Literature? Could there be anything more boring? That’s the impression most students have of literature, and of their literature classes in school. The mere idea of yet another year of listening to their teachers drone on about Shakespeare, and the million hidden meanings behind a simple word, is exhausting. It could easily be the most boring part of school for some kids.
This is just unacceptable. The influence that great literature can have on people is amazing, but many students dismiss literature as shockingly dull, and shut their minds, thus preventing themselves from imbuing any of that magic — because it really is magic. What else can really make you feel what living in Victorian England was like, or what it was like being a young Jewish girl during the Second World War? Movies and history books can only do so much, it takes literature to be able to see through the eyes of these people. It takes literature for students to really understand the world, and have a strong sense of empathy. Yet, plenty of students don’t even try to take advantage of this incredible subject.
The fault lies in the teaching?
The biggest reason for this is the way that they have been taught literature. All children will be at least relatively open to reading in the second or third grades, but if their teachers decide that the way to tackle literature is by forcing children to memorise facts like it’s a science, instead of taking a more creative approach, they’ll soon decide that they hate it.
Overanalysing literature is a dangerous move as well. Picking a beautiful poem or story to pieces can ruin it beyond recognition, and no child can be expected to enjoy it. And this distaste for literature is just an unnecessarily sad consequence, because studying literature can be one of the most enjoyable parts of an education. When the teacher’s skilled and the writing’s good, literature classes can seriously cultivate a love of reading in a student, and anyone who has spent hours and hours absorbed in a book, oblivious to everything around them, knows how much fun reading can be. Moreover, we need more students who love to read. Those are the students who grow up and grow into talented authors, novelists, playwrights, poets and even screenwriters, creating more and more worlds for future generations to immerse themselves in.
Even for students who choose not to enter these creative fields, a lot of exposure to good literature can really shape them as people. Think about it. Every time you open a new book, a new world is being unravelled before your eyes, and these worlds are filled with interesting, relatable people, with stories that leave you sitting at the edge of your seat. Reading can be like peering into a culture that’s miles away and centuries past. You can see every perspective, real or fictitious. You can find new role models and new inspiration. These books can transform the way you think. At its best, literature can strengthen your values, change you for the better. For instance, reading Enid Blyton’s beloved Mallory Towers books at a young age certainly engendered a healthy hatred of dishonesty in me. And an unhealthy love of midnight feasts!
However, while it’s a substantial roadblock, bad teaching isn’t the sole reason for the lack of attention being given to literature by students. Even the ones who were blessed with good teachers who showed them how wonderful reading literature can be, often let their story books collect dust as they focus their attention on more profitable subjects. Studying literature doesn’t make much sense, does it? There’s not much money in it, is there? Hadn’t we all better close our novels and just study business and biology?
This attitude is actually a little disturbing. Even the students who genuinely love reading and writing above all else, are forgoing literature in favour of more ‘practical’ subjects. Slowly, no one’s reading anymore. Is this going to be a world overflowing with uncultured, narrow-minded people? Are we going to have to keep recycling old stories to tell our children because no one has written any decent fiction in decades? Or worse, are novels and poems just going to go extinct? Will we soon have a world where the concept of a bedtime story doesn’t exist?
You don’t need to get your degree in literature, but give it a chance. Even if your teacher was a bore and your books real drudges, I promise you that there are better teachers and better books out there. Just enrol in a few courses or take your English classes seriously. At the very least, just pick up a decent book, because by dismissing literature entirely you are only doing yourself a disservice. Not only are you missing out on a huge opportunity to enjoy yourself, but your life, your opinions, and what you have to give to the world will improve so tremendously, if you just open yourself up to this.
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Ketaki Nair
Ketaki Nair is a student in the 12th grade at the Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai. Words are her weapon of choice, and she enjoys writing on subjects varying from socio-political and cultur- al behaviour, to fashion and make up.[/column]