Relevant Reads

One of my first memories at Exeter is sitting in Agora doing my English reading and an upperclassman coming up to me and saying: “You don’t even need to do the reading, just wing it.” I was in disbelief; the idea of going into class unprepared frightened me—how could anyone possibly pull such a thing off?Many students here at Exeter, including myself, have probably gone into English class unprepared at least once. The shocking thing is, though, that no one ever seems to notice that you haven’t read a single page of the book, even when you speak in class discussion. After an experience like this during prep year, I began to question the books we as Exonians read in English class. We seem to spend whole class periods chasing philosophical ideas, some of them extremely unrealistic or contrived. Somehow students get away with bringing up ideas in English class completely unrelated to the book we’re reading and managing to tie them back to the text somehow. Is this a fault of our choice in the books that we read here at Exeter?There never seems to be any variation to the books we read at Exeter—normally classics, claimed to be “must reads,” or dramatic Shakespeare plays. Isn’t it time, though, that Exeter English readings start focusing on contemporary writing? We keep looking to the past and admiring older literature. Shouldn’t we be focusing on modern day writing that resembles the way we are expected to eventually write? Yes, the works of Shakespeare are beautiful and show morals and themes, but in reality, if we were to write like Shakespeare, would that give us an A or help us in our future occupations?It is true that English is a way for students to learn to think deeper, to see motifs in writing and ponder their own thoughts, but modern novels are just as useful for these purposes. Why can’t English readings focus on budding writers? Many writers who don’t work with hidden motifs and metaphors keep their books straightforward while maintaining quality.I am not saying that we should not look to the past for readings, but I do believe that we should begin to consider more modern books. Modern novels provide an example of how we are expected to write in today’s world—a world that Exonians will eventually play a large role in. If we look to the present, we may just find a wealth of exemplary writing waiting to be read.