Comments on: Emerson’s Theory of Books and Changing Lives Through Literature

By: Lou-Ann

Lou-Ann — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:41:36 +0000

Carl Schinasi does a fine job of distilling the essence of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “The American Scholar,” and its relevance to the “Changing Lives Through Literature” program. The three criteria emerson Analyzed are still valid today. We could benefit from re-reading the last paragraph, especially the last sentence, periodically. Thanks for the reminder!

By: Erin Royston Battat

Erin Royston Battat — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:16:36 +0000

In the spirit of Emersonian skepticism, I’d like to say that it’s important to read not only critically, but also sympathetically. I try to achieve a balance of critical inquiry and sympathetic identification in the CLTL classroom. This is what makes it different from the dog-eat-dog world of the academic classroom!

By: Sally

Sally — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:07:04 +0000

So many students favor images over text that it would be interesting to consider how a renaissance of reading would challenge this younger generation. At a minimum, the challenge would be not only to create new patterns of thinking but to do so using an underutilized, if not entirely new, medium. Thank you for these insights, Carl.

By: Maureen Hall

Maureen Hall — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:21:03 +0000

This posting that calls on Emerson seems very timely. Many people in our culture are absorbed by the notion of “touching fame”, and, although that notion may feed the economy, it does not necessarily promote original thinking or any creation of real community.

However, the radical act of reading and discussion holds the potential for the creation of original thought and for the manifesting of community through discussion and connections—to the self, to others, and to the natural world. Reading as an active mode of understanding the world is needed.

At a time when the information highway provides an overload of material and knowledge, what seems to be lacking it the meaning-making, the sense-making of all that is out there along with all that is “in there” or what is found in people’s interior landscapes

I really liked the idea of how reading can promote “elastic thinking”; this kind of thinking is what we need and what our students need to navigate an increasingly complex world. Changing Lives through Literature stands as one conduit for meaning-making in a complex world.

By: David Sarles

David Sarles — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:43:47 +0000

Carl, what moves one is going to pass by another. A close understanding of what one reads calls for rereading, sometimes many times. A wise man told me that one should read The Brothers Karamazov once every year. I wonder what kind of person I would have become if I had taken his advice.

By: dani

dani — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:48:36 +0000

What a relief to realize that someone else is concerned about the recent trend of herd mentality. Thanks Carl for the excellent prodding!

By: bob

bob — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:18:36 +0000

Yes, Tam–and we’re still growing!

By: tam

tam — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:52:20 +0000

It’s refreshing to read a post that ties the CLTL program to Emerson’s strong faith in books as instruments of change — ties what we do to a venerable and American tradition. After all, we weren’t born whole out of Adam’s rib.

By: bob

bob — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:21:13 +0000

What a wonderful essay Carl!! Visionary–in the tradition of Emerson and the other American Transcendentalists. Reading is a challenge, as Emerson suggests, a worthy challenge that takes us deep and far out!