The Value of English Literature.


Yesterday, whilst reading an excellent opinion piece by Alice Thomson in The Times, I learnt that the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, is proposing to remove English Literature from the core GCSE curriculum.

If Gove’s reforms are accepted, students will be expected to study a newly-reworked English exam focusing primarily on use of language, alongside Maths, one of the sciences, a modern language and either History or Geography – with English Literature relegated to an optional extra.

Frankly, I’m terrified.

I have been an avid reader since junior school – and it was my English Literature classes at secondary school that first introduced me to the classics. I showed very little interest in the likes of Shakespeare at first; it wasn’t until I went on to study it at A-Level and then at drama school that I was bitten by the bug – but if it wasn’t for those initial classes I might never have felt the need to get around to it.

They taught me that difficult language wasn’t impenetrable – and that by getting to grips with it, I could entirely change my outlook. Without this initial guidance I might never have realised the wit and relevance of the likes of Austen, Dickens et al. – and my life would have been all the duller for it.

It was this early exposure to English Literature that taught me the value of personal expression; that by engrossing yourself in another person’s story, be it fact or fiction, you could transport yourself to another world: a world that enriched, enhanced and informed your own.

History taught me the statistics of the two world wars, but 'Birdsong' and 'Schindler’s Ark' taught me about their emotional impact. Ultimately, literature taught me to care.

Presumably the root of this core curriculum change is to encourage students to be more practical; assuming that a more numerate and logically-minded generation will ultimately be a more profitable one. But what is the use of a society that can tot up the numbers but is emotionally defunct?

Also, what's the point of teaching the rudiments of the English language without putting them into context?  

Personally, I'm grateful to my teachers for informing me of the value and weight of English Literature. It is thanks to their education that I will always have a book at my side - and it will be through this constant reading that I will hopefully continue to learn and grow.

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