Amy's song in Cambridge exam
2008-05-28 19:14
London - They might not be Shakespeare or
Wordsworth but lyrics by soul singer Amy Winehouse have been
included in a Cambridge University literature exam for the first
time.
Final year English students were asked to compare a song by
the troubled singer with verses from Elizabethan poet and
explorer Sir Walter Raleigh.
On Wednesday the university defended its decision to include
lyrics from the 24 year-old's hit single Love is a Losing Game
in the exams, while critics accused it of dumbing down.
On the same day last week that the song, from Winehouse's
breakthrough release Back to Black, won a prestigious Ivor
Novello award, students were being asked to compare it to the
16th-century poet's work As You Came from the Holy Land.
They could also write about Bob Dylan's Boots Of Spanish
Leather or Billie Holiday's Fine And Mellow during the
practical criticism exam.
"The OED (Oxford English Dictionary) defines 'lyric' as 'Of
or pertaining to the lyre; adapted to the lyre, meant to be
sung,'" the exam question stated.
'Expression of poet's feelings'
It also quotes Ruskin's maxim: "lyric poetry is the
expression by the poet of his own feelings."
Cambridge officials said students were then asked to compare
Raleigh's poem, written in 1592, with one or two of the
designated songs while making reference to the "diverse senses
of lyric".
Nick Seaton, of the Campaign for Real Education group,
criticised the university for "dumbing down" their exams.
"It seems the examiners are trying to be trendy rather than
ensure that the exam covers traditional classical literature,"
he told the Daily Mail newspaper.
But a Cambridge University spokesperson said while unusual, it
showed academics were in touch with modern society.
"The purpose of the whole paper is to test students' ability
to interpret unseen texts," he said.