I think English should remain compulsory because:
- With the rise of AI, a lot of individuals are losing their critical thinking skills, when someone reads a text and it says "I had often watched a large dog of ours eating his food; and I now noticed a decided similarity between the dog's way of eating, and the man's," you'll be surprised by how many (including coolcat probably) won't be able to understand that the comparison of the man to the dog is revealing the extent in which poverty can dehumanise someone. The understanding of text is critical for humans as it dervies us from animals; it is important and should be compulsory. If you think otherwise it's probably:
1. you can't understand texts to a sophistacted way WHICH IS 100% FINE (i mean i needed tutoring) or
2. you are unwilling to understand the texts
- Our world is built upon societies that require communication; we don't live in the stone ages where someone can leave and live on their own for God knows how long and then tragically die. We are intertwined within a web of communication. As such, texts allow for our communication as it explores the depths of human emotions (yes a reference to Common Mod sorry gang) and collaboration. In other words, understanding and analysing texts make it easier for us to communicate. When reading a text and it says "In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong." We can understand that we live in a society where acting against what is deemed appropriate can diminish all opionions and actions of others. The character here wanted to acknowledge his wrongdoings to his trusted adult but was 'too cowardly' to do so because the 'mistake' is not socially acceptable to begin with. [note: the mistake is giving the poor man (the one mentioned above) food] Essentially, the understanding of human emtions and thoughts (though most of them are fictional) allows reader to be able to communicate better as it unlocks the reasons behind why people do stuff and how to react.
- As draining as HSC English can be (whichever stage), a lot of students misunderstand the reason behind why the syllabus is built so. Why is English so hard? Why do I need to still care about Shakespeare? What makes 'this' English so important? Can't we just have basic reading comprehension? Well, no.
Here is a question for you then: why is Biology about plants and Charles Darwin? Why can't it be ONLY about the human body? Well, because we are not the only species on Earth. Acting as if we are will only lead to exploitation of the planet, plants and animals; we must understand their presence and significance to be able continue living peacefully.
The same is for English. It is not a subject only about the reading and enjoying the read; it's about understanding the purpose of the author. The reason why is it humourous/sad/happy/romantic etc. As humans, we are created in a way that we are able to understand the distress or the situation of someone only from their eyes. So why not translate that into words? Texts do not exist only for leisure reading, but to communicate issues within societies. The example above of the man talks about poverty; the one of the boy is about his self-reflection regarding his actions. Another example is: "But he eyed me severely--as if I had done anything to him!" Discussing how often adults tend to throw the blame on children when it is them at fault. This reflects the issues of adults using children as 'objects' to dismantle whenever it suits them.
And although all the above texts are from Great Expectations written in 1861, it still underscores the same issues our societies face revealing that humans have not evovled.
As such, HSC English is hard yes but it is important and should be mandated. It's not like math that allows for scientific discovery and technological advancement, or biology that helps humans live with the world around us without exploitation, instead it underscores the universal idea of what it is like to be human and human evolvement over centuries (which to be frank, is slow and steady).
