Rationale for Teaching English and Literature

            English education usually comprises two categories: reading and writing.  In the elementary years, students are taught how to read and write.  They learn their A B C’s, and how to put them together into words.  This type of education is fun for them because they are learning new things.  English education at the secondary level is often met with resistance.  After students learn to read and write on a basic level, they feel that they have conquered the language.  Neither better writing and speech, nor understanding others’ points of view are considered to be very important.  Students may ask, “Why should I learn to speak any differently than I do now?  Everybody knows what I’m saying when I talk.”  Others may say, “What do I care what some dead guy thinks about things?”  Answering these questions is hard for English teachers to do.  For this reason, teachers should be prepared to respond with the reasons they think that English education should be taught.  Though not all students will miraculously come to the conclusion that they should take English classes, these explanations may help out. 

Reading usually becomes literature in the secondary schools.  Students begin to learn about the Romantics, Transcendentalists, Modernists, the Renaissance, etc.  Most often, these periods and people associated with them are taught in such a dry way that students cringe with every turn of their textbook pages.  Literature is so much more than the babblings of dead men.  It helps us get in touch with history, and our own feelings.  Of course, history classes teach us what happened in certain times.  They teach events, laws, and scandals.  However, history cannot give an accurate depiction of what people felt as these things were occurring.  Sure, a history teacher can say that people were angry about slavery, but he cannot tell you exactly how people felt.  Literature opens that world up to the readers.  In reading The Narrative of Frederick Douglass or Uncle Tom’s Cabin, students are able to get a better grasp on exactly what was going on, and what people thought about it.  They are more likely to experience the injustice that was prevailing rather than only being told about it. 

As the students get into the literature that they are reading, they are forced to make decisions about the events taking place.  Do they agree with what is happening, or don’t they?  In answering these questions, readers can better understand their own feelings and beliefs.  They may even redefine them, based on what they have read.  Those things are the most important lessons learned from reading the literature of the past.  We do not read to meet state requirements or to just recognize that somebody wrote something that was published.  NO!  We read to better understand ourselves, and to know exactly what we believe.  This is why literature should be taught in schools.  With so many problems going on in the lives of students, they often have difficulty developing their own identity.  Literature, if taught correctly, can fuel them into discovering themselves.

Writing and speech go hand in hand.  They are both the primary ways of communication among people of today, yesterday, and tomorrow.  Comprehension is critical in order to make communication work effectively.  For this reason, students should be taught a standard version of the English language.  If everyone knows the standard version, communication becomes easier.  For instance, take two English professors and put them in a discussion with each other.  They will have no problem communicating effectively.  Then, put someone in the conversation who does not speak with very good grammar, and who uses a lot of slang and jargon in his speech.  He will have a very hard time getting his point across to the two professors.  For another twist, throw a non-native English speaker into the mix.  He will be more likely to understand the two professors than he will the other guy.  Good speech is critical for good communication.

Writing is also taught to ensure good communication.  However, writing has an advantage over speech.  Most of the time, writers have days, or even months, to prepare what they want to write down, whereas speaking is usually spontaneous.  Because of the extra time, writers can revise their sentences to make them clearer and more precise.  School is the place where these techniques are learned.  We learn the parts of speech and other writing techniques to make our writing better.  It is the same with a home entertainment system.  Think about a basic television.  Sure, you can watch a program on it, but you can only pick up the basic channels.  The things that you see are limited.  Then, add cable to your television.  Now, you have the same t.v., but you can view more with it.  As an added bonus, run a v.c.r. to your t.v. set.  Be sure to connect it correctly.  Now, not only can you view more things with the cable, but you have also added the capability of movies.  You can also get a dvd player and surround sound to give you the most out of your t.v.  This may be a weird analogy, but think about it.  Any student can put together a subject and a predicate to form a basic sentence.  However, students have to be taught to add adjectives and adverbs to make the picture clearer.  Combining sentences, adding similes and metaphors, and using idioms are like adding the v.c.r, dvd, and surround sound to your t.v.  They make the sentence more appealing.  When students learn to make their sentences appeal to the readers, they have a better chance of keeping the reader interested, thus getting their points across easier. 

Some may not agree with what I have written in this paper.  They may believe that the old reasons of “because it’s important,” and “you’ll need it later in life” are good enough.  I do not believe in these reasons.  I was told the same things, and I never bought them.  It took the realization that I was ignorant in the language arts to make me understand that I needed to improve myself.  My goal is to awaken that realization in my students, and help them to better themselves also.