Posted by Peter Ceresole on January 21, 2007 at 23:47:37 from 80.177.22.49 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: Rote Learning (was Casabianca Parodies) posted by Elizabeth on January 20, 2007 at 20:10:14:
Rote learning can be well worth while because in the end, you learn stuff that's part of the shared culture, even if at the time it felt like a royal waste of time. I certainly felt that it was, when I was very young, and I didn't anticipate that that would change. For some people I think that remains true for ever- and that doesn't make them ignorant or bad. Just a bit different.
As so often, what turned the trick for me was an inspiritional teacher. And finally discovering Auden and then other contemporaries, as opposed to Shakespeare or Milton. So just learning to read poetry is a useful finger excercise that prepares you for encountering the poetry that will actually excite you, become part of you.
In fact that particular teacher showed me something even better, which was how to appreciate good prose. He loved America; I suddenly read John Dos Passos and that marked me for life. No rote learning, just something that spoke to me directly. And I've made my living partly from writing scripts. I know that my ability to do that (and to read poetry) stems from his guidance. John Usborne. A lovely man...