Read Good.

The other day I overheard one mother of a high school student telling another mother that her child's teacher should not assign such boring books, or the kids will learn to hate reading.

I would like to argue that teachers should make kids read all kinds of stuff, including the boring stuff. Especially the boring stuff. Why? Because your boring stuff is not my boring stuff. Because they might actually learn something. Because our kids should grow up to be smart.

I have a friend who LOVES Dante's Inferno. I personally struggled through Dante's Inferno. This friend can quote from it, name characters, and tell what each circle of hell is in the book.

When I was in the ninth grade, we read Romeo and Juliet. It was slow reading, because Shakespeare's writing is not something your typically breeze through when you're fourteen. I still struggle with Shakespeare a bit, but I'm glad I've read a few of his works all the way through. I remember that my favorite English teacher in the world, Mr. Vinson, had us write a paper about Romeo and Juliet. I wrote that I thought it was the most ridiculous story, and that I had no respect for either of them for killing themselves over someone they had just met. Suicide, I wrote, is never the answer. I did not find it romantic at all. I swore I never would. I believe I got a good grade on my paper. I remember Mr. Vinson looking at me with a glint of amusement and something else in his eye. I think he enjoyed my indignation, and the fact that it came from knowing that piece of literature well enough to judge it. Now I get the romantic part of Romeo and Juliet. That feeling that if the person that you love is no longer in the world, you would rather die than experience the excruciating pain that consumes you. The point wasn't that they commit suicide for each other, I don't think. The suicide was representative of the immense tragedy they felt in their hearts over the loss of one another. The part where they are somewhere around 14 and have known each other for a few weeks I still find silly, although since hormone's are raging and passion is infused into all parts of life, it is a more believable ending when you consider their developmental stage. But the connectedness part I find sweet. If I had not read it then, I could not appreciate it now.

I was also made to read The Pearl by John Steinbeck, as well as Of Mice and Men. I found Steinbeck's style grating at times; he would take a page to describe the road that George and Lennie were plodding along. Now I appreciate that I was made to read those two stories. I never would have chosen those books on my own. I have no desire to read The Pearl again. I don't think I had a desire to read Of Mice and Men again when I first read it, although it was not as tortursome as The Pearl. But as an adult, I may find new meaning in those same lines.

I was given the assignment to read many different pieces of literature throughout my public and college education. There are some authors I can't stand, some books that I saw no point in and some books and authors that I love as a result of those assignements.

The youth of America need to grow up to be able to make intelligent comments about the great writers. Even if all they have to say is why they don't like a particular author and which books he wrote that they hate, they will have benefitted. They are using their critical thinking skills. They are examining other viewpoints and shaping their own world views. They are learning about human behavior, even if they learn about it by identifying that a portrayal of a character is unconvincing, and discovering what human features were lacking to make it convincing. They are learning about the morals portrayed in the writings, and judging what their own moral compass will be. They are learning new words, and seeing how beautiful the english language can be. Above all, through studying how great men and women writers express themselves, they can learn how better to express themselves. Possibly they will absorb other words into their vocabularies, instead of just using their time in school to learn how to use the "f" word as a noun, verb, adjective, and pronoun. Also they may learn to read good.