# Yale English Majors: Stop Teaching Us About White Male Poets.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yale-english-majors-stop-teaching-us-about-white-male-poets/757008>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 10, 2016, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yale-english-majors-stop-teaching-us-about-white-male-poets/757008 "2016-06-10T09:47:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yale-english-majors-stop-teaching-us-about-white-male-poets/757008/41 "2016-06-13T19:36:40Z")

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> [@Nava](#):
>
> Would Cervantes be worth studying on account of having lost an arm? Why would _that_ make him worth studying as a writer, rather than the quality of his writing?

Of course not, and that’s not what’s suggested there. The argument is about the students, not the writers–that the lack of general exposure to non-majority viewpoints makes students less able to handle critical analysis of those perspectives when they become the specific focus.

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**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yale-english-majors-stop-teaching-us-about-white-male-poets/757008/42 "2016-06-13T20:21:57Z")

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> [@Peremensoe](#):
>
> Of course not, and that’s not what’s suggested there. The argument is about the students, not the writers–that the lack of general exposure to non-majority viewpoints makes students less able to handle critical analysis of those perspectives when they become the specific focus.

But the other courses in the curriculum–including some also offered to Freshmen–include a more diverse range of writers. These are smallish classes with discussion–surely at least some of these students have already encountered non-majority viewpoints. Most of them have had fine educations before getting into Yale & some may even have read a few books not on required reading lists. Surely they can ask questions.

Critical analysis is critical analysis. Does it matter so much what you are analyzing?

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