THE FOUNDATION COURSE

Those members of the College who have unpleasant memories of English A will probably look askance at Mr. Gavit's article published today. If they do, they must remember that he is not talking about the English A which they took, but about the course as it ought to be, and as it is now the aim to make it. And the ideal which Mr. Gavit expresses, if it can ever be fully realized, is an ideal that will make English A a "foundation course" of inestimable value.

If it can give to the Freshman a perception of the fact that one can start with any subject and from it, in a perfectly logical manner, explore every field of knowledge, it would be accomplishing a great thing. All knowledge is related to all knowledge; it was Tennyson who wrote, in his "Flower in the crannied wall":

Little Flower--but if I could understand

What you are, root and all, and all in all.

I should know what God and man is.

As an example, the names of the days of the week might be taken as a starting point. These names would lead one to a study of the French, German, and the more fundamental Latin and Greek languages; and to the old mythologies. The old mythologies are collected with philosophy, and philosophy with them; this would lead one to a study of all the branches of philosophy; as philosophy in the medieval sense included all the liberal arts and sciences, it is evident that there is no subject which can not be reached, starting with the study of the familiar names of the days.

But the orientation of the individual in the field of knowledge is not all that can be accomplished by English A, although it is perhaps the greatest single thing. The ability really to perceive is an elementary requirement, but it is developed only by conscious effort. The ability to express ones self clearly is not so common as is generally inferred; back of it there must be some clarity of thought processes, and anyone who has argued with a stubborn and illogical opponent will hesitate to say that such clarity is universal. And the last point, that of knowing how to get the facts, is not open to controversy; this knowledge, and the faculty of being a walking encyclopedia, have been the opponents in the recent discussion of Mr. Edison's questionnaires. Ability to remember a large mass of unrelated facts, which Mr. Edison regards as important, is not so valuable as knowing where such facts can be got.

The idea of having a "foundation course" in the college is not a new one. Just such are Economics A, English 41, and all of the elementary courses; but English A--as Mr. Gavit states, it is handicapped by that name--is a course more elementary in that it is more fundamental. The vision that it can give, and the faculties that it can develop, make it a necessary preliminary to all study. "It affords the framework and warp into which all the rest of his college and postgraduate work and intellectual acquisitions of his after life may be built and interwoven."

And a real painter would probably pick out canvas, not cheesecloth.