Students Apt To Be Temperamental, Curious, or Amused When Sent to English F, Says McMullen--Few Harvard Graduates

"It is a noticeable fact that of the men in the graduate schools who have been referred to us for correction in use of English, very few are Harvard graduates", said A. J. McMullen, secretary of the Committee on the Use of English by Students. "Of course", he continued, "The greatest proportion of those who come to us are undergraduates in the College, but we help many students in all the graduate schools as well as some teachers and instructors taking post graduate work".

"There are many types of people who are reported to us for help in composition", stated Mr. McMullen, "and perhaps the most amusing is the student who has been excused from English A. When a man is sent to us for extra help he takes one of three attitudes. He may be openly hostile, and come banging his way in, obviously enraged because he has been thought 'illerate' by his instructor; he may be curious as to what it all is about, and just what English F is; or he may be one of those excused from English A, and hence is amused that he, of all people, should be thought insufficiently well-trained in his mother tongue.

"During the war we once had 600 men under our direction, but now there are 200, and soon there will be even less. I attribute this to the changes made recently in English A. Formerly this course consisted of three classes a week, and two conference meetings a semester; under the present plan there is but one meeting a week and a conference, either individual or group, about every week. Under this plan students learn the principles of composition far better than under the former system. Our real problem is to teach what is called 'examination technique), which boils down to the art of writing a blue book.

"I send about half of those who come to me away after a warning, but others need individual attention, and come once a week for some period of time, usually about two months or less. This is more of a tutoring period than anything else--as we have no marks, no attendance, and no requirements".

"We have made over about 40 men who come voluntarily, besides those who have some definite faults to correct. They come mostly because they are interested in improving their writing, and yet have no time to take the extra courses which they want", Mr. McMullen explained. "They are those who realize that English F, as the Committee is called, is a help and not a penalty.

"I was once greatly touched when a man came to me to have me look over some letters which he was writing to a girl and which he wanted to be absolutely grammatical".