Jack Kerouac's Back to School Blues

I know you guys dig the written word, so I thought I'd scratch a couple lines down about reading and school and how they clash.

We explicate
poems
ripping all the raw beauty
from each letter like
Beowulf
ripping Grendel's skull
from his monstrous frame
keeping his brain
for a trophy.

If you're drowning in a school swamp of classic epic muck that you don't dig, jot down some lines that vibe to stay alive. Can ya dig it?

-Jack Kerouac

Textbook Choice

Dear Professors,

I understand that giving your students a varied taste of genre or period of literature is important; however, I do not believe that Norton Anthologies are the end-all, be-all of literary collections. They tend to choose the tried and true pieces of each era, good for introductory courses, but where is the representation of the radical, the innovator, the minority in many of these anthologies?



As an upper-level English student, I feel I'm ready to take on not just Dickinson, Whitman, Eliot, or Mallory, but the more obscure authors whom you refer to constantly without regard as to whether we students have read them.

I guess, what I'm trying to say is: Give our wallets, our back, and our minds a break and find a new anthology. Maybe even one online--maybe not, I can hear your gasps of horror from here...

Sincerely,

Allen Ginsberg

Content vs. Format

One Student's Story

I made a C on my research paper. I don't make C's on research papers.

I analyzed 4 poems by the poet, showing how the poems were a process of the poet becoming a leader for his people. I used 10 sources; 7-8 were required. My prof made my works cited page bleed with graphite as he corrected the listings of my resources (use "P" for "Press"). My word choice was ridiculed and corrected more than once. Besides these markings, I cannot read the supposed-to-be useful comments written in the margins of my paper. These comments are supposed to be where I figure out how I earned the grade I was given.


I know a lot about the poet I chose to write about. I know his work, his style, his background. I planned this paper- researching, writing- way in advance.

It did not deserve a C. But at least it was a C+...right? Did I earn this grade because I'm a bad writer? No- Because I didn't take my time? No- Because it was shit? No. I didn't fulfill the page requirement to avoid that. Only made it to 6 1/2.

Then why? Because my works cited page needed some revisions; because I chose to word things differently than the professor preferred? Is good analysis being overlooked because the priority is given to the format?

Thanks to guest contributor Gwendolyn Brooks for this post.

Eager to Evaluate

Professor evaluations have been wrapping up all over campus this week. In the English department, this means that colleagues of my professors come in (some of whom I’ve had before) to cross their arms, lean their hips against the desk, and stare me down until I hand over the bubble sheet unable to look them in the eye. The multiple choice, generic evaluation sheet consisting of about twenty-five questions on whether a professor performs a certain duty “most of the time, more than half the time, only half the time, etc.” is of little consequence either way.

They are scanned by computers, worked up into what I’m sure are boring reports, and then recycled (I hope). The reports go into the cavernous dark of file drawers, not likely to see the light of day unless tenure applications are being reviewed or a complaint has been filed. The real money is in the half sheets of copy paper handed out to air grievances, and less often commendations, which are not covered sufficiently by a “almost never” response on the bubble sheet.

“Does the professor build a sense of respect in the class room?” This is one of the questions I feel isn’t done justice with an A, B, or C answer. It’s a college classroom, so of course, I would hope that every student there has respect for the professor. That is not the issue. Does the professor respect his or her students is the underlying question to me. In the English department, I sadly must answer on the negative side more often than not.

It seems to me that many of our professors are either consciously or subconsciously under the impression that their students are not on the same intellectual level as themselves. I do concede that most, if not all, of these people have their doctorates and have studied literature for much longer than I myself have, but it is possible that, in my fresh and less academic view of poetry, drama, and fiction, I might be able to see a different, yet valid, interpretation of a piece. When my interpretation is shot down with a simple blank stare or a scoffing no and without an explanation supported by the text, I consider this a grave sign of disrespect. Until the logic behind them is disproved, my ideas are just as valid as those of the professor and his anthology.

How many of the poets and fiction writers and dramatists that we study had doctorate degrees? It doesn't always take a doctorate to understand the concepts found in literature; it seems like it does, however, take a doctorate to make some professors forget that they were once students, too.

Thanks to guest contributor Allen Ginsberg for this post.

Literature Express

One Student's Story

We had to write five full-blown essays--intro, body, conclusion--in 50 minutes! It's hard enough to remember everything you think and you've learned about the stories and poems on the spot, but who can write five essays in 50 minutes?!

My hand starts cramping, I start writing empty phrases and generic sentences (all of which I know are just filler) because if I take the time I need to articulate my thoughts in a clear, organized manner, I'll only have half the essays done. Maybe not even that many.

Now all I can remember are the empty phrases, the things I really didn't think about the literature but scribbled down on the test so I could finish it.

How It's Written

One Student's Story

The professor always asked, "What kind of poem is this?" or "Do you know what kind of story this is?"

Sestina, Pantoum, Villanelle...Flash Fiction, Metafiction, Dirty Realism.

I'd never even heard of a Sestina, but apparently I'd read tons of them.

No one knew the answers. They never teach us about how anything is written, just what it means once it's put in the Norton. Just footnotes and allusions. That's it.

Ginsberg the Great

"A word on the Academies: poetry has been attacked by an ignorant and frightened bunch of bores who don't understand how it's made, and the trouble with these creeps is they wouldn't know poetry if it came up and buggered them in broad daylight."

-Allen Ginsberg 1959

Pop Quiz Poetry

One Student's Story

In a 3000-level English class I was tested over the first lines of the poems we read in class.

I made an A.

Writing "Among the rain" under the title of a poem didn't teach me anything.

I mimicked everything. I learned nothing.

What is Engfish?

Welcome to Death 2 Engfish, a blog designed to enlighten students about English, and more specifically, the English department at the University of Central Arkansas. The majority of the blog posts will be devoted to the discussion of the areas in which UCA's English department can be improved and the ways in which some sort of change can be administered.

Ken Macrorie defines Engfish as "a language in which fresh truth is almost impossible to express." He further explains it as "a feel-nothing, say-nothing language, dead like Latin, devoid of rhythms of contemporary speech. A dialect in which words are almost never 'attached to things,' as Emerson said the should be."

So what the hell does that mean? Engfish is the language students use to "b.s." research papers that they care nothing about. Engfish is meaningless regurgitation written for tell me what this means essay tests. Engfish is academic dialect that English students are forced to use when talking about texts that range from classical to post-modern.

Why does it matter? Because it's hard to truly learn about literature when you are never asked or allowed to write about it how you would really talk about it. Or when the focus is only on interpretation, not immitating the authors. It's like sports: you don't really know everything about a sport unless you've tried playing it.

As English majors or minors--or just visiting English students--you have the right to offer your own interpretation of a text without having it rejected! Too often professors just want to lecture their own interpretation of a work, leaving no room for opposing theories or for healthy classroom discussion.

Writing is a free expression of ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Writing is Literature and Literature is formed by Writing. So...it should be explored and taught as freely as it is formed.

It's 2009. My cell phone is touch screen, and my president is black...but English classes just aren't changing. It's time to catch up. It's time for professors to stop teaching like they're reading from scrolls and for students to realize that this is not the way it's supposed to be. Literature is crying out from the Norton Anthology pages to be liberated!

How about a revolution? Maybe all that can be done is some serious head-turning. But maybe not. Maybe a whisper can turn into hum...into a rattle...into a ROAR. The same generation of people that elected Barack Obama president should be able to bring about some more Change, don't you think?

Comment or email Death2Engfish@gmail.com to see what you can do to help start the revolution.