On Beowulf and American Stupidity

Today, while I was shopping for school supplies at Target, I was met with the stupidity of mankind and the American population. While I was waiting in line to check out, a woman—who was with her teenage daughter—said that she missed the 70’s and wasn’t sure about what schools were teaching kids nowadays.

At face value, this can make sense considering the generation gap; there are things that my generation learned that our parents did not, books that have been written that are of literary merit since our parents’ graduation. The point that this particular lady was focusing on, however, defied this general standard: Beowulf.

She had (1) never heard of it and (2) assumed that “it must have been invented since [the ‘70s].” I had to refrain myself from speaking up, because I knew that if I said something that it would be incredibly rude. And let’s face it, the rude comment would have been well deserved.

Let’s begin with the obvious issue, if you are not literate enough to know that Beowulf exits (not even what it is about), you should not be commenting on the American education system. Obviously, the education system failed this particular lady in the ‘70s.

Secondly, a piece of literature is not invented. Beowulf cannot be compared to the cotton gin or the Model-T. The simple phrasing of her comment took all credibility away from her. Call me a snob, but I think that you need to think about what you say before it comes out of your lips to avoid simple mistakes such as this. In the same sentence she had said that it was required for senior English classes, so it can be assumed that she knew that it was some piece of literature or other.

I would like to point out that Beowulf has not been written in the past 40 years. Nor was it rediscovered in that time. Beowulf was available to the public in the ‘70s, just as it is now, and I should hope that some students (if not high school then college) should have read it.

Lastly, if you’re not a high school English teacher—or an English teacher or professor in any sense—you should not be commenting on the selections of a teacher. It can be assumed that someone who specializes in teaching English is going to have some insight into literary merit.

If this lady were going to say things like this again, I would urge her to do it in the privacy of her own home.