Word: grammars
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...teach enough of Middle English to enable the student to read the poetry with ease and enjoyment, a course similar in scope and design to Mr. Kittredge's English 2. But as the weeks go by the undergraduate finds himself floundering in a sea of Middle English grammar and philology, half of which is of no interest or value whatsoever to him, and encumbered with a mass of erudition which impedes rather than aids his enjoyment of the reading...
...situation is not primarily the fault of those in charge of the course; but is due rather to a confusion of motives and needs resulting from the mingling of graduates and undergraduates. The Chaucerian philology and grammar and scholarship which is necessary to the graduate kills the beginner's pleasure in the poetry. One of the best means of fulfilling the requirement of the English Department for one course in Pre-Shakespearian literature is a year of Chaucer. There are already graduate courses in the field, for example, English 4 (Middle English: Language and Literature from...
...candidates for the A.B. degree should be examined upon entrance for a knowledge of the grammar and literature of Latin. There are admittedly fields of study in the liberal arts where Latin is of no immediate advantage. But there are many departments, such as English and the Romance Languages, in which its importance cannot be ignored, and surely it is a handicap in none of them. More significant, however, is the value of Latin as a means to mental training in the secondary schools. No readier index exists to the quality of a secondary school preparing for a liberal arts...
...times, and that comprehensive knowledge he manifestly does not have. He gets around this shortcoming, and incidentally improves the product immensely, by leaving Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare, and Jesus Christ out of the work. No expedient so simple can rid him either of his appalling ignorance of grammar, or of his incredibly jejune fancy. Yet there is in this work an ideology for above that of the common popular work; the "Outline of Heaver" would make a good Christmas present for anyone's recalcitrant goody...
...statement has often been justly made that language courses fail to give a student a sufficiently up-to-date knowledge of a tongue. All such a course does is teach grammar, prescribe a number of books, and include some conversation in the daily lesson. Of course, the grammar taught is standard and the books read are classics. The argument is that if one is to learn a language, he might as well know it in its perfect form. However, this method of teaching deprives the student of much of the color and life of a language. The classical prose...