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Ah, now pardon me for the previous posts. You seem to realize what's needed. The thing of it is, each of us finds the writers we need (are different, quite often). Doug On 24-Mar-08, at 7:14 AM, Nathan Hondros wrote: > I have this notion that it may be possible to teach literature and > criticism > (the construction of the tools; Anny, I like that analogy) but that an > academic understanding of writing and its methods, or even the complex > interaction of a reader with a poem, is more elusive. I can barely > describe > the way in which I interact with a good poem, let alone understand > it on > more than merely a formal level. Can this form of emotional > intertwining > between an audience and a work of art be taught? Perhaps I am saying > that > what I love is the personal experience of a poem, and not the > breadth of > understanding or intellectual concept that underpins it. > > I do disagree with the tabula rasa model. All writing owes a debt to > the > good and the mediocre that went before it, and this must be learned or > unlearned as the case may be. > > Ezra Pound advised writers to "pay no attention to the criticism of > men who > have never themselves written a notable work". I've read William > Faulkner > quoted as saying that real writers are far too arrogant to listen to > anyone > when it comes to their writing. These two quotes fit so well > together, don't > they? > But, of course, these thoughts of mine are unschooled. Perhaps the > value of > schooling in these matters is in knowing what has been thought and > spoken > before, so that one doesn't end up repeating what everyone else > already > knows? I apologise if that's the case with the rant above! Douglas Barbour [log in to unmask] http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/ Latest books: Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy) http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664 Wednesdays' http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-from-aboveground-press_10.html to rid me of the ugh in thought i spell anew weave the world out of the or binary bpNichol