“WE SEE WRITING AS A WAY OF ENGAGING WITH BOTH THE SELF AND THE WORLD.” Alistair Matule ‘17 and English Instructor Ralph Sneeden meet after class to talk about writing and life.
Like Wolff, English Instructor and Director of Studies Brooks Moriarty ’87 sees a dual purpose behind the department’s “deep commitment to personal narrative.” He explains, “We see our writing curriculum as both a skill-building enterprise and a moral endeavor. By building the skills they need, we are preparing [students] for the kinds of writing they’ll be doing in college and beyond. But we are also preparing them for the ‘business of living.’ We see writing as a way of engaging with both the self and the world.” With this focus on the exchange of voices through the close reading of literature and the writing of personal narratives, the department’s curriculum and pedagogy lend themselves well to the ideals set forth in the Academy’s founding deed of gift — and reiterated many times since — that goodness and knowledge ought to go hand in hand and that the “great and real business of living” that Moriarty references is usefulness to mankind. These higher-reaching ideals can appear at times to be in tension with the pressures of standardized testing and college admissions, and with a utilitarian approach to education that sees STEM courses as the path to securing a good job. Such pressures can lead to anxiety about the relevance of the humanities and have prompted calls from some education reformers to assign more nonfiction texts in English classes and to privilege argument- and research-driven writing over other modes of expression. Michael Brosnan, editor of Independent School magazine, who has taught part-time at Exeter and writes widely about education and the issues facing independent schools, says that while such pressures are real and independent schools are not immune from the need to respond to them,
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