The mistake with high school literature in my opinion is that it tries to cover too many works. My freshman year, we read Shakespeare, the Odyssey, Catcher in t

The mistake with high school literature in my opinion is that it tries to cover too many works. My freshman year, we read Shakespeare, the Odyssey, Catcher in the Rye, and more. We should have started with Greek mythology and learned who the gods were. Then learned about the hero’s from the various myths. Then moved onto the Iliad, and finally the Odyssey. Instead, I had to read the Odyssey and write a paper on it without proper context. The people who listened to the Odyssey in Ancient Greece were very familiar with the myths and Greek gods. My teacher did a good job laying the groundwork, but I still think something was lost by not going through the previous works. Ancient Greek literature and oral tradition deserves a much more complete course. The following year we could have probably moved onto Shakespeare and discussed which plays were inspired by which Ancient Greek myths. Rather than checking off boxes to say we read all the great books, we could have developed a more natural ability to analyze works and understand influences. Pulls, I believe certain books such as the Great Gatsby are probably better appreciated in college when the reader is a bit older.