Some very well-read people lack moral character and show no creative capacities at all, to say nothing of self-understanding or a basic appreciation of the liberal arts. It seemed possible, even likely, that some of those things might �ow from the study of language and literature, which is my damned business, but they also might not. Yet it seemed to me, on re�ection, that they were none of my damned business. It spoke of a basic appreciation of the liberal arts, a critical evaluation of society, emotional development, creative capacities, students’ self-understanding, moral character, interpersonal relations and group participation, and general insight into the knowledge of a discipline. This one intrigued me, however, because it was lofty. But he didn’t do as he had promised, and I had lost all interest in questionnaires.
Many years earlier I had returned a similar questionnaire, because the man who sent it had promised, in writing, to “analize” my “input.” That seemed appropriate, so I put it in. I was told that the goals were pretty widely shared by professors all around the country.
It was about my goals in teaching, and it asked me to assign values to a number of beautiful and inspiring goals. Foreword A colleague sent me a questionnaire.