Some people complain why is English the only mandatory course throught all grades in highschools. Personally, I think English is the only mandatory course because it is important for students to know how to speak and write in English, despite it is a first language. It is important to interpret the meanings of themes and topics in literacy. Also, English prepares the students to later be successful in work and university when writing assignments and reports.
From kindergarten, we study literary in
prose to get better at using rhetorical skills and to be able to communicate in
proper English. Literature is the most basic way to communicate ideas that
cannot be out and said right away. Without literature, we would not have
critiques on certain works that we have today. Literature is a form of entertainment,
but also on the most serious note, literature can provide society the ideas
that other works of English cannot.
Literature is important in English class
because we have to learn how to use literature in its proper means and because
we have to know how to analyze the proper literature so we know those proper
means. We have to know how to analyze and understand literature because it is
the way that most times critique on society, morals, lessons, and history are
told and a light is shed on for us to be able to understand a world better or a
life better to be able to learn from these experiences and encounters. It is no
surprise that literature is the most common type of language or type of work
studied because it gives us lessons on how to mask our ideas professionally and
how to write our own works of literature.
As an ESL student, and coming an encounter
with very hard literature to understand and analyze made the study of
literature much harder. If studying literature in English is very hard, not to
talk about studying literature in a second language. Being from an entirely
different culture, our lessons in literature are definitely different, so
therefore it was hard to understand the lessons in literature given in each of
different scenarios. In my three years in Canada, I had successfully adapted and
understood English, not only when talking to English speakers, or at English
grammar classes; but when reading a book is when I had finally understood the
proper ways of English grammar and language.
I am a person who likes to read a lot. But, if it wasn't for English classes, I might have missed these amazing works of literature and, I appreciate I had not only read them, but study and understand them in deep. Books read in English classes just to mention a few:
- Generals Die in Bed - Charles Yale Harrison
- Lord of the Flies - William Golding
- Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
- Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare
- Macbeth - Shakespeare
- The Reader - Michael Berg
- The Woman in White - Wilkie Colins
On Grade 10, I read Generals
Die in Bed. It made me understand more about WW1 and how soldiers used to live
on the trenches. I learned that a desperate person may fight and do whatever it
takes to get what needed, even though doing actions against morality. Also,
only the people, who already have a ‘good fame’, as the generals in this book,
were recognized for what they did, when they in reality barely went or not even
go to the trenches. Generals would not die on fight, and will be highly
recognized for something they didn’t do. Instead, the soldiers, whose were
always fighting and suffering, died on the trenches and not many were very
recognized on what they did for the country. Also, for better understanding of what was going on, pictures were shown as we read the book in class. How the trenches look like, injuries, machine guns, no-man's land, and others. Through the entire book, the characters complain about how much their feet hurt, and some have cuts and are even infected. At first I thought it was something small, and they were making a big deal about it; after seeing these I never complained again about a foot pain when I get new shoes:
Yes, this happened in real life to most, I believe all, of the soldiers.
Not only I have learned about war, but I improved my English level. As I read, I would figure out how some expressions would work, or realize a word I had always heard but never understood its meaning could fit into a sentence, and finally add it to my everyday vocabulary. These months of continuos hard work through my English, of course, were not easy. I didn't get a good final mark at the end of the term either. Just try to go another country with a different language, and read and write essays about a book which you can hardly read and barely understand what is going on. But Charles Yale Harrison was as much as an English teacher for me as the one who was always helping me improve grammar and spelling in the classroom. Generals Die in Bed was definitely the turning point of my life in Canada.
Hi, Carla. I just want to say I agree with you on how hard English can be to an ESL students. I hate reading English books when I was small, because they were too hard for me and I was lazy to check the words in dictionary. However, after reading different novels and plays, I feel that it is another way of learning knowledge. Novels provide us entertainment. However, they are not that simple. They also reminded us meanings and values in different culture, especially history as well. I think it is a more interesting form of textbook. The values that were mentioned in the book also reminded us to become a better person and reflect on our own. I totally agree with what you feel about literature and I have a new opinion to it.
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DeleteInteresting point of view from an ESL student. Being able to speak and think in two different languages has always amazed me, I have no idea how you do it! The fact that reading literature is what helped you understand English and all it's weird little quirks is great, and just another reason that fiction should stay in English class. I mean, it's probably different for everyone, but if books are what do it that's pretty cool. Do you think it'd be the same for me if I tried to learn Spanish?
ReplyDeleteHi Carla. You passion for literature and how it helped you with your understanding of the English language is inspiring. I agree with your views on how literature teaches us life lessons and morals. It teaches us about the world, its history, and everything in it. I personally have not read many novels for pleasure, but the ones I have read in English classes have definitely taught me about history and culture. I believe you have very positive views on English class and literature and have helped me reminisce about the old novels I have read.
ReplyDeleteWow, actually I was so shocked by those pictures in your blog before reading the articles. Well, it is not the key point.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading your article , the most thing I feet the same way as you is that we are both ESL students, which means we both have the difficulty of learning literature in English. But after overcoming the difficulty, I myself actually have a quite enjoyable experience of reading English literature in class or outside the classes. I think you must feel the same way as me~ *(^o^)* Moreover, I found it easier and more clear to understand the history and culture of North America and England because the language is directly showing their specialness.