literature: October 2007 Archives

A provocative article that lays out much of my own viewpoints on the dumbing down of the American education system, and how it's churning out a lot of children completely unequipped with an understanding of basic concepts:

He cites studies, reports, hard data, from the appalling effects of television on child brain development (i.e.; any TV exposure before 6 years old and your kid's basic cognitive wiring and spatial perceptions are pretty much scrambled for life), to the fact that, because of all the insidious mandatory testing teachers are now forced to incorporate into the curriculum, of the 182 school days in a year, there are 110 when such testing is going on somewhere at Oakland High. As one of his colleagues put it, "It's like weighing a calf twice a day, but never feeding it."

But most of all, he simply observes his students, year to year, noting all the obvious evidence of teens' decreasing abilities when confronted with even the most basic intellectual tasks, from understanding simple history to working through moderately complex ideas to even (in a couple recent examples that particularly distressed him) being able to define the words "agriculture," or even "democracy." Not a single student could do it.

I'm amazed every day by how little incoming freshmen at the college I work for know - from basic scientific principles like the behaviour of forces, to how to write an analytical essay. It's ridiculous.

Capitalism has wasted no time in grabbing the opportunity presented by J.K. Rowling's revelation. You can now get Dumbledore pride t-shirts, with part of the proceeds donated to GLAAD.

The world of Harry Potter fan fiction just got a little bit of a treat. J.K Rowling outed character Albus Dumbledore as gay on Friday after a reading of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

"Dumbledore is gay," the author responded to gasps and applause.

She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. "Falling in love can blind us to an extent," Rowling said of Dumbledore's feelings, adding that Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down."

Rowling goes on to take another jab at the Christian right, which has been vocally critical of her books.

Thank you to everyone that pointed out this story to me.

Doris Lessing, having recently won the Nobel Prize in Literature, had some great choice quotes to say regarding the honour:

Oh Christ! ... I couldn't care less...

I'm 88 years old and they can't give the Nobel to someone who's dead, so I think they were probably thinking they'd probably better give it to me now before I've popped off...

I'm already thinking about all the people who are going to send me begging letters. I can see them lining up now.

She sounds like exactly the kind of cynical old woman I would love to have a cup of tea with. Via kottke.org.