Monday. Nov. 5, 1962
University Daily Kansan
Page 3
Steinbeck and Journalism Editor:
This letter comes in reply to a page 1 story in the Oct. 29 Kansan, which carried comments of three English professors on John Steinbeck's winning the Nobel prize for literature. Two of these professors are good friends of mine, and I trust they will bear up under my complaints.
STEINBECK WRITES too simply, apparently. He can be understood. He uses short words. He understands parallel construction. In short, journalistic. Journalistic in the sense of Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Sherwood Anderson, Ernest Hemingway, all of whom sullied their hands in newspaper offices?
The other professor comments that Steinbeck's work is "sociological." This is another convenient handle, which appears to mean that an author considers topical—and meaningful—subject matter. Like whaling, for example, which a chap named Melville wrote about, or bigotry, which cropped up in "The Merchant of Venice," or slavery, which was a theme in "Huckleberry Finn," or big city environment, which was considered in "An American Tragedy," or radicalism, which even the revered Henry James—neither a journalist nor a sociologist—wrote about in one of
One of these professors demurs from the decision of the Nobel judges with the observation that Steinbeck's work is "journalistic" I had hoped that Dennis Farney's editorial in the Oct. 25 Kansan would have brought a brief moratorium on such remarks, but the word "journalist" to the English department is like the word "Communist" to the John Birch Society.
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Short Ones
Woman learns how to hate in proportion as she forgets how to charm.—Nietzsche
Most lawyers would rather look back than forward.—R. C. Heege
Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. — George Bernard Shaw
After all there is but one race, humanity.—George Moore
***
... Letters ...
True nobility is exempt from fear.—Shakespeare
EXTRA ADDED ATTRACTION
MIRIAMMAKEBA
his best novels, "The Princess Casamassima."
The most exciting new singing talent to appear in many years.
—Time Magazine
SATURDAY, NOV. 10
8:30 p.m.
Municipal Auditorium K. C., Mo.
Steinbeck wrote one book which is far superior to anything done by most of the contemporary crop of literary darlings. Had he written only "The Grapes of Wrath" he would have earned an important place in American literature. But that beautiful and angry novel was preceded by "In Dubious Battle" and "Of Mice and Men," and followed by "East of Eden."
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THE DAILY KANSAN article quoted somebody as saying that the award was too late. If Steinbeck deserved an award for "The Grapes of Wrath" in 1940 he deserves one in 1962. Do we judge an artist only on his early work? If so, then Mark Twain should be dropped from the reading lists, for his greatest writing came early in his career. And Faulkner, when he
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received the Nobel award in 1950, had just gone through a decade of near-inactivity which had produced only "The Hamlet" and "Intruder in the Dust."
Steinbeck has been a prophet without honor in America, perhaps. Recent commentators have observed that he holds a higher position abroad than he does in America. This is nothing new. A hundred years from now some English professor may rediscover him and launch a Steinbeck renaissance, and there will be an emphasis — for a change — upon authors who write in clear English, about recognizable and believable people who are worth caring about, about causes and issues worth fighting for.
Now please, somebody, note the journalistic preposition at the end of the last sentence.
Calder M. Pickett
Professor of Journalism
CRIMSON DESERT, by E. E. Halleran (Ballantine, 36 cents)—all about a Quaker named Ben Lyman and his trouble with the Apaches. For the action lover who is not too demanding re style or point of view.
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THE IMPOSSIBLE, by Dick Gardner (Ballantine, 50 cents)—a book that deals with folks who swallow deadly poisons, fight savage animals, walk on hot coals—as an occupation, that is.
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CONDITIONALLY HUMAN, by Walter M. Miller Jr. (Ballantine, 50 cents)—science fiction stuff, three novellas that range from suspense to satire.
THE REIGN OF TERROR IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, by Cleveland Moffett (Ballantine, 50 cents)—a story of that gory period when 16.000 mounted the steps to the guillotine, the prisons were full, cannon fire blew up soldiers, mobs smashed windows and so on.
be hard to see. It's really clear. I'll use a different font.
I'll just use standard text.
Wait, is it a paragraph or just a single line? It looks like a single line of text.
Actually, it's a single line of text with some spaces in between.
I will use plain text for the main body and a decorative line for the first line.
The second line is just a simple paragraph.
One more check on the spacing:
Left side: 3 spaces
Right side: 5 spaces
Let's re-read the instructions carefully.
"I'll use plain text for the main body and a decorative line for the first line."
"One more check on the spacing: Left side: 3 spaces Right side: 5 spaces"
Yes, that's what I should do.
Final output:
Main body text (plain text):
The instructions say "Use plain text for the main body and a decorative line for the first line." This means the text should be left-aligned and not bolded.
Decorative line:
One more check on the spacing: Left side: 3 spaces Right side: 5 spaces
Main body text (plain text):
The instructions say "Use plain text for the main body and a decorative line for the first line." This means the text should be left-aligned and not bolded.
Decorative line:
One more check on the spacing: Left side: 3 spaces Right side: 5 spaces
Final output: