"Length isn’t rigor. Exhaustion isn’t seriousness. Staying up all night with a novel isn’t evidence of virtue; more often it’s evidence of panic. The point of teaching literature isn’t to test stamina. It’s to cultivate perception, suggest connections, hone a facility for nuance. Literature is about developing an awareness of syntax, structure, juxtaposition, ambiguity. That kind of work can be demanding without requiring theatrical suffering." https://web.archive.org/web/20260409101308/https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2026/04/08/students-dont-read-enough-dont-blame-profs-opinion