Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
Isn't that all the more reason that they should read this stuff? Shouldn't they be exposed to a world beyond what they know? And anyway, the reason these works endure is that they are filled with universal truths that go beyond the actual setting.
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The reason these works endure is that they are filled with truths that resonate strongly with upper-class white Christian men. Works filled with equally relevant and beautiful truths, that did not resonate with that class, were not reprinted & widely shared.
(Which doesn't mean they're not great art, and doesn't mean they don't contain great truths. It's just that there is equally great art that got shoved aside because it didn't appeal to the people--the men--who ran the printing presses for a very long time.)
Kids should be exposed to these worlds--but a lot of schools, and a lot of teachers, forget how great a gap they're working across. It's not just "some of the language is archaic and we'll have to seek out the definitions of some words, including some that you know but use differently." It's not just "this is written in poetic meter and poetic style." Not just "there's a lot of subtle wordplay going on, which you're not used to." Not just "these story themes are mature; they assume a level of life-experience you don't quite have." Not just "these take place in a setting with laws & assumptions that are unfamilar to you." And not just "these are about characters built on archetypes that may not resemble anyone you know."
It's all of those things. That's a lot to cover; failing to make sure all of that is addressed means a lot of the kids' reactions are "meh, another boring 'classic' that's supposed to be important to learn about. I shall memorize a couple of names and who-killed-whom."
Plenty of teenagers can tell you that Romeo & Juliet fell in love, their families forbade them to marry, they married anyway, and tragically killed themselves to escape the family dramas. They can't understand why this tragic love affair is any more important to learn than Amidala & Anakin's in Star Wars.
I suspect schools would have better luck teaching kids to appreciate the classics by mentioning them in passing and saying, "oh, you're too young to understand that yet."
That would get them to read and try to comprehend them.