The Importance of Shakespeare by Sherman

The Importance of Shakespeare by Sherman - February 2015 Scholarship Essay

Reading Shakespeare gives young high school students an opportunity to experience cultural literacy. Today's students rarely read, so they tend to remain ignorant about so many important things. Young persons today are sometimes under-educated when it comes to a true sense of cultural literacy. Reading the works of William Shakespeare gives young people not just a wonderfully written piece of literature, but a glance at the importance of knowing famous pieces of literature. No, the works of Shakespeare may not inspire any outstanding ethical revelations, but it instills the importance of being a learned individual.

When I was in high school, I wrote my final term paper on Macbeth. Most everyone else in the class chose pieces of modern American literature, but I chose to write on Shakespeare. I felt like I could give much more insight and write much more about a piece that I truly cared about. It may be true that no one has written or will ever write a work like the great William Faulkner, but I believe it is important for young persons to be exposed to British literature and their styles of writing, too. Therefore, I argue that teachers require high school students to read at least one piece of British literature, but preferably, Shakespeare.