Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, uses Huck's life to describe education in the mid 1800's. He uses the beginning portion of the book to elaborate on book learning and school, then gradually moves into learning and making decisions based on an individual's experiences. Now, learning is taken for granted although it's more important and is customary for people of all nations and backgrounds to be educated.
Today, as in the 1800's, education is focused on the youth. This week on the Channel Five News the Unity Community Farm Share tried to plant the importance of fresh healthy foods without a lot of pesticides in the minds of the young people. This is because the young people are the people who will need to maintain and improve the country after this generation has passed. In addition, we have people who have been specially trained in specific areas of society, for example biologists. Their job is to study the behavior and life of specific species. Recently on the news, biologists reported that the salmon count was lower than usual. The biologists needed to be trained and educated properly to correctly document and handle the Atlantic salmon.
Within the past few month the towns around where I live, including Etna and Dixmont have been forced to discuss consolidation because the state is requiring it. The goal for consolidation is to decrease administrative costs. Furthermore, the world today is constantly talking about education. People want to decrease costs, enlarge facilities, and help our environment by maintaining a stable balance between nature and human activity.
The scope of education has expanded. In high school there are many paths a person can take. We have our traditional courses such as history, math, reading/writing. However, we also have sports, technology, art, and taxidermy classes. We as a society and as individuals have become more diverse in learning a little about many different areas in life. Everyone is also equal and has the same opportunity to take each course, compared to the mid 1800's where only white people were educated.
Universally, each country is competing for the greatest educational system and for the most intelligent students. Immigrants are moving to America for more opportunities and for the chance to increase their knowledge. They are not only learning from sitting in a class but they are also learning from the world around them. For example, they learn the customs and language just by being exposed to it and living in it everyday. In addition, with an incredible improvement in technology over the past hundred years people are able to collaborate from all over the world, giving us the greatest brain power we have ever had.
In conclusion, school and education have become more worldwide. It's no longer the individual's choice to become educated. It's a requirement. In order to survive in the society today we must be educated and continue learning new systems and ideas.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Thursday, August 2, 2007
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck uses knowledge from both books and life experiences to impact his decisions that he's faced with throughout the book. In the beginning of the book, Huck talks about his education, "Well, three or four months run along, and it was well in to the winter now. I had been in school most of the time and could spell and write just a little, and could say the multiplication table up to six times seven is thirty five." Books were important. They could tell about the past and teach people whatever they wanted to know. For example, when Tom Sawyer was making his gang he did it according to the book. "Why, blame it all, we've got to do it. Don't I tell you it's in the books? Do you want to go to doing different from what's in the books, and get things all muddled up?" Tom Sawyer as well as others felt that the book was right, they were going to do what the book said even if they did not know what was meant. "Don't you reckon that the people that made the books knows what's the correct thing to do? Do you reckon you could learn 'em anything?"
Although book learning gave Huck some useful information, nothing can replace life experiences. Huck uses his wit and the materials around him to his advantage. For example, when he escaped from the cabin he made it look like he had been killed. This gave him the option of doing whatever he wanted without anyone looking for him. In addition, Huck probably learned what food to eat and how to survive from other people and from trial and error. Furthermore, after being with the Duke and King for some time Huck wanted to leave them. They were sketchy and selfish, but before Huck and Jim, a black slave could leave, the King sold Jim. Huck's experience with Jim and his conscience told him to try to save Jim. Jim, because he was black was supposed to be low and unimportant, but Jim was kind to Huck and they became friends. To Jim, Huck was the only white man who did not lie to Jim and he was his only friend.
Personally, I can learn from my mistakes and from the mistakes of others. Books can teach people a lot of facts and history that will help them be successful in school. But what they don't teach is how to interact with other people, how to speak to different age levels, and how to be involved in sports or other activities. These are taught by parents, and from trying and learning from one's mistakes. For example, once you get hit with a softball a few times you realize that this is not your sport or that by catching it in your glove it does not hurt you. Also, by learning it yourself you are less likely to repeat it. For example, if you touch a fire you are not going to touch it again because it hurt, but if you have read it in a book, you may have touched it to see what was going to happen. Universally, when people run for election they talk about issues that they know are important to everyone. They know what not to say from listening to other people. Also, as a country we learn who to be allies with because of previous battles or threats made to our country.
In addition, Huck and Jim think that life experience is more important than book learning. Jim knows what to eat and who to trust by trusting his instinct and by learning from his mistakes. He was not properly educated because he was a black slave, yet he can still survive in the world he's living in. Huck is more diverse, he has been taught about religion, has attended school, and yet he still makes a lot of decisions based on his ideas, friendships, and experiences.
Miss Watson thought schooling and behavior was very important. She continuously corrected Huck's behavior saying, "Don't put your feet up there and set up straight." She also worked on spelling with Huck, proving that she cares about his education. On the other hand, Huck's pa thought the opposite. He threatened Huck and told him not to return to school. Pa felt that an education was unnecessary and it was causing Huck to think he was better than his pa because he could not read or write. The author Mark Twain felt that life experience was the most important. This is seen through characters such as Jim, who was kind, hardworking, and wise even though he did not have a proper education. Learning from books is one sided. For example, in mathematics there is one answer 2 +2=4. In life there are many choices with many different answers and conclusions.
Although book learning gave Huck some useful information, nothing can replace life experiences. Huck uses his wit and the materials around him to his advantage. For example, when he escaped from the cabin he made it look like he had been killed. This gave him the option of doing whatever he wanted without anyone looking for him. In addition, Huck probably learned what food to eat and how to survive from other people and from trial and error. Furthermore, after being with the Duke and King for some time Huck wanted to leave them. They were sketchy and selfish, but before Huck and Jim, a black slave could leave, the King sold Jim. Huck's experience with Jim and his conscience told him to try to save Jim. Jim, because he was black was supposed to be low and unimportant, but Jim was kind to Huck and they became friends. To Jim, Huck was the only white man who did not lie to Jim and he was his only friend.
Personally, I can learn from my mistakes and from the mistakes of others. Books can teach people a lot of facts and history that will help them be successful in school. But what they don't teach is how to interact with other people, how to speak to different age levels, and how to be involved in sports or other activities. These are taught by parents, and from trying and learning from one's mistakes. For example, once you get hit with a softball a few times you realize that this is not your sport or that by catching it in your glove it does not hurt you. Also, by learning it yourself you are less likely to repeat it. For example, if you touch a fire you are not going to touch it again because it hurt, but if you have read it in a book, you may have touched it to see what was going to happen. Universally, when people run for election they talk about issues that they know are important to everyone. They know what not to say from listening to other people. Also, as a country we learn who to be allies with because of previous battles or threats made to our country.
In addition, Huck and Jim think that life experience is more important than book learning. Jim knows what to eat and who to trust by trusting his instinct and by learning from his mistakes. He was not properly educated because he was a black slave, yet he can still survive in the world he's living in. Huck is more diverse, he has been taught about religion, has attended school, and yet he still makes a lot of decisions based on his ideas, friendships, and experiences.
Miss Watson thought schooling and behavior was very important. She continuously corrected Huck's behavior saying, "Don't put your feet up there and set up straight." She also worked on spelling with Huck, proving that she cares about his education. On the other hand, Huck's pa thought the opposite. He threatened Huck and told him not to return to school. Pa felt that an education was unnecessary and it was causing Huck to think he was better than his pa because he could not read or write. The author Mark Twain felt that life experience was the most important. This is seen through characters such as Jim, who was kind, hardworking, and wise even though he did not have a proper education. Learning from books is one sided. For example, in mathematics there is one answer 2 +2=4. In life there are many choices with many different answers and conclusions.
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