Exciting. Intriguing. Humorous. These may not be the first words that pop
into your mind when you think English professor, but maybe they should be.
English professors conjure up images of tweed jackets, leather elbow patches
and pipes. As a subject, English invokes either a romanticized image of reciting
bards, or the exact opposite -- people so dry and humorless even Homer (not
Simpson) would find them boring.
Some people think professors are stuffy characters who spend a few hours
a week in classrooms speaking a language all their own, thereby reaching far
over the heads of students -- and pretty much the rest of the world. But these
stereotypes are as mythical as the Greek mythology English professors know
so well.
Professor Stephen Clarke, who teaches at a small Midwestern university,
doesn't even own a tweed jacket. Blue jeans and casual shirts are the
mainstays of his wardrobe. And he certainly doesn't smoke -- not even
a pipe. Clarke's specialty is the 20th-century American novel.
Sense of humor? "If your plan is to be a teacher, whether at the elementary
or graduate level, you'd better have a sense of humor," Clarke says.
A good education and the ability to think critically is important if you
want to become a professor, says Clarke. But equally important is the ability
to deal well with people. Clarke interacts with hundreds of students each
year. He says they can sometimes be frustrating, but they also make him laugh.
Clarke has heard many "interesting" excuses for late papers or careless
errors. "One student told me he failed to get his term paper in on time because
his mother telephoned him the night before and informed him she was pregnant
again," says Clarke.
"Apparently, the student was an only child and didn't like the idea
of a younger sibling. This news so upset him he wasn't able to finish
the last edit on his paper. He asked for an extension of a week to give him
time to recover from the shock."
Another student told Clarke she would have to write her final exam at another
time as she had necessary surgery scheduled for the date of the exam. Wanting
to be diplomatic, Clarke didn't ask about the nature of her surgery.
He gave her an extension and wished her a quick recovery. When she returned
to class, it was apparent that the "necessary surgery" had been a nose job!
In comparison to Clarke's casual attire and personality, Elizabeth
Revell may, at first glance, appear to fit the stereotype of a university
instructor.
Revell attended Oxford University in England. She says Old English, Greek
mythology and 20th-century literature fascinate her, and she
gets annoyed with careless errors and word processors.
Revell also has an analytical mind. She says the study of English literature
is "very, very important because it gives you an understanding of how things
came to be the way they are now."
Revell says it's her job to inspire her students, to help them gain
the critical thinking skills that will benefit them for the rest of their
lives.
She laughs at the misconceptions people have about English professors.
As an example, Revell recalls a conversation with a student who worked in
the campus library.
The student asked Revell how she was and Revell replied, "I'm fine,
but I've got too much work to do." With a somewhat surprised look on
her face, the student asked, "Oh, have you taken another job?"
"I suppose she didn't think teaching was work," says Revell. "She
certainly didn't realize it was a full-time job."
Like Clarke, Revell has heard some pretty amusing excuses from her students.
In her second year of teaching, she was confronted with the issue of plagiarism.
"I remember this one paper from a student of mine," she says.
"He supplied a lot of footnotes in the first half of the paper, but the
second half was very different. I happened to recognize parts of it from a
critical work I had recently read. It was only my second year teaching, and
I hadn't really worked out how to deal with extreme plagiarism. So at
the end of his essay, I wrote, 'You were very unfair not to acknowledge
your source.'"
The student became quite contrite afterwards and explained that he didn't
mean to be unfair to the original author, Revell says. "He actually told me
that he got the essay from another student and he didn't mention him
either," Revell says.
Clarke and Revell have dozens of funny stories from their jobs. And while
they hope they've inspired some of their students, they both say they
have lots of stories about students who have inspired them. They say they've
seen students overcome incredible odds to be able to attend university, students
who've dealt with personal problems and still managed to keep their grades
up and meet essay deadlines.
"Very often, students think of things or raise questions or tell me about
something they've found that I never would have found," says Revell.
"I love that kind of input."