I inc on in Poetry, -but They Know What They Like This article is a report of the re- sults of a study, made by Mr H. J. Brevis and myself, of 90 papers, writ-' ten by university seniors, all prospect- ive teachers of English, in a test to measure discrimination in ability to judge poetry. It is not pretended that the group tested was large enough to indicate the average ability of all uzi- versity seniors. Being comnposed of' prospective teachers of English, how- ever, who may be supposed to have a - taied some sort of mastery of Eng- lish poetry, it may at least be consid- ered as representative. Few words (which arehweak) will be used in in-j terpreting the results; the reader may! draw his own conclusions as to the attaiumnt of university seniors in a literary way, and as to the general! excellence in high schools of the* teaching of English poetry at least. Misconceptions as to the nature of j the tests -should first be removed. The tests are in reality not .designed to measure the ability to discriminate be- tween varying degrees of excellence in poetry, but rather to measure th~eI ability to discriminate between good of the exa teachers of good poetr 0 .4; 0 5 7 .8 9 10 12 ANDREW J. REENIAood arithmetician, by multiply- Ang the figures in the "Total" column by the corresponding number of er- mination of 90 prospective It is very pleasant to add that no rors, and adding the results, would f English in ability to tell one missed thirteen out of the thir- arrivo at 547 as the total number of- y from bad. j teen, or even twelve out of the thir- , errors made by the 90 P. T. O. E. as teen, thus showing that . the law of a whole out of a:possible 1170 (90x13), TNumber of Erchance is at least in partial operation. In other words; this group of P. T. O Teachers of English fak. It will be noted that less than 25 E..scored 46.7 per cent wrong and 54.3 ing Said ?Number of Errors; per cent of the P. T. O. E. made four per cent right. Kindly refer to the errors or less, leaving 75 per cent of paragraph marked with the asterisk. the P. T. O. .E. who made dive errors Prominent among the perversions, or more. of the original poems were sentiment- I wish to digress a moment to say alized versions, in which the emotional E that one of the finest things about the tone was falsified, and "silly, gushy, 2 1 3 3.3 !University of Michigan is the system affected, or otherwise insincere feel- 0 1 1.1 of grading according to class aver- ings" introduced. If any readers still -ages. Using this system for a distri- remain unconvinced as to the general 3 0 bution of grades, the 7.7 per cent P. excellence of the P., T. O. E., they are 4 2 6 - 6.6 T'. 0. E. making two errors or less requested to examine the following 4 4 8 8.8 1 would receive A's, the 26.5 per cent P. data closely. It will be necessary, 7 3 10 11.1 T. O.-E. missing three, four, or five,. however, to quote a selection or two 12 9 21 29.3 I wonu d receive B's, the 49.9 per cent before giving the results. The stanza P. T. O. E. missing only six, seven,.or ;below is an original from Amy Low- 6 5 11 12.2 eight out of the thirteen would re- ell's "Sea Shell." It should scarcely 11 2 13 14.4 ceive C's, while-the remaining 15.5 per be necessary to call attention to its 7 2 9 10.0 cent P. T. 0. E., missing nine, ten, or ! imagery, music, and beauty: : 1 2 3 3.3 eleven of the thirteen, would be flunk- i "Sea Shell, Sea Shell, 1 1 2 2.2 -ed. l (Continued on Page -ight) By N. B. The liveliest thing in THE DIAL for May is D. H. Lawrence's review of Stuart P. Sher-man's "Americans." It rambles along like this: "He smites the marauding Mr. Mencken with a velvet glove, and pierces the obsti- nate Mr. Moore with a reproachfull look. Both gentlemen of course, will purr and feel flattered. That's how: Professor Sherman treats his ene- mies: buns to his grizzlies. Wells Professor- Sherman, being a profes- sor, has got to be nice to everybody about everybody. What else does a professor sit in a.chair of English for, except to dole out sweets.." Henry James, his mind, his life, and his environment, are placed under the ,ncroscope in the first of a series of essays by Van Wyck Brooks. The discoveries are fascinating. In an- other paper, Francis Birrell attempts by means of long passages of French quotations. interspersed with English to show that MarcelProust is "The Prophet of Despair." The only story in the volume aside from Hauptmann's. "Heretic of Soana" is "A Married Man's Story" by Katherine Mansfield. THE FREEMAN, -May 16. "Edu- cation, as it exists, at present, is sub-" servient to Church or State or both, and theref-ore-aiums at producing cred- ulity and servility-the two qualities upon. which :those institutions floor- is.The .fact, that children usually,; continue-through life to hold the re- *igious opinions of their parents shows what a powerful force education is."' And-again: "Of all the requisites for the regeneration of our society, the rinravof esi~fn am tn oAt when he hears about the Dean of Stu- dents, and if we venture to -show of-RW fense he is still more convulsed by our naivete. In the foreign universi- Nothing like it to take the press out of clot] damp days can -make al new suit look old unles ties the students are absolutely free! the best of car of it. When your clothes lose to conduct themselves as they see fit; of-the-band-box" look call'Dettling and let him and the ,strange thing is that they new life. do much better than our women with their Dean of Women, and our men with their Dean of Students super- vising them. And this spirit of super- D E T T L I N G vision permeates even our graduate schools. A man taking a Master's de- "The Faultless Tailor" gree must follow ka pretty definite . course of study-his course must be 1121 S. University "approved" before he- is considered a candidate for the degree; and then the only requirement on his part ism° that he "pass" the courses with at IlII i 1lIIli IfilllUIIIIIIIIIIllIIIIIllhlII' llhIIIIIIIlIli least a "B" grade in each. - A high class moron might well do this, and. thereby be eligible for one of our high- er degrees. But the matter is still more pertinent with regard .to .our Ph.D. candidates. They must satisfy A n O U- certain class-work requirements, must choose a subject in accordance with the judgment of a committee; and, further, in the thesis, the -candidates 'must be careful to satisfy :the sopin-Thfi asp i ions of the respective members of the and en-vcTens committee. The Ph. candidate is expected to create and to show orig- inality; yet, everything imaginable is done to prohibit both creation a-ndl Comed originality. The result is logical: fewu Ph.D. theses are.. worth reading. In our universities we have the me- ' U chanistic side with its memory sysD tems and its discipline of the former days and its present day abuse and disregard of interest and initiative. - poetry and bad. There are two-series of tests (X :and Y), composed of thir- teen sets each, each set comprising four stanzas, one an original poem ot- undoubted excellence, the remaining' three definitely mutilated-versions. .tzV every set the original poem has been pronounced better:than 'its three mar- iants, by a group of experts including poets, literary editors, critics, and pro- fessors of literature. The person test- ed indicates his choice merely by writ- ing "Best"- xdiove '=one ;stanza an each see. The tests are not difficult. All that is required is a little concentration and enough judgment to know a good "pem'-from a -noor one. * In a'series"of thirteen -sets o1 four stanzas-.each, a .person going through the booklet and picking out one "Best" on each page without the exercise of any discrimination whatever, -other than mere guesswork, Would, b" thb law of chance, presumably mark three or four-f -the sets correctly. There are in each-series well-konwn selec- tions from famous poets, with which any university- senior who is in -any sense a student of literature should be familiar.' In Series X, for instance,. we have Leigh Hunt's "Jenny .KissedI Me," and a stanza each from Tenny- son's "Bugle Song," Shakespeare's; "Dirge" (from "Cymbeline"), and Masefield's "Sea Fever." Each of these is found in the "Century Read-{ ings." In addition, there is in each series a Mother Goose rhyme which is so ridiculously easy for university seniors that it might well be thrown out altogether. Just how many errors: a Wgospective teacher of English should make in such a series is left for the reader to judge. One often hears it said that special- ization should be deferred for post-i graduate work. Students of Educa- ti-on are-also .advised that it is their' duty to teach the child, not the sub- ject. Against such walls as these de-; Bending our educational Jericho, m in words are but a feeble squeak, but the noise made by the table below: (which pretends to be nothing more1 than a hint), should be sufficient-to make them vibrate with some ampli-I tude. The table presents the results, «'liillfl11l1111111t11111!1!1111I HI !#liliN1i11111111111111t1111 tlUtlilllll lil llltl1hi1 11 t1#1# it!1#11fll l lll l1!#l tlllllltill ' -- That Gives an Impression of Good Taste - As the time for "Finals" approaches and the last classes and social functions conclude the year at Michgan thoughts turn toward Vacation. Whether you are planning an :extended - ~tour or merely the trip to your home you will want Luggage - that carries with it an air of distinction and good taste and 9 4 yet at the sanme time is durable and moderately priced. Stylish Trunks' Perhaps you will need a steamer trunk for a -- - ~camping trip or- a- dress trunk that will hold ~ ', - -- ~ a large quantity of clothing packed -fiat and s = vyet again you may desire a convenient ward- f = -. - N robe trunk that will carry your wardrobe with- - - - - e ou wrinlin it! W e have- all, at the most - = ~For the trip home and for the many week-end) - trips that Vacation is sure to bring you will want, a stylish bag. If! you wish to take a -ht - . with you in add-ition to the one you .are wear- - = sut Cses ing .you will want one of the patent leather hat cases. A suit case proves itself a - firni friend for vacation trav- Bas$.0ad u S eling-it holds a large quan- B-s$.0 n p Stity of clothing and is not too = large to be inconvenient. The Hatcase's $5.00 and up - black patent leather cases -- - are priced from $6.00 up. - 1Mack's Third Floor a- - SIM a _ 9 4 decay of reLIIg n seems to me to cave With regard to the latter we mayadd the best chance of being realized." Wthat some- grade schools are ysucceed- These. are' some of the bright spots ta oegaeshosaesced hese aeksomeofrthe rightssots -ing in making -an -organic application -which mjake Bertrand Russell's con- of interest and intuition and initiative~ -cluding essay on "The 'Sources of -btiotees and ivitiesd aretat.e ower" exceptionally interesting read- most wholly oblivious to suchfunc- ing. -tions of education. The organic meth- Other sp'endid artieles are: od would make use of interest and its "France's Watch on the Rhine," "The attendant, curiosity, to make of edu-i Letters of Fenimore Cooper," and an cation a culminative development editorial discussion of "The American whereby individual capacity could be Language" with especial emphasis on given free scope to discover and make Mlr. Mencken's book cf that name. use of all truths that come within THE NATION (May 16) Mr. Menck- grasp. Such was the method when en has one hero at least and that masters and disciples learned togeth- is Abe Lincoln. While he lets go of er, but it Is seemingly a hopeless ideal vehement phrases as usual and does in our mass production factory sys- not hesitate to call Lincoln's essay- tem of today. An example will trench- writing style a "talent for writing the antly present the paradox of our mem- sly, whimsical, puerile stuff that young ory aspect of education. Professors college instructors manufacture by the of universities find it necessary to read acre-sometimes, when the winds are their lectures both to classes and to fair, getting a few cantos of it into public gatherings. This is usually! the Atlantic Monthly," at the same done to insure accuracy' on the part time he concludes that Lincoln "was of the lecturer and to make certain above all else, an extremely shrewd, that he will not wander into any of realistic, and competent man." - But the interesting bypaths of his sub this is weak beside the praise which ject. The teacher, however, antici- Mr. Mencken can give. Listen to the pates that his students will gather following sentence from "A Book of notes accurately and be able to re- Calumny": "Lincoln, had there been produce in substance all the material no Civil War, might have survived as of his lecture. Behold the paradox: the father of the American smutty The teacher supposedly well founded story-the only original art form that in his subject is helpless without his America has contributed to litera- paper; but the student, to whom the ture." material comes for the most part as, The most interesting material . in a confused and little understood mass,: this week's "Nation," however, is in 1must understand without questioning th ltt t th Editn t if t .!and mt mp rihh . It'll give you ronewe attc those final exams. YOU'LL FIND SATISFACTION Bjesimer' s W. Huro St. R - I IrNI Au il/ 11tl . yra M ur i ' -. r III IIII"""'----_,....----. " cow .. .... ~ " .......... Sga.l.{U z c E e e Lers Lo Lite v or peri nng o:; the Jew in America. A letter from, Paris, for instance, remarks that "The typical Jew is -no baseball player in-I born. The typical Jew's legs are not long enough to permit him to dance with the abandon of the late Vernon Castle. And yet, ambitious, he insists and persists." THE 'FREEMAN (May 9): The chief} articles this week are: Bertrand Rus- sell's "The Sources of Power" (Eco- nomic Power); "Robert Burns" by Ed- win Muir; and "Ibsen and Economic Justice" by Richard Claughton. In ad- dition there is a clever little feature story entitled "The Circus Comes to Town." Probably very few students on the campus are really reading Ber- trand Russell's essay, but they are by far the losers. THE FREEMAN (May 9): The chief articles -this week are: Bertrand Rus-' sell's "The Sources of Power" (Eco- nomic- Power); "Robert Burns" by Edwin Muir; and "Ibsen and jEconom- is Justice" by Richard Claughton.' In J&ition th clever little featitre "The Memorandum of William Plumer," which was reviewed in the last issue of The Sunday Magazine, was edited by Profes- sor Everett Brown of the politi- cal science department. Mr. Brown discovered part of the E original in the Congressional Li- brary at Washington while pre- paring his doctor's .thesis in ani 111us memurAae z ev11J 1 Au1s does not understand. It would almost seem that the student is expected to sit as judge on the proceedings of the professor and if an accurate record of the proceedings is reported the pro- fessor must be condemned, for his student has gone beyond him-the student has then gathered in a single' lecture what the professor has assimi- lated in-years -of study and research.. The consummation of this process is seen in the logical and vicious out- come as it affects even administrative" officials. We are told that a very pro- minent figure in the educational world is to' be deposed soon, the chief rea- son given being that he attempted to fulfill his contract by administering the affairs of the institution with the aid of his colleagues. This man was- evidently suffering under the delus- ion that he was in some European in- stitution, where the administrative heads are appointed by their col- leagues, who are experts in the field of education, instead of in an Ameri- can institution where he is supposed Ito function merely as a figure-head. Thus we find this mechanistic princi- ole grinding into a vicious conformity WithWestinghouse S-toe F OR the lunch at -odd hours of th day or - night, for -afternoon tea for almost any sort of -cooking the Westinghouse toaster stove will prove - helpful. Equipped with nickel-plated ,tray. Get Q uick Lundilcrial I' $10.5 l L Attaches to Ant Socket The Detroit Edi: Company ...,