Readng and Writing: part II

Perhaps I was a little harsh on our Angus Ross Prize winner. It's a wonderful achievement for Singapore and for Candice Wan, and she does encourage students to "be adventurous; be excited about taking education into your own hands and venturing out into the vast oceans of knowledge out there."

But - there's always a "but" - I hold my ground on the issue of reading novels.

I'm a huge advocate of reading, and for years, the National Library has been urging people to read, so I truly hope these few lines from our Angus Ross Prize winner won't undo a huge part of that work. Candice Wan had a perfect opportunity to speak up for reading and literature, but she blew it. She might have even set a bad example for younger students and readers. They could very well assume that you don't need to read to do well for the English Literature paper. Maybe it's partially true, but not reading will set you back in the long journey of becoming a better writer, which is more important than the grade you get for Literature at "A" Levels.

Reading Lolita in Tehran, a memoir about literature, reading, and the risks people will take to keep reading splendid novels, is a testament to the enduring value of fiction. It's a huge disappointment that someone who's as gifted as Candice Wan very quickly brushed aside a whole genre.

We study English Literature in schools, but we don't always know why we do it. I had to figure out for myself why the subject is so important. Too many teachers are eager to help students score well in examinations and forget to explain why we're in such classes in the first place. What's worse is that many schools have dropped Literature from the syllabus. Perhaps we need to slow down a little and teach the love of words and knowledge alongside the study of Literature.

Posted by Monoceros at March 28, 2005 12:56 PM