Dart writes that it’s time for all good little boys to be in bed, but since that doesn’t include him, he’s still up. Just after dinner, while attempting to read his American Lit, he nodded off at his desk. At 10:00 when his mother came in to make up his bed with clean sheets, he woke up feeling much better. He enjoyed his 30 pages by and about Ben Franklin, whom he describes as “an amazingly wise, modern, and astute old buzzard.” Then he did Wednesday’s Spanish assignment and started on tomorrow’s Industry homework. He sees that he is going to struggle with that class. He knows he says that about a lot of subjects, being hypercritical of his abilities, but this time, he really means it!

He reports that a number of students in his American Lit class have been highly critical of those early writers; they tell their own views, they are exceedingly vain to talk about their views, their knowledge, their goodness. Dart responds that those students must never be allowed to see his own writing because it’s filled with his personal observations and views.

“After one such argument in class, Mr. Carter said some things which seem to have crystallized my opinions of a college education. Those critics seem to have missed the point of an education, which I believe to be the teaching of an ability, even a desire, to know, understand, and tolerate the ideas of others; and to be able to formulate opinions uncolored by modern trends of intolerance. One thing we Americans are missing in our college educations is the all-around classical education in the arts and sciences which earlier generations of Americans received, and which the English and other Europeans still receive.”

He continues – at length – with the premise that our modern education tends more toward specialization. He understands that specialization can provide a reference point to which all other subjects can be related -“a sort of skeleton from which to hang the meat.” He agrees that specialization is often required for gainful employment. “However, I have come to the conclusion that overspecialization in the learning of college subjects leads to extremely dangerous and one-sided viewpoints and narrow-mindedness. People – myself included – tend to take only the subjects they like and this leads to the extreme of people refusing to take things they don’t like. A way to help all this is one of Dr. Heckman’s pet ideas of stressing in each class the relationship that subject has to other subjects.”

Dart becomes increasingly enamored with his subject matter and goes on for several pages on the subject of specialization vs generalization in education. He finally comes to the conclusion that his study of English and Journalism allow – indeed, encourage – a knowledge and exploration of all other subjects.

But wait! There’s more! He sees that a narrow education prevents one from understanding context. “Time, age, personality, prevailing customs, and many other factors enter into our interpretation of subjects. This is especially evident in the study of Colonial Literature, where we tend to take the writers as we would a newspaper man, and without regard to the writer’s own environment. There is where the broad education can enter. There is where Mr. Carter is trying desperately hard to focus our attentions.”

In conclusion (phew!) he writes that this letter seems more like a personal essay than a letter to his fiance, but he hopes she won’t mind. He loves her very much, and now he must copy this letter to save for his Prose Writing Workshop.

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In reference to a recent letter from Dart, Dot asks, “Did I say I don’t like to read? Perhaps that’s because I never tried reading many books that were worth reading.” She’s decided that she’s going to force herself to read at least 10 books this winter. Before leaving for the Rucquois home on Sunday she pulled from the family bookshelves a copy of “Rebecca,” by Daphne du Maurier. She started reading that night and liked it so much that she read for three straight hours. “In short – I have actually become engrossed in a book.”

Her “monthly complication” arrived today, right on schedule, for a change. When she came home from work for her dinner break she started to feel dizzy and sick, but she knew she had to make it through the final hours of work. They took real phone calls tonight, requiring her to focus all her energies on that, instead of how badly she felt. She managed to get a call to Jane to tell her she wouldn’t make it to shorthand class tonight. When she came home, she crawled into bed with a heating pad and picked up her book. Again, she read for three hours.

She warns Dart that very soon he’ll have her doubting his word about how he did on tests. She’s pleased he got a 96% in Spanish, and from now on she’ll read his letters with a supply of salt nearby.

“Do you mean to say that Miss Tallmdage gets paid to recognize good writing when she sees it? Why, I’ve recognized your talents for three years, and although I’ve been more than repaid in satisfaction, that doesn’t go far in raising the bank balance. Keep it up, Darling. Someday the whole world’s going to recognize your ability to put things down on paper.”

She’s very happy that he enjoyed the church supper so much. Next Sunday, the young adult group of her church will be going on a long hike. She’s planning to go and she hopes to convince El to come along. “It really shows on her when she hasn’t had enough exercise.”

She supposes it wouldn’t do any harm to eat her words about the Boston Red Sox. Perhaps those words will replace the meat she hasn’t been eating lately.

This weekend she’ll try to draw him a diagram of her switchboard set-up. They’ve started taking real calls and she finds that to be much more fun than the practice calls. She’s back to thinking she’s going to like this job again.

There’s no need for her to go back to the Rucquois house because they’ve hired a full-time housekeeper.

She loves Dart, and although she’s mentioned that before, it’s worth repeating.