I read a study once (actually it was an article about a study, but I wanted to sound a bit more academic) which concluded that people who don't know, don't know they don't know. No, that wasn't a type-o on my part. People don't know the areas of their own ignorance. Interesting. Young romantics who fall for the wrong person, will still fall for the wrong person because they don't know what led them to that decision. Poor investors will still follow bad advice, even after they are burned. However, there is an important caveat to this theory. Sometimes people don't know that they do know.
Just yesterday, a student of my acquaintance begrudgingly admitted her self-assessed deficiencies in the course of literature as well as her subsequent hatred for the subject as a whole. Someone hates writing?! This is a job for Super Tutor (or me, for those who find my references opaque).
I asked her if she needed help reading the stories. No shame. Just as some students have trouble seeing words in order to read, others have trouble comprehending written words even if they have the ability to read them. Think of me as a living, breathing pair of reading glasses, cat's eye frames, of course. However, she had already completed all three works from authors the likes of Hemingway and Updike.
S,o I suggested we discuss. She demonstrated no trouble comprehending: identifying symbols and conflict; traversing subtext and context; recognizing motives; or finding a common theme running through all three separate narratives, which was what her paper required.
"So why, exactly do you hate Literature?" I asked.
"Oh you know, grammar and spelling. I'm terrible," she explained.
I will save the debate over the value of grammar and spelling for another post, but I will say this, grammar is not literature. If so, start tossing poetry out of literature courses. It does have it's place as a system developed to improve communication, but not as bonds to shackle expression, especially when that expression works without it.
Spelling is not literature, either, and as we continue to develop into a world of e-mails and texts, it is less and less a part of communication. I don't mean to give up the ship on teaching spelling. It is another tool in uniform, and therefore, convenient communication, but let's understand the arbitrary nature of the etymology of words. Some spellings of words stuck, others didn't. English is a Germanic language. American English is a derivation of that and a further amalgamation of other influencing languages. The spellings, as well as the pronunciations, of English words have changed over time. We have 26 letters for over 44 sounds. It is not as simple as it appears.
Again, let's not give up, let's work on it, but let's recognize that the study of literature is something different than commas and I before E .
So, my student needs to work on her grammar skills and she needs to practice spelling, but her comprehension skills are superlative. Had I not pointed that out to her, the literature course would have lost a potential star pupil; the literary world would have lost a valuable reader, and a promising voice would have been silenced. The very fate of the world would have been doomed! Too melodramatic? Maybe, but the point is, allowing her to judge herself that was would have been a shame. (And if you will allow me some word play), it would also be a shame, as in a guilty conscience, she wore like a Scarlet Letter, unjust and unnecessary.
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