Life

Newspaper letter of the day

Poke Staff. Updated July 1st, 2022

There was an outcry this week after Sheffield Hallam University suspended its English Literature degree amidst a government crackdown on what ministers regard as “low-value” courses.

Universities can be issued with fines if they do not get 60% of graduates into a professional job, a mark which the Sheffield degree course failed to achieve.

There was no shortage of people expressing their despair and disappointment, and explaining why English Lit is so important.

But surely none put it more entertainingly than this teacher, writing to the letters page of the Times, as shared by the paper’s diarist and author, Patrick Kidd.

And just in case that’s tricky to read, here it is again in full.

Sir,

Frank McCourt gave perhaps the most robust defence of English literature courses when asked by his students why they should read Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.

“You will read it for the same reasons why your parents waste their money on your piano lessons,” he replied. “So you won’t be a boring little shite the rest of your life.”

Andrew Coleman

Teacher of English, Latymer Upper School, London W6

Boom.

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Source Twitter @patrick_kidd