Quote:
Originally Posted by DuskyRose
And that idea that languages change, drastically over time, is one I think is valuable, and a good thing to be introduced to students. It really drives it home when you have to struggle with translating it. Especially when so many historical stories *don't* present the language realistically, for our reading pleasure. I think it's good to, at least once, to see the real use of period-correct language. Even if we avoid it later.
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I agree with your entire post, but I’ve trimmed it for readability. I’ll add one more thing: kids should be introduced to things they wouldn’t chose on their own. Sometimes, a fire is lit. It’s like vegetables - what kid is going to eat a Brussels sprout if they don’t appear on his plate occasionally?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
I think I had to read a couple of Shakespeare sonnets and one play, or some such, in school. It's not as if we were subjected to an entire Shakespeare semester or anything like that. 
Why is everyone always so quick to jump on the "No More Shakespeare in School" band-wagon while the pain induced by the likes of Bartleby the Scrivener, or Waiting for Godot seem to be easier for everyone to forgive/forget.  |
What I don’t get is why literature seems to be the one area where people say, “Let them read what they want!” It doesn’t seem to apply to math, or science, or history, or whatever. On being told he’s got to learn algebra, does the kid get to say, “I would prefer not to,” and get the response, “Alrighty, then, you don’t have to”?