Monday, May 29, 2006
L.A. Times- In English, But Still Unintelligible
- By Warner Todd Huston
On May 24th, the L.A. Times printed the oddest Opinion Editorial on the subject of making English the national language. "American Spoken Here" was written by David Eggenschwiler, professor emeritus of English at USC, but I defy anyone to tell me what the thing was really about? (For article Click here)
For a professor of English, Eggenschwiler didn't express himself very well, it's sad to say, and after reading -- and re-reading -- the good Professor's piece I was struck by the fact that it isn't clear at all what he was on about. I suppose, though, that one might be a fine professor of English yet still not be much of a creative writer. At least, I hope that this is possible. In any case, it is hard to decipher if he was being sarcastic, sincere or jocular.
One thing was clearly discernible, though. It is obvious that Eggenschwiler feels patriotism equates to ignorance.
"Ignorance is not only bliss but also patriotism", Eggenschwiler clumsily wrote after recounting a meeting with a student who complained that a novel had too many foreign words contained in the text for her to understand the story. This aside of his seemed gratuitous, as well....................................
Click HERE To Read On
On May 24th, the L.A. Times printed the oddest Opinion Editorial on the subject of making English the national language. "American Spoken Here" was written by David Eggenschwiler, professor emeritus of English at USC, but I defy anyone to tell me what the thing was really about? (For article Click here)
For a professor of English, Eggenschwiler didn't express himself very well, it's sad to say, and after reading -- and re-reading -- the good Professor's piece I was struck by the fact that it isn't clear at all what he was on about. I suppose, though, that one might be a fine professor of English yet still not be much of a creative writer. At least, I hope that this is possible. In any case, it is hard to decipher if he was being sarcastic, sincere or jocular.
One thing was clearly discernible, though. It is obvious that Eggenschwiler feels patriotism equates to ignorance.
"Ignorance is not only bliss but also patriotism", Eggenschwiler clumsily wrote after recounting a meeting with a student who complained that a novel had too many foreign words contained in the text for her to understand the story. This aside of his seemed gratuitous, as well....................................
Click HERE To Read On
# posted by Publius @ 5/29/2006 12:01:00 AM 
|
