Republicans Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens
I don’t know how I missed this story, but it’s good one. Just reminds me that I am not the only one who acts like a child some times… but these guys aren’t drunk, or at least they are not supposed to be.
The Disadvantages of an Elite Education
Interesting essay by a Yale English professor that has been known to not mince words when giving his opinions. I didn’t go to any of the Ivys that he mentions in the article, but Duke is close enough. I agree with much of what he says about the state of the academy, even back when I was in school. I especially find his idea that elite schools are virtually becoming glorified vocational schools now. I don’t agree with the part that elite education making a person an elitist:
My education taught me to believe that people who didn’t go to an Ivy League or equivalent school weren’t worth talking to, regardless of their class. I was given the unmistakable message that such people were beneath me.
As this response to the article says:
Okay, that is not a function of your education. That is a function of you being a douchebag.
Why Poetry Matters
I thought this was going to be something else. From the listing on Arts & Letters Daily:
In the 19th century, poetry had a mass audience… But in the 20th century, poetry decided to get “difficult,” to require footnotes…
I’ve heard Ted Kooser talk about how poetry became an elitist enterprise largely because poets, those who teach poetry, and those who write about it have in essence actively created a exclusive air and community around poetry. The way that it is taught makes kids not want to read it, especially once they are out of school and no longer have to, so poetry becomes less and less popular and siginificant.
I really like poetry. There are more poems than I can count on my hands that have literally changed my life (The Emperor of Ice Cream, Corso’s Marriage, Howl, etc.). The article makes a good case as to why we shoudl still care about poetry, but I was hoping to read a little more of a critique of the poetry establishment.
I’ll see if I can’t find some Kooser quotes to hold me over.
Inspired by a Bunny Wabbit
And if reference to one former U.S. poet laureate wasn’t enough to establish how serious my interest in poetry is, here’s an article from another poet laureate about how Loony Toons played a big part in his artistic growth.
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