College literature anthologies: High priced garbage you can get for free.
Want to get in on the best pyramid scheme in business–and a legal one to boot??? Collect a bunch of previously published essays, short stories, poetry, and plays, throw them all together in a book, write a few paragraphs in the introduction on the purpose of the anthology--to get a hefty payout by requiring every college student to buy your re-processessed garb…I mean to develop critical thinking, reading and writing skills among your students (Yea, right.). Then add a few brain twisters after each selection like, “Why is the title of the short story you’ve just read entitled “Araby” etc., and get a publishing company to stock your college bookstore with 500 copies @ $75.00 each. And to show how up-to-date you are, include some second-rate software program or CD to provide a multi-media experience (hear Mark Twain fart, for example). Stop supporting these clowns (mainly English professors, textbook editors, bookstore managers, etc.) and demand they explain why you have to pay for stuff you can get for free on the internet. Of course, if you are wealthy or your parents are, you may not have much motivation. But how about doing something for your fellow students? Right now, dozens of states are trying to enact legislation to reduce this extortion. I’ll provide a list tomorrow.
