“Please, unlearn all that you learnt in school.”
First day of class in English Literature and these are the pearls of wisdom which our teacher gave us. And really, she was right. While CBSE teaches a student how to hone her skills in rote learning, an honors course in English teaches one how to think outside the box.
I am not really sure if the decision to scrap the entrance exam for an honors course in English Literature will be a big help. Both the teacher community and the student community might have to suffer. Because contrary to common perception, the English (hons.) course does not entail having to deal with unseen poems and writing a story summary almost per verbatim (which currently is what we do in CBSE). It means taking a literary work and viewing it from a lot of different perceptions. It is about reading between the lines; hidden metaphors, double meanings – a full analysis. Therefore, just like B.Com is not everyone’s cup of tea (and those who are not capable get filtered out through high-cut offs), neither is English Literature. That is the reason why one needs a test to determine who is capable of handling a subjective subject like this.
The system of conducting entrance tests has been in practice since nearly twenty years now. The English Departments of eighteen DU colleges have found these methodically evolved tests extremely useful in determining, with the help of their decades of experience, which student is really capable of pursuing this course. Also, admission on the basis of class XII marks may prove to be an obstacle to the humanities students, who generally score less than the science and the commerce students. And, often, they are the ones who are most suited for the course. The year when I gave the exam, nearly a thousand odd girls gave the entrance test in LSR. Naturally, many of them were from science and commerce background, having got in their nineties in English and total aggregate. And yet, most of my classmates are from humanities, having scored below ninety, either in aggregate or in English, or both. Of course, this did not happen to just our particular batch; this seems to be trend which occurs each year.
If the Class XII result becomes the sole criteria for admission for English Literature, obviously the cut-offs will be high. Then, deserving candidates might just lose out. Many students who have got a low score in class XII have often won gold medals at both B.A and M.A level. While CBSE basically tests a student’s capability of handling pressure, English Literature requires students who have analytical capabilities. Currently, the entrance tests have a 70:30 ratio; 70 per cent weightage is given to the test and 30 per cent to the class XII marks.
I do not know how valid is the argument that giving so many entrance tests proves to be cumbersome for the students. Records have shown that no student gives all eighteen tests of the eighteen different colleges. On an average, a candidate gives only four out of the eighteen exams. Also, I remember how, when I had to give the test, the teachers had repeatedly stressed on the fact that no before-hand preparation is required. So, there is no time ‘wasted’ in preparation. Well, I agree with the view that interviews in some colleges can be done away with but I find it hard to endorse the decision of scrapping the test altogether. This is because I come to remember the problems that I faced of transition from CBSE course to English Literature. And I came through the written test. I still remember the girl who had come to our class through the ECA ( Extra Curricular Activities) quota; she did not have to give the entrance exam. Her first question had been, “So, do you like reading?” She had chosen English (hons.) because she thought it was a ‘soft’ subject. After facing enormous teething problems, she eventually left the course.Now, consider the scenario where a lot of student who are incapable get inducted. By mid first year, they would know that. And so would the teachers. Hence, we would have a class with disheartened students and teachers who are resigned to fate.
Currently, we are a bunch of students who are more or less on an equal platform. Most of us pay attention in class. Really, we have had discussions in class where the entire class was able to participate. I may have been lucky enough to have gotten admission through the test. However, here the issue is a higher one, beyond the selfish need of just one person gaining admission. This is about the future of an entire Department in Delhi University. I really do not want a scenario where we may have to say, Rest in Peace, English (hons.)!
Shravya Jain
[Ratings]
[Image by Rayman Gill]
no offence
i faintly sense content
but writings too juvenile
coming from an english student
Great going, Shravya! The issue has been dealt with in a comprehensive, well-argued manner. I seriously hope for the authorities to take note – if they have ignored the signature campaign and students’ and teachers’ protests already. It is high time they realize how detrimental blind reliance on marks is, both to literature and to students.
Thank you so much guys
Even Rayman’s pic, while the art, this is the pic that kept coming to my mind
Koyel I really think that is a good idea. It really should be done. Beat a decision with stats, the best way!
What really got me mad was the fact that the Eng Dept had not even been consulted before a decision was made.
Try forwarding this to eng litters of other colleges. If we get enough support, Im sure we can still try to get the decision reversed.
Koyel and Jessica were lucky to have juniors like us, right? We’d like a bunch of good juniors as well.
I think it would be interesting to hunt out the top three scorers of literature of the past 10 years, and create a database of which stream they came from (in school), what their CBSE/ISC/Other percentage was, and how much they scored in English (ESPECIALLY in CBSE).
It would be presumptuous of me to to say I can predict the stats but I have a strong feeling that I wouldn’t be too far off the mark.
The stat sheet (with a short little analysis of the stat, just to make sure nobody misses the point) could then be forwarded to the Vice-Chancellor.
Great work shravya!! and ray… i LOVE that pic
i completely agree with everything in the article. CBSE is NO way competent to either judge or prepare us for literature at college level…it is only through the entrance tests that we could even get an idea of what will be expected of us in college; its not about a limit-yourself-to-the-2-lines-or else attitude and marking scheme, but
rather about pages n pages of detailed analysis!
hope the university also realizes this and in time…unlike the government with the BRT corridoor!
Well, finally someone seems to have brought this up! Thanks Shravya! And excellent picture Rayman, my PL textbook looks ditto ;D
Like everyone else, I agree there is a need for the entrance exam for the english honours course. It allows the faculty to sift through the students who have an aptitude for the subject, from those who don’t and merely have a high CBSE score. In my own case even, I might not have been able to get admission into any college in Delhi if not for the entrance exam, because my best of four was a meagre 81.5 .
Having been part of the english honours population for the past 2 years, I know for a fact that English is anything but a ‘soft’ subject. But do the freshers applying for it know that? Like Rayman’s example, I remember from when I was giving my own entrances, a girl having exited the Indrprastha College english entrance exam was loudly proclaiming that Mr. Rochester was a character in Agatha Christie (!) If this is how the batch is going to be next year, then everyone’s in for a heap of trouble, be it the students OR the teachers. Or even us, the seniors for that matter.
i am glad that you brought this up shravya. I think literature is one course where you have to have an entrance exam. Its not about scoring a 90% or whatever.
I mean we know how it is to score in CBSE/ISC. I think to test the true aptitude we need to have an entrance.
SO i cant even fathom why the university is scrapping it.
shravya
great that you brought this up here. coz we have been trying to get the university authorities to understand the same thing through a signature campaign . and almost the entire department did approve of it. so tht says something!
ya the test is really important not only for this particular department but for all other courses as well. its important to judge aptitudes coz you are going to be “stuck” with the subject for the three most important years of your life!
and the “market value” of a particular course is what most students consider rather than interest! so the test is good way to filter and get together a class which is interested(most of it)!
Rayman: the picture reminds me of my second year. but my PL text had absolutely no notes for reasons best kept hidden ; ) but i absolutely loved studying the text! Satan Rocks : )
I remember that while giving my entrance test, i met another potential literature student…and when i asked her if she liked Kipling, her answer was “No I have never Kipled in my life!” According to her, Shylock was from Sherlock Holmes. Without the test, such ‘lovers of literature’ may be my juniors next year (God forbid!)
good work shravya. oh and the picture is awesome, WHERE did you find it?