TripWillis

Well, I'm not fancy, so they can just go ahead and call already.

No one go to pieces yet; there is one post for what is essentially everyone's reach school. No reason to panic yet.

I'd say if you still haven't heard anything, it's a good thing. They are probably either deciding who is waitlist and who is rejection, OR they are trying to get a little more money so they can accept you!

Right there with you.

I got a call from a (617) area code, but was just these two guys with haughty accents going, "Hey kid, this is what we think of your writing sample, old sport!" And spitting into the receiver. Someone else from the background yelled, "I concur! Poor form!" So yeah, I'm waiting on a call from here and Rutgers... aaaaany minute now.

Congrats! Did you hear if I got in too?

I have no interest in the "literary worth" argument to begin with. It doesn't really do me any good to debate quality in such broad strokes. I don't have an opinion on which book is "better" because I don't find that interesting. I'm not really even interested in debating whether or not Harry Potter is "poor writing." I don't read those books. I can't read everything and they're not my field. I'm down with the rest of your post, except for this: "But what forms the basis for any worthwhile approach to teaching and Harry Potter or teaching and any inferior text or cultural artifact, is that it is not the text itself that is imparting any worthwhile knowledge, but the theoretical approach itself." I very rarely find that any text is devoid of imparting worthwhile knowledge, even ones that are designed for children and steeped in escapism.

Seriously. I was just about to take the weekend off and resume on Monday. Ha!

Not I, said the scholar who is now staring at his phone intently.

Eggers wrote an adaptation of it based on his own screenplay for the movie... yeah. Sounds like a cash cow to me.

I agree. I sometimes have concerns about the intellectual values we're promoting. Contrary to dokkeynot's opinion, thinking critically or supporting an academic or intellectual standard doesn't just entail carrying on certain books or authors from generation to generation. There has to be room for change. Eggers and Rowling could be taught meaningfully in the right context. Literary worth itself doesn't always determine what gets taught. Look at Atlas Shrugged, which is a "bad" novel by consensus, but is also an important piece of culture. It's not about anti-intellectualism; it's about having a comprehensive view of the way literary values are taken up and put down by society.

Oh boy.

Observation: next week is like the bedlam of school reportage. I have 5 of my schools as reporting next week, historically. Yikes. Bring it on.

I feel like class warfare is ready to erupt in this thread.

There are indeed productive ways. Not in this thread, of course. It seems to me that constructing a canon would be more helpful if we: 1) Defined English programs more broadly as "Cultural Studies" programs because... c'mon, that's what we actually do. 2) Recognized the wide disparity between different genres and periods of literature that make it nearly impossible to make an English canon and subsequently develop smaller, more specialized canons. 3) Edit the existing GRE-Subject Test canon with a heavy hand.

Not to be the diplomatic waffling person, but I think we're talking about conflicting values, not objective literary worth. Some of us will never understand each others' respective fields, but that doesn't mean we have to be all snobbish about it. The idea that anything belongs/doesn't belong in the canon always gives me a shudder; it's like this form of social engineering through literature.

I was thinking of Margarita's.

Yes, it's so intense, all this waiting! I am also waiting on a couple of top choices, although I am not sure I'll do better than CUNY at this point, but we'll see... I'm going to be looking at all the schools pretty carefully. You have some crazy choices to make already... I can't imagine having to choose between Vanderbilt, Maryland, CUNY, and Madison.

Hearing that actually makes me hurt inside.

Seriously. We should petition for an increase... how are we supposed to live in gradcafe on this meager +1 stipend?

Thanks guys!! Was really concerned about the lack of ability to +1 there for a moment.

Thanks Marlowe. I was gonna +1 your post, but I got a message that said "You have reached your quota of positive votes for the day." WHAT? We have a QUOTA? How are we supposed to support each other in the midst of all this drama???

You know, having lived in both Boston and New York, I can at least say that BURRITOS : BOSTON : : PIZZA : NEW YORK. I've never had burritos in California, but Boston is very much up to the challenge!

You bet! Maybe I'll see you there?

I also love Wanda. And I love Stephen Clingman.