August 31 2017

Kathaleen McDonald

Dr. Wielgos

Senior Seminar

31 August 2017

Response 1: A (Very) Brief Look at the History of Literary Studies in the U.S.

            The common theme among the six articles was that English is a vital part of our culture that should be taught at every educational level. H. C. G. Brandt, James Morgan Hart, Th. W. Hunt, John Churton Collins, Charles Hall Grandgent, and Richard Ohmann all approach the importance of teaching English studies differently, but they all boil down to how incredibly important English studies is in our current society. Although I didn’t need to be told this twice, I did like and appreciate the different standpoints, and now I have even more reasons to study English I can tell my future students.

            The message I took away from Brandt’s “How Far Should Our Teaching and Text-Books Have a Scientific Basis?” is that English can be viewed as a science, with formulas and applications similar to the sciences that are valued more than English. Brandt says early on in his piece that “All teaching should start from a strictly scientific basis, and all aids in teaching, the text-books, reference books, etc., should be constructed upon a strictly scientific basis (57). I never really considered English as scientific, but Brandt argues that there are elements of English that can be considered scientific, such as phonetics. Brandt also says that “By basing our instruction and text-books upon a scientific ground-work, our department and our profession gain dignity and weight” (59). I agree that comparing English to the sciences in that they both share formulas and similar elements would make it easier to dignify English studies, but I don’t think that English needs to be scientific to earn dignity and weight.

            Hart’s argument in “The College Course in English Literature, How It May Be Improved” is more geared toward the benefits of teaching literature in the classroom. He proposes that in order to teach English, we must have a history of England adapted to literary study, a “general treatise upon the foreign relations of English literature” (91), and convenient handbooks of English metres (90-92). Although this is late nineteenth-century thinking, I think some of it reigns true today. Having a history of England and the time period of the novel is vital to understanding the literature of the time. I think how it was received is also very important to understand when reading, and having a handbook handy (no pun intended) always helps. I think Hart makes some very good points, and that his points have been added to many English curricula.

            Hart touches specifically on the place of English in the college curriculum, and he argues that “English should have ‘equal academic value’ in the schedule with any other department of value” (xiii). This is so utterly and completely true, since the benefits of English, in my opinion, greatly outweigh the benefits of math or physics in the real world (when am I going to use calculus in my everyday life anyway?). Being able to interpret text and write effectively is something everyone uses every day, and I think more colleges and high schools are realizing this and making English a fundamental and prominent place in their students’ education.

            Churton Collins recognizes the importance of teaching English studies, he believes that the teaching of literature specifically is what is most beneficial. He says “Literature [is] an instrument of culture” (9) and that “there is no branch of education in a more flourishing condition or more full of promise for the future” (17). He argues that if literature, especially the Classics, isn’t taught, that only anarchy can ensue. Although this sounds a little absurd, in looking at today’s world, it seems like a lot of wrong that is going on in our country and in the world is due to a lot of ignorance that English studies taught in schools correctly could have prevented.

            Hall Grandgent’s short article “The Dark Ages” claims that in order “to provide for our secondary schools a competent and effective body of teachers of English, French and German is one of the most important practical tasks of our universities throughout the land” (1770). Although I can’t speak for French and German, there are numerous benefits to being immersed in English studies. As I said before, reading and writing are invaluable in today’s society, and the more one knows about English, the benefits can only increase.

            Finally, Ohmann’s “The Function of English at the Present Time” makes one of the most significant statements out of the six articles: “the humanities well taught can make students ‘become participants in a common culture’” (14). One of biggest reasons I love literature so much is because it connects us to each other, shows us that we are all not so different. If we teach literature and teach it well, imagine how much empathy we would all have.

            Although most of these articles were written over a hundred years ago, their themes and arguments are still relevant today. English is a subject that has innumerable benefits, and the fact that so many institutions don’t see this is extremely concerning. I hope that one day, we will live in a society where English is valued as it should be.