Using the readings by Michael Moore, Mike Rose, Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass, Inés Hernández-Ávila and Herman Melville as well as one valuable outside source (not Wikipedia or someone’s personal website) determine the value of a formal education. Think of the cultural aspects of American education. What is the purpose of a higher education? How do social issues (race, gender, class) affect the type of education one receives? After college, what is expected from a graduate? You do not have to answer all of these questions, these are just ideas to get you thinking about how education and college enter your own life. Instead of passively accepting the school system as a perfectly paved road towards knowledge, success and a comfortable career, question it!
Reflect on your own educational experiences thus far in respect to some of the issues we are facing in these readings. Whether you’ve been brought up in the American school system or a foreign school system, use your own experience as another secondary source. What are your own reasons and goals for being in college? How do these compare to cultural norms and expectations? Is there any way you can contribute to your own education in order to help yourself achieve more than what is offered to you from your professors? Are you being challenged in the ways you want to be challenged?
Again, not all of these questions are to be answered in the paper. They are just igniters, or catalysts, to stir further critical thinking on the topics we are reading and discussing in class. The paper must be 4-6 pages in length, double-spaced in MLA format.
Draft is due 2/8/08 and Final is due 2/22/08
We will be peer editing in class tomorrow with the drafts!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment