I can tell you are confused.

The scenario I got in high school was “Here, one or more high school students, is a copy of Hamlet as Shakespeare wrote it preserved down to the punctuation and page layout. Read it just like you read To Kill A Mockingbird.” I assert that this is a poorly designed exercise in reading comprehension for modern 21st century English. This exercise will not substantially improve anyone’s ability to understand, say, the Pilot’s Operating Handbook for a Cessna 172.

I would say exactly the same thing of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, if it was presented to teenagers in its original Middle English. It isn’t though; textbooks are printed with the Canterbury Tales translated into modern-ish English. At the very least

And broghte hire hoom with hym in his contree

becomes

And brought her home with him into his country

We don’t do that with Shakespeare though; it has to be enjoyed in the original nonsense. Which I take as evidence it’s an aesthetic choice rather than a practical one.

I would assert that - if you’re trying to increase proficiency in reading normal 21st century English as a general life skill - you wouldn’t design the lesson like my English teacher did. If that was your goal you’d probably use a modern translation, maybe you’d study Ten Things I Hate About You rather than The Taming Of The Shrew.

Which is why I’ll also assert that Literature classes as taught in later high school and into college aren’t really designed to be communication proficiency classes but art appreciation classes. Which should be electives like band, orchestra, painting or photography, not required classes like math and science.

The English literature classes I took from my teenage years on all assumed you were proficient at reading.

Reducing but not eliminating the amount of time people drive would mean less practical experience which means rusty drivers. I recommend recurring training.

No, I do live in an area where drivers’ ed is pathetically short and simple though.

Yeah I couldn’t quite hit that efficiency with my Ninja but it was fully capable of traveling on the interstate and it it had a damn near 5 gallon tank. That bike was designed in 1988 and received only minor adjustments for 20 years and basically nothing has that combination of efficiency and capacity.

In my mind, a UBI would replace a lot of welfare and retirement programs and would absorb much of their budget. What would we need the whole food stamps system for if we guarantee everyone an income? What would we need social security for if you have your Universal Basic Income?

Since it’s universal, we can do away with all those systems we have to make sure you “deserve” it. We can eliminate entire data centers, close entire offices. Those people (mostly office worker accountant types) can go work in some other part of the government like school systems, the FDA, the FAA, something that actually helps make society go. That should free up some budget.

Do an actual goddamn audit of the Pentagon, if we find some bullshit pet projects we don’t actually need costing taxpayers billions of dollars we bust a general down to recruit and find or invent a way for him to die for his country.

Capitalism may not be able to survive alongside a UBI but I think a largely free market economy can. I’ll always have my housing and food needs bet but I’d like to have an Xbox so I’ll go get a job to get money to pay for one.

My 2007 Ninja 250 made about 35 horsepower, could achieve a top speed over 100 mph and could also travel nearly 70 miles on a gallon of gas.

Yes it very specifically is. The origin of this thread was someone asking me what I would cut out of the curriculum. Are you always this dishonest?

Much of the language Shakespeare uses is obsolete to a modern English speaker. Let’s start with his use of the archaic second person singular thee thy thou and move on from there to words we don’t use anymore like “contumely” or “orisons” and then arrive at metaphors that haven’t made sense since the industrial revolution. Shakespeare wrote in English v. 2.3.1, here in the 21st century we speak English v. 6.13.2.

How many hours of the average American’s life will be spent behind the wheel of a car?

How many hours of the average American’s life will be spent examining 400 year old stage plays?

If they get something wrong behind the wheel of a car, what’s the worst that can happen?

If they get something wrong examining a 400 year old stage play, what’s the worst that can happen?

I propose that teaching Shakespeare instead of more in depth driver’s ed isn’t entirely ethical.

I am convinced beyond internet argument that you wouldn’t be better off eliminating a semester of English Literature class from the end of high school and replace it with a semester of “living in the world” lessons that might just be a week of driver’s ed, that field trip to the fire department, some first aid, just cram a semester full of basic adulting skills.

We used to call this “Home Economics” but that got stigmatized as the cake baking class girls took while the boys were in shop class, and then women doing housework became a politically charged issue so we deprecated even that.

But give it four years and we won’t have a public education system in this country at all anyway, so all this does is vindicate my decision to not have children.

no matter the difficulty of the material, imo it could still be said that they are improving their comprehension

Nope, that’s not how education works. Due to the Principle of Effect, lessons which are too confusing can do more harm than good. If, as some other commenters have suggested, students are arriving to 12th grade English class reading at an elementary school level, handing them a copy of Hamlet isn’t going to accomplish anything, it’ll just frustrate them, convince them that they really can’t do this and they’ll just give up. Even honors students who are reading at advanced levels might start second guessing themselves.

Shakespeare’s work was all written ~400 years ago, reading a Shakespeare play is an exercise in translation as much as comprehension. Take a copy of Hamlet to a 16 year old, open it to a random page, point to a line and ask a teenager to read it. They’ll probably stumble through it. Ask them what it means and they won’t have taken it on board.

It may have more of a value in teaching the history of the English language than a reading comprehension exercise.

In 11th and 12th grade English class we mostly focused on themes and such; it was treated more as an art appreciation course than communication practice. And art appreciation should be elective rather than required. If we’re really honest with ourselves, the reason we teach Shakespeare in high schools is because English teachers like it, and English teachers majored in English in college because they like it, and there’s exactly one job an English degree qualifies you to do: Teach high school English class.

Hell, replace Shakespeare lessons with descriptive or persuasive writing classes.

I’m questioning the importance of literature class as I remember it taught in late high school.

the independence of the United States of America.

if convicted he’ll be epsteined.

Because we let them.

0AD is FOSS Age of Empires, yeah?

disgruntled nerd noises.

“Man, I can’t do this.”

As far as I’ve seen the mods and admins have been doing a stellar job of removing it drom the platform.

of course it was in High Point.