But back to my original point: to get a degree in English is to say whatever PC statement your professor wants to hear. Using post-structuralist catch-phrases will earn you points too (also see “affect,” “abject,” etc.). There is no value on intellect, on critical thinking (unless you are being “politically” critical), and general intuition. There is little emphasis on learning. My American Lit class only consisted of one TS Eliot poem, a book by Jean Toomer, about 5 essays by WEB Dubois, and then a weak book by Tim O’Brien. Can you believe that?!? No Faulkner, no Hemingway, no Beats. Everybody in the class complained. It is pure politics: people advancing because of their ideologies and who have no real excitement when it comes to actual language arts. There is no art, just political statements (aka platitudes). Most of us are already liberal and Leftist enough. Give us a break Professors. We get it.

I understand nbowling’s above and well said. Bloom has a view few have though. All in all I am glad that there is someone standing there firmly saying that this does not measure up. I don’t have to agree.

At the end when he figures out what to say for the article about Giovanni- he comes up with something perfect. He said “I am not yet competent to judge…” ( he was thinking “that garbage”)- but one can interpret that differently.

I recognize that the academy requires people to occupy the role of gatekeeper. However, I am less than comfortable with the idea of a rigid cannon. And I am downright uncomfortable with the idea of a rigid cannon with a solitary gatekeeper–especially when this one person has so little cultural connection to the populace at large. The literature of a society is reflective of the shared experiences of the people therein, as we become a more culturally diverse society the cannon must reflect that.

I have had a copy of the Western Cannon as compiled by Bloom (the 1994 edition) on my shelf since I was in high school and as a teacher I have frequently referenced it. However, as I have grown older and read more and more of my intellectual heroes: Orwell, Emerson, Dubois, Roth, Hitchens, and Baldwin it has become apparent that the cannon as visioned by Mr. Bloom does not represent me, nor does it include many people who resemble the kids I teach.

There is value in what Mr. Bloom dismisses scornfully as “multiculturalism”; there is value in exposing students from all walks of life to Cisneros and Hurston. Students from working class environments need to read the poetry of Dickinson and the transcendentalism of Emerson and the elite benefit from experiencing “Black Boy” and “Their Eyes Were Watching God”.

When Bloom writes in the Western Cannon of the “Chaotic Age” it sets off a certain tingle in my skin. The disruption of the status quo to those whom have had the position of rulemaker often appears to be chaotic. Yet to those struggling below it feels more like democracy.

Oh, and before anyone asks. No, I don’t read People Magazine.