Today’s Booking Through Thursday question is:

“How would a teen-age boy who is going to work with his hands ever use Literature of England in his work?”
The age-old “How am I going to use this in real life?” question. How would you answer it?

I always hated that question, even in high school. Mostly, I hated the confrontational aspect of it. It also just seemed rude, especially when asked of teachers who obviously loved their subjects. I love the bird house that you built in Shop Class because you built it. You can at least be polite in Algebra I and American Lit. The world is a brighter place when we all appreciate each other’s passions.

One of my high school English teachers is on Facebook and I’ve had a couple of revelations from her. One was her appreciation for the sometimes denigrated practice of tracking students in high school. She took great pride in teaching students who were never going to read Shakespeare to appreciate other things to read. She also commented recently that she was pleased to see how often her former students mention reading books in their Facebook status updates.

From that, I guess my real answer to the question is that you don’t know the future and neither do I. Let’s provide you with as many skills as we can so that you can build houses and enjoy a good book.

How would you answer that question? Check the comments of today’s Booking Through Thursday post for more answers.