To What Extent Should Romeo And Juliet Be Taught In Schools

1365 Words3 Pages

Jayla Gray-Thomas
Mr. Williams
3A English
5/16/15
Should Romeo and Juliet be taught in 9th grade? “Art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth. For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgement.” (K. Spacey) Currently, Romeo and Juliet is taught in the 9th grade curriculum. This has caused a huge division in opinion as to whether or not Romeo and Juliet should be taught in schools. Most kids dread the thought of having to read anything by Shakespeare but the lessons they take away from it is a lot more important than just not wanting to read something from 400 years ago. Romeo and Juliet should be taught in schools because it is full of themes and lessons that can be applied to your own life, it has both figurative and literal dimensions that can help …show more content…

In Kentucky, for example, inmates find themselves in Shakespeare’s many plays. Matt Wallace, the man directing the program of inmates performances says, “The themes that are in these plays resonate so deeply in these guys. Through these plays they are digging up some of the most painful and horrific parts of their lives.” This shows that even convicted felons, people serving from four years to life without parole for multiple crimes including robbery, murder, and more, can link their own life and experiences to those found in a lot of Shakespeare’s plays. Romeo and Juliet is the perfect collection of themes like infatuation, lust, jealousy, rivalry, etc. Maybe students haven’t experienced every one of these things, but these themes and lessons are very important things they should learn because learning about it can help prevent you from repeating it. For example, by teaching how tragic rash decisions can be, even if it is very dramatic, Romeo and Juliet can prevent kids from making life changing decisions without really thinking about it

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