English literature GCSE

I achieved a good grade 'O' level GCE and have always enjoyed reading fiction.


However I do not understand any of Shakespeare's works, half of his words are obsolete and the other half have changed their meanings! I don't 'get' poetry either, if someone has something to say then say it, use the whole page, don't cram the thought into a fixed format! I skip over florid writing,


I didn't see the point of analysing a piece of literature to death. Perhaps some authors 'engineer' a story according to these 'rules' of literature but many others just write.


When I was at school we studied 'The History of Mr Polly' in detail. The whole class hated it. I took it home and read it all as a novel and I actually enjoyed it! All that analysis killed our interest in reading.


As speakers of English we are fortunate in having an extensive and varied literature which is strongly embedded within our culture and if we are to engage with that culture it is important that we receive some education about those works that are generally considered significant. The same is true of History and Geography too.

I achieved a good grade 'O' level GCE and have always enjoyed reading fiction.


However I do not understand any of Shakespeare's works, half of his words are obsolete and the other half have changed their meanings! I don't 'get' poetry either, if someone has something to say then say it, use the whole page, don't cram the thought into a fixed format! I skip over florid writing,


I didn't see the point of analysing a piece of literature to death. Perhaps some authors 'engineer' a story according to these 'rules' of literature but many others just write.


When I was at school we studied 'The History of Mr Polly' in detail. The whole class hated it. I took it home and read it all as a novel and I actually enjoyed it! All that analysis killed our interest in reading.


As speakers of English we are fortunate in having an extensive and varied literature which is strongly embedded within our culture and if we are to engage with that culture it is important that we receive some education about those works that are generally considered significant. The same is true of History and Geography too.