Many disreputable features of present-day reviewing would disappear if the common reader was more self-reliant. But he must be able to rely on something more solid than whim or fancy: he needs some knowledge of critical principles as a basis for judging and developing his own power of judgment. The more he is familiar with the great critics of the past, the less he will think of the little ones of to-day. Indeed, unless he has that familiarity, he cannot fully understand or benefit from the great critics of to-day. For when they discuss seemingly modern problems (which have in fact so often been topics for critics of previous centuries) they are building on the foundations made by their predecessors. Is verse the right medium for drama? When is a happy ending wrong? Why is ‘escape-literature’ popular? — Jonson, Dryden, Steele gave their opinions years ago: it is foolish to discard or ignore what they said, though we may flatter ourselves that we can bring it up to date. As Chesterton says, “Real development is not leaving things behind, as on a road, but drawing life from them, as from a root.”*
From The English Critic: from Chaucer to Auden (1939) by N. L. Clay (1905-1991).
* From The Victorian Age in Literature by G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936). Chesterton goes on: “Even when we improve we never progress. For progress, the metaphor from the road, implies a man leaving his home behind him: but improvement means a man exalting the towers or extending the gardens of his home.”
Précis
The reading public can and should challenge the authority of the expert, said Clay, but must do so from a position of strength. Our best course is to revisit the great literary critics of the past, study their judgments and refine our taste. In this way, we will learn to weigh and even appreciate modern criticism all the better. (59 / 60 words)
The reading public can and should challenge the authority of the expert, said Clay, but must do so from a position of strength. Our best course is to revisit the great literary critics of the past, study their judgments and refine our taste. In this way, we will learn to weigh and even appreciate modern criticism all the better.
Edit | Reset
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, besides, may, not, or, unless, whether, who.
About the Author
Norman Llewellyn Clay (1905-1991) was a Yorkshire schoolmaster who wrote a series of textbooks for schools, colleges and the home in a career that stretched from the 1920s to the 1960s. He taught English at Wath-on-Dearne Secondary School, and later at Ecclesfield Grammar School near Barnsley; his wife Hilda, whom he married in 1930, was a classicist and a fellow-schoolteacher. Clay’s books ranged from classroom courses in oral and written composition through to anthologies of prose and poetry, brief plays adapted from literature, and guides to better writing for adult learners. He also left behind a mass of unpublished material: stories, poems, guides to English domestic history and the experience of ordinary women, and studies of Jane Austen’s heroines. Clay championed ‘straightforward English’ as an antidote to the slogans and manipulative propaganda which plague every society, and hoped that his textbooks would help a new generation to learn more of the world they lived in, free their imagination, and do their democratic duty by holding their governors to account.
Archive
Find this and neighbouring posts in The Archive
Find this post and others dated 1939 in The Tale of Years
Tags: The English Language (7) Free Speech and Conscience (23) Liberty and Prosperity (169) N.L. Clay (2)
Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Even. Judge. Public.
2 Journal. See. We.
3 Behind. Past. Print.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Verb and Noun Find in Think and Speak
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Reward. 2 Man. 3 Talk. 4 Draw. 5 Display. 6 Make. 7 Power. 8 Feature. 9 Book.
Variations: 1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats. 2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went. 3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
Adjectives Find in Think and Speak
For each word below, compose sentences to show that it may be used as an adjective. Adjectives provide extra information about a noun, e.g. a black cat, a round table, the early bird etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Happier. 2 Flat. 3 Wrong. 4 Successful. 5 Left. 6 Powerful. 7 Happy. 8 Greatest. 9 Serious.
Variations: 1.show whether your adjective can also be used as e.g. a noun, verb or adverb. 2.show whether your adjective can be used in comparisons (e.g. good/better/best). 3.show whether your adjective can be used in attributive position (e.g. a dangerous corner) and also in predicate position (this corner is dangerous).
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
Show All Words (17)
Hog. (7) Hire. (7) Hero. (7) Heir. (7) Hoe. (6) Hie. (6) Her. (6) Ogre. (5) Gore. (5) Goer. (5) Giro. (5) Ergo. (5) Rig. (4) Ego. (4) Roe. (3) Ore. (3) Ire. (3)
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane, from time to time you could buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.