As I read Michelle Malkin’s article, it got me thinking. Will finding books or poems of interest of the younger generation actually benefit the students in school? Malkin argues that choosing Tupac Shakur’s work instead of the sonnets of Shakespeare is a terrible mistake. She criticizes Tupac giving him a name such as, “the drug-dealing, baseball bat-wielding, cop-hating, Black Panthers-worshiping, convicted sexual abuser who made a fortune extolling the "thug life".” Her opinion is rather harsh as she defines him and believes that students should not be learning about this terrible person. Instead they should learn the traditional method everyone has gone through by reading the classics. Malkin feels as if reading Shakur’s book of poems that
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Well some disagree on her opinion. Teachers in Worcester, Mass., have tested this idea out by embracing Shakur's book of poems and found that it catches the students attention. In their opinion that’s their main goal and what they are striving for. The point in having the students read Shakur’s work is to get them to want to read. Their goal is just to have the student’s read more rather than play video games or going shopping. I understand why this school in Worcester chose to incorporate Shakur. Reading Shakespeare isn’t quite necessarily easy and isn’t really of interest in the younger generation. A phrase such as, “This above all, to thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man,” is just enough to confuse the reader and make them give up reading the rest of the poem. Mainly because it isn’t how our generation talks anymore. We don’t use words such as, “thou” or “canst” or even “thine.” Students relate more and can interpret Shakur’s work because it’s how most of us talk today and is easier to understand. Tupac was a rapper and I believe that in today’s generation there is an increased interest in music than ever before, therefore causing them to relate to it. Although it may seem beneficial when you see it in the eyes of the Worcester teachers, I can understand Malkin’s point. But,some of Shakur’s work includes too much slang that it is difficult for the students to understand as well. So
Well some disagree on her opinion. Teachers in Worcester, Mass., have tested this idea out by embracing Shakur's book of poems and found that it catches the students attention. In their opinion that’s their main goal and what they are striving for. The point in having the students read Shakur’s work is to get them to want to read. Their goal is just to have the student’s read more rather than play video games or going shopping. I understand why this school in Worcester chose to incorporate Shakur. Reading Shakespeare isn’t quite necessarily easy and isn’t really of interest in the younger generation. A phrase such as, “This above all, to thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man,” is just enough to confuse the reader and make them give up reading the rest of the poem. Mainly because it isn’t how our generation talks anymore. We don’t use words such as, “thou” or “canst” or even “thine.” Students relate more and can interpret Shakur’s work because it’s how most of us talk today and is easier to understand. Tupac was a rapper and I believe that in today’s generation there is an increased interest in music than ever before, therefore causing them to relate to it. Although it may seem beneficial when you see it in the eyes of the Worcester teachers, I can understand Malkin’s point. But,some of Shakur’s work includes too much slang that it is difficult for the students to understand as well. So