<p>No, there isn’t anything wrong with it’s being not your taste, and I said that. The problem is when people generalize from their taste and really do make judgements on the quality of something.</p>
<p>I don’t see why my S is so crazy about the Star Wars movies, but I assume that the lack is in me, not them.</p>
<p>I have trouble slogging through Moby Dick but I still recognize it as an amazing and highly influential work. Again, the lack is in me.</p>
<p>I loved chemistry but not physics. Is there something wrong with physics or is my brain lacking in the physics region? Obviously the latter.</p>
<p>Of course you are entitled to your preferences, but the language of your post (“shoved down my throat”) went beyond that. Believe me, I was required to take physics for a Regents degree at my school. I would never say it was “shoved down my throat.” I would say that I was lucky to be exposed to it, and I am thankful that I understand some of its basic principles.</p>
<p>And I don’t take your thoughts personally, but I do encounter them every day, and I think that we elevate ourselves too much when we use our personal preferences as norms. For example, I really don’t like blue clothing. I can’t say why. Although I just fell in love with four robins’ eggs outside my window which is making me rethink blue, I have never liked blue. But that doesn’t say anything about blue. It just says something about me.</p>
<p>The “canon”, whether it’s in literature, painting, music, architecture, philosophy or even scientific writings is just a list of what most folks educated in a particular discipline agree is important.</p>
<p>It certainly isn’t a list of the “prettiest pictures” or “most accessible music” or “easiest to read” books. Education exposes students to some of these. Not all are favorites; maybe none are favorites. However, for the right student, like me, each one is met with excitement.</p>
<p>I don’t expect that of my students, just respect. And I would never assign these works unless a student had signed up for a British lit survey. Well, I might assign one or two. No student of mine in an intro lit class is getting out without a Shakespeare play. So romanigypsyeyes, you might have wanted to take another section had you been there.</p>
<p>None of them sign out, however, and many say it was the best part of the course.</p>
<p>Have you tried watching Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing? That usually does it for them. They love it.</p>