Question

What does the author see as the main cause for why students don’t really see Shakespeare as a real, flawed human being?

We shouldn’t shy away from discussing our literary heroes’ flaws. If nothing else, the knowledge of their failures help us appreciate what success and greatness these authors did achieve. Often our hero-worship keeps us from truly seeing the complexity of a great author. Thus, I would argue, nothing would be better for high school students than to take Shakespeare down a peg or two.


A) the fact that students never learn enough about Shakespeares biography

B) the fact that students only read Shakespeare’s comedies while in school

C) the fact that students are never assigned to read any Shakespeare while in high school

D) the fact that students only read Shakespeare’s greatest works in school and thus never see his weaknesses

Answer 1

D) the fact that students only read Shakespeare’s greatest works in school and thus never see his weaknesses

In the passage, the author states that "We shouldn't shy away from discussing our literary heroes' flaws...the knowledge of their failures helps us appreciate what success and greatness these authors did achieve." So often in school only the greatest of Shakespeare's works are studied or even brought to the attention of students. It is very rare that one of Shakespeare's lesser known or almost forgotten works is studied. For this reason, students never see his weaknesses as a dramatist and poet. This is the reason he is not seen as a real, flawed human being.

Answer 2

Answer:

D) the fact that students only read Shakespeare’s greatest works in school and thus never see his weaknesses

Explanation:

The correct answer is the fact that students only read Shakespeare’s greatest works in school and thus never see his weaknesses. The author clearly sees merit in studying some of Shakespeare’s lesser known and less successful plays because they will allow students to see that Shakespeare is both human and yet attained greatness in his work.