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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 1961)
Tuesday, July 18, 1961 Summer Nebraskan Page 3 'Humane Half of Education Is Missing DOCTOR'S DEGREE Last November Karl Shapiro re ceived an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Wayne State University for his contributions to the field of literature. Continued from Page 1, and M. L. Rosenthall have bombarded both his poetry and his criticism. For instance, a Rosenthal review of Shapiro's "Poems of a Jew" in the July, 1958, edition of The Nation, stated the work "has Karl Shapiro's usual unevenness ... for it Is a matter of great sorrow that Shapiro, though his best work is that of an emotionalist sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, can't really think." Rosenthal did relent somewhat later in his review stat-. Ing: "Fortunately the Good Lord made Karl Shapiro a genuine poet even though He skimped somewhat on the logical and critical development. Despite the traumatic basis of their movement into compassion, a number of these poems reach beautiful expression." "Indeed," Rosenthal wrote, "When Shapiro succeeds it is through his vibrant language and rhythm, his unabashed candor, and his irresistible emotional force that will bring out his true meanings even when he is not sure of them himself." A late 1960 review by Solotaroff in "Commentary" took ; the poet to task for his critical work "In Defense of Ignor- . ance." , ': . Demolition Job'.:, r , ' " Solotaroff said Shapiro ". . . attempts a demolition job up and down the modern literary front. The excessive com bativeness of Shapiro's negative judgments . . . bespeaks1 ! the attempt to get back to the 'ignorant' and wayward young poet who wrote Essay on Rime and set forth anew." But the critic also found points in the book that met with his approval. He wrote, "As a veteran of the literary age..'V. Shapiro is well worth listening to. His cardinal point that 'poetry has lost its significance, its relevance and even its meaning in our time' seems to me largely true." A Shapiro review itself of a book of poems by Mari anne Moore which appeared in the New York Times touched off so much support and criticism that the Times published two pages of letters in response. He had declared in the review that critics tend to "go overboard" on Miss Moore's poetry and. were afraid to say anything that was not nice "which is rather hypocritical, because not very many can read that type of poetry and understand it. It's not that good. It's thorny and obscure and doesfc't say much when you do get to the bottom of it." The review and the response to the article prompted a later piece in the Times, the one in which he declared , poetry is "sick." . In June of 1958, writing in the New Republic, the poet took a poke at "the scientific mind" which he said "at one blow (or one long series of blows which are still being rained down on us) drove religion and arts into the wilder ness. The chaos that resulted is best seen in America where moral authority is all but non-existent." End of Humanism He said the scientific competition between the U.S. and ' Russia ". , . is liable to spell the end of all humanistic culture throughout the world. "In developing a natibh of mechanics and supert mechanics we have been saved from historic perdition only by a thin thread of religion and a thinner thread of humane studies.' " , . i "In America we have not yet reached the point of sci entific government,', but we have gone pretty far already in adopting scientific education." The humane half of edu cation, he said, is missing. . f That article, too, received immediate response. A reply by Ingram Bloch, professor of physics at Van derbllt University, said: "I had never before seen assem bled In so small a place -so many of the arrogant, ill informed and inconsistent gripes against 'science' that have been fashionable in recent decades among literary people." But while the literary and scientific worlds have had their differences over Shapiro, students . at Nebraska are pretty much agreed that their intructor is tops. Outstanding Nebraskan In January of 1960, they awarded him the title of "Out standing Nebraskan.' But in early 1957, only months after joining the NU "faculty, Shapiro was "somewhat less than popular on campus with the student body. In an interview with a newspaper reporter in Washington, D.C., he had accused students of "intellectual apathy" and of being "so quiet there isn't even enough excitement in them to write.' During the Hungarian revolution in 1956, he said, stu dents raised only a few banners on campus. Twenty years ago, Shapiro claimed, they would have volunteered to go And fight. ; , - -' ' ' - i : c; A few days 'after he made the statement, Tie found a sign plastered to his office window blurting "Shapiro, go back to Hungary.' But today, the poet married and the father of three pre-college age children "is kind of sympathetic" with the situation of younger people and has been pleased in seeing "a tremendous interest by students in taking sides' on things like integration and disarmament." The poet "be lieves "in the past few years there has been a noticeable change, a kind of reawakening, a new contact with national afafirs" among younger people. Some other changes in the country also are giving Shapiro hope. And surprisingly or not, he has a certain amount of backing for the "beat" style of writing which, as a reaction to the Classical school, is bringing back much of his interest in poetry. Pivoting on his swivel chair, the short-sleeved Shapiro turned toward a window of his corner room in English department center Andrews Hall and peered through dark 'glasses at a bright winter sun. . .. j Communication "Those people beat poets) really do communicate orj, . "try to'afiyway. It'may not be the' Hghf Tcihii' of stuff but ' people are reading it." ! i He struck another match to relight a pipe that kept going out. Of the Contemporary poets, Dylan Thomas and Wil liam Carlos Williams were listed, as well as e. e. cum-' mings, "who really speaks for the people of today." "For a long time no poet wrote to be read out loud," he said, but "Dylan Thomas has written poetry to be re cited. He wrote it for the ear." . .. s Walt Whitman and Robert Frost and "a lot of the Romantic poets" rate high on the Shapiro list but "(Alex ander) Pope and (John) Dryden have always bored me to death." ,.,v ;.; . How did he' get his start as a poet?,, , , L ! , ! -1 v "A HAIKU IS . . "-Poet, essayist and University English instructor Karl Shapiro discusses the haiku form of Japa nese poetry in one of his Contemporary Poetry classes. His casual manner and vast experience writing and reading modern poetry make this course, as well as his creative writing course, favorites among students. Shapiro, like other poets, has always had "a kind of abnormal interest in words." Besides, he said, anyone in terested in writing can see that "poetry has a very intense way of using language." He pointed out that even small children are attracted to poetry through such forms as nursery rhymes. The revival in poetry that Shapiro is excited about may be part of a "new shift" all along the way of arts. This country is now, Shapiro says, "probably, doing as good work in the arts as any country." And since "We have a thousand different strings of background to our cul ture," it is changing all the time and doesn't have to de pend upon fixed forms as do many countries in Europe. Some of the European countries he described as nearly "burned out" in some fields of art. Our educational system, too, Shapiro sees as putting more emphasis on the humanities. . , . "Very recently the country has wakened up to the fact that the whole educational system has been top heavy. Now the shift seems to be going the other way" to a re emphasis of the humanities. , What about Shapiro's .poetry itself? Vt. ; .Express Emotions - ... . He feels a need in poetry to express emotions with con crete details. Many of his subjects are of the commonplace a drugstore, a fly, a leg. "The best kind of poetry should be presented like drama, on the stage. The idea is to get people to read it and find out for themselves whether they like it and whether it's, good." . lg M ; f , (, . ,f ,cfle 'calls' pure" poetry "the spohtaneo"us creation "ot a man's spirit as it views all things outside of himself." He wrote in the introduction to "Poems of a Jew": "These poems are not for the poets. They are for people who derive some strength of meaning from the writing of poets and who seek in the poet's mind some clue to their own thoughts." ... .And for. these people, .the Shapiro pen is far, from being empty.. He now is working on a book of poems, and is con sidering writing "a novel of a kind." Many artists, critics and poetry loves throughout the country will be happy to know that this "poet for people" has not approached the period or even the semicolon of a life built around something as commonplace as most of the subjects of his poems words. PE Educator, Dr. Jackson Speaks Here Dr. C. 0. Jackson, well- known educator and head of the department of physical education tor men at tne uni versity of Illinois, will give two public addresses on Thursday and Friday at the University. He will anoear at noon Thursday at the Superintend dent's Round Table Luncheon at the Student Union and on Friday at l p.m. in room 108, Burnett. Dr. Jackson, a fellow of the American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, is the author of more than 10 articles in scholarly and popular Jour nals. His wide fan?e of vnrt. ence Includes 34 years of teaching in junior-senior high schools and universities, ad ministering trmv and nav programs, teaching graduate courses ana directing mil ters and doctors theses. He is on the Illinois govern or's Conference on Youth Fit ness. Scha tz Conducts Summer Concert A Summer Symphony Con cert conducted by Arnold Schatx will be presented at 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Stth dent Union ballroom. The pre gram is part ot the Union! Artist Series. Schatx it an Instructor ct Music at the University and concert master of the Lincdk Symphony. The Summer Chorus, under the direction of Earl Jenkins, will alsopar ticipate in the concert. They will sing Nanie, Op. 82. ' Guest soloist for tin ve nlng will be Wesley Relst, clarinetist, who wul play Concertino, Op. 28. Other se lections on the program will be Von Suppe's "Light Cafw airy Overture," Ives' "Un answered Question," and Prokofief's "Fifth Symphony, Op. 100." Union Will Hold Bridge Contest A bridge tournament next Tuesday at 4 p.m. will climax the summer lessons and du plicate bridge sponsored by the Student Union. There will be no entry fee or charge for the tournament, which is open to all University students, staff and faculty. Trophies will be awarded to the high scorers. No master points will bet awarded. The tournament will last about two hours and refresh ments will be served. University Press Paperbound Bison Books Texts May , Aid II igh School Teachi Qg paperbound books may soon become a prime teach ing tool in high schools, according to Bruce H. Nicoll, Director of the Uni versity of Nebraska Press. During the past two months, Nicoll said, the Press has received a half dozen inquiries from high schools in various parts of the country inquiring about WATCII A CLOCK REPAIR I day service! Student Prices! DICK'S WATCH SERVICE IN CAMPUS BOOKSTORf paperbound books available for classroom use. "In one instance, a high school in Pennsylvania in formed us that they intend to abandon the single-text system in social studies and ask students to purchase in expensive paperbounds which will cover the same subject matter," Nicoll said. The others said they were contemplating mini mizing the role of a single text by using paperbounds as collateral reading, i The trend toward more extensive reading lists seems to be well on its way, and the reissuance of classic works in paper- OP NEBRASKA Kai oat ot mutmtM Lizard ... ,N THE FALL FASHION SPOTLIGHT Genuine Ilwrd handban and mat.ch.,r5. 8lL.es Jnnt-Jt Stride, make fashion news for Fall 1961. Six beautifully styled handbags or lixard. enchanting in their simplicity. In your choice of dramatic black or a rich brown, per fectly matching fine grained lirard pumps in medium or high heels. Handbag & Shoe$ Both For GOLD'S Handbags & Shoes-. . . Street Floor USE YOUR HANDY CREDIT PLATE bounds in virtually all fields of knowledge is making it possible to circumvent the problem of asking students to stand in line for a lim ited number of hardbound, books in. libraries, he ,?aid. Paperbounds for, Nebraska . "The University of Ne braska Press is currently specializing in reprinting all of the great classics of fron tier life in the.. trans-Missouri West," Mr. Nicoll explained, "and it is our hope that Nebraska high schools will find them in creasingly useful to supple ment texts in American his tory and literature. "These books will greatly enrich the yeryr general treatment - a .text, book writer must of. necessity give his subject matter. As a rule these paperbounds greatly expand the social aspects of history," he said. The Press, which is the book publishing agency . of the1 University, currently has ten titles which have been found useful as sup plemental reading for high school-level students. Interested social stud ies or American literature teachers may secure exam ination copies simply by writing to the University Press:.' . . . ... The complete list of pap erbounds, . published under the imprint of Bison Books, now available to Nebraska high schools is as follows. THE WORLD OF WILLA CATHER by Mildred Ben nett.' '-'-''. indispensable for 'everyone interested in ' Wills Cather and her work" (New York Herald Tri bune). "A treasure house of Catherinian lore ..." (New York Times). Bison Book 112. 51.50 THEM WAS THE DAYS: Ah American Saga of the "'70's by Martha Ferguson - McKeOWn; Forward by Royce Hi Knapp. "The panic 'of 1873 brought disaster, and the- Hawthornes had to move on . . . The West was a new chance in a period of hard times! So the Haw v thornes joined the great ' migration. They home steaded in the Middle Loup River country, sixty miles from Grand Island, Nebras ka. The larger part of this absorbing book is a record of that homecteading. It is vivid, lusty, and very hu man narrative that reads with unfailing freshness and authenticity . . . ' (Chicago Sunday Tribune). Bison Book 117. $1.25 BOY LIFE ON THE PRARIE by Hamlin G a r land. Introduction by B. R. McElderry, Jr. This great classic of American litera ture, which gives the best description of life in the Midwest in the post-Civil War period yet written, comes back into print with this Bison Book edi tion based on the original 1899 text in full, including 47 line drawings and .six full page illustrations by E. W. Deming. Bison Book 120. 1.50 CRAZY HORSE: The Strange Man of the Oglalai by Marl Sandoz. This is not only a biography but the story of a people. "There is the very smell and color of the traditional life of the horse-Indians in this book, the texture of their think Continued on Page 4 How's your average? We're talking about your oof-1 , ting overage. VVonf fo find Golf Driving oof? Come out to . . . Range LITTLE AMERICA Shuffleboard - Courts baseball 9 Snack Bar BATTING - 1 Ice Cream RANGE ,i ; , NORTH 27TH ST. V University Press Bison Edition Paperback Books "Voice of Coyote' "Myth & Method" "Crazy Horse" i "Populist Revolt" are available at your UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE currently located in the Nebraska Union