Dart has become disenchanted with his American literature class. They are told to think for themselves, but if their thoughts are different from the professor’s, they are wrong. They are told not to parrot, but if they don’t quote passages from the textbook almost verbatim on a test, they lose points. He’s frustrated and angry enough to spend two pages griping about the injustice of it all. He fears that his disdain for this course is near blasphemy for an English major.
The rest of the letter is in response to one Dot sent him. Because we don’t have her letter, it’s difficult to know exactly what the answer means, but I’ll try to fill in some blanks. Apparently, Dot confessed to Dart that she and three other girls went ice skating the other day with three guys. She may have “paired off” with one in particular, for the purpose of a skating partner. She must have mentioned the “policy” between her and Dart that they would tell each other about such things so there would be neither deception nor misunderstanding.
Dart bristles a bit at the word “policy,” thinking she was perhaps too persnickety about it all, too serious. Then he remembers that it was the exact word he used when he suggested they be completely open and honest with each other regarding their interactions with members of the opposite sex. Dot must have said that she didn’t feel guilty about anything that happened because it was all totally innocent. Dart, of course, is glad to hear that, but then wonders, if her conscience had been completely clear, why she would have talked to her mother about it.
He tells her that he talks to girls at school nearly every day – different girls each day. Then he quips that all the girls at Cleveland College are “different.” He hopes he and Dot will always want to tell each other things that happen in their lives, but he doesn’t think it’s necessary to report every contact they have with someone else. “Don’t worry, honey. I don’t want you to be a nun just ’cause you’re engaged to me.” He then suggests that maybe they can try ice skating on their honeymoon at Lake Sunapee. If the seasons stay reversed as they are now, they’ll have to “mush” their way to the cottage in a dog sled next June.
In answer to her query, he has never ice skated, but if he had her for a teacher, he’d love to learn how.