Question

The following excerpt is from an online reference source. The American Heritage Dictionary has eleven separate definitions of the term canon, the most relevant of which is “an authoritative list, as of the works of an author” and “a basis for judgment; standard; criterion.” . . . To enter the canon, or more properly, to be entered into the canon is to gain certain obvious privileges. The gatekeepers of the fortress of high culture include influential critics, museum directors and their boards of trustees, and far more lowly scholars and teachers. Indeed, a chief enforcer of the canon appears in middlebrow anthologies, those hangers on of high culture that in the Victorian period took the form of pop anthologies like Golden Treasury and today that of major college anthologies in America. To appear in the Norton or Oxford anthology is to have achieved, not exactly greatness but what is more important, certainly—status and accessibility to a reading public. And that is why, of course, it matters that so few women writers have managed to gain entrance to such anthologies. What side does it take? What data does it add? What do you want to remember about this source? This doesn’t need to be a complete sentence, just so you remember which source is what.

Answer 1

This source is discussing the concept of canon and its implications for authors and their works. It highlights the role of influential gatekeepers and anthologies in determining which works are included in the canon. The source also notes the underrepresentation of women writers in these anthologies and questions the significance and criteria of the canon.