Word: humming
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Unfortunately, this defect is far more crucial in the book than it is in the course. For the guts of Hum 6 (as of "Literature X" the imaginary Hum 6-ish course Brower outlines in his introduction to this volume) are not to be found here: the carefully prepared and skillfully guided discussions of a work of literature by which the students are brought to discover for themselves the subtleties of the work. Brower's idea of first year literature course doesn't rely very heavily on lectures, except as a means to introduce new students to the practice...
...what the book shows beyond any question is that Brower is sage indeed in not emphasizing lectures in "Literature X"-Hum 6. For in all but a few of these essays, the low-lying grey haze of section-man prose completely obscures the rich English literary landscape that lies somewhere below. Whatever effect Brower may predict "Literature X" will have on students, the essays in this volume--explicitly intended to demonstrate his ideas on teaching literature--ought to send him scurrying back to the old drawing board to plan a little re-tooling. The dullness of so many of these...
...assume that this passage has a meaning; and ignoring that meaning for the nonce, let us place the passage before a Hum 6 student and ask him what he makes of it. He would certainly note the vagueness of syntax, the frequent use of passive (or inactive" active) verbs; the strange shifts of person; the lack of any tone or speaker's authority; the fatigued manner in which the author goes from critical alternative to alternative; and, if our imaginary student was gifted in the gentle art of placing in context, he might note that this vocabulary and syntax occurs...
...were discussing, or the method they were using to discuss it. If told that the authors of these pieces were people whose job it was to demonstrate the rewards open to anyone who devotes himself to literature as an amateur (in the strict sense of the word), our imaginary Hum 6 student would no doubt be astonished, since it was precisely the inappropriateness of flat tone to exciting subject matter that struct him--a fledgling amateur--most sharply...
...that is, finally, the most basic weakness of this collection: It is inconceivable that it would interest anyone coming to it without the experience of Hum 6 to teach him to make allowances. In Defense of Reading simply doesn't work as one of Brower's attempts to spread his ideas and win support for them...