A teacher is more likely to assign a major essay and exam in conjunction with a core work like The Odyssey than with a non-core Native American folk tale, indicating to students the superiority of The Odyssey as a work of literature. Before Dying These core readings are rooted in tradition. And the list at my high school is certainly not unique. In schools across the entire county, traditionally canonical texts like Shakespearean plays and classic British and American novels form the basis of most core reading lists. The reasons for this relatively stagnant canon are many and complex.
Teachers have limited time and resources for developing new lessons plans.
Parents exert subtle and sometimes not so subtle pressures to teach the canon. In the eleventh grade, they are tested again in English. When the students first took these tests back in 1998, the results were troubling. Schools must pass these tests. In addition, any student not passing all four SOL tests will not receive a diploma, starting with the class of 2004.