ELT W5 Assignment - Defending an opinion on selecting literature

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When selecting teaching materials, a teacher usually puts at least two aspects into consideration: attractiveness and appropriateness. Each work has its own unique style and has different points pertaining to these two aspects; but, I would recommend “To a Daughter Leaving Home” to high school students because of its empathic benefits and appropriateness in language.

It strongly attracts the readers as it assumes a very common situation that is quite probable in the past and also likely to happen in the future: raising a child. Along with its simulation, the narrator effectively depicts his emotion as he monopolizes like “my own mouth rounding in surprise” and “like a handkerchief waving goodbye.” These factors draw attention from the readers and enable them to empathize with the narrator in depth.

In addition, the poem benefits high school students in affective aspects. Its theme, the parent’s concern and sincere love toward his child, is something that most students forgot driven to today’s highly competitive atmosphere and something to be restored. Therefore, the message of the poem is even meaningful to those students; they are given a chance to recall how they were raised, and realize the parental love.

Lastly, not only the message but also the language of the poem is proper for high school students. The poem includes a couple of essential prefabricated expressions like “I kept waiting” and “with distance.” The general level of vocabulary used is also apt for the students; it is not too difficult, but at the same time, there are several advanced vocabularies like “wobble” and “flapping.”

To sum up, the poem “To a Daughter Leaving Home” is an attractive poem having a style that elicits empathy, which is beneficial for students in affective aspects. Plus, the language in the poem is greatly helpful for them and is at the right level - moderate but challenging enough. For these reasons, I strongly argue that “To a Daughter Leaving Home” is highly recommended literature, especially for high school students.