Studying Literature in Grade 12 The works of different non-Canadian authors, writers, and playwrights such as Steinbeck, Orwell and Shakespeare have been widely used in English classrooms. While bright writers exist in all cultures, Ontario students should solely focus on Canadian writers. As Canadians, it is essential to become more familiar with writings one can call their own. Senior students in Ontario should solely study Canadian literature because writings from other cultures are being studied far too frequently, it is important to encourage young Canadian authors, and the need to promote diverse, home-grown writers is escalating. To begin, focusing on Canadian literature for English students is significant because they are constantly overwhelmed by the American culture. This is often prevalent in Canada because the culture has always been a “branch plant” of another country. Canadian culture has never had the chance to fully blossom since it has always been under the thumb of a more powerful foreign culture since its conception, notably England and France. For this reason, high school students living in Ontario are forced to succumb to Shakespeare and other British writers. These days, even American authors such as Fitzgerald can be found in classrooms all across Canada. Unfortunately, many schools continue to limit a student’s exposure within the classroom to Canadian authors’ works to ISP (Independent Study Project) reading lists. In this sense, Canada is an attic in which educators have stored American and British literature on shelves while Canadian novels are tossed aside. 1It comes as no surprise why Canadians have problems appreciating their culture. It is difficult for students to connect to some great Canadian novels because the ones being studied tend to be very old-fashioned and out of date. Not to discredit any of the following, but extraordinary