All posts by g.delacruz

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One’s Own Experiences

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Coming into this class, I thought it would be like any other English class. Reading books and writing about them. However, this class made me think out of my comfort zone and taught me that the methods of learning are not concrete. Everyone has his/her own way of understanding. One would think teachers and books was the only way to learn. However, through the texts we saw different methods of gaining knowledge such as learning through books, teachers, nature, experience and through one’s self. These all helped me understand what method of learning I strongly believe in.

The theory I most related to was Rousseau’s. He believed that an education is gained through “nature, men or from other things.” However, he believed that “the object of our study is man and his environment” (Rousseau 2). Through Emile I realized the importance of experiencing everything on our own and finding our own reasons and answers to our questions. In school, we are given the answers and are taught to remember formulas and lessons. However, it’s difficult to follow this method because you are not truly learning, instead you are memorizing what others tell you without fully comprehending what they are saying. Rousseau thinks one should make mistakes and learn from it. It must come from within one’s self. It’s all about being an individual and finding passion from within.

Through this class and Rousseau, it reminded me of the time I learned how to ride a bike on my own. At that time, everyone told me how easy it would be and gave me instructions as to how to ride the bike and stop myself. However, after I actually tried, I realized it wasn’t as easy as the others said. I fell countless times, scraped my knee and formed bruises everywhere. The instructions that everyone gave me were almost worth nothing because I didn’t really know what they were trying to teach. Even though I followed everything they told me, the outcome was not successful. I had to experience and apply myself before truly understand. Eventually, I was able to learn because I was curious of how it would be to ride a bike. I also had to do it all myself because I found that learning with my parents or friends influenced how I was learning and was part of the reason for my unsuccessful outcomes. Making mistakes, like Rousseau expressed, helped me formulate reason behind riding the bike. After reading about every method of gaining education, I found it easier to learn through experience.

Introduction Exercise #2

The Process of Gaining an Education

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Rousseau believed that one’s education should be built through, “nature, men or other things.” When one thinks of an education, they would immediately think teachers or books, which is the traditional way of learning. Though teachers and books help strengthen a person’s knowledge, Rousseau states that one’s journey should start with nature. In Rousseau’s Emile, he argues that freedom is key and nature should be the first teacher since it brings no influence from any other’s thoughts, instead it enhances one’s way of thinking and reasoning on their own. After nature, then formal educators and books can take part. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, it supports Rousseau’s process of gaining an education. In order to understand this theory, we will first look at how Rousseau raised Emile and how nature, men and experience took a role. Then, we will focus on the monster’s journey in the wilderness where he had to rely on nature to help him find food, shelter and clothing for himself, teaching him the basics of life. After, we will then see how observing humans taught the creature how to speak, read and write and how it impacted his view on the world and humans. This will all prove Rousseau’s idea of how to achieve an education.

Thesis Exercise #2

A Personal Understanding

In Emile, Rousseau argues that though books and teachers take a role in one’s education, it is more important to start with freedom and experience to make it one’s personal understanding. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the creature had the freedom and used it to learn about sensations and how to speak, read and write, which strengthens Rousseau’s idea of allowing nature to take control.

Peer Response Post

The Importance of a Strong Foundation

This is a response to Kelly’s post that could be found here.

In Kelly’s post, it was interesting to see how she perceived the movie “To Sir, With Love.” In summary, Kelly believed that respect played an important role in the movie and that it was the key to creating a relationship between the students and Sir Thackeray. By treating the students with respect, he received it also unlike the gym teacher Mr. Bell who bullied students because they were under his authority. Sir Thackeray taught the students about respect for others and themselves. He expressed that a student must “be motivated to learn and express interest in the topics one is learning,” which is what Kelly states in her post.

Along with Kelly’s thoughts, I’d like to add that in this movie, these students weren’t moving onto college, but they were going straight into real jobs. As students go through school, they don’t really learn the essence of what they need for real life. Instead, they learn math, English and history, which are subjects that don’t really interest them. However, Sir Thackeray used his position to teach the students about the basics of life and what they need in order to survive in the real world. He takes them out to a museum and asks them directly what they want to learn. They mention, marriage, resumes and adult life. Sir Thackeray uses the students’ final year, to build a foundation for what they have coming ahead in the future, which is what the students wanted all along. With a strong foundation, you have the potential to carry any task that comes your way.

Through Kelly’s post, it also made me realize how much it relates to Malcolm X. It seems as if he didn’t have a strong foundation since he dropped out of school at a very early age and became a “street hustler convicted of robbery (Malcolm X, 1).” Malcolm X wasn’t aware of how real life worked until he went to jail. While he was in jail he became “increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what [he] wanted to convey (Malcolm X, 1).” This pushed him to create his own education and become his own teacher. It was only through being thrown in jail, where Malcolm X realized what life really was and how much an education was needed. If he were taught the foundations of life in school, he probably would have been able to learn how to read and write earlier. Through both Malcolm X and the movie, “ To Sir, With Love” we see how respect and a strong foundation of rights and wrongs, play a role in young peoples’ lives. It can potentially keep them away from the harms of the real world and direct them to clearer paths.

Through the lens post

Isolation and Freedom

Rousseau believed that “the object of our study is man and his environment (Rousseau, 2).” Meaning that we learn by experiencing the world for ourselves, for “true education consists less in precept than in practice (2).” He also believed that in order to follow this theory, one must be free and isolated from the world. When you are separated from the world or others, you become free in the sense that you are able to learn anything that you set your mind to, without the influence of others.

At first, Malcolm X wasn’t the most intelligent person, for he didn’t know how to speak or write correctly. However, while in jail, he was able to create “a homemade education (Malcolm X, 1)” which is something that comes from within oneself. After getting a hold of a dictionary, he would teach himself “over and over (Malcolm X, 2)” so that he could learn how to read and write. Part of his success had to do with being alone; he “preferred reading in the total isolation of [his] own room (Malcolm X, 3)” because this allowed him to take more books out of the library. Malcolm was eager to learn; even at night he would try to read by leaning towards the little light outside of his cell just to read, giving him little sleep every night. It was in jail, where he felt “truly free in [his] life (Malcolm X, 2).” Here he was able to learn and teach himself things that he probably wouldn’t have thought about otherwise. Malcolm realized that it was “in prison that reading had changed forever the course of [his] life (Malcolm X, 3),” and even helped him to become one of the most powerful leaders of black America.

Later in his years, he was asked where he had attended school and he simply replied “books.” Through the eyes of Rousseau, we see how being isolated and free plays a big role in one’s education. It pushes one to achieve something greater, without interference. Malcolm X was able to make use of his situation being in jail and pursued self-education. It was though jail and isolation that led him to freedom and becoming one of the most influential people in history.

Close Reading Post

Power Prevents Freedom

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Nature and experience were Rousseau’s main focus. He was interested in “freedom, not power (Rousseau, 5),” which is why he kept Emile away from a traditional school system and allowed him to roam free. In schools, children must abide by the rules of the school, but with freedom they are able to grow without anyone influencing them. He realized that “cruel education… burdens a child with all sorts of restrictions (Rousseau, 4)” and can lead to them feeling “miserable.” By giving Emile freedom, Emile was able to gain “wisdom of a child” while being “free and happy (Rousseau, 14),” which is the important part of his theory.

In the novel, Black Shack Alley we see how Jose’s experience of gaining an education is quite different from Emile. In school, the teacher was given the power to hit and beat children when they weren’t following rules. Jose remembers being pained every time “the mistress beat [Raphael] (Zobel, 65),” who was his good friend. He saw the teacher “beating him with a bamboo cane on his legs, or a ruler in the palm of his hand (Zobel, 65).” Another instance where a beating is mentioned is when “[Mam’zelle Fanny] appeared with a whip in hand (Zobel 93).”Jose and his fellow classmates had to remember things from the previous lesson, however if they got anything wrong, they would get a whip. Later, when Jose moves up to another class level, he believes that things will get better. However, he hears that his new “master” was a “teacher who ‘explained’ well and beat severely (Zobel, 103).” These teachers were given the “power” to harm students, which is one cruelty that Rousseau was strongly against. Rousseau believed that this harms a child’s education by making them miserable and resent school, instead of making them eager to learn.

One should “treat [their] scholar according to his age (Rousseau, 8),” according to Rousseau. If a child is young they should be able to “live the life of a child (Rousseau, 14)” and play as much as one can. However, Jose isn’t given this same freedom. Jose enjoyed being outside with friends and even “cut short as much as possible the time [he] took for [his] lunch so [he] could play with Raphael (Zobel, 64).” However, this soon ends because of Mme Leonce. She “prevented him from playing” and made him “spend each day in [her] dark kitchen and yard (Zobel, 69)” washing dishes and doing other chores. This often made him late to class, losing out on a full education. No child deserves to work this hard. Their lives should consist of learning and playing. After dropping a vase accidentally, Jose runs away and doesn’t tell his grandmother that he no longer spends his lunch at Mme Leonce’s place. Instead, he would roam around and sometimes people would hire him to do chores in exchange for “a couple of cents (Zobel, 75).” He also would come across “guava tree laden with fruits” which satisfied his hunger. Jose suffered because he didn’t have food or a place to stay for lunch, which led to him working and searching for his own food. He had to carry worries that no one should ever have to face. When you carry this much on your shoulders, it often affects your education.

Rousseau’s idea of an education for younger children consisted of freedom and happiness. However, Jose didn’t have either of these going to school. He had teachers that could beat and whip children whenever. He also had to work and do chores that prevented him from being happy. Jose had no freedom, due to the power that the people had over him. Having these types of influences on a young child affects their willingness to go to school and often discourages them to continue on.

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An Attempt to Being Perfect

In many ways, Benjamin Franklin relates to many of us as students. Students or people in general are always looking for ways to essentially meet perfection. We try to organize our lives and come up with plans to follow by eliminating bad habits and creating good ones. In the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin he “conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection (Franklin, 64).” He comes up with 13 virtues that one may follow to become flawless and admits that it will be difficult and tiring.

A few virtues that I find myself trying to follow are order, frugality and industry. He explains order as “letting all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time (64).” This is where many people start their journey to “perfection.” We try to create order in our lives and follow precise schedules like Franklin who thought order “would allow [him] more time for attending to [his] project and my studies (65).” However, when he tried to follow all his virtues, he found that “order gave [him] the most trouble (68).” Even organizing his papers and things he found “difficult to acquire (68).” Though order may seem easy to follow at first, it is probably the most difficult follow through with.

For frugality, Benjamin describes it as “making no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e,. waste nothing (64).” College students are all about saving money, however, for as long as I have been a student, one of the hardest things to do is save my money. I found myself spending on things that had no use to me or only had use for that moment. Franklin believed that this was one piece to “freeing [him] from [his] remaining debt (65),” which is true. He didn’t have many issues with being frugal, but as for myself this would be the category I would often mark as one of my faults.

Lastly, industry that he expresses as “losing no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions (64).” This was the second piece he believed could “free [him] from [his] remaining debt (65).” Like Franklin, I wouldn’t mark this category as one of my greatest flaws. In the end, everyone wants to earn a living somehow and this can only be gained through working and filling in empty hours with progress.

By the end of his project, Benjamin Franklin “had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish (68).” However, he didn’t reach perfection in each virtue and found that it was difficult to be flawless. Though he couldn’t fulfill his project he was happy with how far he has gotten. He believes that one can reach perfection if “he first forms a good plan, and, cutting off all amusements or other employments that would divert his attention (72).” You learn from Benjamin that becoming “perfect” doesn’t always lead to a happy life, if anything you’d have to eliminate happiness in order to reach perfection.

Benjamin Franklin like many of the theorists we read about came up with plans of how to be the best or gain the most knowledge, however it is difficult to follow each way perfectly. Benjamin Franklin expresses that though arriving at moral perfection is great, it cannot easily be reached. I think if anyone were to read his autobiography, they would easily be able to relate to trying to become perfect, but not succeeding.

Peer Response Post

Reaching a Point of Enlightenment

This post is in response to Eric Chan’s post, which can be found here.

I agree with everything you stated in your post. You first mention Kant’s belief in reaching enlightenment once one is free. In his writing he states that it’s difficult “for any single individual to extricate himself from the minority has almost become nature to him.” Meaning that it’s hard to pull yourself away from following others’ thoughts since you’ve grown used to it. However, “nothing is required but freedom” in order to reach enlightenment. Freedom leads to curiosity and allows you to think beyond your boarders. This also goes along with Rousseau’s belief. He believed in “freedom, not power (Rousseau, 5).” He allows Emile to roam freely away from the rest of the world and anyone else’s authority like teachers. This allows Emile to “use his own reason and not that of others (Rousseau, 22).” When you are bound by anything, it hold’s one back from reaching “enlightenment.”

In Frederick Douglass’ case, he was bound from the very beginning. He was separated from his mother when he was just an infant and was put “under the care of an old woman (Douglass, 1)” until he were strong enough to start working. When you’re a slave, you’re under the authority of another. You don’t have the choice to learn or go to school. However, Douglass was given the opportunity to receive some type of education through one of his master’s wife, Mrs. Auld when he moved to Baltimore, where slaves were treated slightly better than those where he came from. She “commenced to teach [him] the A, B, C (Douglass 6)” and “assisted [him] in learning to spell words of three or four letters (6).” Unfortunately, this stopped because of Mr. Auld; he believed “it would forever unfit him to be a slave (Douglass, 6).” The anger that grew inside Douglass pushed him to move beyond what he learned and finally “understood the pathway from slavery to freedom (Douglass, 6).” He later was able to “succeed in learning to read and write (Douglass, 7)” without a “regular teacher.” As Douglass slowly gained some type of freedom, he expanded more on what he already knew, on his own. Eventually, he was able to “escape from slavery” and the authority of a master.

Kant believed that enlightenment could only be achieved once you are free and capable of making use of one’s own understanding “without direction from another (Kant, 1).” This is also expressed in Frederick Douglass’ writing. While he was under the authority of masters, he couldn’t make use of his knowledge. However, up until he reached freedom, he was able to learn more on his own and eventually reached a point of “enlightenment” where he was able to use his own understanding without someone binding him.

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Building On One’s Education

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Obtaining as much knowledge as one can and gaining an education doesn’t just come from books and teachers, but from ourselves also, as expressed by Rousseau in Emile who believed in the importance of being free and relying on nature and experience in order to find truth for ourselves, this is also expressed in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, when the creature had to live and learn on his own in the world.