Opinion: Why and how we need to read more classic literature

Editor’s Note: This article was edited to format the titles of other works mentioned to follow AP Style conventions.

“Pride and Prejudice,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Dracula,” etc. A bunch of stuffy old books by stuffy old people about stuffy old topics. Right?

“I don’t think most students understand the importance of [classic literature,]” said OH senior and National English Honor Society (NEHS) President Gabby Baier.

In our ever-shifting culture, it’s hard to believe that something written centuries ago can have a presence, much less actually matter. But no matter how much a story matters, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s difficult to understand.

So yes, people should read more classic literature. But they don’t have to do it on their own.

What is classic literature anyway, and why does it matter?

“[Literature is] something that is complicated, that’s complex enough that makes you explore on a deeper level [and] that had an impact, whether it be during the time period or even later,” said AP Literature and Composition teacher Stephanie Stegich.

So, classic literary books are books that 1) make people think and 2) were and are impactful. 

It’s perfectly fine to read just for fun, but there are more advantages to the classics.

“I think [classic literature is] a bit more impactful than… modern literature,” said freshman Mel Ross.

That isn’t to say that authors are less thoughtful nowadays. Older stories have a survivorship bias, where only the best of them are still talked about today. There are modern literary books, people just have to look for them instead of previous generations already filtering them out for us.

Stegich said, “[Reading classics] helps create perseverance– when you work through something that’s hard and different, it makes you feel a little uncomfortable, [but] it also broadens your horizons and also develops your brain.”

Whether it’s uncomfortable because of the language or because of the content, the effort pays off. Reading classics can expand people’s vocabulary from seeing those old words, and help them understand where today’s language and grammar came from.

Beyond that, a lot of pop culture stems from the classics.

“If you don’t understand that context, you’re missing a layer to what they’re trying to say,” Stegich said.

From the new “Frankenstein” movie to the mentions of Ophelia in “Wednesday” (a “Hamlet” reference), pop culture is deeply influenced by classic literature. Understanding the themes of the original novels or plays adds new meaning to the modern media that people would have no idea of otherwise.

Literary-ness and comprehension aside, classics are still important.

Classics can help us reflect on history from a more personal view. Objective, confirmable facts in history textbooks are important, but just because something can be proved doesn’t make it feel real. 

“[Literature] helps create sympathy and empathy and compassion and… understanding… and [lets you] put yourself in other situations that you might not normally have to,” Stegich said.

Seeing things from an individual’s point of view can help people care more about historical struggles, even if that individual is a fictional character.

Classics can even help us understand our current society.

“Some would argue that it’s outdated, but [there are] universal themes that can still connect to our day-to-day now,” English teacher Isabel Wilde said.

The reason books like “Frankenstein” or “The Great Gatsby” still feel important today is because what they’re saying still matters. There will always be scientific advancements that push against the boundaries of what feels right. There will always be doubts about the American Dream that make us wonder if the lows are worth the highs.

As Baier said, “It’s important to read classic literature… to make sure we’re not going backwards in society.” 

We can look at stories like “To Kill a Mockingbird” or “Of Mice and Men” about historical issues and see concerning mirrors to our own society.

Classics take all of these pressing issues one step away from our present, which lets us think about them in a way that feels safer. Just because they’re from the past doesn’t mean they’re irrelevant to the future.

Classic literature is difficult

Many people agree that we as a society need to read more classic literature, but they usually don’t address the biggest reasons that we don’t.

“I think people don’t really like classic literature in general,” Ross said. “I think it’s because of the dialect that they use.”

As freshman Selma Crandell said, “It’s not how… we’d speak today.”

Whether because of a regional dialect, a generational one, or both, classic literature often seems to be written in an entirely different language.

While some people have a stronger understanding of English or are willing or able to tough their way through it, for many people the writing makes classics incomprehensible or more work than they seem worth.

So how can we fix that?

Ross said, “[I mostly use] context clues.”

Based on the situation in which an unfamiliar word or phrase was used, people can guess what it might’ve meant. It isn’t a perfect method, but it’s a great first step.

Context clues can be hard to use, especially for older stories (they’ll work for “The Great Gatsby”, but maybe not for “Macbeth”). But there are plenty of other resources to make even older or more complex books understandable.

Another good resource is  “online… sites… to help us like, understand… the words that they were using and like, put into… our world,” Crandell said.

Sites like online glossaries or summaries shouldn’t be used in place of the original, but when used correctly they can be used as tools to help improve understanding. People can even create their own mini-versions of this in the book or a notebook.

“Annotating helps me a lot, like, rewriting things in my own words,” Baier said.

Marking and revisiting the things that feel significant or that don’t make sense is helpful, and paraphrasing is a great way for someone to make sure they were thoroughly analyzing a text. 

Seeing something in different formats can help, too.

Baier said, “I know one thing that helped me a lot is when we would read… Shakespearean plays we would watch them too… Listening to books can also help them be easier to read.”

Even if people aren’t typically auditory learners, hearing how words are pronounced or seeing stage directions in action can help them keep track of what’s going on.

Audiobooks are also useful for assigned reading, because they give a better indication of how long a certain section of the story is going to take, so people can plan accordingly.

With many classic books, there are editions that already include notes and translations to help understanding.

“I think people are working to combat [the language barrier by] making like sort of… remasters of the books,” Ross said.

These “remasters,” sometimes thought of as “translations,” are when someone rewrites a book or play in contemporary English. They keep the original plot and characters; it’s just the language and grammar that are changed. While these are some of the easiest ways to read classics, they lose the benefits of reading older vocabulary and some of the author’s original intentions.

A happy medium between original texts and full translations is books with glossaries and footnotes.

“I’ve seen some adaptations with… translations on… one side of the page, and then the other side is the like, original text, and I think that’s really good… It might make it a thicker book, but… it meets students… where they are,” Wilde said.

Many books, like the Folger editions of Shakespeare used in our English classes, have extensive footnotes explaining things like grammar and vocabulary or allusions that would’ve been understood when the books were written.

These preserve the original text, so people get the vocabulary and grammar, but they help explain things so people can get the most benefit.

“You don’t have to necessarily read every single one, but when you do get lost… those… footnotes, I think, are super crucial,” Stegich said.

The notes are a supplement, not something that needs to be read for their own sake.Reputable notes and translations are important, but they can only take people so far. Classics have kept their relevance because the specifics of how we understand them has changed with society. This means that those notes can’t represent the full experience of it.

“That’s where I would wonder if, like, an outside…group where… you can connect and kind of make that community, [would help],” Wilde said.

One of the things that makes literature literature is that there isn’t one right interpretation. Everyone will notice different things or draw different conclusions based on their lived experiences.

Having a community– whether that’s a classroom, an online space, or one person– can help people understand the novel on a deeper level, see how other people interpreted it, and even make sense of their own thoughts.

But that isn’t enough

“I think we do do enough to make it accessible; people just don’t take advantage of it,” Baier said.

Resources only matter if people are willing to use them. While there are people who are stopped only by the language, there are many others who just aren’t interested in literature.

“We live in a world where one is very individualized with the algorithms on technology,” Stegich said. “The type of society we live in is so fast-paced,…attention spans… are waning.”

Indeed, there doesn’t seem to be a point hunting down a dictionary to toil through a novel when you have the entire internet at your fingertips.

No matter what resources we create, there will always be some easier-to-understand form of media. It’s about encouraging the willingness to put in the effort to find those resources and work through the literature.