LogFAQs > #961339108

Doe posted...

There are and many of them are taught in schools, but no the average thriller or romance etc is not exactly profound.

And almost all the other typical high school English classic novels are more interesting reads than Scarlet Letter. Maybe not "profound" in the same way as Scarlet Letter, but novels like Lord of the Flies, 1984, Heart of Darkness, Red Badge of Courage, Catch in the Rye, Grapes of Wrath, Brave New World all have an important message and are actually interesting the read.

Scarlet Letter is only still read in high school English classes for one reason. It is easy. There is a lot of blatant symbolism that lazy teachers can spend and entire week of class on. It has been taught for decades so they can just print out their same old tests, quizzes, and writing prompts and sit around doing nothing.