To the
Editor:
Re "A Lost Eloquence," by Carol Muske-Dukes (Op-Ed,
Dec.29):
The balking
of students to putting verse to heart by rote memorization
is not limited to poetry. There is almost a pedagogical malaise
that decries rote learning in disciplines like science, mathematics
and engineering. And critical analysis and scholarship are
being replaced by searching the Web.
There
is a growing contempt for the hard work of achieving mastery.
But the
beauty of a poem, once learned, is not in the recitation of
words. The poem, committed to memory, becomes a vehicle of
communion for the self and the soul. Rote learning of the
tools of thought has similar benefits in all fields.
HENRY
H. EMURIAN
Baltimore, Dec.29, 2002
To the
Editor:
As a 22-year-old recent college graduate, I applaud "A
Lost Eloquence," by Carol Muske-Dukes (Op-Ed, Dec.29),
about the lost tradition of learning poems through memori-zation.
In this
day and age, I was lucky enough to have a high school French
teacher who demanded that we memorize and recite French poetry
and fables. As students, we were given extra points for dramatic
effusion.
Although,
I am sad to say, my French skills are no longer stellar, the
poems of Jacques Prevert and others still live in my blood.
I only
wish that my English teachers had done the same.
KATE
FILMORE
Brooklyn, Dec.29, 2002
To the
Editor:
Maybe it's a North Dakota thing. I'm only 58, but like Carol
Muske-Dukes's mother (Op-Ed, Dec. 29) I carry around with
me vast stores of poetry (mostly 19th century) com-mitted
to memory and heard forever in my mother's voice.
There
are times in life when know-ing that here in the forest primeval,
as the highwayman comes riding, riding, I am the master of
my fate, the captain of my soul.
A thing
of beauty is a joy forever.
ANN
HANSON
Northfield, Ill., Dec.29, 2002
To the
Editor:
Carol Muske-Dukes's enthusiasm for memorization (Op-Ed, Dec.29)
harks back to a noted pedagogy of language acquisition before
the late 19th century introduction of inexpen-sive textbooks
and silent reading.
According
to the tenets of what has been called the doctrine of imitation,
memorization of great writing results in a sensorium, an ear
for literary language that serves to guide and inspire as
pen is set to paper.
But memorization
is now a dirty word in education, with the result that students
want to hear the diction and rhythms of pop lyrics more than
those of Tennyson, Frost or (to reach way back) Cicero.
As George
Orwell pointed out, for better or worse, what you hear is
what you write.
THOMAS
RODD JR
Sewickley, Pa., Dec.30, 2002
