The Elderly Man and the Sea? Test Sanitizes Literary Texts

The New York Times ^ | 6/1/02 (for editions of 6/2/02) | N. R. Kleinfield

[goldstategop]

There's no telling what will make people upset. The solution seems to be to make insipid, bland, boring, and as non-controversial as one can possibly make it. And your story reminds me why one has to watch themselves when it the occasion arises to tell a joke. Finding something funny is verboten to the P.C crowd. It seems the business of ensuring no one's feelings ever get hurt have been taken too far.

[mercy]

Great post! I caught it on Yahoo and was going to post it myself if nobody else had.

This is not just a fluke. In fact this is a bellweather event. Our culture is disintegrating. Probably beyond repair.

I would like to point out that Rudy the Great was the most powerful politician in New York during this outrage and the dufus governor is a so called Republican as well.

[aculeus]

I should have noted that The Horned Man is fiction.

Actually, that's good news since the author manages to ridicule PC effectively.

[summer]

Re your post #48 - I agree. And, I would not be surprised if some of these writers decided to sue, to stop this practice once and for all.

[paix]

This article reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut's short story Harrison Bergeron. Wonder how they would sanitize that one?

[madfly]

ALL YOUR ADJECTIVES ARE BELONG TO US!

[rwfromkansas]

Creative headline by the story's author. I like it..."The ELDERLY Man and the Sea" for "The Old Man and the Sea." Anyway, this is quite a shock......and no matter what NY wants to justify this by, they are wrong. Altering an author's work WITHOUT PERMISSION and CLAIMING IT IS THEIR WORK is fundamentally wrong. They could have the best logic and the best reasoning in the world and it still would not make it right. And their reasoning is not good....it is idiotic.

[rwfromkansas]

Maybe I should pick up one of the practice ACT tests and see if they alter their literary selections. I doubt it would go that far since the ACT is produced in Iowa. But, they do tend to have an extremely liberal viewpoint....I about puked when I had to read their crappy reading selections (about touchy feely politically correct nonsense). And then, going to the science part was like being assaulted......they would have evolution in there without fail when they darn well knew not all schools worship the theory. They taught it in my school....as they should....but did not feel the need to make it a god like the ACT and many scientists make it out to be.

[Eva]

You're right, there is a method to their madness. They are attempting to achieve a sort of dumbed down homogenization of America's youth through polictically correct brainwashing and mediocre education.

[csvset]

"You see, its....its no good, Montag. We've all got to be alike. The only way to be happy is for everyone to be made equal."

Farenheit 451

[spintreebob]

As I recall it, the SAT Verbal I took in 1961 rephrased passages from literature. One passage rephrased A. Huxley and then offered multiple choice answers. The answer that would be considered correct required the test taker to affirm evolution. I intentionally left it blank, knowing it would hurt my SAT score.

Another passage dropped Jefferson's words creator and God.

There has always been political correctness, in the authors and passages chosen; in the rephrasing of them; and in requiring the parroting of a certain point of view in order to get a good grade.

[browardchad]

The passages in the test seem to be selectively chosen to include the literature of all major "cultural" groups. The passages then have to be edited to remove any "offensive" language, including reference to the race, religion or ethnicity which defines the cultural groups.

Into this high-minded academic pursuit comes Jeanne Heifetz, who belongs to the "Parents' Coalition to End High Stakes Testing", is married to a publisher and is obviously well-educated herself, but for some mystifying reason has a daughter who attends the Urban Academy Laboratory High School, that "belongs to a consortium of 32 schools that educate largely poor children and that oppose the Regents exams."

I suggest Heifetz and her family move to West Palm Beach, where 39% will earn students a passing grade, and public school teachers never heard of Chekhov. The NY State Regents board should consult with the West Palm Beach County school board on how to effectively end the controversial and bitterly contested notion that students should actually be required to learn.

[Calvin Locke]

Gee, I remember reading a ghost story where the guy used faggots to cook his breakfast.

[Future Snake Eater]

Actually, my junior year AP English class had Huck Finn as one of the books we had to read. We even wrote an argumentative essay taking on the fact that some people wanted it banned due to it's "racial insensitivities."

Regarding this article, how much longer before we start holding book-burning ceremonies? Surely the elimination of religious, ethnic, and sexual references would be applauded by all...

[Mark Turbo]

I read Huckleberry Finn in English class my junior year of high school (1988-1989).

Naturally, it can no longer be considered a classic piece of American literature because the "N" word is used, and Huck SMOKES!

Huck played hooky from school too.

[freebilly]

As long as they weren't smoking "fags" they're okay.

[freebilly]

Amazing! Obviously the thought police hadn't yet gotten around to your English teacher....

[stands2reason]

Welcome to Free Republic, Rat Bait!

[stands2reason]

Oh, that's good! Do another one!

[stands2reason]

I haven't read that book since coming over from the Dark Side, I think I'll order myself a copy...