Comments on: I Hate Shakespeare and Literature

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:43:36 +0000

Hi Cristen,

Having been raised by teachers, and now being married to one, I can say I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs when it comes to trying to motivate students, and that being a new teacher is doubtless the hardest part. Hang in there. See if you can let your own enthusiasm for literature come forward no matter what you’re getting back from the kids. Easier said than done. But clearly, you’re not alone.

Good luck!

Best,
Robert

By: Cristen

Cristen — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:37:23 +0000

I am glad someone else notices the lack of enthusiasm among students of literature today. I am a new high school English teacher and I spend hours lesson planning to make literature exciting and relative, but no matter what I try, I just can’t get students motivated to get into it. All they want to do is watch movies, and then they google their way through their essays. This is a real struggle I am facing, and I am hoping to enforce change.
Thank you for your post. I was afraid it was just me…

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:13:45 +0000

Layal, thanks for chiming in as a young person who obviously loves literature. I, too, read voraciously when young and learned to love books. So, I certainly don’t mean to say all students hate literature or to perpetrate a negative stereotype of young people. Rather, because I, like you, really enjoy literature, it breaks my heart to see so many students considering it a chore. Finding out how to connect more students to an appreciation of literature and especially poetry is certainly something I am interested in, and would love to hear your thoughts, as a young person and literature fan, on what you see or suggest to help the situation.

By: Layal

Layal — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:29:49 +0000

I think what this blog lacks is a perspective from the youth; you seem to be arguing that all youth are not interested in literature.. history and the like. Generalizations will not get you anywhere; maybe you should ask someone from the younger generation.. personally i love english and history < my favorite subjects including politics. I love Poets such as Christina Rossetti and Tennyson.. ive studied history dating back from the 13 century till modern date. ALthough im only 17; i feel its important to be well read and informed; even when i was younger at 10 and 12 i was always fascinated by German history… so maybe a majority of youth do use the internet and google essays.. but thats not to say all do it. There you go again with your negative stereotypes! Maybe if you put some thought into teaching teens how to appreciate history and literature as you did your comments we’ll all be a lil better off.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 20:26:50 +0000

Fun BBC article on first encounters with Shakespeare (i.e. you love it or hate it):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/features/shakespeare/shakespeare-love-him-or-hate-him-.shtml

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:31:53 +0000

Equally interesting is how the modern couple communicates in the post-blog era.

By: Val

Val — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 22:33:04 +0000

Hi love,
Just found this: http://musicandculture.blogspot.com/2007/02/history-dept-bans-wikipedia-citations.html
and thought it was relevant. History professors trying to deal with Wikipedia citations in students’ essays, and finding creative ways to teach in the post-Wiki era.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:53:53 +0000

Hmmm… you think that pout is all a front? Maybe Willie’s tougher than he looks.

By: Pearl

Pearl — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:37:16 +0000

Poor ole Bill’s used to it by now. He knows the kids will come to him eventually. They always do.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 07:55:34 +0000

Hi Dan – it’s true students use Google and Wikipedia more and more to get information. I do the same thing. Important, I think, to teach the difference between a primary source and a secondary (if that) like Wikipedia early on, so students understand about placing varying levels of confidence in information. The internet just accelerates the need for this kind of discernment training.

But above and beyond research, plagiarism is really a big problem – whether it’s the opportunities and sense of anonymity the internet provides, a new generation that wants to get homework done as fast as possible to leave more time to inhabit World of Warcraft, the generation gap between the kids that can get away with it and the teachers who don’t know how to track the cheaters’ sources down, or maybe some combination – the number of sites trying to help teacher get a handle on this testify to it being a big deal. And under all of it seems to be apathy toward literature. I wish I were blowing an isolated incident out of proportion, but unfortunately it seems to me young minds are becoming less subtle, less attenuated to the nuanced pleasures of the written word.
Or maybe I’ve finally just become a cranky old man at the ripe age of twenty eight.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 03:42:03 +0000

Robert, I wouldn’t be so disheartened. Or rather, differently disheartened. It’s not just literature. Whether it’s the fault of the presentation of the material, or the expectations that have subtly shaped students’ perceptions of the nature of the work they have to hand in, it happens in all subject areas. ML King or BF Skinner is as likely to be Googled as WH Auden. And, I think, that Googling aside, they may still get something out of their lit courses. Except for your Panamian dissenter.

Dan