Writing Classes Deserve Praise

I take strong exception to Samuel J Rascoff's views on creative writing ("Trying to Teach Creativity," opinion, Feb. 17). "Education, creative writing style," he writes "frequently degenerates into literary self-help." What he fails to recognize about creative writing classes is that, far from being weekly episodes of narcissistic introspection, they are workshops in which more time is spent reading and considering the work of others than in presenting one's own work. We who take creative classes are probably a lot more outward-looking than some single-minded Ec concentrators, because we are constantly confronted with the lives and experiences of our classmates. In an institution where making the grade is often top priority, these classes provide a welcome respite. They are fully as educational as any other course taught at Harvard. Rascoff seems to have limited his research to asking a few friends why they wanted to take creative writing. I suggest instead that he try taking a creative writing class. His own article could have used a little workshopping. Leah Edmunds '96