The value of literature

It may seem like a Faustian bargain: trading the teaching of literature for increased test scores. After all, attempting to raise test scores as the bar is continually raised may seem like a Sisyphean task. Even a gain over a single year might be a pyrrhic victory. But at high schools throughout the country, teachers are facing a catch-22: if they teach with passion about a subject they like, they are failing to prepare students for the brave new world of education, one where literature takes a back seat to expository text. English teachers cling to literature, but it will prove to be the albatross around their necks.

So let me make a modest proposal: stop teaching English literature altogether. There is no thought police – citizens can still choose to read whatever they like. But when it comes to the value of literature, I’m a doubting Thomas. When has familiarity with literature ever helped anyone understand anything? It’s all Greek to me. I don’t mind to sound like a Scrooge to those who love books, but I just don’t see how literature continues to be relevant to Generation X and beyond.

So lend me your ears: I assure you that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. These teachers are insisting on their beloved subject not being cut. What a piece of work is man! They say that students need literature, and that the focus on passing tests isn’t important. This kind of talk is madness, yet there is method in it: they want to keep their cushy jobs where they get to talk about made-up stories all day. But the truth will out! The game is up, English teachers! Because brevity is the soul of wit, I’ll end here. But I’ll leave you with a thought from Mark Twain: “Literature is well enough, as a time-passer, and for the improvement and general elevation and purification of mankind, but it has no practical value.”