I had an experience in high school that I believe exemplifies the high/low culture distinction of that Dyson discusses in her article “On Reframing Children’s Words.” My class was given the assignment to write a persuasive essay on a current issue that we either supported or rejected. I decided to write about the Occupy Wall Street movement. I thought that I would find the topic more interesting than I did, but by the time I realized that it was too late to turn back. Because I lacked interest, I struggled especially hard to conclude my paper with a memorable statement. When I asked my brother to revise my essay, he suggested I use a quote by Henry David Thoreau. At the time I had no idea who Thoreau was or why I should use his words, but I had no better ideas.
The highest graded essay in the class earned a low A, and it was mine. I was disappointed but not surprised by my grade. I was more curious as to why my average paper earned a higher grade than my peers’ when we all seemed to employ the same (wrong) writing habits. I read over my teacher’s comments, and the ecstatic underlining of the quote and smiley face in the margin indicated that she really liked my choice. I learned that what had saved my grade from the B’s and C’s that most of my class fell victim to was a quote that she perceived as evidence of high culture. Really, she believed that I was smarter than I was–or at the very least more knowledgeable (or cultured) than my peers. Would a twitter quote by Bernie Sanders have earned me the same accolade that Thoreau did? Not likely. In the end it didn’t matter that I was ignorant of Thoreau’s influence. All that mattered was that I could use his name.
