New Look for English A

English a is finally going to get its much needed face-lifting. After years of trying to teach freshmen the fundamentals of writing through overcrowded sections and dull weekly themes, the College's largest and most sadly over-extended course is up for a complete and thorough revision.

The remodeling of English A is part of the expanded General Education program proposed for the Class of 1955. Freshmen in that class will still be screened by an anticipatory exam, but it will be far less difficult than the present annual fall epic. Those who can't meet the requirement will take a non-credit half-course in corrective English composition, while others can move right into a greatly expanded English C, if they wish. Integrated into the new set-up will be a much stronger emphasis on writing for specific purposes, the type of writing that will be most valuable to people when they graduate. The familiar English A themes will give way to a string of medium-length papers in the basis GE courses, making the student's writing a tool to aid him in learning, not an educational obstacle to be overcome and forgotten.

This re-evaluation of Harvard's English instruction can have some good results if well handled. Certainly the idea of teaching writing along lines useful in later life is a welcome change from the "What I Did This Summer" themes of English a. But this brings up problems which are going to have to be licked to make the program work out. The GE announcement implies that the course papers will be read for writing skill as well as context, and that the student who fails to meet basis standards will be required to take the corrective course: an eminently constructive approach and well in line with the whole idea of the program. It entails, however, the ability of the man reading the papers to compare them on the basis of English skill as well as knowledge of course material, an ability that may very well be absent in may specialized instructors and section men.

Another problem will be reslanting the corrective course so that it, too, will teach writing for specific purposes, leaving straight composition to English C. There is going to be the difficult job of finding enough instructors who can teach the expended advanced composition courses. There is still the old gripe of regrouping the basic course in ability-selected sections. All these problems will have to be tackled and solved. The general reconstruction of English A is still a long step; if carried through intelligently it can turn a terribly awkward course into a program that should be one of the most useful in the College.