You know.. English 101 is taught depending on the instructor assigned to the course. That instructor influences those students and they propagate it. Unless the student was ME!
I attended Rochester Institute of Technology in the fall of 1994. My test scores went well above the requirement for any 101 course so I went to Course 150: The Future of Writing. This was taught at the time by an immigrant from India who looked good for her age. She impressed me quite well in the first class so I paid rapt attention and guessed that she must be an excellent Professor to be teaching the course. Over the next 3 weeks, I began to realize she was in over her head as she frequently referred to the books instead of teaching it from her perspective. And she often incorrectly graded papers and rarely proofread or pointed out errors. We only saw crossed out sections and "read the book" on our papers.
During the middle of the third week, we were covering technical english and were given the assignment of writing a manual. I wrote a manual on how to maintain and service hearing aides since that's something I'm familiar with. I turned in my assignment and was assured that I would get a good grade since I knew the subject matter and wrote according the rules set forth in the textbook concerning Technical Writing. I get my paper back and sat in stunned silence staring at the "D" on my paper. I looked at my friend across the class and flashed signs indicating I got a "D" and she replied that her grade was a "C". I immediately asked the Professor for clarification regarding the rules I'd read since I believed I'd followed them and she replied that I must have misunderstood them. So I asked "Then can you please go over this with us so we don't have the wrong..." as I about to say "idea" she spun and said something I couldn't understand in a sharp tone. A friend turned white so I looked at her and she signed she said "your paper was wrong!". So I got upset and said "I followed every (curse) rule in that book and my comprehension skills are NOT in dispute. Don't tell me I erred by following the correct rules!" It devolved into an argument where I accused her of being a clueless person who's way above her station and she was accusing me of being a spoiled rich brat. To clarify - I was actually lower middle class and was there on a scholarship and federal grants based on my scores and aptitudes.
Well.. I cussed her out, walked out of class and was quickly summoned to the Associate Dean's office to explain my "uncharacteristic insubordination". I submitted to alcohol and drug tests and tested clean. Spoke with several people and gave the associate dean copies of my assignment, my course notes, and my notebook I'd been using for the course. I encouraged them to speak with the other students. I was informed that I was "withdrawn" from the class would be notified shortly of any decisions made. I got my response the following week in the form of a packet in my mailbox. I opened it and there was my assignment with an "A" and "Well Written!" next to a crossed out "D" and my status was changed from "withdrawn" to getting credited for the course with a C.
Later on, I was dining on hot wings in the tunnels under the school when I ran across a Professor for the Advanced English courses who was born and raised in Olney, England. We had some good conversations and interestingly enough, her favorite poet was Walt Whitman and her favorite author was.... Mark Twain. Her favorite style of writing is the same as mine which is "publicistic" but we have our differences.. She's a bit more elevated whereas I use more prose in my style.
I read widely as a child and I still do. I have a physical library of over 200+ books but just shy of 400 in digital form. I read Shakespeare, Stevenson, Dickens, Thoreau, Whitman, Cummings, Kipling, CSS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, and especially loved Issac Asimov as a child. When I reached my teen years, I read more of R.A. Salvatore, Frank Herbert, Heinlein, Robert Asprin, Anne McCaffrey, Auel, Robert Jordan, and AA Attanasio. I think I re-read "Radix" 3 times in a row.