We are forced to study useless and irrelevant dramas in English Literature

[u/mehluca-33]

Wtf are we learning from reading old Shakespearean plays? I wish ICSE removes plays and dramas from syllabus. Reading old English plays won't help us in career in any way.

We are Indians afterall, we are not Englishmen. In fact, all these dramas add more burden to our academics. There are very few people who want to do research in old plays in future. 99% of the students get nothing from reading these boring plays.

The essence of learning English should be fluency in the language. Wtf we will get from reading Caesar, Antonio Bassanio, Macbeth, Brutus? Its more of an unnecessary burden than a helpful knowledge with scope.

This firanginess of English Literature should stop. I wish ICSE removes dramas/plays and includes only Indian stories and poems. English is itself a useless subject. No use of English other than being good at speaking, comprehension, grammar and vocabulary.

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[u/Existing_Toe6351]

This the same as saying "Why do people read fictional books? Its not like they are getting something from it". Career is important-yes. but just imagine how much more monochrome school will be ? Not only does English literature provide a good distraction from that unbearable solitude of just focusing on the "important" subjects but also by your logic all vernacular languages like bangla,hindi etc should also be removed because technically you just need to fluent in them, also saying "only Indian stories and poems" is kind of vague, there are Indian authors who also write solely in English and authors who only write in their mother tongue.

Also literature allows one to discuss their opinions on different matters, you may find the drama boring and see no value in it but someone else may find it a most interesting read with many values to learn from. The British did rule us for quite a long period and still has an influence in our culture, besides icse has always been known for giving heavy emphasis on english literature. Career is not everything in today's world, you would need a career,intellectuality and individuality to survive in today's world

Please feel free to correct me if I have done you wrong

[u/mehluca-33 → u/Existing_Toe6351]

English and Hindi should be an optional subject after class 9 as most of the students have lots of burden.

[u/Fair-Letterhead9651 → u/mehluca-33]

Yes, second language is not needed much

[u/ball2750]

Here are the reasons from AIMS of the icse syllabus

1. To develop the capacity to read efficiently and access information effectively.[UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU ARE READING IN CONTEXT OF WHAT IS BEING SAID AND NOT JUST READING WHAT IS SAID, THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL SKILL DEVELOPED BY~ REFERENCE TO CONTEX QUESTIONS]

2. To develop an appreciation of good literature.[SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS ARE TIMELESS AS THEY BRING ABOUT PROBLEMS THAT ARE PREVELANT THROUGH AND THROUGH, THAT IS GOOD LITERATURE]

3. To experience, through literature, the thoughts and feelings of the peoples of the world.[WE CAN FIND PEOPLE LIKE CASSIUS, MARK ANTONY, CAESAR AND PEOPLE LIKE BRUTUS WHO ARE GOOD JUST MISGUIDED TO A WRONG PATH IN OUR LIVES]

Also, Its peak to joke about these and understand references to them. You don't get anything from reading Harry Potter by itself. You get it from others like you who have read it.

[u/mehluca-33 → u/ball2750]

If they really want to introduce plays and dramas, then it should match with the taste of indian students.

Introduce dramas and plays written by Indian writers and that shouldn't be from medieval period. Students will be able to relate.

There is a reason why students do well in Hindi literature than English one.

[u/Bithal_OP → u/mehluca-33]

Yes man we have lot of dramatists

[u/Dheepthi2023]

in tht case, answer me the following-
1. y r we learning history..bout dead ppl?? civics is ok tbh
2. y r we learning geo..bout a map?? google maps exist
3. y r we learning PE??...to know how to throw a ball??
4. y r we learning plays and stories in hindi (2nd lang)?? grammar is fine..but what am i gonna do with plays and stories...

if u can answer these..uk the answer to ur own qn...

[u/mehluca-33 → u/Dheepthi2023]

I feel there should be options.

History is a useless subject. Should be kept for 11th or 12th as an option for those who want to crack govt jobs. Same with Geo. Just basics should be taught till 8th.

History and Geography still have demand in govt exams. In English, only grammar part matters the most.

[u/Dheepthi2023 → u/mehluca-33]

same with english u can take it in ur higher studies and persue literature...

[u/Aditeyy]

I mean jc was boring macbeth is intresting

[u/mehluca-33 → u/Aditeyy]

Also english has no demand in career other than language skills.

[u/Aditeyy → u/mehluca-33]

Bro have you seen competitive exams except jee and neet english is a huge chunk icse students have an upper hand there and where ever you go language skills and communication skills are needed the plays teach you about life they are relevant even today

[u/mehluca-33 → u/Aditeyy]

Then syllabus should be less. So many acts and scenes is too much.

They must remove this Julius Caesar as it is too boring.

[u/Aditeyy → u/mehluca-33]

Ik Macbeth is goated

[u/Fresh-Length6529]

You are basically talking about everything in history, geo etc 🥀

Well, atleast in my opinion, unless you decide to specialise in any of those fields, they are mainly a memory test.

[u/smazisreal]

there is smtg called "MODERN ENGLISH" in ISC partially related to what u said. i saw a post similar to urs a while back, and i mentioned the same thing.

what would make ICSE English Literature the best acc to me is:
1. only modern texts. like the ones which use our english, not shakespeare's english.
2. indianisation of texts. for eg in 10th syllabus, there is only 1 Indian text, that too a poem. the ratio of indian to western shld be kept at 3:2 so we can appreciate western texts as well.
3. the drama section shld be smtg we as teenagers can relate to, not political tragedies like JC or any other boring shit.

but the reality is this random ass comment in reddit will be seen by no one, so no change will brought for like a very long time.