Need-Based

The debate about whether Carl should be in Claire's class is interesting. It seems to raise the question of who deserves to be a student.

We know from his well-received performance at the Bus Stop that Carl is brilliant and talented. Claire invites him to come to her poetry class, and he concurs. At first, he is hesitant and skeptical about being in the class. He probably thinks he doesn't belong there: he knows that he and classrooms do not go well together, and although everyone raves about his poems, he does not even perceive them as a form of art - "it's just rap" (259). When Claire asks him if he wants to be in the class, he is inclined to express his apathy (but instead he says he is.. learning). So, what is Carl's motivation for attending the class? The answer could be Claire. She has "that special teacher thing", there is "the right amount of flirting" going on between them, and she earnestly wants him to do well (260).

Claire declares that anybody who needs her class will stay in the class (261). Her intentions are quite noble; she brings "waifs and strays" from outside the Wellington community into her class, and fights to keep them in. But simultaneously, she is keeping out 120 Wellington students from her class - people who pay their tuition fees and the resources the university has to offer. Isn't it unfair for these students? What is it that determines who "needs" or who "deserves" an education? (Is this whole issue parallel to college admissions?) Consider:

- talent (Carl)
- potential
- passion
- determination/ambition (Zora)
- money

Carl: Claire thinks he needs the class as he has talent which she wants to refine, but he is largely apathetic about the class. We see a world of difference between this and later when Erskine creates a job for him in the Black Studies Department as Hip-Hop Archivist. There, he finds the drive to work, and benefits far more than he could have in Claire's class. My interpretation of this plot point is that.. even though going to college is the norm, it is not something that benefits everyone. Carl would probably be miserable if he had been kept in Claire's class, but he found a place outside of the classroom where he could pursue his passion and utilize his talent in a way that suited his tastes.

Chantelle, Bronwyn, Wong: They seem to be in a category of people who are talented but do not have the opportunity to go to college. I like the fact that Claire takes them under her wing and wants to cultivate their talent, because I think everyone should be given the chance to obtain education. But I understand the dissatisfaction of the other 120 students on the waitlist - I would feel the same way if I was the first student on the waitlist, I pay $50,000 a year for tuition, I really want to learn more about poetry, and yet a free spot in the class goes to some non-student, at the discretion of the professor.

The conversation between Claire and Jack ends when Claire says, "I know what happens in universities," and it implies how much politics and economics and other factors go into the operation of an educational institution. At the end of the day, an educational institution is not just about education.