words and music
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“Felski proposes a pragmatic approach to reading literature. Opposing the exclusive focus on otherness in contemporary literary theory, she offers a correction by balancing otherness with the acknowledgment of the presence of the self in reading literature.” (Choice Reviews, December 2008)
Oh for the (drawing) pen of Max Beerbohm.
Tags: codswallop
Pupils are being rewarded for writing obscenities in their GCSE English examinations even when it has nothing to do with the question.
One pupil who wrote f*** was given marks for accurate spelling and conveying a meaning successfully.
His paper was marked by Peter Buckroyd, a chief examiner who has instructed fellow examiners to mark in the same way. He told trainee examiners recently to adhere strictly to the mark scheme, to the extent that pupils who wrote only expletives on their papers should be awarded points.
Hat tip to Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science.
Swift would have enjoyed Buckroyd.
Tags: educational gripes
Forged from the precious metals of the opulent age of the Czars, and tempered in the crucible of Communism, the orchestras of the former Soviet Union occupy a position in world culture that is truly unique. It is a privilege to be the first American record company to have captured the essence of these great orchestras in their native city.? (Waterlily Acoustics)
Now that’s what I call revisionism.
There’s a chorus of complaint about boffin-muzzling on the ABC’s own site. Should have noted this in my first post.
The boffins have been ordered to get their press releases cleared by the Prime Minister’s office. On the AM program this morning, the ABC’s Peta Donald put the obvious question to Mark Paterson, Secretary of the Department of Innovation Industry Science and Research.
PETA DONALD: For example, shouldn’t the CSIRO be able to say whatever it likes about climate change without having to have that vetted by the Prime Minister’s office.
MARK PATERSON: Well, it doesn’t need to be vetted. And there’s no suggestion in the language that was used or any language that I’ve used to suggest that something was being vetted.
It
