Grade my synthesis essay pls
Literature in High schools are standardized by boards into anthologies, a list of required readings that are part of the English Curriculum. Although there is value in mandating the consumption of certain novels and texts, the selection of standardized literature for anthologies is systematically flawed because of its censorship and gatekeeping of texts from diverse backgrounds. Therefore, mandating books should be required but reformed to include different backgrounds of literature.
Requiring students to indulge in certain texts has immense value for the development of their minds. Some of the most popular required texts, such as *Macbeth* and *Great Gatsby* which are required titles in 84% and 54% of public schools respectively(Source B), teach incredible lessons about the power of wonder and the danger of greed. These required texts resonate with students and empower them to live better lives, make better decisions, and understand the world better because of the underlying lessons and morals of the required texts. Consequently, the gained knowledge and lessons from these texts prepare students for the challenges that they may have to face as they face the ups and downs of life. Thus, the required texts provide students with needed guidance and knowledge and can have a very influential mark on the classroom curriculum. Furthermore, requiring these historically infamous texts such as *Gatsby* and *Julius Caesar*, specifically “page” texts, exposes students to the “fixed, authoritative, canonical text” that banners the “center of Western culture”, which is slowly being consumed by “unfixed and interactive” electronic texts(Source F). Requiring the consumption of page and printed texts is valuable because it pushes students to indulge in an unreplicable literary experience that stems from the years of tradition and culture. As a result, the transition to only reading digital texts is halted, and students realize the tantalizing and addictive nature of detail oriented printed reading that is being increasingly lost due to the “unfixed” and glossable consumption of electronic reading. Therefore, the educational system requiring these books provides tremendous reinforcement of traditional literature that offers a reading experience that just cannot be measured against.
Although there is tremendous value in the requirement of literature, the selection of literature for academic anthologies is exclusionary of valuable literature on the basis of background, not importance. According to George Landow, being included in famous and reputable anthologies is merely a mark of “status and accessibility”, not of “greatness”(Source A). Further, he accounts this for the reason that “few women writers have managed to gain entrance to such anthologies”(Source A). The selection of academic literature is flawed because by purposefully excluding women the anthology does not achieve its intended purpose of highlighting valuable literature, but it adheres to rewarding status and social structures. Consequently, literature chosen may not even be the best for high schoolers because it was not pooled and selected from every possible talented applicant. Thus, by losing the valuable voices in the exclusionary methods of modern day anthologies, the standardizing of reading cannot be justified as purely beneficial. Furthermore, diverse backgrounds and authors can actually benefit a high school curriculum. Florez-Tighe argues that “culturally authentic children’s literature enhances language development and thought processes”(Source E). The adoption of multicultural literature would benefit students because of its ability to teach new perspectives and expose students to new lessons, such as self worth, that may have failed to be addressed by only relying on western literature. As a result, in order to truly benefit children and their relationship with reading, standardized literature should be required, but the selection process should be reformed to include diverse backgrounds.