Should High school students be required to read the "classics"?

Should high school students be required to read the "classics"?
            I don't necessarily think high school students should be forced to read classics, however, I think they should be encouraged to read them. Although many "classic" books may appear boring to many of them, they do contain important ideas, and give an insight to different periods of time. For example, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about the roaring 20's, it explains what New York was like during that time. I personally did not really enjoy reading it, however, it did educate me about the 1920's. This is a point the article touches on, the article states, "Works of literature chosen for required high school reading lists may be chosen... to provide information on a particular era or topic" ("Should high schools require students to read the "classics"? N.A.). I also believe it is important to encourage high school students to read the "classics" because, it allows students to be introduced to important ideas and concepts. For example, How to Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, goes into detail about racial injustice in the south during the early 20th century. The concept of introducing these important events and ideas to high school students is presented in the article. The article states "Reading books that were written long ago... is partly how students learn the history of literature and important ideas" ("Should high schools require students to read the "classics"? N.A.). This quote means that, reading the "classics" can help high school students learn about important concepts and events in history.

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