THE
OTUNDA
Sixty-fourth year
English Program Emphasizes Major Works Great works of literature, which traditionally have been shunned in college English classes because of their imposing length, are making a comeback at Longwood College. The National Endowment for the Humanities aided that comeback recently when it awarded a $28,000 grant to Longwood's freshman English program. The grant will build upon a pilot program last spring in which freshmen were required to read and "know well" a major novel. The grant, awarded by NEH's Division of Education Programs, provided funds beginning in January 1985 to support additional research into classic literary texts, a visit to campus by a major scholar who will work with faculty and students, and a series of workshops to strengthen the techniques for teaching literature. The Longwood Foundation is also contributing $7,000 to the expanded program. Dr. Ellery Sedgwick, assistant professor of English, will direct the program. The key element of the grant is the extended study of a major literary work in English 101, a composition and literature course taught by the Department of English, Philosophy and Foreign Languages. Teaching the work serially—as many literature classics were first published —encourages more thorough, lasting knowledge of the classics which have shaped Western culture, say the people involved in the program. "Under the traditional approach to teaching literature, everything was retrospective," said Sedgwick- "The students would read the work and then come back into the classroom and discuss it retrospectively. But this way, they will be developing their insights while they are still reading the book. Instead of being told by the teacher what 't means, we will discover the themes as we go along." The tendency in freshman English classes has been toward shorter works, such as short stories and poems, and therefore only upper-level English
students were exposed to major works." said Sedgwick. "So many of the major works in British and American literature are big. They shouldn't be excluded simply on their length. We feel that these important works should be brought back into the curriculum." The selected work for the spring semester will be Bleak House, a novel by Charles Dickens. Last spring semester, another Dickens novel, the classic David Copperfield, was read by the 500-plus freshmen in English 101. One advantage of the program is that some 500 to 600 students will be reading and discussing the same classic work throughout a semester. "One thing that appeals to us is that everyone will be reading a long piece of literature together," Sedgwick said. "They can discuss it in their dorm rooms or in the dining hall or wherever. We want them to become immersed in the culture of that era." "We'll have speakers come here from time to time to discuss the work and its cultural, historical and social background. I believe strongly in presenting a novel in its cultural context. In the past, the cultural background wasn't given enough attention." In addition to reading a major work, students in English 101 will continue to study other shorter works of literature and to write essays to sharpen their composition skills. The course is required of all four-year students at Longwood. Longwood's small classes, which allow for critical analysis and discussion by students, and the fact that all full-time members of the department teach in the freshman program, were important elements in the grant application's appeal to NEH. The grant proposal emphasizes a coordinated teaching of research techniques and will add new resources to Longwood's library collection. Although the funding is finite, "we hope that the program will have a continuing effect on the way we teach," said Sedgwick.
Longwood College Farmville, Virginia Number 9
Tuesday, October 23, 1984
Yearbook Publication Studied by Lisa Jessup Although there is student interest in the Virginian. Longwood's yearbook, communication problems plague its recovery. Phyllis Mable, Vice-President of Student Affairs, said the Student Government Association (SGA) was looking to see if students wanted a yearbook or not. An SGA goal for the year was to survey students on whether or not they would pay ten dollars for a yearbook. Randy Chittum, SGA President, was uncertain of the survey's progress. A freshman who showed an interest in the yearbook, Wendy Staples, conducted a survey of approximately 500 students during dinner in Blackwell Dining Hall. Of those 500 students, 350 said they would purchase a yearbook at ten dollars and 150 students said they would not. Staples has a few people with high school yearbook experience willing to begin work on the
student's activity fee, but the student fees were not enough to cover the cost of the yearbooks—consequently, yearbooks had to be sold. Another problem was a lack of staff. Carolyn Tinsley, a staff member of previous yearbooks, said, "The sky was the limit. We could do anything we wanted but there weren't enough people." Chittum said the problem was not getting students to work on the yearbook as much as getting students to buy them. Last year, the Virginian was not published. Instead, a few seniors organized a booklet picturing graduating seniors which was handed out at graduation. Ms. Mable believes a lot of students probably would like to have a yearbook as a memory of their college days. She also said, "Some students see a yearbook as extra baggage—if they have to pay for it then forget it." As to the present state of the Virginian, Ms. Mable said, "No one opposes the yearbook, nor is anyone pushing for one."
Virginian, but is waiting to see what effect her survey will have in getting the ball rolling. Teresa Hasty, a Student member of the Publications Board, said the first step is to get an advisor and a business manager. Then a budget for the yearbook is needed to present to the Publications Board. The Virginian is funded through Student Activities Fees. However, the deadline for an organization to make an appeal to the Student Activities Fees Committee was October 17th. Chittum, who is not worried over missing the deadline, said, "There will still be some (money) left over." Staples, who was not aware of the deadline nor that an advisor and business manager were needed, said that Chittum was to handle things once she knew that people were interested in a yearbook. Chittum said he was not aware of this arrangement. One major problem with past Virginians was the fact that the cost of the yearbook was supposed to be included in a
INSIDE THIS WEEK •Review of The Threepenny Opera, page 3 •Porn Flicks Allowed, page 5