The Death of the English Degree, Brought on by Critical Analysis

[TheBlackAdder]

34. A few retorts:

1) Each school system is different. Where you might teach a rewrite of "Twelfth Night," it might not be to the level I am actually referring to. In any event, the skills that I discussed with other students were skills that they and I are all lacking in, as intakes from various school districts and states. So, your state and school district might be pioneering on this one aspect, especially if it's at the AP levels my kids take and have taken, but standard track Academic Level and some Honors level high school programs, from multiple states, does not teach this. Many of the students taking English did not concentrate on it in high school. The point is, we're in college now and those skills are needed, especially when most every student I've conversed with state that they desire this training.

2) The Critical Methods courses in college teach the various literary devices and stylistic techniques. The analysis is expected at that level, not just summary input.

3) NJ State universities are relatively consistent in their approaches, possibly following some State D.o.E. edict.

4) As stated earlier, Critical Methods is an important concept and trait that is also needed with elective courses. Once critical analysis is mastered, there is no need to force 6-7 critical analysis papers each month with zero creative submissions. If one's goal is to work for a business or be a technical writer or op-ed, then critical analysis and news copy training is required and should be reinforced, but the regular English student wants to develop creative abilities. Unfortunately, you confuse the concept of critical analysis with the ability to think for oneself. In order for a person to think for oneself, they should not be confined to a rigid format that is expressly utilized by academia for peer-reviewed papers. Writing a five page critical analysis paper takes roughly one to two hours because it's the same thought processes and methods. Creating a unique conceptual work that is solid can take many days. Critical analysis forces a narrow skill set onto the student and it gradually affects their ability to creatively write--especially when they aren't taught creative writing skills or allowed to develop them. As someone mentioned above, it's probably easier for a professor to grade the same set of papers than to receive varying forms and structures that may or may not appeal to the professor, since personal taste would then enter into the grading equation.