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Should Shakespeare Be Taught Essay

Decent Essays

William Shakespeare has been taught in classrooms all across the world for many years. Many people believe that Shakespeare is vital in the curriculum while others feel that Shakespeare has fallen by the wayside. Continuing to teach Shakespeare is neither important nor valuable because it does not prepare students for the future, it narrows their cultural perspective, and the same lessons can be taught with modern texts.
William Shakespeare should not be taught in the classroom because it does not prepare students for their future. Granted, the lessons taught with Shakespeare may help prepare students for their futures. However, I don’t see a need to read Shakespeare because many students are not pursuing careers in English Literature. In the Primer Magazine article, “The Value of Reading Classic Literature and 4 Titles to Get You Started,” Mitchell Kalpakgai quotes a …show more content…

Granted, it is good for students to be exposed to literature from different cultures. However, in some classrooms Shakespeare is the only literature taught, so students are only exposed to British literature. In the Newsela article, “Briton Yanks American Authors off High School Exam,” the author states, “Some educators fear that could lead to the narrowing of British minds.” Some educators feel that because students will only be exposed to British literature they will become close-minded and not want to read other literature. Bethan Marshall, chair of the National Association for the Teaching of English says, “Michael Gove wants everybody studying traditional literature, and he want it to be British. I think that’s a bit of a mistake.” Marshall thinks that it is a mistake to require schools to just teach traditional literature and only from one culture. Schools should not be required to teach Shakespeare especially since modern literature from other cultures could teach students the same

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