English 111_00
10/27/14
WP1: Summary and Response
The core reading I chose to summarize and respond to is “The Pursuit of Knowledge: The Idea of a University” by Roger Scruton. This article discusses John Henry Newman’s original idea of a university, how it has changed, and the author’s future expectations of scholarly life. Scruton opens the article with a brief background of John Henry Newman, including his conversion into Catholicism in 1845 and his status as rector of the Catholic University of Ireland. Over his five years of being the head of the university, he gave a series of seminars now known as “The Idea of a University.” From reading the text, the reader gains a clear understanding of Newman’s initial vision of the …show more content…
This is not to say that all incoming students are only worried about what party they are going to attend upon arrival. It is just one of the many examples that support the new idea Scruton suggests has become of the university experience. He does a wonderful job of portraying the possible experiences through hypothetical scenarios that every reader can relate to. First, a situation in which the middle class father of an independent feminist daughter would inherently focuses on the positive aspects of sending his little girl to college only to be disappointed by the seemingly inconclusive result of such a high cost. The author then humors the opposite scenario in which the young student “against all odds” (2010) manages to stay focused, study, surround herself with a successful environment of people and behaviors, and resist the many temptations that infest campus life. In the latter instance, the experience of university would be well worth the funds invested; however, the first scenario does raise the question of how valuable a sound education is. In my opinion it would obviously depend on the individual, their motivation, and their ability to focus on intellectual