Encroachment
It's ridiculous, if you ask me; a young man who, until quite recently, had not mastered the use of articles is suddenly planning to become an English major and a Writing minor. Doesn't he know the sort of prowess and mental acuity required of English majors? Doesn't he know that he'll have me to compete with?
The English department has never been Wash U's most competitive department; the general sentiment is that anyone who completes the requirements should pass, and that anyone who passes the right number of classes should get a major. I have been pushing, since arriving last year, for a system more resembling Wash U's premedical program; something a little more dog-eat-dog.
The assumption is that the world needs doctors of a certain caliber, and so it isn't always enough to know 80% of all the facts presented to you; rather, you have to know more than 80% of your peers. The idea is that people's lives are too valuable to put in the hands of just anyone, no matter what their capabilities may be. I feel this is the correct way to approach literature.
People will scoff, I realize, and utter nonsense about "life and death" but I will scoff in return. A life wasted awash with shoddy literature should be treated as seriously as a terminal illness. We can't allow amateurs to step in and dilute the hard work of hundreds of generations.
It should not be possible for every student in a class to get an A. The students with the worst work should fail, even if the work is deemed acceptable. Some will say that the public will recognize the talented and shun the worthless, but I hold that society does not.... can not know how to discriminate unless they are properly instructed. In the last 50 years, the rise of hack authors has risen astronomically, and they have begun to take over the industry; Tan, King, Crichton, Rowling.... some of the most easily recognized names in modern literature, also easily the worst writers of our time. And I'm supposed to stand by, take my courses, earn my credits, and fade into the backdrop like every decent author of our time, while the next Wipidowski novel sells out in bookstores, grocery stores and Wal-Marts across the country?
No! There must be a hierarchical measure of achievement! The threshold system must fall, or the bar must be raised drastically, before we contribute another overly-ambitious amateur to the world of fiction.
That is all.
The English department has never been Wash U's most competitive department; the general sentiment is that anyone who completes the requirements should pass, and that anyone who passes the right number of classes should get a major. I have been pushing, since arriving last year, for a system more resembling Wash U's premedical program; something a little more dog-eat-dog.
The assumption is that the world needs doctors of a certain caliber, and so it isn't always enough to know 80% of all the facts presented to you; rather, you have to know more than 80% of your peers. The idea is that people's lives are too valuable to put in the hands of just anyone, no matter what their capabilities may be. I feel this is the correct way to approach literature.
People will scoff, I realize, and utter nonsense about "life and death" but I will scoff in return. A life wasted awash with shoddy literature should be treated as seriously as a terminal illness. We can't allow amateurs to step in and dilute the hard work of hundreds of generations.
It should not be possible for every student in a class to get an A. The students with the worst work should fail, even if the work is deemed acceptable. Some will say that the public will recognize the talented and shun the worthless, but I hold that society does not.... can not know how to discriminate unless they are properly instructed. In the last 50 years, the rise of hack authors has risen astronomically, and they have begun to take over the industry; Tan, King, Crichton, Rowling.... some of the most easily recognized names in modern literature, also easily the worst writers of our time. And I'm supposed to stand by, take my courses, earn my credits, and fade into the backdrop like every decent author of our time, while the next Wipidowski novel sells out in bookstores, grocery stores and Wal-Marts across the country?
No! There must be a hierarchical measure of achievement! The threshold system must fall, or the bar must be raised drastically, before we contribute another overly-ambitious amateur to the world of fiction.
That is all.
posted by Alfonzo Debussy | 1:16 PM
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