Anthologies suck
December 04, 2003
Why is it that professors use anthologies in literature classes?
Maybe my problem is not so much that it is an anthology, but the fact that when you read 50 pages of a 800 page anthology, it seems rather pointless. Yes. If you are wondering I am talking about my World Literature class. If you know who the professor is, then good, but I chose not to mention his/her name.
So we had to buy a set of 3 anthologies for $62.50.
From these three anthologies (each of over 800 pages), we read Voltaire, Gulliver's Travels, 3 plays and a story about the Iroquois indians and discussed post-structuralism and deconstruction. First of all, I thought Gulliver would have been Brit Lit, and second of all, Iroquois are definately from New York. Thirdly, that was all we read. It was a waste of money.
I don't think that the professor took into consideration that this was a core class when selecting the reading. Each week we would read something for the class. We would then do group presentations about the readings. Would you consider a class comprised of student presentations a class where you are supposed to learn something. If Seton Hill prides itself in its liberal arts, then why is there not an effort to extend knowledge to the students instead of students presenting all of the material.
The best part of this whole class is that when you go to sell the anthologies back to the bookstore, you get $6.00 per book.
Arrgggg. Something needs to be done about this. I wish I had some clever suggestions, but I don't. Do you have any?
Posted by Brian McCollum at December 4, 2003 11:20 PM
Comments
The whole question of textbooks and economics is a complex one. Brian, it's possible that the combination of readings your professor wanted to use just simply isn't available in any other format.
While I'm sure Gulliver and Voltaire would be available in cheap editions (they're both available online), if your prof assigned critical readings and other essays from that anthology, they may have been far more expensive if you had been required to purchase each one separately. And, truth be told, one reason I like an anthology is that if students get particularly interested in a subject, or a current event happens that makes a different text suddenly more relevant, when you know each student has a whole anthology, you can make last-minute course changes without making your students purchase additional books.
And besides, if you mean that each of 3 volumes was 800 pages, and the whole 2400 page thing cost $60, then that's a great deal -- even if you only read a portion of that anthology.At my previous school, all students contributed a fee to a common purchasing pool. For courses in which professors were planning to use the same books for more than one year, books were purchased for rentals. As profs, we got to designate one book on our syllabus as a "rental" book, which the students didn't have to buy, but only rented. The bookstore still made money off the rental, but the student who got the book new the first year didn't have to pay quite so much, and the student who got it used the second or third year maybe paid a little more. I can't honestly say I know much about the mechanics, but I felt much more comfortable about assinging big heavy anthologies when I knew the student wasn't saddled with the full cost of the book. Of course, as the author of an academic book that I'd love to assing to my students, but which costs $70 per copy, I don't feel right about doing that. (I didn't get to set the cost, and I get about 5% in royalties per copy, so it's not like my book is a huge source of income. I did buy a new PDA off my first royalty check, but I'll consider myself lucky if I can buy lunch in the cafeteria with next quarter's royalty check.)
At any rate, I personally deal with the situation by working with online materials as much as possible.
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at December 5, 2003 12:22 AM
"Of course, as the author of an academic book that I'd love to __assing__ to my students..."
Some days, I feel that that sums it up right there. ;-)
Posted by: Will Gayther at December 5, 2003 06:27 AM
LOL! Sorry about that.
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at December 5, 2003 09:16 AM
Hey Brian. I posted the following response to your comment (also about this topic) on my blog:
I can understand where you're coming from, Brian. Books are expensive. And some teachers, it seems, are more conscious about student expenditures than others. I personally always try to think of this... in fact, that's WHY I use anthologies in my lit classes (because buying all the separate collections and books that contain individual pieces would be cost prohibitive). Plus some of the anthologies, like the three-volume Norton Antho of English Lit, contain canonical works that Eng majors might want to have on hand, even if they're not studied in one particular class. (I'm sorry you got ripped off in someone's class, though -- hopefully you can reclaim some of your loss through "book buy back"?)
I agree with what Dr. Jerz is saying above, too.
You only got $6 back? Sheesh..that's not fair. (I'd be mad at the publishers and book buyers rather than the teachers, actually....they're REALLY the ones who are profitting from this!)
You're right on many counts, but I disagree with your point about student presentations. We learn from each other in different ways and teachers are only one way. Besides, the very act of giving presentations often teaches us things we wouldn't otherwise pick up, too. Anyway, keep up the good work with your blog...I always enjoy reading it.
Posted by: Mike Arnzen at December 5, 2003 10:43 AM
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