An article appeared over at The Federalist yesterday regarding the literary tastes of young people and the state of literature in today’s high school and college classrooms. The author describes how the decreasing standards of literary studies are hurting students’ abilities to participate in the complexity of the world around them. Classic literature has been largely replaced by non-fiction readings, which can be beneficial if used properly. However, the author writes, “studying only that type of non-fiction while disregarding broader, more complex works of fiction fails to develop certain analytical thought processes as one only can while dissecting a work of fiction.”
This problem has existed for quite some time, and the effects of this trend have produced evidence of decreased college readiness. “The history of the secondary English curriculum in 20th-century America,” the author states, “suggests that the decline in readiness for college reading stems in large part from an increasingly incoherent, less challenging literature curriculum from the 1960s onward.” In other words, despite the concerted efforts in recent decades to prepare students for entrance to college, by not reading classic texts, high schoolers are actually worse off.
The author contends that developing skills in analytical thinking and appreciation for themes of humanity, through literary study, are vital for the next generation. And those skills can also be useful in the working world: “With my sights set on law school,” the author writes, “every single attorney I worked with at a reputable firm told me to major in English, not pre-law, because that was the only major that accurately reflected the amount of reading and writing I’d do in law school.”
Literature is still invaluable for those willing to embrace it. Take a look at this interesting article, and continue the fight for literary studies.
This problem has existed for quite some time, and the effects of this trend have produced evidence of decreased college readiness. “The history of the secondary English curriculum in 20th-century America,” the author states, “suggests that the decline in readiness for college reading stems in large part from an increasingly incoherent, less challenging literature curriculum from the 1960s onward.” In other words, despite the concerted efforts in recent decades to prepare students for entrance to college, by not reading classic texts, high schoolers are actually worse off.
The author contends that developing skills in analytical thinking and appreciation for themes of humanity, through literary study, are vital for the next generation. And those skills can also be useful in the working world: “With my sights set on law school,” the author writes, “every single attorney I worked with at a reputable firm told me to major in English, not pre-law, because that was the only major that accurately reflected the amount of reading and writing I’d do in law school.”
Literature is still invaluable for those willing to embrace it. Take a look at this interesting article, and continue the fight for literary studies.