[lbo-talk] In Praise of Rote Memorization

joanna 123hop at comcast.net
Sat Jan 28 17:38:06 PST 2006


Thomas Seay wrote:


>Of course, there are obvious instances when rote
>learning is necessary, such as in learning a foreign
>language or spelling. But what is the role of rote
>learning in other cases such as poetry memorization
>(besides showing off)?
>
Memorizing a poem is the surest way to discover its structure, rhythms, colors, etc. Your mind will discover these as aids in memorization, because every perceived pattern makes memorization easier, so the mind looks for patterns. It is also very interesting which poems are easy to memorize and which are very hard. For example, "They flee from me, which sometime did me seek/ With naked foot, stalking in my chamber...." is a poem that I memorized mostly by reading through it, which allowed me to appreciate Wyatt's grasp of the English language and its rhythms. A lot of Shakespeare's sonnets are very hard to memorize...for different reasons.

While rote learning and imitation are not ends in themselves they are extremely important aids to learning when used intelligently. The worship of "creativity" in U.S. schools is more a side effect of capitalist ideology, which idealizes the "new," than it is an understanding of how to effect deep learning and how to nourish creativity.

There is no art I can think of, that does not use memorization and imitation as building blocks.

Memorization is also an excellent way to build up mental muscle. I will never forget how, after finishing the Latin workshop (which involved intense feats of memorization -- vocabulary and grammar/endings), I was able to get through "War and Peace" like Sherman through Georgia. No problem. I had not made it past page 51 up to then.

Joanna



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list