An Idea...

[Tuninks]

Hello all teachers, both men and women, I am here to propose a new idea for teaching. I have brought it to your attention in a recent post that defines a new way to teach. Yet I must ask this one question, is it helpful? The idea is to bring the newest literature to the eyes and ears of young people to gain their interest and then regress back to the older forms of literature.

I am not saying to remove Beowulf from the lectures, just lighten it a bit. As a student, I have read, analyzed and critiqued Beowulf at least 12 times in the span of 6 years! I think its time to focus more on the more recent literature and how it defines our society as much as Beowulf, or even Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet.

I now ask of you, any thoughts or suggestions for this idea? Would it work or die in a fiery chasm of literature Hell? Please, I do so wish to know for one day I will be seeking to be a teacher of the fine art known as Literature. All criticism is welcome.

[bluelightstar]

Certainly, there should be a mix of fairly recent literature as well as plenty of older literature. The problem I see in your education is that your teachers have failed to do much vertical planning - only one of your teachers should have covered Beowulf.

In my class, I try to give them some "newer" literature (i.e., The Things They Carried, Beloved), but they have to have some "older" works (Crime and Punishment, The Divine Comedy).

[blazeofglory]

In fact all we must do is combine both ancient and modern texts, for both integrated can make a good piece of literature.