Comp Tales 1

"Don't Judge a Book by its Cover"

The first tale of Comp Tales reminded me of the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." This old saying is around to remind people that what's on the outside is sometimes masking the real greatness of what's on the inside. Even though most people know this maxim, putting it into practice in abstract circumstances, such as human interaction, remains difficult.

The experience with the community college professor both attests to this saying and challenges it. Her initial judgment of J. Johnson revealed a static, rule-hardened professor exercising authority and protocol rather than humanity and dialogue. While the mandates of not missing a certain number of class hours are clearly in place for reasons of educational standards, community building in the classroom, and overall fairness, the professor experiences the side effects of these rigid rules that do not recognize the student as a person first and foremost.

Another important thing revealed in this story is that not only are "bad" students misjudged. "Good" students are also at risk of being labeled in such a way that certain expectations become unfairly attached. McCurry is described as a military-looking "antithesis" of the student who had been in jail. Here we can see the prejudices that exist within the classroom come to light. McCurry's clean cut look and polished shoes put him into a different class than his classmate, the large man with "scarred face and imposing tattoos." McCurry's appearance puts him in a different category than Johnson and a classroom hierarchy is born.

The most telling part of this tale is the professor's feeling that she failed J. Johnson by not allowing him the chance to share his story. This brings up two important things to consider. First, the guilt that is often times inherent in becoming responsible for the future of education. While it's true that each student must put in the effort to earn the grades and succeed, the pressure is also very much on the professor to perform. Second, the narrative style of writing is not taken seriously enough in the academy. When taught well, narrative can be a strong and even foundational mode of exposing students to college level writing. Narrative depends on the basic skills of all writing, such as detail, exposition, coherence, and efficiency. Unfortunately, it is often treated like the throw away, less serious paper of a course, even though in truth it is the backbone of writing.

This Comp Tale reveals problems with negotiating rules and human compassion, classroom prejudice, teachers' guilt, and dismissing the narrative as a useful genre. The saying is to not judge a book by its cover, but the real tragedy is not so much the judging as it is the act of dismissing.