Rules for making something new
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
Slavish imitation appeared when another apprentice copied every detail of a sample cloth, including an accidental mismatch, without considering the design's purpose. The school's conventional wisdom held that customers would accept only perfectly symmetrical patterns, a judgment many teachers repeated without fresh examination. The school's stated doctrine, however, emphasized honest workmanship and reasoned experimentation rather than one mandatory appearance. The instructor invited students to compare the widely accepted prediction with the principles the school actually claimed should guide its work.
The apprentice reduced the slavish quality of her next design by explaining each choice and correcting the copied mismatch. The class treated conventional wisdom as a widely held judgment that could be examined, not a conclusion made certain by repetition. The school's doctrine gave experimentation a legitimate place, provided the work remained honest and carefully made. Students could therefore challenge a familiar assumption without pretending that every shared principle had become worthless or that imitation never helped beginners learn.
Before you move on
Look away from the passage. Can you explain each focus word in your own words?
Original fictional passages for vocabulary practice.