There’s good reason for these books to be studied in schools: they’re well known, easily accessible*², and, since they’ve been used for so long, easy to plan a project/course around. That last bit also makes them tired, as something can only be analyzed for so long before it becomes rote and meaningless. Plagiarism also becomes an issue; try searching for Romeo and Juliet essays, and you’ll find plenty of “examples.” There are plagiarism checkers, sure, but a student who doesn’t want to analyze the play has plenty of options for avoiding it. This is true for all the classics.

If I seem overly critical of having these books in*³ the curriculum, it’s because of one thing: I read them for school, and now I have no desire to ever reread them. Perhaps it’s just a me thing, but reading a book (or play) with the express purpose of picking it apart does not endear me to it. I actively despised some of the readings*⁴, and it took me ages to get through them. Most I read and can still recall some plot from, while others are entirely gone from my memory*⁵. Of all the required reading I did throughout high school, only one book actually grabbed me, and I finished it in a single sitting: Frankenstein. I wish I could say why this one of all the books I was made to read was enjoyable to teenage me where the others weren’t. Perhaps it was simply the thrill of getting to read sci-fi, which is in my reading for pleasure wheelhouse, for school. But then I think of The Chrysalids and A Wrinkle in Time, and I realize that can’t be the only factor. Perhaps Frankenstein deserves a reread.

If you’ve read my previous blog posts, you can probably guess that my reading tastes tend more towards the light-hearted and entertaining side of things. I fully admit this*⁶, but I did*⁷ branch out even then. I picked up Don Quixote after class covered Man of La Mancha, and I decided to check out the source. And yet… I can still sing a few bars of songs from the play despite not having heard them in years, but my memory of the book is only what could be considered common knowledge. Tilting at windmills is powerful imagery*⁸ and seems to have overtaken any other recollection of the story I may have had. So, I guess while school certainly played a part in my indifference towards the classics as pleasure reading, there’s at least a part of it that’s built into my brain. 

I know part of the reason for this: very few of the classics I ended up reading are contemporary. The themes may be timeless, but the stories are a product of their time, and without that background knowledge, they just don’t resonate with me as much as school would have liked. I can’t be the only person with this hangup, so how about opening up school reading to more recent novels? This has the added benefit of adding new voices to the mix. At least one teacher in that Reddit thread suggested The Hate U Give instead of To Kill a Mockingbird. There’s mention in the same post that GR 11 reading focuses on Indigenous authors in some boards, so perhaps Son of a Trickster or The Marrow Thieves could be given some focus. This gives me hope that at least some schools/teachers understand the issues with focusing solely on the classics.

Another option? Give one assignment a year where the reader can choose what they want to write about after clearing the idea with the teacher. Let this include graphic novels, especially for those who are reluctant readers. They may put more effort into their projects if they enjoy what they’re reading. Still want those graphic novels to have “academic merit”? Try suggesting Almost American Girl for a story of integrating into a new society, Displacement for WWII Japanese internment camps*⁹ or Monster to see life through the eyes of a teen on trial for an accomplice to murder.