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Word index: 1-300, 301-600, 601-900

Expression index: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

Phrase index: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

1. evaluative

   exercising or involving careful appraisals

   You are, as Foucault might say, the intersection of many
   evaluative and potentially determining discourses: you boy, you girl, have been made.

2. cartographer

   a person who makes maps

   Never has there been a more shrewd and imaginative
   cartographer of the psyche.

3. discomfit

   cause to lose one’s composure

   I was, you might say,
   discomfited, and showed up to class for a while with my cellphone jiggered to dial 911 with one touch.

4. psyche

   that which is responsible for one’s thoughts and feelings

   Never has there been a more shrewd and imaginative cartographer of the
   psyche.

5. prognosticate

   make a prediction about; tell in advance

   And all of those teachers and counselors and friends—and the
   prognosticating uncles, the dithering aunts, the fathers and mothers with their hopes for your fulfillment—or their fulfillment in you—should not necessarily be cast aside or ignored.

6. winnow

   the act of separating grain from chaff

   The battle is to make such writers one’s own, to
   winnow them out and to find their essential truths.

7. embed

   fix or set securely or deeply

   Embedded in all of the major religions are profound truths.

8. provenance

   where something originated or was nurtured

   They have confronted you with scriptures—holy books that, whatever their actual
   provenance, have given people what they feel to be wisdom for thousands of years.

9. amok

   wildly; without self-control

   The Internet is
   amok with services selling term papers and those services exist, capitalism being what it is, because people purchase the papers—lots of them.

10. relegate

    assign to a lower position

    The coach knows what your athletic prospects are, the guidance office has a sheaf of test scores that
    relegate you to this or that ability quadrant, and your teachers have got you pegged.

11. leery

    openly distrustful and unwilling to confide

    Colleges are even
    leery of disciplining guys who have committed sexual assault, or assault plain and simple.

12. detach

    cause to become separated

    At the time I found his remark a tad
    detached, but maybe he was right.

13. cornucopia

    a horn filled with fruit and grain symbolizing prosperity

    Society has a
    cornucopia of resources to encourage you in doing what society needs done but that you don’t much like doing and are not cut out to do.

14. protract

    lengthen in time; cause to be or last longer

    They’ve given you a sharp and
    protracted taste of what they feel is good and bad, right and wrong.

15. indenture

    formal agreement as to terms of a debt

    Then there are those back-breaking student loans—people leave school as servants,
    indentured to pay massive bills, so that first job better be a good one.

16. academia

    the world of higher learning

    The people who do this work have highly developed intellectual powers, and they push themselves hard to reach a certain standard: That the results have almost no practical relevance to the students, the public, or even, frequently, to other scholars is a central element in the tragicomedy that is often
    academia.

17. disgorge

    eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth

    Black limousines pulled up in front of his office and
    disgorged decorously suited negotiators.

18. ethos

    the distinctive spirit of a culture or an era

    As far as I can discern, the student
    ethos goes like this: If the professor is so lazy that he gives the same test every year, it’s okay to go ahead and take advantage—you’ve both got better things to do.

19. quaff

    swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught

    If you advance in the direction of someone else’s dreams—if you want to live someone else’s life rather than yours—then get a TV for every room, buy yourself a lifetime supply of your favorite
    quaff, crank up the porn channel, and groove away.

20. libation

    the act of pouring a liquid offering as a religious ceremony

    Instead of being punished, these guys frequently stay around, strolling the quad and swilling the
    libations, an affront (and sometimes a terror) to their victims.

21. eschew

    avoid and stay away from deliberately

    The student who
    eschews medical school to follow his gift for teaching small children spends his twenties in low-paying but pleasurable and soul-rewarding toil.

22. expertly

    in an expert manner

    Because every subject you study is a language and since you may adopt one of these languages as your own, you’ll want to know how to speak it
    expertly and also how it fails to deal with those concerns for which it has no adequate words.

23. relevance

    the relation of something to the matter at hand

    The people who do this work have highly developed intellectual powers, and they push themselves hard to reach a certain standard: That the results have almost no practical
    relevance to the students, the public, or even, frequently, to other scholars is a central element in the tragicomedy that is often academia.

24. pessimist

    a person who expects the worst

    He couldn’t believe in the divinity of Jesus, or in the afterlife, but to Schopenhauer, a deep
    pessimist, a religion that had as its central emblem the figure of a man being tortured on a cross couldn’t be entirely misleading.

25. prod

    push against gently

    Occasionally—for you will need some help in fleshing-out the answers—you may have to
    prod your professors to see if they take the text at hand—in this case the divine and disturbing Plato—to be true.

26. compress

    squeeze or push together

    My father
    compressed his brow and blew twin streams of smoke, dragon-like, from his magnificent nose.

27. administrator

    someone who manages a government agency or department

    As for the
    administrators, their relation to the students often seems based not on love but fear.

28. shoddy

    of inferior workmanship and materials

    Shoddy work—in which the author cheats, cuts corners, copies from others—is quickly detected.

29. resource

    aid or support that may be drawn upon when needed

    I came to college with few
    resources, but one of them was an understanding, however crude, of how I might use my opportunities there.

30. dwindle

    become smaller or lose substance

    But then interest
    dwindles and matters go back to normal.

31. revere

    regard with feelings of respect

    You have been raised in proximity to common sense, if you’ve been raised at all, and common sense is something to respect, though not quite—peace unto the formidable Burke—to
    revere.

32. college

    an institution of higher education

    Welcome and congratulations: Getting to the first day of
    college is a major achievement.

33. touchstone

    a basis for comparison

    Brodhead, an impressive, articulate man, seems to take as his educational
    touchstone the Duke of Wellington’s precept that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.

34. articulate

    express or state clearly

    Brodhead, an impressive,
    articulate man, seems to take as his educational touchstone the Duke of Wellington’s precept that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.

35. goad

    stab or urge on as if with a pointed stick

    He was—and is—a perpetual challenge and
    goad.

36. fraught

    filled with or attended with

    Trying to figure out whether the stuff you’re reading is true or false and being open to having your life changed is a
    fraught, controversial activity.

37. disparity

    inequality or difference in some respect

    The public senses this
    disparity and so thinks of the professors’ work as being silly or beside the point.

38. consequential

    having important effects or results

    I learned that if I wanted to affirm any
    consequential ideal, I had to talk my way past Freud.

39. expend

    use up or consume fully

    But when we
    expend our energies in rightful ways, Robert Frost observed, we stay whole and vigorous and we don’t weary.

40. temerity

    fearless daring

    A friend of mine had the
    temerity to detect cheating on the part of a kid who was the nephew of a well-placed official in an Arab government complexly aligned with the U.S.

41. erotic

    giving sexual pleasure; sexually arousing

    He calls it “the overestimation of the
    erotic object.”

42. analytical

    using or skilled in using reasoning

    And you will have to be tough if the professor mocks you for uttering a sincere question instead of keeping matters easy for all concerned by staying detached and
    analytical.

43. revise

    make changes to

    He didn’t get to
    revise his understanding of himself, figure out what he’d do best that might give the world some profit.

44. stroll

    a leisurely walk, usually in some public place

    Instead of being punished, these guys frequently stay around,
    strolling the quad and swilling the libations, an affront (and sometimes a terror) to their victims.

45. detached

    no longer connected or joined

    At the time I found his remark a tad
    detached, but maybe he was right.

46. nonetheless

    despite anything to the contrary

    Scholarship, even if pretentious and almost unreadable, is
    nonetheless labor-intense.

47. challenging

    requiring full use of your abilities or resources

    When he came to Harvard to talk about religion, he shocked the professors and students by
    challenging the divinity of Jesus and the truth of his miracles.

48. reliance

    the state of depending on something

    Much more I learned from the sage—about character, about loss, about joy, about writing and its secret sources, but Emerson most centrally preaches the gospel of self-
    reliance and that is what I have tried most to take from him.

49. navigate

    direct carefully and safely

    His separation of the self into three parts, and his sense of the fraught, anxious, but often negotiable relations among them (negotiable when you come to the game with a Freudian knowledge), does a great deal to help one
    navigate experience.

50. sheaf

    a package of several things tied together

    The coach knows what your athletic prospects are, the guidance office has a
    sheaf of test scores that relegate you to this or that ability quadrant, and your teachers have got you pegged.

51. barrage

    the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area

    (Though sometimes—and this I owe to Emerson—it seems right to let the psyche fall into civil war, accepting
    barrages of anxiety and grief for this or that good reason.)

52. periodically

    in a sporadic manner

    Periodically the public gets exercised about this situation, and there are articles in the national news.

53. surround

    extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle

    Amidst the impressive college buildings, in company with a high-powered faculty,
    surrounded by the best of your generation, all you need is to keep doing what you’ve done before: Work hard, get good grades, listen to your teachers, get along with the people around you, and you’ll emerge in four years as an educated young man or woman.

54. transcendent

    exceeding or surpassing usual limits

    Schopenhauer, who despised belief in
    transcendent things, nonetheless thought Christianity to be of inexpressible worth.

55. pretentious

    creating an appearance of importance or distinction

    Scholarship, even if
    pretentious and almost unreadable, is nonetheless labor-intense.

56. exhilarating

    making lively and joyful

    Emerson’s greatness lies not only in showing you how powerful names and customs can be, but also in demonstrating how
    exhilarating it is to buck them.

57. synonymous

    meaning the same or nearly the same

    “Strongly spent,” the poet says, “is
    synonymous with kept.”

58. guy

    an informal term for a youth or man

    Colleges are even leery of disciplining
    guys who have committed sexual assault, or assault plain and simple.

59. astonish

    affect with wonder

    You can get a terrific education in America now—there are
    astonishing opportunities at almost every college—but the education will not be presented to you wrapped and bowed.

60. quest

    the act of searching for something

    The
    quest at the center of a liberal-arts education is not a luxury quest; it’s a necessity quest.

61. challenge

    a call to engage in a contest or fight

    When he came to Harvard to talk about religion, he shocked the professors and students by
    challenging the divinity of Jesus and the truth of his miracles.

62. exaggerate

    enlarge beyond bounds or the truth

    If you do not undertake it, you risk leading a life of desperation—maybe quiet, maybe, in time, very loud—and I am not
    exaggerating.

63. intermittent

    stopping and starting at irregular intervals

    He buys shirts from the Salvation Army, has
    intermittent Internet, and vacations where he can.

64. radically

    in an extreme or revolutionary manner

65. gruff

    blunt and unfriendly or stern

    My father was a
    gruff man, but also a generous one, so that night at the kitchen table at 58 Clewley Road he made an effort to let me have the chance that had been denied to him by both fate and character.

66. suggest

    make a proposal; declare a plan for something

    The dean of students laughed lightly when I
    suggested that this behavior might be grounds for sending the student on a brief vacation.

67. legacy

    a gift of personal property by will

    The
    legacy of their college years will be a legacy of difficulties overcome.

68. develop

    progress or evolve through a process of natural growth

    This I began to
    develop because of my father, who had never been to college—in fact, he’d barely gotten out of high school.

69. salient

    conspicuous, prominent, or important

    Education has one
    salient enemy in present-day America, and that enemy is education—university education in particular.

70. altering

    the sterilization of an animal

    This kind of perspective-
    altering teaching and learning can cause the things which administrators fear above all else: trouble, arguments, bad press, etc.

71. thesis

    an unproved statement advanced as a premise in an argument

    All right, there’s nothing wrong with this as far as it goes—after all, the student who writes a brilliant forty-page
    thesis in a hard week has learned more than a little about her inner resources.

72. detect

    discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of

    Shoddy work—in which the author cheats, cuts corners, copies from others—is quickly
    detected.

73. enhance

    increase

    What colleges generally want are well-rounded students, civic leaders, people who know what the system demands, how to keep matters light, not push too hard for an education or anything else; people who get their credentials and leave the professors alone to do their brilliant work, so they may rise and
    enhance the rankings of the university.

74. creator

    a person who grows or makes or invents things

    It loves not realities and
    creators, but names and customs.”

75. ponder

    reflect deeply on a subject

    From Freud I found a great deal to
    ponder as well.

76. aspire

    have an ambitious plan or a lofty goal

    I don’t mean Freud the
    aspiring scientist, but the Freud who was a speculative essayist and interpreter of the human condition like Emerson.

77. affront

    a deliberately offensive act

    Instead of being punished, these guys frequently stay around, strolling the quad and swilling the libations, an
    affront (and sometimes a terror) to their victims.

78. projection

    the act of expelling or ejecting

    Having found what’s best for you to do, you may be surprised how far you rise, how prosperous, even against your own
    projections, you become.

79. precept

    a rule of personal conduct

    Brodhead, an impressive, articulate man, seems to take as his educational touchstone the Duke of Wellington’s
    precept that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.

80. repress

    conceal or hide

    They’re disguised fulfillments of
    repressed wishes.

81. raise

    move upwards

    It’s been said that
    raising a child effectively takes a village: Well, as you may have noticed, our American village is not in very good shape.

82. metaphor

    a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity

    You’ll be looking into the reach of every
    metaphor that every discipline offers, and you’ll be trying to see around their corners.

83. requirement

    necessary activity

    “How about the science
    requirements?”

84. confront

    oppose, as in hostility or a competition

    They have
    confronted you with scriptures—holy books that, whatever their actual provenance, have given people what they feel to be wisdom for thousands of years.

85. precipitate

    bring about abruptly

    Edmund Burke saw common sense as a loosely made, but often profound, collective work, in which humanity has deposited its hard-earned wisdom—the
    precipitate of joy and tears—over time.

86. grade

    a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality

    Amidst the impressive college buildings, in company with a high-powered faculty, surrounded by the best of your generation, all you need is to keep doing what you’ve done before: Work hard, get good
    grades, listen to your teachers, get along with the people around you, and you’ll emerge in four years as an educated young man or woman.

87. banish

    expel, as if by official decree

    You must ask whether reason should always rule the passions, philosophers should always rule the state, and poets should inevitably be
    banished from a just commonwealth.

88. job

    a specific piece of work required to be done as a duty

    For students, that end is a good
    job.

89. probe

    an exploratory action or expedition

    And, too, you’ve been tested,
    probed, looked at up and down and through.

90. abstract

    existing only in the mind

    The students write their
    abstract, over-intellectualized essays; the professors grade the students for their capacity to be abstract and over-intellectual—and often genuinely smart.

91. arduous

    characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion

    When they face equally
    arduous tasks later in life, students will tap their old resources of determination, and they’ll win.

92. major

    greater in scope or effect

    Welcome and congratulations: Getting to the first day of college is a
    major achievement.

93. virtually

    in essence or in effect but not in fact

    The proof is that
    virtually no undergraduate students can read and understand their professors’ scholarly publications.

94. culture

    all the knowledge and values shared by a society

    We’ve got guns, drugs, two wars, fanatical religions, a slime-based popular
    culture, and some politicians who—a little restraint here—aren’t what they might be.

95. proximity

    the property of being close together

    You have been raised in
    proximity to common sense, if you’ve been raised at all, and common sense is something to respect, though not quite—peace unto the formidable Burke—to revere.

96. conformity

    correspondence in form, type, or appearance

    The virtue in most request is
    conformity.

97. predict

    make a guess about what will happen in the future

    He declares that dreams don’t
    predict the future and that there’s nothing benevolent about them.

98. profound

    situated at or extending to great depth

    Embedded in all of the major religions are
    profound truths.

99. tenure

    the term during which some position is held

    The work they are compelled to do to advance—get
    tenure, promotion, raises, outside offers—is, broadly speaking, scholarly work.

100. hatch

     a movable barrier covering an entrance

     One night after dinner, he and I were sitting in our kitchen at 58 Clewley Road in Medford, Massachusetts,
     hatching plans about the rest of my life.

101. volunteer

     a person who performs work done by choice

     The professor saves his energies for the profession, while the student saves his for friends, social life,
     volunteer work, making connections, and getting in position to clasp hands on the true grail, the first job.

102. commend

     present as worthy of regard, kindness, or confidence

     You’re to be
     commended, and not just you, but the parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts who helped get you here.

103. chilly

     appreciably or disagreeably cold

     For their essays can be brilliant, in a
     chilly way; they can also be clipped off the Internet, and often are.

104. realm

     a domain in which something is dominant

     Let the profs roam free in the
     realms of pure thought, let yourselves party in the realms of impure pleasure, and let the student-services gang assert fewer prohibitions and newer delights for you.

105. provoke

     provide the needed stimulus for

     Freud has something challenging and
     provoking to say about virtually every human aspiration.

106. affirm

     declare solemnly and formally as true

     I learned that if I wanted to
     affirm any consequential ideal, I had to talk my way past Freud.

107. discreet

     marked by prudence or modesty and wise self-restraint

     The idea that a university education really should have no substantial content, should not be about what John Keats was disposed to call Soul-making, is one that you might think professors and university presidents would be
     discreet about.

108. clasp

     hold firmly and tightly

     The professor saves his energies for the profession, while the student saves his for friends, social life, volunteer work, making connections, and getting in position to
     clasp hands on the true grail, the first job.

109. faculty

     an inherent cognitive or perceptual power of the mind

     Amidst the impressive college buildings, in company with a high-powered
     faculty, surrounded by the best of your generation, all you need is to keep doing what you’ve done before: Work hard, get good grades, listen to your teachers, get along with the people around you, and you’ll emerge in four years as an educated young man or woman.

110. aversion

     a feeling of intense dislike

     Self-reliance is its
     aversion.

111. issuing

     the act of providing an item for general use

     If universities stopped
     issuing credentials, half of the clients would be gone by tomorrow morning, with the remainder following fast behind.

112. potentially

     with a possibility of becoming actual

     You are, as Foucault might say, the intersection of many evaluative and
     potentially determining discourses: you boy, you girl, have been made.

113. create

     bring into existence

     But the public also senses that because professors don’t pay full-bore attention to teaching they don’t have to work very hard—they’ve
     created a massive feather bed for themselves and called it a university.

114. suppress

     put down by force or authority

     You may find your own
     suppressed and rejected thoughts flowing back to you with an “alienated majesty.”

115. prone

     having a tendency

     It’s just that smart people are
     prone to look into matters to see how they might go about buttering their toast.

116. emerge

     come out into view, as from concealment

     Amidst the impressive college buildings, in company with a high-powered faculty, surrounded by the best of your generation, all you need is to keep doing what you’ve done before: Work hard, get good grades, listen to your teachers, get along with the people around you, and you’ll
     emerge in four years as an educated young man or woman.

117. pose

     assume a bearing as for artistic purposes

     (Detached analysis has a place—but, in the end, you’ve got to speak from the heart and
     pose the question of truth.)

118. massive

     containing a great quantity of matter

     Then there are those back-breaking student loans—people leave school as servants, indentured to pay
     massive bills, so that first job better be a good one.

119. demonstrate

     give an exhibition of to an interested audience

     Emerson’s greatness lies not only in showing you how powerful names and customs can be, but also in
     demonstrating how exhilarating it is to buck them.

120. controversial

     marked by or capable of causing disagreement

     Trying to figure out whether the stuff you’re reading is true or false and being open to having your life changed is a fraught,
     controversial activity.

121. injure

     cause bodily harm to

     But he writes another—in part out of a feeling of
     injured merit, maybe—and that one they do buy.

122. discern

     perceive, recognize, or detect

     As far as I can
     discern, the student ethos goes like this: If the professor is so lazy that he gives the same test every year, it’s okay to go ahead and take advantage—you’ve both got better things to do.

123. monetary

     relating to or involving money

     In a culture where the major and determining values are
     monetary, what else could you do?

124. prohibition

     the action of forbidding

     Let the profs roam free in the realms of pure thought, let yourselves party in the realms of impure pleasure, and let the student-services gang assert fewer
     prohibitions and newer delights for you.

125. predecessor

     one who goes before you in time

     For somehow your
     predecessors are more yourself than you are.

126. primary

     of first rank or importance or value

     The idea that the courses you take should be the
     primary objective of going to college is tacitly considered absurd.

127. cultivate

     adapt something wild to the environment

     The reason to read Blake and Dickinson and Freud and Dickens is not to become more
     cultivated, or more articulate, or to be someone who, at a cocktail party, is never embarrassed (or who can embarrass others).

128. invest

     lay out money or resources in an enterprise

     Whatever the case, no one wants to
     invest too much in them—for life is elsewhere.

129. benevolent

     showing or motivated by sympathy and understanding

     He declares that dreams don’t predict the future and that there’s nothing
     benevolent about them.

130. ignore

     refuse to acknowledge

     And all of those teachers and counselors and friends—and the prognosticating uncles, the dithering aunts, the fathers and mothers with their hopes for your fulfillment—or their fulfillment in you—should not necessarily be cast aside or
     ignored.

131. publication

     the act of issuing printed materials

     The proof is that virtually no undergraduate students can read and understand their professors’ scholarly
     publications.

132. energy

     forceful exertion

     The professor saves his
     energies for the profession, while the student saves his for friends, social life, volunteer work, making connections, and getting in position to clasp hands on the true grail, the first job.

133. perspective

     a way of regarding situations or topics

     This kind of
     perspective-altering teaching and learning can cause the things which administrators fear above all else: trouble, arguments, bad press, etc.

134. compel

     force somebody to do something

     The work they are
     compelled to do to advance—get tenure, promotion, raises, outside offers—is, broadly speaking, scholarly work.

135. reject

     refuse to accept or acknowledge

     You may find your own suppressed and
     rejected thoughts flowing back to you with an “alienated majesty.”

136. exceed

     be or do something to a greater degree

     We need to see where they fall short and where they
     exceed the mark, and then to develop them a little, as the ideas themselves, one comes to see, actually developed others.

137. rub

     move over something with pressure

     But what to do with that talent—there was the
     rub for my father.

138. destructive

     causing damage

     You have to ask yourself if wildly expressive music (rock and rap and the rest) deranges the soul in ways that are
     destructive to its health.

139. joint

     junction by which parts or objects are linked together

     I continue to hold in mind one of Emerson’s most memorable passages: “Society is a
     joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater.

140. talent

     natural abilities or qualities

     He had
     talent: My brother and I each got about half the raw ability he possessed and that’s taken us through life well enough.

141. deposit

     the act of putting something somewhere

     Edmund Burke saw common sense as a loosely made, but often profound, collective work, in which humanity has
     deposited its hard-earned wisdom—the precipitate of joy and tears—over time.

142. brilliant

     full of light; shining intensely

     For their essays can be
     brilliant, in a chilly way; they can also be clipped off the Internet, and often are.

143. medical

     relating to the study or practice of medicine

     They want the certificate that will give them access to Wall Street, or entrance into law or
     medical or business school.

144. mock

     treat with contempt

     And you will have to be tough if the professor
     mocks you for uttering a sincere question instead of keeping matters easy for all concerned by staying detached and analytical.

145. objective

     the goal intended to be attained

     The idea that the courses you take should be the primary
     objective of going to college is tacitly considered absurd.

146. devote

     dedicate

     What if you arrive at college
     devoted to pre-med, sure that nothing will make you and your family happier than a life as a physician, only to discover that elementary-school teaching is where your heart is?

147. content

     satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are

     The idea that a university education really should have no substantial
     content, should not be about what John Keats was disposed to call Soul-making, is one that you might think professors and university presidents would be discreet about.

148. bore

     make a hole, especially with a pointed power or hand tool

     But the public also senses that because professors don’t pay full-
     bore attention to teaching they don’t have to work very hard—they’ve created a massive feather bed for themselves and called it a university.

149. promotion

     the act of raising in rank or position

     The work they are compelled to do to advance—get tenure,
     promotion, raises, outside offers—is, broadly speaking, scholarly work.

150. contain

     hold or have within

     What he told me that evening at the Clewley Road kitchen table was true in itself, and it also
     contains the germ of an idea about what a university education should be.

151. despise

     look down on with disdain or disgust

     Schopenhauer, who
     despised belief in transcendent things, nonetheless thought Christianity to be of inexpressible worth.

152. sustain

     lengthen or extend in duration or space

     He never had a world of possibilities spread before him, never made
     sustained contact with the best that had been thought and said.

153. statistics

     a branch of mathematics concerned with quantitative data

     You’ll not only question the
     statistics teacher about what numbers can explain but what they can’t.

154. facility

     a building or place that provides a particular service

     So, if you want an education, the odds aren’t with you: The professors are off doing what they call their own work; the other students, who’ve doped out the way the place runs, are busy leaving the professors alone and getting themselves in position for bright and shining futures; the student-services people are trying to keep everyone content, offering plenty of entertainment and building another state-of-the-art workout
     facility every few months.

155. aggressive

     characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight

     Right now, if you’re going to get a real education, you may have to be
     aggressive and assertive.

156. figure

     alternate name for the body of a human being

     They’ve done a fine job skating on surfaces in high school—the best way to get an across-the-board outstanding record—and now they’re on campus to cut a few more
     figure eights.

157. ignored

     disregarded

     And all of those teachers and counselors and friends—and the prognosticating uncles, the dithering aunts, the fathers and mothers with their hopes for your fulfillment—or their fulfillment in you—should not necessarily be cast aside or
     ignored.

158. restraint

     the act of controlling by holding someone or something back

     We’ve got guns, drugs, two wars, fanatical religions, a slime-based popular culture, and some politicians who—a little
     restraint here—aren’t what they might be.

159. sage

     a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics

     Much more I learned from the
     sage—about character, about loss, about joy, about writing and its secret sources, but Emerson most centrally preaches the gospel of self-reliance and that is what I have tried most to take from him.

160. achievement

     the action of accomplishing something

     Welcome and congratulations: Getting to the first day of college is a major
     achievement.

161. contribute

     give, provide, or supply something

     Such students leave and become donors and so, in their own turn,
     contribute immeasurably to the university’s standing.

162. inevitably

     in such a manner as could not be otherwise

     You must ask whether reason should always rule the passions, philosophers should always rule the state, and poets should
     inevitably be banished from a just commonwealth.

163. detected

     perceived or discerned

     Shoddy work—in which the author cheats, cuts corners, copies from others—is quickly
     detected.

164. prospect

     the possibility of future success

     In terms of their work, students live in the future and not the present; they live with their
     prospects for success.

165. assert

     declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true

     Let the profs roam free in the realms of pure thought, let yourselves party in the realms of impure pleasure, and let the student-services gang
     assert fewer prohibitions and newer delights for you.

166. shrewd

     marked by practical hardheaded intelligence

     Never has there been a more
     shrewd and imaginative cartographer of the psyche.

167. odds

     the likelihood of a thing occurring

     So, if you want an education, the
     odds aren’t with you: The professors are off doing what they call their own work; the other students, who’ve doped out the way the place runs, are busy leaving the professors alone and getting themselves in position for bright and shining futures; the student-services people are trying to keep everyone content, offering plenty of entertainment and building another state-of-the-art workout facility every few months.

168. alter

     cause to change; make different

     This kind of perspective-
     altering teaching and learning can cause the things which administrators fear above all else: trouble, arguments, bad press, etc.

169. concern

     something that interests you because it is important

     And you will have to be tough if the professor mocks you for uttering a sincere question instead of keeping matters easy for all
     concerned by staying detached and analytical.

170. comprehend

     get the meaning of something

     He gave me the chance to see what I was all about, and if it proved to be different from him, proved even to be something he didn’t like or entirely
     comprehend, then he’d deal with it.

171. survive

     continue in existence after

     To merely
     survive in this American village and to win a place in the entering class has taken a lot of grit on your part.

172. future

     the time yet to come

     In terms of their work, students live in the
     future and not the present; they live with their prospects for success.

173. adequate

     having the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task

     Because every subject you study is a language and since you may adopt one of these languages as your own, you’ll want to know how to speak it expertly and also how it fails to deal with those concerns for which it has no
     adequate words.

174. sublime

     of high moral or intellectual value

     Reading the great writers, you may have the experience that Longinus associated with the
     sublime: You feel that you have actually created the text yourself.

175. intensity

     high level or degree

     After the kid-samurai episode, the chair of my department not unsympathetically suggested that this was the sort of incident that could happen when you brought a certain
     intensity to teaching.

176. crude

     belonging to an early stage of technical development

     I came to college with few resources, but one of them was an understanding, however
     crude, of how I might use my opportunities there.

177. associate

     bring or come into action

     Reading the great writers, you may have the experience that Longinus
     associated with the sublime: You feel that you have actually created the text yourself.

178. ability

     the quality of having the means or skills to do something

     The coach knows what your athletic prospects are, the guidance office has a sheaf of test scores that relegate you to this or that
     ability quadrant, and your teachers have got you pegged.

179. lecture

     a speech that is open to the public

     The world wants him to write more,
     lecture, travel more, and will pay him for his efforts, and he likes this a good deal.

180. experience

     the content of observation or participation in an event

     My father had some
     experience with lawyers, and with policemen, too; he was not well-disposed toward either.

181. undertake

     enter upon an activity or enterprise

     If you do not
     undertake it, you risk leading a life of desperation—maybe quiet, maybe, in time, very loud—and I am not exaggerating.

182. text

     the words of something written

     Reading the great writers, you may have the experience that Longinus associated with the sublime: You feel that you have actually created the
     text yourself.

183. adopt

     take into one’s family

     Because every subject you study is a language and since you may
     adopt one of these languages as your own, you’ll want to know how to speak it expertly and also how it fails to deal with those concerns for which it has no adequate words.

184. esteem

     the condition of being honored

     One kid I knew (and rather liked) threatened on his blog to mince his dear and
     esteemed professor (me) with a samurai sword for the crime of having taught a boring class.

185. scholar

     a learned person

     The people who do this work have highly developed intellectual powers, and they push themselves hard to reach a certain standard: That the results have almost no practical relevance to the students, the public, or even, frequently, to other
     scholars is a central element in the tragicomedy that is often academia.

186. accomplish

     achieve with effort

     I was about to go off to college, a feat no one in my family had
     accomplished in living memory.

187. function

     what something is used for

     The primary
     function of Yale University, it’s recently been said, is to create prosperous alumni so as to enrich Yale University.

188. reflect

     throw or bend back from a surface

     These essays are honest: Their footnotes
     reflect real reading, real assimilation, and real dedication.

189. commit

     engage in or perform

     Colleges are even leery of disciplining guys who have
     committed sexual assault, or assault plain and simple.

190. substantial

     real; having a material or factual existence

     The idea that a university education really should have no
     substantial content, should not be about what John Keats was disposed to call Soul-making, is one that you might think professors and university presidents would be discreet about.

191. sustained

     continued at length without interruption or weakening

     He never had a world of possibilities spread before him, never made
     sustained contact with the best that had been thought and said.

192. perpetual

     continuing forever or indefinitely

     He was—and is—a
     perpetual challenge and goad.

193. course

     a connected series of events or actions or developments

     But until I had the reincarnation stuff from a solid source, I better get to work and pick out some English classes from the
     course catalog.

194. depart

     go away or leave

     This view informed an address that Richard Brodhead gave to the senior class at Yale before he
     departed to become president of Duke.

195. fundamental

     serving as an essential component

     No matter what anyone says this work has precious little to do with the
     fundamentals of teaching.

196. evolution

     sequence of events involved in the development of a species

     You’ll be the one who challenges your biology teacher about the intellectual conflict between
     evolution and creationist thinking.

197. formidable

     extremely impressive in strength or excellence

     You have been raised in proximity to common sense, if you’ve been raised at all, and common sense is something to respect, though not quite—peace unto the
     formidable Burke—to revere.

198. harsh

     disagreeable to the senses

     One does not need to be as
     harsh as Schopenhauer to understand the use of religion, even if one does not believe in an otherworldly god.

199. conceive

     have the idea for

     When you read Plato, you’ll probably learn about his metaphysics and his politics and his way of
     conceiving the soul.

200. source

     the place where something begins

     But until I had the reincarnation stuff from a solid
     source, I better get to work and pick out some English classes from the course catalog.

201. decade

     a period of 10 years

     He wasn’t invited back for
     decades.

202. toil

     work hard

     The student who eschews medical school to follow his gift for teaching small children spends his twenties in low-paying but pleasurable and soul-rewarding
     toil.

203. philosopher

     a specialist in the investigation of existence and knowledge

     You must ask whether reason should always rule the passions,
     philosophers should always rule the state, and poets should inevitably be banished from a just commonwealth.

204. invisible

     impossible or nearly impossible to see

     “No!” he said, filling the air with an
     invisible forest of exclamation points.)

205. discourse

     an extended communication dealing with some particular topic

     You are, as Foucault might say, the intersection of many evaluative and potentially determining
     discourses: you boy, you girl, have been made.

206. plenty

     a full supply

     So, if you want an education, the odds aren’t with you: The professors are off doing what they call their own work; the other students, who’ve doped out the way the place runs, are busy leaving the professors alone and getting themselves in position for bright and shining futures; the student-services people are trying to keep everyone content, offering
     plenty of entertainment and building another state-of-the-art workout facility every few months.

207. direction

     a line leading to a place or point

     In saying that, he (like my father) hinted in the
     direction of a profound and true theory of learning.

208. restore

     bring back into original existence, function, or position

     Education is about finding out what form of work for you is close to being play—work you do so easily that it
     restores you as you go.

209. necessity

     the condition of being essential or indispensable

     To be poor in America is to be a failure—it’s to be without decent health care, without basic
     necessities, often without dignity.

210. hint

     an indirect suggestion

     In saying that, he (like my father)
     hinted in the direction of a profound and true theory of learning.

211. risk

     a source of danger

     If you do not undertake it, you
     risk leading a life of desperation—maybe quiet, maybe, in time, very loud—and I am not exaggerating.

212. luxury

     something that is an indulgence rather than a necessity

     The quest at the center of a liberal-arts education is not a
     luxury quest; it’s a necessity quest.

213. analysis

     abstract separation of something into its various parts

     (Detached
     analysis has a place—but, in the end, you’ve got to speak from the heart and pose the question of truth.)

214. vigorous

     characterized by forceful and energetic action or activity

     But when we expend our energies in rightful ways, Robert Frost observed, we stay whole and
     vigorous and we don’t weary.

215. intellect

     knowledge and mental ability

     Of course, given your
     intellect and discipline, you can still probably be one.

216. decline

     grow worse

     You’ll ask your history teacher about whether there is a design to our history, whether we’re progressing or
     declining, or whether, in the words of a fine recent play, The History Boys, history’s “just one fuckin’ thing after another.”

217. rejected

     rebuffed (by a lover) without warning

     You may find your own suppressed and
     rejected thoughts flowing back to you with an “alienated majesty.”

218. influence

     a power to affect persons or events

     This was my own experience reading the two writers who have
     influenced me the most, Sigmund Freud and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

219. surrender

     relinquish possession or control over

     I continue to hold in mind one of Emerson’s most memorable passages: “Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to
     surrender the liberty and culture of the eater.

220. center

     an area that is in the middle of some larger region

     The quest at the
     center of a liberal-arts education is not a luxury quest; it’s a necessity quest.

221. instruction

     activities that impart knowledge or skill

     He’s always behind on his student-loan payments; he still lives in a house with four other guys (not all of whom got proper
     instructions on how to clean a bathroom).

222. balance

     harmonious arrangement or relation of parts within a whole

     You must inquire of yourself if
     balanced calm is the most desirable human state.

223. inevitable

     incapable of being avoided or prevented

     I need the wherewithal, as Emerson did, to say what’s on my mind and to take the
     inevitable hits.

224. absurd

     inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense

     The idea that the courses you take should be the primary objective of going to college is tacitly considered
     absurd.

225. determination

     the act of finding out the properties of something

     When they face equally arduous tasks later in life, students will tap their old resources of
     determination, and they’ll win.

226. arrive

     reach a destination

     What if you
     arrive at college devoted to pre-med, sure that nothing will make you and your family happier than a life as a physician, only to discover that elementary-school teaching is where your heart is?

227. merit

     the quality of being deserving

     But he writes another—in part out of a feeling of injured
     merit, maybe—and that one they do buy.

228. injured

     harmed

     But he writes another—in part out of a feeling of
     injured merit, maybe—and that one they do buy.

229. access

     the right to enter

     They want the certificate that will give them
     access to Wall Street, or entrance into law or medical or business school.

230. institution

     a custom that has been an important feature of some group

     To get an education, you’re probably going to have to fight against the
     institution that you find yourself in—no matter how prestigious it may be.

231. declare

     state emphatically and authoritatively

     He
     declares that dreams don’t predict the future and that there’s nothing benevolent about them.

232. idle

     not in action or at work

     The question “Who do they think you are at home?” is never an
     idle one.

233. instructions

     a manual explaining how to install or operate a device

     He’s always behind on his student-loan payments; he still lives in a house with four other guys (not all of whom got proper
     instructions on how to clean a bathroom).

234. tradition

     a specific practice of long standing

     They’ve given you family
     traditions—you’ve learned the ways of your tribe and your community.

235. purchase

     acquire by means of a financial transaction

     The Internet is amok with services selling term papers and those services exist, capitalism being what it is, because people
     purchase the papers—lots of them.

236. significant

     rich in implication

     Freud challenges nearly every
     significant human ideal.

237. channel

     a deep and relatively narrow body of water

     If you advance in the direction of someone else’s dreams—if you want to live someone else’s life rather than yours—then get a TV for every room, buy yourself a lifetime supply of your favorite quaff, crank up the porn
     channel, and groove away.

238. normal

     being approximately average or within certain limits

     But then interest dwindles and matters go back to
     normal.

239. conflict

     an open clash between two opposing groups

     You’ll be the one who challenges your biology teacher about the intellectual
     conflict between evolution and creationist thinking.

240. deny

     declare untrue; contradict

     My father was a gruff man, but also a generous one, so that night at the kitchen table at 58 Clewley Road he made an effort to let me have the chance that had been
     denied to him by both fate and character.

241. victim

     an unfortunate person who suffers from adverse circumstances

     Instead of being punished, these guys frequently stay around, strolling the quad and swilling the libations, an affront (and sometimes a terror) to their
     victims.

242. render

     give or supply

     They gave words to thoughts and feelings that I had never been able to
     render myself.

243. element

     a substance that cannot be separated into simpler substances

     The people who do this work have highly developed intellectual powers, and they push themselves hard to reach a certain standard: That the results have almost no practical relevance to the students, the public, or even, frequently, to other scholars is a central
     element in the tragicomedy that is often academia.

244. corner

     the point where three areas or surfaces meet or intersect

     Shoddy work—in which the author cheats, cuts
     corners, copies from others—is quickly detected.

245. opportunity

     a possibility from a favorable combination of circumstances

     You can get a terrific education in America now—there are astonishing
     opportunities at almost every college—but the education will not be presented to you wrapped and bowed.

246. utter

     without qualification

     And you will have to be tough if the professor mocks you for
     uttering a sincere question instead of keeping matters easy for all concerned by staying detached and analytical.

247. intense

     possessing a distinctive feature to a heightened degree

     Scholarship, even if pretentious and almost unreadable, is nonetheless labor-
     intense.

248. confess

     admit to a wrongdoing

249. possess

     have ownership of

     He had talent: My brother and I each got about half the raw ability he
     possessed and that’s taken us through life well enough.

250. incident

     a single distinct event

     After the kid-samurai episode, the chair of my department not unsympathetically suggested that this was the sort of
     incident that could happen when you brought a certain intensity to teaching.

251. tour

     a route all the way around a particular place or area

     If I had such info, pre-law would be fine, and maybe even a
     tour through invertebrate biology could also be tossed in.

252. office

     place of business where professional duties are performed

     Black limousines pulled up in front of his
     office and disgorged decorously suited negotiators.

253. liberal

     showing or characterized by broad-mindedness

     The quest at the center of a
     liberal-arts education is not a luxury quest; it’s a necessity quest.

254. capacity

     capability to perform or produce

     The students write their abstract, over-intellectualized essays; the professors grade the students for their
     capacity to be abstract and over-intellectual—and often genuinely smart.

255. goal

     the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve

     Students come to college with the
     goal of a diploma in mind—what happens in between, especially in classrooms, is often of no deep and determining interest to them.

256. essential

     basic and fundamental

     The battle is to make such writers one’s own, to winnow them out and to find their
     essential truths.

257. observe

     watch attentively

     But when we expend our energies in rightful ways, Robert Frost
     observed, we stay whole and vigorous and we don’t weary.

258. exist

     have a presence

     The Internet is amok with services selling term papers and those services
     exist, capitalism being what it is, because people purchase the papers—lots of them.

259. remark

     make or write a comment on

     At the time I found his
     remark a tad detached, but maybe he was right.

260. shape

     a perceptual structure

     It’s been said that raising a child effectively takes a village: Well, as you may have noticed, our American village is not in very good
     shape.

261. attend

     be present

     Then I had better study literature, unless I had inside information to the effect that reincarnation wasn’t just hype, and I’d be able to
     attend college thirty or forty times.

262. blame

     an accusation that one is responsible for some misdeed

     And how can we
     blame them?

263. simple

     having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved

     Colleges are even leery of disciplining guys who have committed sexual assault, or assault plain and
     simple.

264. absolute

     perfect or complete or pure

     We’re drawn to them because we hunger for
     absolute authority.

265. generation

     group of genetically related organisms in a line of descent

     Amidst the impressive college buildings, in company with a high-powered faculty, surrounded by the best of your
     generation, all you need is to keep doing what you’ve done before: Work hard, get good grades, listen to your teachers, get along with the people around you, and you’ll emerge in four years as an educated young man or woman.

266. solid

     not soft or yielding to pressure

     But until I had the reincarnation stuff from a
     solid source, I better get to work and pick out some English classes from the course catalog.

267. labor

     any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted

     Scholarship, even if pretentious and almost unreadable, is nonetheless
     labor-intense.

268. precious

     of high worth or cost

     No matter what anyone says this work has
     precious little to do with the fundamentals of teaching.

269. require

     have need of

     Doing so
     requires energy from the professor—which is better spent on other matters.

270. ease

     freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort

     To
     ease your grief, society offers alcohol, television, drugs, divorce, and buying, buying, buying what you don’t need.

271. severe

     very harsh or strict, especially when dealing with others

     (The class was a little boring—I had a damned cold—but the punishment seemed a bit
     severe.)

272. divine

     a clergyman or other person in religious orders

     Occasionally—for you will need some help in fleshing-out the answers—you may have to prod your professors to see if they take the text at hand—in this case the
     divine and disturbing Plato—to be true.

273. journal

     a daily written record of experiences and observations

     One can slave for a year or two on a single article for publication in this or that refereed
     journal.

274. devoted

     zealous in allegiance or affection

     What if you arrive at college
     devoted to pre-med, sure that nothing will make you and your family happier than a life as a physician, only to discover that elementary-school teaching is where your heart is?

275. surrounded

     confined on all sides

     Amidst the impressive college buildings, in company with a high-powered faculty,
     surrounded by the best of your generation, all you need is to keep doing what you’ve done before: Work hard, get good grades, listen to your teachers, get along with the people around you, and you’ll emerge in four years as an educated young man or woman.

276. request

     express the need or desire for; ask for

     The virtue in most
     request is conformity.

277. entrance

     something that provides access to get in

     They want the certificate that will give them access to Wall Street, or
     entrance into law or medical or business school.

278. design

     the act of working out the form of something

     You’ll ask your history teacher about whether there is a
     design to our history, whether we’re progressing or declining, or whether, in the words of a fine recent play, The History Boys, history’s “just one fuckin’ thing after another.”

279. terror

     an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety

     Instead of being punished, these guys frequently stay around, strolling the quad and swilling the libations, an affront (and sometimes a
     terror) to their victims.

280. exercise

     the activity of exerting muscles to keep fit

     Periodically the public gets
     exercised about this situation, and there are articles in the national news.

281. brief

     of short duration or distance

     The dean of students laughed lightly when I suggested that this behavior might be grounds for sending the student on a
     brief vacation.

282. practical

     guided by experience and observation rather than theory

     The people who do this work have highly developed intellectual powers, and they push themselves hard to reach a certain standard: That the results have almost no
     practical relevance to the students, the public, or even, frequently, to other scholars is a central element in the tragicomedy that is often academia.

283. contact

     the act of touching physically

     He never had a world of possibilities spread before him, never made sustained
     contact with the best that had been thought and said.

284. virtue

     the quality of doing what is right

     The
     virtue in most request is conformity.

285. theory

     a belief that can guide behavior

     In saying that, he (like my father) hinted in the direction of a profound and true
     theory of learning.

Created on September 9, 2011