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You are thumbing through an old copy of a magazine and you come across a familiar name, Jorge Luis Borges. He was an Argentine writer who visited Mallory College on a national tour 30 years ago. On his return to Argentina, he made a statement from which the magazine quotes. This is the quote that catches your eye:
American college students are extraordinarily ignorant. They read only what they must to pass or what the professors choose. Otherwise, they are totally dedicated to television, to baseball and football.The United States has lost the literary tradition that produced such writers as Emerson, Thoreau, Melville and Frost.
American college students are extraordinarily ignorant. They read only what they must to pass or what the professors choose. Otherwise, they are totally dedicated to television, to baseball and football.
The United States has lost the literary tradition that produced such writers as Emerson, Thoreau, Melville and Frost.
You check the clips and find a brief story about his speaking to English classes at Mallory. You then call the English department, and the chairman, Samuel Ward, tells you the department was the host for Sr. Borges' visit. In answer to your question about the writer's reactions, Ward says:
Yes, I remember the article. Like all generalizations, there was truth and untruth in it, and there still is.I've been teaching here and elsewhere in colleges for 33 years and clearly students are not as well read today as their parents were.Class discussions are not as lively. Sometimes you feel as though you are striking a hollow object. All you hear is your own thumping.You know, I find something fascinating happening now in the written work I receive. The imagery is from television and movie characters. Whereas we used to have references to the Bible, Shakespeare and mythology, or characters from fairy tales or from Hemingway, we now have these entertainment personalities.As someone who doesn't watch television much, I'm unable to cope with these compositions. Not much has changed since Borges made his observations.Each year, we go into class hoping it will be different. I'm not a pessimist. It may be wishful thinking, but I have to think we will return to our tradition of Emerson, Thoreau and the other great writers of our past.
Yes, I remember the article. Like all generalizations, there was truth and untruth in it, and there still is.
I've been teaching here and elsewhere in colleges for 33 years and clearly students are not as well read today as their parents were.
Class discussions are not as lively. Sometimes you feel as though you are striking a hollow object. All you hear is your own thumping.
You know, I find something fascinating happening now in the written work I receive. The imagery is from television and movie characters. Whereas we used to have references to the Bible, Shakespeare and mythology, or characters from fairy tales or from Hemingway, we now have these entertainment personalities.
As someone who doesn't watch television much, I'm unable to cope with these compositions. Not much has changed since Borges made his observations.
Each year, we go into class hoping it will be different. I'm not a pessimist. It may be wishful thinking, but I have to think we will return to our tradition of Emerson, Thoreau and the other great writers of our past.
Write 250 to 300 words for The Freeport News or Channel 7.
