Iagos Personality :: Literary Analysis, Shakespeare, Classics

Ideas about Othello In what way is this play about race? Considering that the protagonist is black, it brings in the idea of isolation. It is an important part of the play as he is isolated, placed on a pedestal so his fall is even more dramatic. In effect Shakespeare isolates the issue that racial prejudice is a timeless issue that will continue through time. Insecurity and vulnerability, allows Iago to attack him, makes relationship between Desdemona and Othello foundations shaky. Confirms Elizabethan stereotypes about race it was written for an audience that could accept racist stereotypes as truisms without acknowledging their own racism. A tragic flaw; makes Iago jealous; thus the downfall of Othello is imminent Is it a dramatic device? Shakespeare – concerned with racism? Imagery –dichotomy – conflict white/black; a discussion of humanity – confirming the Elizabethan stereotypes Power Iago – his disposition to know all the other characters flaws, undermines peoples in position of authority; his ability as a puppeteer Cassio – young and handsome; educated; superficial power Othello – military power and authority; meritocracy where status is gained on merit undermined by the idea that the duke orders him what to do; superficial power limited to their positions; undermining the power all the time; highlight how superficial his power is, it is undermined by Iago all the time Desdemona – women are dutiful, are repressed by their position as possessions of their masters In what way is this a play about the relationships between men and women? Shakespeare recognises the role of women through their relationships. Othello and Desdemona’s relationship conveys the ideas of love, lust, based on strong foundations or not.

Aronald Bennet Essay

Looking at the social comments Arnold Bennett makes. Examine his use of language and literary devices to convey his point. In the story news of the engagement Arnold Bennett makes several social comments. He uses different types of language and literary devices to convey his message to the reader. Throughout the story Arnold Bennett shows the nature of the character Philips relationship with his mother. As the story progresses Arnold Bennett uses different techniques to convey Philips behavior and attitude towards his mother. At the end of the story his message is shown to the reader and from this point onwards my focus will be on Philips journey throughout the story, how he changes and his sudden realization of how poorly he has inwardly treated his mother The first significant phrase in the story appears early in the first paragraph. The phrase used is ‘preparing for me’ and it is a very important quote as it reveals Philips viewpoint towards his mother. The reader can infer immediately that Philip is appearing to be sarcastic or even patronizing. The word ‘preparing’ is deliberately placed between inverted commas by the writer. This is an extremely effective method of revealing to the reader Philips tone of voice. It can be perceived that Philip is talking in a tone of disrespect towards his mother and that he is sure that his mother has no other plans which exclude him. The text in itself is very informative. It is used to convey that Philips mother has little other activities to engage in other than ‘preparing’ for him. Seeing as Philip is speaking about his own mother, even at this early stage in the story it is clear that Philip is disrespectful towards her and seems to think negatively about her preparations for his arrival. The inverted commas also carry the suggestion that Philip is not at all surprised at his mother for ‘preparing’ for him. He might even be suggesting that his mother’s behavior is predictable or even boring. In the 3rd paragraph Philips innate selfishness discloses itself to the audience. The sentence used by the writer to display this was ‘I was the only son of a widow’. The word ‘widow’ is not only to inform the reader of the passing away of Philips father but to imply that his mother was totally alone both in terms of family and in terms of social communications. Since his mother has no other person of any significance in her life (according to Philip) he believes he is the top priority for his mother and that his mother’s life revolves around him. He is not only stating the fact that his mother is alone but also that she could not possibly have anyone else in her life. The phrase ‘all that my mother had’ is an ideal piece of writing to prove this. ‘All’ means everything and as far as Philip was concerned he was everything to his mother and anything else in her life was secondary to him. As mentioned previously Philips selfish ness is innate and this is because he is a product of his environment. Society at this time period would generally Share the same views as him if they were in a similar situation. In his eyes he is acting in a conventional and very orthodox manner. Further on in the story there is a piece of text written by Arnold Bennett which is constructed using descriptive language. It has an important role in the story and it further develops the readers understanding of Philips attitude towards his mother. The quote is ‘my little plump mother in her black silk and gold brooch†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ The reader can instantaneously realise the fact that Philip is describing the physical appearance of his mother. In that time period and even in modern day times when you are asked to describe your mother. Her appearance is not the kind of description you are likely to say. What you describe is her character and her personality. The reader can infer that Philips views his mother as an object or slave to him. He doesn’t value her life and doesn’t appreciate her in the correct manner. In this quote Arnold Bennett uses one single simple word to great effect. The word ‘my’ is used and it shows that Philip firmly believes that his mother’s life revolves around him and that she is almost some kind of possession reserved only for his personal use. ‘Little’ and ‘plump’ are 2 words which people would rarely use to describe their mothers. This use of language further emphasizes Phillips innate selfishness and poor conduct towards his mother. Also these words are disrespectful and negative so it is clear that Philip is selfish and hurtful toward his, mother and that he doesn’t realize it at this point. Arnold Bennett uses a simile in the next paragraph. The sentence he used this technique on was ‘she hovered around me, like a sea-gull round a steamer’. This can be instantly perceived by the reader as Philip analyzing the outward reaction of his mother to his presence. It shows the audience Philips supreme confidence in terms of how his status and character are seen so positively by his mother and also how he thinks of his own importance. ‘hovered around me’ shows the reader that Philip is sure of his mothers excitement and joy as she is constantly coming close to him and showing her appreciation or gratitude that he has come to visit. The actual comparison was very informative about Philips attitude toward his mother. ‘Like a sea-gull around a steamer’ is showing that Philip may be disgruntled by his mother’s behavior. It is an unusual method of describing the event as it suggests that his mother is pestering him or even frustrating him by her actions. Referring to his mother as a sea-gull around a steamboat harbors the suggestion that he is unhappy at her relentless movements towards him and it also questions if he has any sort of respect for his mother at all. This type of comparison is certainly not conventional when talking about your own mother and although society at the time may feel Arnold Bennett’s use of language is slightly strong they would generally agree with his message as they are all products of the environment. Later on in the story Philip is shown to make even more assumptions about his mother when he says ‘more excited than my arrival ordinarily made her’. His firm beliefs are that his mother thinks that he is the most crucial part of her life and his life is the most important thing to his mother. We have already established these points and this are the reasons why he is suggesting that whenever he is visiting his mother she is filled with joy and excitement. On this particular occasion though, Philip senses and is in fact convinced that his mothers joy is even greater than when he usually visits. His immediate response to this was to not even consider that his mother may have some positive or intriguing news of her own but that ‘she may have got wind of my engagement’. This again reiterates Philips belief that his mother doesn’t have a life beyond him but it also introduces to the reader the concept that Philip is self engrossed. All he is thinking about is Agnes and how his mother has come to realize that he is engaged. All of this is a repetitive chain of events where Philip considers himself above everything and is immersed fully into his own private life. Another phrase which provides strong evidence for this point is ‘supper for three’. When Philip realizes that the dinner table is organized for three people he yet again assumes that his mother could not possibly have anyone come at her request. So his explanation is Agnes must be coming. He is totally dismissive of the idea that his mother could have another important person in her life other than him. Immediately after this phrase Philip exclaims ‘she hasn’t breathed a word’ again this is further evidence that he is totally consumed in his selfishness and that he believes his mother is again putting his life as the priority. The exclamation mark in the phrase is very effective. It puts great emphasis on all the points above and it presents a clear and accessible message of Philips conduct to the reader. As we know later on the story Philip realises the nature of the relationship his mother is experiencing with Mr. Nixon. Prior to this though there are many key events which take place and are significant to the outcome of the story. Just before the arrival of Mr. Nixon, Philip was anticipating excitedly the arrival of Agnes. He was also very pleased inwardly at his belief that his mother had concocted some sort of plan to unite him and Agnes. Previously he believed that Agnes and his mother have had no previous connections and he also thought that Agnes was staying in London. Philip says ‘she had delightfully fibbed’ when referring to this fact. He was now convinced that Agnes and his mother are involved in a surprise reserved for him and it is clear that he is fully immersed in this direction of thought. It is almost as if he is looking at this situation through a tunnel where there is only one way, which in this case is a plan made between Agnes and his mother. Of course the reader can quickly realise that Philips excitement is short lived. After ‘trembling with expectation’ instead of Agnes greeting him at the door it was Mr. Nixon. Philip did not instantaneously express his frustration and annoyance at this new development. Instead he described a bit of background information about Mr. Nixon and revealed his wealth and prosperity. He also revealed that Mr. Nixon was his ‘mother’s trustee’. He was completely unaware of the true nature of the relationship as he was blinded by the views shown by society as a whole at that time period. Philip was completely dismissing the fact that his mother could have a life involving anyone but him and he was also failing to acknowledge his mother as a fellow human being with the same rights as him. Again society plays a role in this because at the time women were seen as inferior to men and reiterates that Philip is a product of his environment and was born into this method of thinking. After the arrival of Mr. Nixon, Philip expresses his anguish. He says ‘not too well pleased by this information for I wanted to talk confidentially to my mother’ From this sentence it becomes very apparent to the audience that Philip is not in a good mood as he wanted to tell his mother about his engagement to Agnes. He still did not have any awareness about his mother’s intentions as he was too absorbed in his own situation with Agnes. When Philip eventually thought about the purpose of the visit he did suspect something was going on. ‘suspicion†¦ something had gone wrong with my mothers affairs’ is the phrase used by Arnold Bennett to convey Philips ‘suspicion’. But of course instead of suspecting a relationship between his mother and Mr. Nixon he came to the conclusion that his mother was in some sort of financial difficulty. He believed that this is the only reason why a man would visit his ‘widow’ mother. Even though he suspected his mother to be in financial difficulty he dismissed the problem by saying ‘I could easily afford to keep my mother and a wife too’. This sentence was carefully constructed by Arnold Bennett to show that Philip was the male playing the conventional stereotypical role of the provider and the protector of female family members. The reader can see that society is the main influence on the way that Philip acts and it is the reason for his behavior being the way it is. As he has done on countless occasions previously Philip is again showing his selfishness toward his mother. ‘I was still preoccupied in my engagement’ were Philips words and they again showed how selfish and ignorant towards his mother he was being. For the majority of the story Philips poor attitudes and beliefs have been the main focus. Now however Philip is about to learn the truth about his mother and Mr. Nixon. The focus now will be on his sudden realization that he has been going along with society’s stereotypical views and his treated his mother with such disregard. The other key points will be his reaction to the news and what he realises he has done wrong. When Philip first hears of the marriage proposal from Mr. Nixon he instantly is caught by surprise. This is recognizable due to Arnold Bennett’s decision to give Philip a certain tone of voice and because of the language he selected. The first words spoken by Philip after hearing this surprising revelation were ‘I was struck’ this evidently told the reader of the obvious state of shock Philip was in after hearing this news. His tone of voice was easy to understand even without any punctuation surrounding the words. Philip says ‘I stammered’ and this is clearly showing that he was finding it difficult to find the response to this piece of news and that his tone of voice sounded extremely surprised. At this point the audience cannot perceive whether Philip is pleased or unhappy at this news. But after an important section of writing written to display Mr. Nixon’s view on the matter it is clear that Philip is pleased with these developments. Just before Philip talks about his realizations that his views were incorrect and just before he expresses his joys on these new developments Arnold Bennett uses the technique of irony. The example of this is when Philip and Mr. Nixon use a similar phrase when discussing in which type of manner should their secrets be revealed. Philip said ‘you can’t write even to your mother’ and Mr. Nixon says ‘she couldn’t have written like that’. This was a very ironic development because throughout the story the writer has implied how Philip is a product of his environment and how he has hidden such an important fact from his mother. But now it is clear that both of these 2 people have been hiding secrets from each other due to the dictatorship of society and its strong influence on the actions of everyone. It is clear that Philip could also sense the irony of the situation. In fact it was a very important factor into his change of attitude as he realized that society had stopped him from fully appreciating his mother as a human being with her own personal life to lead. After considering this Philip then responded by laughing. ‘I laughed’ His laugh was one of happiness and he was now at a stage where he grasped the concept that his mother was not created just for him and that she had other purposes in her life. The next stage was for Philip to reflect on his mistakes and to think about how his attitude should change. He says ‘I never thought of my mother as a woman with a future’. This epitomizes as a whole his previous attitude towards his mother. As far as he was concerned she was only needed by him and that she was of no use to anyone or anything else. This phrase also shows that he is speaking about the past and that now he has differing views than he had previously. Philip also admits that he did not know ‘she was desirable and that a man might desire her’. He didn’t consider the fact that his mother was just like him, Just a human being craving compassion and love. He thought of her as an object and a slave and only at this stage was he reflecting on how wrong he was. Previously he dismissed the concept that any man would even consider looking at his mother as she was a ‘widow’ and was his to exploit and use. ‘Lonely existence†¦ not all she had the right to demand from life’ at this particular stage Philip is showing empathy toward his mother. He is putting himself in that situation and is now actually thinking of her as an ordinary woman who deserves love and companionship as much as any other person. He now sees that she is not just his mother and she can be anything a wife a sister not just stuck in one role. What the reader can also perceive from the last paragraph is that Philips selfishness has deteriorated and he has changed rapidly. Philip says very clearly that he is embarrassed about his previous behavior. He says ‘I was ashamed’. This is the ultimate proof to the reader that Philip is definitely aggrieved at his past actions and is looking to put them right. The word ‘was’ is used in order to covey that Philip was like this in the past but now he has changed. Another phrase Philip said was that ‘I would not intrude my joys on her until the next morning’. This was the first selfless act Philip has done for his mother throughout the story. He is now sacrificing a bit of time to his mother so that she can enjoy a happy and joyous occasion in her life. Instead of trying to overshadow his mother’s news he has kept quiet so his mother can allow herself to relax get composed and he will tell her his news the following day. This phrase also suggests that Philip understands that his mother’s life does not revolve around him and other things could make her equally as happy and equally as pleased. The message of the story is represented as a whole in the final sentence of the story. ‘We live and learn’. This is a sentence used to show that Philip is pleased with the fact that he was able to change his way of thinking and was able to finally change his views about his mother. It could also be a sentence used to try and influence society as a whole to change their way of thinking just as Philip did. The reader can infer from the last sentence that the writer himself is expressing his own views in order try and make the public notice quickly how they are actually behaving and how they should really conduct themselves. It is almost as if Arnold Bennett wants the reader to undergo their own sudden realization as to what is the truly correct way of behaving and whether or not they should follow some of the trends society has created

You Can t Write An Honest Novel About Race - 1492 Words

Chimamanda Adichie writes in her 2013 novel Americanah: â€Å"You can’t write an honest novel about race in this country. If you write about how people are really affected by race, it’ll be too obvious† (335). Americanah, however, is a novel full of social commentary on race and how it affects the lives of black immigrants, especially female immigrants. Adichie is aware of how race and gender work alongside each other and shape someone’s experience. The main protagonist of the story, Ifemelu constantly points this out. Since Americanah is a relatively new novel, hardly any academic articles have been written about it. The article â€Å"Fictional Representations of Contemporary Diasporas: The Case of the Invisible Diasporic Women of Chimamanda†¦show more content†¦Erika Swarts Gray gives another definition to African American literature: â€Å"literature that is written by African American writers or includes African American characters that are culturally specific†. She further argues in her article that one of the most important characteristics of African American literature is that it makes black characters visible and allows black readers to connect to the main characters. She writes that students feel that literature that is read in the classroom features too few African American characters, or that it presents the history of slavery â€Å"without including any ‘nonslavery’ or modern representations† (476). Chimamanda Adichie also noticed the lack of black characters in modern literature when she was little. She wrote stories based on the novels that she was reading, and she says: â€Å"All my characters were white and had blue eyes and played in the snow and ate apples and had dogs called Socks† (â€Å"African ‘Authenticity’ and the Biafran Experience† 42). When she read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, she first encountered black characters, characters with whom she could identify: â€Å"Here were characters who had Igbo names and ate yams and inhabited a world similar to mine. Okonkwo and Ezinma and Ikemefuna taught me that my world was worthy of literature, that books could also have people like me in them†Show MoreRelatedthe book of negroes1581 Words   |  7 PagesBook Reflection : The Book Of Negroes It s 1802 and Aminata Diallo, now an old woman, sits down to write her life story at the request of the Abolitionists in London. Abducted from her village in West Africa at the age of eleven and marched in a coffle (a string of slaves) for three months before reaching the coast, Aminata survives the voyage to America and ends up sold to an indigo plantation owner in South Carolina. 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The Secret Of Getting By Mark Twain - 1134 Words

Mark Twain once said â€Å"the secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one†. Twain believed that the key to success is to get started and to take one step at a time. However, people often forget that as they focus too much on the end goal. Before one can walk, one must learn to crawl. Before an individual can successfully accomplish a task, the person is required to learn the basic components of the task. They are required to learn the fundamental and essential actions that are required to auspiciously finish the task. Every action contains a series of smaller actions that assist in carrying out the bigger action. People often forget about these smaller steps because they grow accustomed to only thinking about the outcome. However, people are often forced to pay attention to these smaller actions when there s a disruption in performing the end goal. Thus, occupational therapy helps individuals develop, recover, or maintain skills that are required to carry out the smatter steps so individuals can then achieve other things. I intended to become a pharmacist to please my parents who have high expectations for me as the first generation college student in the family. However, during my first semester in college, I realized that it s wasn t for me. I thought that I might end up despondent throughout my career if I became one as I go through the daily routine of working a job. Although, becomingShow MoreRelatedThe Secret Of Getting Ahead Is Getting Started1713 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The secret of getting ahead is getting started.† - Mark Twain Writing imposing stories on a boy by the name of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and the mighty Mississippi River, Mark Twain ventured the American soul with intelligence, optimism, and a keen eye for the truth. He became nothing less than a national treasure (AE Television). 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Essay on The Pent-up Guilt in Macbeth - 1720 Words

The Pent-up Guilt in Macbeth There is hardly any emotion in William Shakespeares tragedy Macbeth that outweighs that of guilt. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are seriously compromised by the impact of this emotion. Clark and Wright in their Introduction to The Complete Works of William Shakespeare explain how guilt impacts Lady Macbeth: Having sustained her weaker husband, her own strength gives way; and in sleep, when her will cannot control her thoughts, she is piteously afflicted by the memory of one stain of blood upon her little hand. (792) In Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy, Northrop Frye sees a relationship between Macbeths guilt and his hallucinations: The future†¦show more content†¦The very use of such a tender allusion in the midst of her dreadful language, persuades one unequivocally that she has really felt the maternal yearnings of a mother towards her babe, and that she considered this action the most enormous that ever required the strength of human nerves for its perpetration. Her language to Macbeth is the most potently eloquent that guilt could use. (56) The Tragedy of Macbeth opens in a desert place with thunder and lightning and three witches who are anticipating their meeting with Macbeth. Macbeth is greeted by the witches with hail to thee, thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor, and thou shalt be king hereafter! 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Traditional Education free essay sample

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Traditional education, also known as back-to-basics, conventional education or customary education, refers to long-established customs found in schools that society has traditionally deemed appropriate. Some forms of education reform promote the adoption of progressive education practices, a more holistic approach which focuses on individual students needs and self-expression. In the eyes of reformers, traditional teacher-centered methods focused on rote learning and memorization must be abandoned in favor of student-centered and task-based approaches to learning. However, many parents and conservative citizens are concerned with the maintenance of objective educational standards based on testing, which favors a more traditional approach. Depending on the context, the opposite of traditional education may be progressive education, modern education (the education approaches based on developmental psychology), or alternative education. [1] Contents * 1 Definition * 2 Instruction Centre * 3 Marking * 4 Subject Areas * 5 Criticism of the concept of teaching in traditional education| Definition The definition of traditional education varies greatly with geography and by historical period. The chief business of traditional education is to transmit to a next generation those skills, facts, and standards of moral and social conduct that adults deem to be necessary for the next generations material and social success. [2] As beneficiaries of this scheme, which educational progressivist John Dewey described as being imposed from above and from outside, the students are expected to docilely and obediently receive and believe these fixed answers. Teachers are the instruments by which this knowledge is communicated and these standards of behavior are enforced. [2] Historically, the primary educational technique of traditional education was simple oral recitation:[1] In a typical approach, students sat quietly at their places and listened to one student after another recite his or her lesson, until each had been called upon. The teachers primary activity was assigning and listening to these recitations; students studied and memorized the assignments at home. A test r oral examination might be given at the end of a unit, and the process, which was called assignment-study-recitation-test, was repeated. In addition to its overemphasis on verbal answers, reliance on rote memorization (memorization with no effort at understanding the meaning), and disconnected, unrelated assignments, it was also an extremely inefficient use of students and teachers time. This traditional approach also insisted that all students be taught the same ma terials at the same point; students that did not learn quickly enough failed, rather than being allowed to succeed at their natural speeds. This approach, which had been imported from Europe, dominated American education until the end of the 19th century, when the education reform movement imported progressive education techniques from Europe. [1] Traditional education is associated with much stronger elements of coercion than seems acceptable now in most cultures. [citation needed] It has sometimes included: the use of corporal punishment to maintain classroom discipline or punish errors; inculcating the dominant religion and language; separating students according to gender, race, and social class, as well as teaching different subjects to girls and boys. In terms of curriculum there was and still is a high level of attention paid to time-honoured academic knowledge. In the present it varies enormously from culture to culture, but still tends to be characterised by a much higher level of coercion than alternative education. Traditional schooling in Britain and its possessions and former colonies tends to follow the English Public School style of strictly enforced uniforms and a militaristic style of discipline. This can be contrasted with South African, USA and Australian schools, which can have a much higher tolerance for spontaneous student-to-teacher communication. citation needed] Instruction Centre | | Topic| Traditional approach| Alternate approaches| Person| Teacher-centred instruction: * Educational essentialism * Educational perennialism| Student-centred instruction: * Educational progressivism| Classroom| Students matched by age, and possibly also by ability. All students in a classroom are taught the same material. | Studen ts dynamically grouped by interest or ability for each project or subject, with the possibility of different groups each hour of the day. Multi-age classrooms or open classrooms. [3]| Teaching methods| Traditional education emphasizes: * Direct instruction and lectures * Seatwork * Students learn through listening and observation[4]| Progressive education emphasizes: * Hands-on activities * Student-led discovery * Group activities| Materials| Instruction based on textbooks, lectures, and individual written assignments| Project-based instruction using any available resource including Internet, library and outside experts| Subjects| Individual, independent subjects. Little connection between topics[3]| Integrated, interdisciplinary subjects or theme-based units, such as reading a story about cooking a meal and calculating the cost of the food. | Social aspects| Little or no attention to social development. [3] Focus on independent learning. Socializing largely discouraged except for extracurricular activities and teamwork-based projects. | Significant attention to social development, including teamwork, interpersonal relationships, and self-awareness. | Multiple tracks| * A single, unified curriculum for all students, regardless of ability or interest. Diverse class offerings without tracking, so that students receive a custom-tailored education. * With School to work, academically weak students must take some advanced classes, while the college bound may have to spend half-days job shadowing at local businesses. | Students choose (or are steered towards) different kinds of classes according to their perceived abilities or career plans. Decision s made early in education may preclude changes later, as a student on a vo-tech track may not have completed necessary prerequisite classes to switch to a university-preparation program. Student and teacher relationship| Students often address teachers formally by their last names. The teacher is considered a respected role model in the community. Students should obey the teacher. Proper behavior for the university or professional work community is emphasized. | In alternative schools, students may be allowed to call teachers by their first names. Students and teachers may work together as collaborators. | Marking Topic| Traditional approach| Alternate approaches| Communicating with parents| A few numbers, letters, or words are used to summarize overall achievement in each class. Marks may be assigned according to objective individual performance (usually the number of correct answers) or compared to other students (best students get the best grades, worst students get poor grades). A passing grade may or may not signify mastery: a failing student may know the material but not complete homework assignments, and a passing student may turn in all homework but still not understand the material. | Many possible forms of communicating achievements: * Teachers may be required to write personalized narrative evaluations about student achievement and abilities. Under standards-based education, a government agency may require all students to pass a test; students who fail to perform adequately on the test may not be promoted. | Expectations| Students will graduate with different grades. Some students will fail due to poor performance based on a lack of understanding or incomplete assignments. | All students need to achieve a basic level of education, even if this mean s spending extra years in school. | Grade inflation/deflation| Achievement based on performance compared to a reasonably stable, probably informal standard which is highly similar to what previous students experienced. The value of any given mark is often hard to standardize in alternative grading schemes. Comparison of students in different classes may be difficult or impossible. | Subject Areas Topic| Traditional approach| Alternate approaches| Mathematics| Traditional mathematics: * Emphasis is on memorization of basic facts such as the multiplication table and mastering step-by-step arithmetic algorithms by studying examples and much practice. * One correct answer is sought, using one standard method. * Mathematics after elementary grades is tracked with different students covering different levels of material. Mathematics is taught as its own discipline without emphasis on social, political or global issues. There may be some emphasis on practical applications in science and te chnology. | * Curriculum de-emphasizes procedural knowledge drills in favor of technology (calculators, computers) and an emphasis on conceptual understanding. * Lessons may include more exploratory material supportive of conceptual understanding, rather than direct presentation of facts and methods. * Emphasis may be on practical applications and greater issues such as the environment, gender and racial diversity, and social justice. Mathematics lessons may include writing, drawing, games, and instruction with manipulatives rather than filling out worksheets. [5] * Lessons may include exploration of concepts allowing students to invent their own procedures before teaching standard algorithms. * Grading may be based on demonstration of conceptual understanding rather than entirely on whether the final answer is correct. * In some countries (e. g. the United States), there may be expectations of high achievement and mastering algebra for all students rather than tracking some student s into business math and others into mathematics for math and science careers. Science| Fact-based science: Science class is an opportunity to transmit concrete knowledge and specific vocabulary from the teacher (or textbook) to the students. Students focus on memorizing what they are told. Experiments follow cookbook-style procedures to produce the expected results. | With Inquiry-based Science a student might be asked to devise an experiment to demonstrate that the earth orbits the sun. The emphasis changes from memorizing information that was learned through a scientific method to actually using the scientific method of discovery. Language learning| Phonics: The focus is on explicit training in sound to letter correspondence rules and the mechanics of decoding individual words. Students initially focus on phonics subskills and reading simplified decodable texts. When they have mastered a sufficient number of rules, they are allowed to read freely and extensively. (In many languag es, such as French, Spanish and Greek, phonics is taught in the context of reading simple open syllables. )| With whole language the child is exposed to rich, relevant language that can heighten motivation to read. Learning to read is assumed to be as natural as learning to speak, so students are not formally taught sound to letter correspondences, but assumed to infer them on their own. (Note that this issue is limited to languages such as English and French with complex phonetics and spelling rules. Instruction in countries with languages such as Spanish and Greek, which have relatively simple phonetic spelling, still depends mainly on phonics. )| Criticism of the concept of teaching in traditional education Traditional education focuses on teaching, not learning. It incorrectly assumes that for every ounce of teaching there is an ounce of learning by those who are taught. However, most of what we learn before, during, and after attending schools is learned without it being taught to us. A child learns such fundamental things as how to walk, talk, eat, dress, and so on without being taught these things. Adults learn most of what they use at work or at leisure while at work or leisure. Critics argue that most of what is taught in classroom settings is forgotten, and much of what is remembered is irrelevant.

Half Essay Example For Students

Half Essay BrainedYour brain has two sides. And each has a distinctly different way oflooking at the world. Do you realize that in order for you to read this article,the two sides of your brain must do completely different things? The more weintegrate those two sides, the more integrated we become as people. Integrationnot only increases our ability to solve problems more creatively, but to controlphysical maladies such as epilepsy and migranes, replace certain damaged brainfunctions and even learn to thin into the future. Even morestartling is evidence coming to light that we have become a left-brain culture. Your brains right and left side have distinctly different ways of looking atthe world. Your two hemispheres are as different from each other as, oh, MichealWilson and Shirley Maclean. The left brain controls the right side of the body(this is reversed in about half of the 15 percent of the population that isleft-handed) and, in essence, is logical analytical, judgemental and verbal. Its interested in the bottom line, in being efficent. The right brain controlsthe left side of the body and leans more to the creative, the intuitive. It isconcerned more with the visual and emotional side of life. Most people, if theythought about it, would identify more with their left brain. In fact, many of usthink we are our left brains. All of that non-stop verbalization that goes on inour heads is the dominant left brain talking to itself. Our culture-particularly our school system with its emphasis on the three Rs (decidedlyleft-brain territory) effectively represses the intuitive and artistic rightbrain. If you dont believe it, see how far you get at the office with the rightbrain activity of daydreaming. As you read, your left-side is sensibly makingconnections and analysing the meaning of the words, the syntax and other complexrelation- ships while putting it into a language you can understand. Meanwhile, the right side is providing emotional and even humerous cues,decoding visual information and maintaining an integrated story structure. Whileall of this is going on, the two sides are constantly communicating with eachother across a connecting fibre tract called the corpus callosum. There is acertain amount of overlap but essentially the two hemispheres of the brain arelike two different personalities that working alone would be somewhat lackingand overspecialized, but when functioning together bring different strengths andareas of expertise to make an integrated whole. The primitive cave personprobably lived solely in the right brain, says Eli Bay, president ofRelaxation Response Inc., a Toronto organization that teaches people how torelax. As we gained more control over our environment we became moreleft-brain oriented until it became dominant. To prove this, Bay suggests:Try going to your boss and saying Ive got a great hunch.Chances are your boss will say, Fine, get me the logic to back itup. The most creative decision making and problem solving come about whenboth sides bring their various skills to the table: the left brain analysingissues, problems and barriers; the right brain generating fresh approaches; andthe left brain translating the into plans of action. In a time of vastchange like the present, the intuitive side of the brain operates so fast it cansee whats coming, says Dr. Howard Eisenberg, a medical doctor with adegree in psychology who has studied hemispheric relationships. The leftbrain is too slow, but the right can see around corners. Dr. Eisenbergthinks that the preoccupation with the plodding left brain is one reason for theanalysis paralysis he sees affecting world leaders. Good leaders dontlead by reading polls, he says. They have vision and operate to acertain extent by feel. There are ways of correcting out culturaloverbalance. Playing video games, for example, automatically flips you over tothe right brain Bay says. Any a rtistic endavour, like music or sculpture,will also do it. In her best-selling book Drawing on the Right Sideof the Brain (J.P. Tarcher Inc., 1979), Dr. Betty Edwards developed a series ofexercises designed to help people tap into the right brain, to actually see orprocess visual information, differently. She cites techniques that are as old astime, and modern high-tech versions such as biofeedback. An increasing number ofmedical professionals beieve that being in touch with our brain, especially theright half, can help control medical problems. For examplem Dr. Eisenberg useswhat he calls imaginal thinking to control everything from migranesto asthma, to high blood pressure. We have found, he says,that by teaching someone to raise to raise their temperature by imagingthey are sunbathing or in a warm bath they can control their circulatorysystem and terefore the migrane. Knowledge of our two-sided brain began inthe mid-1800s when French neurologist Paul Broca discovered that injur ies tothe left side of the brain resulted in the loss of speech. Damage to the rightside, however did not. Doctors speculated over what this meant. Was the brainschizophrenically divided and non-communicative? In the early 1960s, Nobel Prizewinner Dr. Roger Sperry proved that patients who had their corpus callosumsevered to try and control epileptic seizures could no longer communicatebetween their hemispheres. The struggle can be seen quite clearly in thepostoperative period whe the patient is asked to do a simple block design. Thisis a visual, spacial task that the left-hand (controlled by the right brain inmost of us) can do very well but the right hand (controlled by thelanguage-oriented left brain) does poorly. The right hand may even intervene tomix up the design. Some people with epilepsy can control their seizures byconcentrating activity on the hemisphere that is not affected. In the case ofleft lobe epilepsy, this can be done by engaging in a right-brain activity suchas dr awing. One intriguing question is why we have two hemispheres at all?In biology you always have the same thing on one side as the other ears,lungs, eyes, kidneys, etc. explains Dr. Patricia De Feudis, director ofpsychology at Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga, Ont. But with thebrain there is more specialization. You can have something going on one side andnot not be aware of it in the other. Our knowledge of the brain is generalis only beginning. We know even less about how the hemispheres operate, Gettingin touch with how the two sides work can only do us good, if just to keep usfrom walking around half-brained.