you have finished it. Rereading the work should be necessary (Bloom 30). Every reread should unveil new information and understandings. This is what makes it withstand the test of time and become memorable, because of the effort you but into it (Milner 215). This is where they hold precedence over the more modern works, at least until those can survive long enough to be considered among the same ranks. Knowing what a classic work is helps with the question of why they are read in classrooms, for it is difficult to talk about why something is used without first knowing what it is.

Classic literature in used in the classroom for many different reasons. I believe its most important use is teaching student about the English language (Olsen). This literature is a time capsule for the earlier dialects of English. Its text does not change through time so it keeps the language preserved. The other reasons it is taught in school deal with historical purposes and college exams. “The Classics” give us a portal into the past to see how people lived and acted during those time. They show us the progress we have made and the mistakes we have learned along the way. Just as it preserves the language, it also preserves the history of people themselves. Its last reason for being taught is due to the college entry requirement and content found on college entry exams like the SATs (Milner 215, Olsen). The information and relevance of these classic pieces of literature are used throughout higher education and the best time to begin learning about them is in middle and high school. By no means do people believe high school students are going to be able to completely grasp the concepts of these, but they will begin the journey and start unveiling meanings a little at a time.

Knowing the importance behind these works of literature can help a future teacher find ways to motivate their students to read them. We learned many different ways of motivating a student to read books. Just to name some of my favorites, I am a fan of using companion texts when available. I graphic novel of the same story can give a student visuals, while a more modern book with a similar base plot can help students relate their stories to their own lives and the present times. Also giving students questions to think about before they begin reading helps them to discover the meanings inside of texts. When they know what they should be looking for, it’s much more helpful and their success of find these meanings within a text are more possible. And every teacher should know that students are individuals and whenever possible it is beneficial to treat them as such. I at anytime it is possible for students to chose their own books to read, this should be something to use to your advantage. Every teacher is going to come across students who do not want to read “The Classics” and the best preparation for this, in my opinion, is knowing what they are and what value they hold for the students. The greater their importance seems; the more students may be motivated to read them.

I have also attached a link to the Cincinnati library’s list of what they consider “The Classics” []

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. //The Western Canon: the Books and School of the Ages//. New York, N. Y: Harcourt Brace &, 1994. Print.

Funk, Wilfred. //Word Origins and Their Romantic Stories.// New York: Bell, 1978. Print.

Holman, C. Hugh and William Harmon. //A Handbook to Literature.// 6th ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.

Milner, Joseph O., Lucy M. Milner, and Joan F. Milner. "Unlocking Texts." //Bridging English//. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1999. 215-16. Print.

Olsen, Lars. "South Students and Classical Literature Don’t Always Get along." //The South High Southerner// [Minneapolis] 9 Nov. 2010. Print.