Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Diamond
Harry Potter any day. I totally did not enjoy Shakepeare's 'works' when I was at school and still can not understand how people do, but each to their own I suppose. In a practical sense though, should studying classical literature be made obligatory? I personally don't think so, I certainly didn't gain anything from studying it apart from frustration. How is classical literature relevant to a modern society? Prince Charles says that education for employment purposes is a bad thing, whereas I think that making traditional useless studies like this compulsory is a much worse decision. It was a complete waste of time to me. It should be available to study but just as an option.
|
as I said above, classical literature puts modern literature in context and is interesting in itself for getting an insight into life at the time.
How is 'modern' culture different when it comes down to how people feel & interact on a personal & emotional level? - the only difference is the context, and if your teachers failed to inspire anything other than 'frustration' , then either you weren't as receptive as you might have been, or they didn't do their job very well.
As Wayne said, the language can be a barrier, but again I would say that is down to the teacher to guide & explain - and can be fascinating in itself - Shakespeare, for example was a master of innuendo, properly explained his works contain many 'naughty' bits, that just reading would not necessarily have noticed. (even in the 'bowdlerised' version).