Monmouth College - Ravelings Yearbook (Monmouth, IL)

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It is knowledge which distinguishes civilized man from the savage. Both have the same nervous system and basic needs. Their customs and institutions may differ, but beneath the surface of their local situation they are of the same raw materi- al. What is today considered the polish of society becomes gritty in the hands of the ignorant whose lives bear witness to the Savage within each of us. What of the thousands who worship the television set and are tithed weekly at the loan office? Where there is a rabble-rouser — there are his rabble and pawns of his designs. You have read that when the exi- gencies of a situation demand our intelli- gent response the first question to be asked is What can we do? . If we are ignorant — an ignorance which can be overcome only as we broaden our aware- ness through the study, of history, science, mathematics, philosophy, and literature — then one of two alternatives is open to us. Either we shall be guided by our impulses, or submit passively to the designs of those who cannot always be trusted. The avenues of academic study are paths into the great body of fact and principle. To ignore the ways to truth is to be confined to the savage ' s limited horizon and to be burdened with his narrow understanding.

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The advisor helps to answer the question, How can the most of my education? Here we risk ignoring a common ground of selection because of the di- verse nature of the objects chosen. While it is true that individuals with different- backgrounds, interests, and capacities tend to isolate themselves in specialized fields, knowledge is of value in itself Through its guidance we satisfy our needs and fructify our desires Those who learn what their real needs are and can adopt effective and ethical means of satisfying them will act rationally. If students take their work seriously then the selection of courses is an orientation toward good living in and through the avenues of academic study jdibesval Alti itudentl wanJz iawand a common aaL After he red tape and waiting

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16 Through literature learn to feel as othe they valued The first avenue to be explored is basic to education. For if a person cannot express his ideas, then he can neither make himself under- stood nor contribute to the great body of fact. As well as polishing the basic skills acquired in high school the English department requires that these skills be put into practice in the composition of term papers and the use and organization of reference sources The department introduces the freshmen to the library and to the material available there. Besides the purely mechanical skills the English department teaches literary art. This area of study encompasses one of the fundamental means of mankind for communicating his feelings for value to others To recreate through imagina- tion the poetry and literature of ether men in other generations is to learn to feel as they felt toward the things they valued. The English majors club makes frequent trips to places of literary interest. One of their fa- vorite spots has been Hannibal, Missouri, the boy- hood home of Mark Twain. ENGLISH