Real fast: what’s your favorite play or story by Shakespeare or Tolstoy? Ha, I knew you had to really think about it, because if you are fairly average, as most of us average people are, you don’t even have a favorite play or story by these dudes, do you? I like so much to be right; don't you?
Sitting on any school bench, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth and Anna Karenina are still being forcefully stuffed into our collective brains – and then we go: “what?” I understand the foundation of literature being fed to us with the ilks of Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Forrester and other heavyweights early on, but we need to be nourished with much more current stuff to read, stuff that relates to now, not to a million years ago. I mean, when was the last time you picked up Moby Dick other than to press flowers with? Neither have I; also because I don’t use books to press my flowers. (Moby Dick was originally titled Moby Richard, but they shortened it).
Sitting on any school bench, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth and Anna Karenina are still being forcefully stuffed into our collective brains – and then we go: “what?” I understand the foundation of literature being fed to us with the ilks of Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Forrester and other heavyweights early on, but we need to be nourished with much more current stuff to read, stuff that relates to now, not to a million years ago. I mean, when was the last time you picked up Moby Dick other than to press flowers with? Neither have I; also because I don’t use books to press my flowers. (Moby Dick was originally titled Moby Richard, but they shortened it).
We should be taught (practical) reading so we can function even better within everyday life, excluding agreements by iTunes and other on-line demanding-that-we-do; nobody reads that stuff, not even the people who wrote it. We just click I accept when prompted; I mean, what’s the point? We should be able to read our way through information that will move us forward, makes us understand things better day in and day out. But we should also be encouraged to learn to read so we can explore worlds besides the daily non-fiction, by reading fiction like Playboy Magazine, text messages and restaurant menus; so why are we not taught to do that?
And then Harry Potter had to fly in on his Nimbus 2000 (that’s his broom, for those of you who do not know your Potter stuff) and the young crowd went reading-crazy; totally screwing up my negative non-reading theory. This was the biggest and most golden opportunity for any school to pick up the magic of reading and run with it. You finally had interested students of all ages, even their parents and massive possibilities of creating a love for reading; and that's what happened.
After Potter was read and read again, the kids continued to read something else, something more, after millions of pages of the magic surrounding Harry; Hamlet would never be able to create such frenzy – not even close.
After Potter was read and read again, the kids continued to read something else, something more, after millions of pages of the magic surrounding Harry; Hamlet would never be able to create such frenzy – not even close.
As in any subject matter taught in school, we must of course learn from a foundation, the background of and an abbreviated history. Part of the foundation must clearly explain HOW we benefit, WHAT”S in it for me, WHERE it fits in to make the big picture more interesting and real; make us understand WHY and then we will listen, read, learn and apply a lot more – and with smirky smiles, no doubt.
Shakespeare is considered the greatest writer in the English language, and I can swing with that, but that was 500 years ago. He is a good foundation, perhaps the foundation to teach English literature from. But perhaps we should turn down the volume a bit and move on?
Sounds like I pick on William (and I do); he is a good example, though some of you might not agree. But then I could turn to something else, like music. We surround ourselves with music 24/7. It’s blaring out of speakers and ear-buds, cell phones, iPods, stores and elevators – constantly. And here again I would like to see the kids being taught music history in school, going way back and then catch up with Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart and Bach, to name a few. Then ease into the birth of jazz, New Orleans, Armstrong, Ellington, Count Basie; the transition into early singers like Sinatra and the grinding rock n’ roll by somebody’s lower torso named Elvis; the establishment, music and long hair by the Beatles, on to Lady Gaga and everything in between. Learning a bit of the history and foundation will make appreciation of today’s music so much more exciting and enjoyable. So why don’t we do that? Reading and music are such big parts of our culture; neglecting either is a sin.
We took our younger son and his girlfriend to a Xmas Jazz inspired concert last December. It had great musicians (Dave Koz & Friends), it was awesome in its energy and you simply had to get up and clap those hands and swing them hips (though I didn’t, because I’m too shy). Our son and girlfriend had not really been exposed to jazz before or even had an interest in that form of music, but observing them during the concert was really cool, as they both got up and did the hand-clapping thing – I mean, that was really cool. Are they now extreme jazz-enthusiasts? I doubt it, but they had a great moment with music they had not experienced before – and they enjoyed themselves. Did I mention how cool that was?
We took our younger son and his girlfriend to a Xmas Jazz inspired concert last December. It had great musicians (Dave Koz & Friends), it was awesome in its energy and you simply had to get up and clap those hands and swing them hips (though I didn’t, because I’m too shy). Our son and girlfriend had not really been exposed to jazz before or even had an interest in that form of music, but observing them during the concert was really cool, as they both got up and did the hand-clapping thing – I mean, that was really cool. Are they now extreme jazz-enthusiasts? I doubt it, but they had a great moment with music they had not experienced before – and they enjoyed themselves. Did I mention how cool that was?
Harry Potter did the magical thing millions of teachers and a million Hamlets would never be able to do - get the kids to read and continue to read; just so awesome, because it is so awesome to read – it really is. The worlds we can travel by the written word are unlimited and that is so utterly exciting – don’t you agree?
Until next Monday (now where the heck did I put those flowers?)…
GOOD-TO-KNOW department
Did you know that Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 and they had three kids? True story. You might have seen her in The Devil Wears Prada, Alice in Wonderland and The Princess Diaries. I must confess she’s still rather beautiful – even after all those years… What are you saying? Not the same Anne Hathaway? But they have the same name; so that's the mix-up? Oh, I see - never mind. Anyway, I don't really care much for women that old, besides my Mother, of course – but then again, she’s only 92…
Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway
Identical twins? Duh...
An Afterthought:
Until I read Moby Dick, I thought it was a book about venereal diseases - go figure
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