Katelyn Aguinaga

Carroll, Kelly
May 20, 2019
English III

The next 40-year-old school curriculum English lit book is coming, and yeah, don’t read it

If you remember what your English class was like in high school, then you’ll understand
what you’re about to read.
Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, Romeo & Juliet, A Raisin in the Sun​- if you haven’t
read them, you’ve at least heard of them. These are just a few of the long list of books that a lot
of students may have been forced to read during middle school, high school, and even college.
These books are considered classics, which is great, except they’re all older than our parents.
These books talk about a past that’s been long gone and they are not easily relatable or
understood by today’s readers. There is a reason why they’re being taught in school. They all
have a central theme, lesson, story, or are packed with symbolism. English teachers make us
read them to become “better readers”. But since when does analyzing symbolism in a book
about unrequited love make someone better at reading? It makes them better at analyzing
symbolism- that’s it. Most of the time, when someone reads a book, it’s not to find the meaning
behind a symbolic message.
I’m not blaming English teachers. They’re doing what they have to. Make their students
read a book, give them worksheets and quotes to analyze, have them discuss the book, and
grade them on their work. That’s just their job. I’m not saying that what they’re teaching students
is bad, either. I’m saying, in the long run, it’s a little redundant. Unless you plan on personally
critiquing literature, those skills you are taught in high school and college are not used after you
get your degree. Those skills aren’t needed to be able to be a good reader. They are not
needed to read a book.
Students know this, too. They know that understanding symbolism and theme are
useless outside of class and they don’t feel like doing the work because of that. They’re off-put
by the useless work they are forced to do for a grade and form the mentality that reading is
boring because you need to understand the theme or hidden messages. High school English
class ruins reading for today’s people. That’s sad. Yes, students should do their work in class
for the grade and graduate, but they shouldn’t let that ruin reading for them outside of school.
They are being taught that when you read, you have to work to understand the book- but that
isn’t true. Students should be taught that you don’t have to analyze symbolism or find the hidden
theme or learn a certain lesson from a book to be able to read it. It’s nice to be changed or
moved by a book you read it, but you don’t have to be. Not all books have symbolism, hidden
messages or themes or lessons to be learned. Not every book aims to change someone’s life
after they read it. Some books are just meant to be read for fun.
When you’re in a bookstore, why do you pick up a certain book? Is it because of the title,
the cover, the author, the genre? Does it matter what made you want to read the book or ​why
you want to read the book? Speaking from my own experience, the sole reason why I ever
wanted to read a specific book was that it looked interesting and I knew that I would like it. I
knew that it would be fun to read. I think that is something that everyone should feel, wanting to
read a book for fun. Someone should read a book not for a grade or for symbolism, but because
they ​want​ to. Don’t let an old, boring book from high school keep you from reading anything
else. If you want to read a book willingly and for your own personal pleasure, that’s exactly
what makes that book worth reading, and the same goes for any piece or text.