Shakespeare ZombiesI have to admit I was simply passing some time verbally sparring with these people but I was a little surprised that these so-called Liberals were so completely brainwashed and inflexible. They simply refuse to believe that the ONLY reason a 400-year-old dead guy is relevant today is because Education Zombie snobs continue to cram it down our throats. I don’t usually see this kind of adolescent push back from so-called “educated people” but I could make no dent in most of them. And it quickly descended into them accusing me of being a Tea Party idiot who never read a book, would never amount to anything and my children were doomed to a life of “low brow” existence. To be sure —— I had asked for this abuse and was not offended. But I was disappointed that my tribe of Zombies, the Liberals, could be so proud of their superiority, stiff necked and insulting, and in the long run —— more obtuse and ignorant that the #GQP people they professed to abhor. They cannot accept or understand that entire generations of high school graduates forced to read this archaic prose simply refuse to read anything the rest of their adult lives because they equate reading with the mind numbing boredom of English Literature. Even worse, we have kids that graduate and can barely read “Fun With Dick and Jane”. So the Education Zombies are turning our kids into “Low Brow” Zombies by trying to force them to read and understand literature that is 400 years old. Not very relevant to this century. And the really sad thing is that Shakespeare was considered “Low Brow” in his own time. He was the Bard for the people —— in his own time. And now the elite Zombies of the world are trying to pass him off as something he never was in life. A close minded egomaniac with pretensions of superiority. He wasn’t a Zombie —— but centuries later it seems he created an entire Zombie culture. |
MjL 17 Jul 2014, 8:01 a.m.
Well, in their defense, we are terribly “low brow”  .That’s an interesting experience, but I can’t say I’m surprised by it. The vast majority of English majors, and teachers, believe that Shakespeare is the greatest English writer of all time. Where this idea came from, to begin with, I’m not entirely sure. I didn’t think Shakespeare was bad, but I see his work as more of a cultural exploration than anything else. Personally, I think it would make more sense to read a little Shakespeare as part of a History class, rather than an English class. He certainly had a talent for speech patterns (iambic pentameter is hard), but the English he wrote with is so far disconnected from the English we use, today, that I don’t see how it’s useful to read it as a part of an English class. |
Noah L 17 Jul 2014, 8:46 a.m.
| I agree. The point I could never get across is that there is no purpose in “teaching” literature. You either like it or you don’t. No amount of explaining is going to make somebody like or understand something they have zero interest in. And why force students to read anything in particular. I get that we need to push them to read but why not entice them by letting them read something they are interested in. I had no interest in the Goosebumps books you read as a child but I was so happy you were reading it didn’t matter. I knew eventually you would read many things —— the important thing was that you had found the joy of reading. |
MjL 17 Jul 2014, 8:55 a.m.
| The Goosebumps books actually weren’t even the ones that really hooked me on reading--they were just the best option I knew about at the time. I don’t think I ever read them if I didn’t need “reading hours” or have to do some kind of report, except maybe if I was really bored. It was in 6th Grade, when I was in the “Accelerated Reading Program,” that I found a fantasy book with dragons and wizards that got me |
Noah L 17 Jul 2014, 9:41 a.m.
| Anne McCaffrey —— Dragonriders of Pern? I remember those too. I read a few but not all of them. |
MjL 17 Jul 2014, 9:44 a.m.
| I think it was the Enchanted Forest Chronicles series, actually (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enchanted_Forest_Chronicles). Anne McCaffrey came next. |
Noah L 17 Jul 2014, 10:10 a.m.
| Didn’t know about that one. I’m more a fan of sci-fi but then some of Stephen King might be considered in the fantasy genre so I’m not totally against fantasy. I even read all the Harry Potter books and I suppose they are fantasy? I’m not good at the classifications I guess. Tolkien? |
MjL 17 Jul 2014, 10:14 a.m.
| A lot of books are blended genres, anyway. Harry Potter and Tolkien are definitely fantasy. |
Noah L 17 Jul 2014, 10:23 a.m.