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Rereading America
Critical Thinking Questions Based on "Rereading America"
Michael Moore's uniquely facetious style of political commentary is on great display in his "Idiot Nation" essay. Inflammatory rhetoric aside, it is not so much Moore's intention to argue that we are a nation of unintelligent people so much as that we are gutting our educational standards to the risk of our collective intelligence. In other words, his essay is more directly about the failure from the top down to provide the proper economic and political support for our schools, our teachers and our students. This is depriving us of the educational quality enjoyed in more progressive nations.
Though Moore's argument is limited by his decidedly one-dimensional political orientation, I find myself in strong agreement with his basic premise. That is, if we fail to provide the proper material and philosophical backing for our...
I regret to say that this observation conforms with many of my educational experiences. This was especially true of my time spent in Iran during my elementary and secondary schooling. Much of our curriculum was defined by rigid state standards that had more to do with compliance with the Koran than with the value of that which we learned. In particular, we were forced to learn in Arabic instead of a more international language because this was the language used for the Moslem holy book. This was boring by virtue of being useless, but even more frustrating was the government's childish insistence on teaching the Iranian government's distorted version of historical events. Many of us possessed enough knowledge even as teenagers, to recognize as childish and…
Works Cited:
Colombo, G.; Cullen, R. & Lisle, B. (2001). Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Bedford/St. Martin's.
Buckanan Deconstructing America Patrick J. Buchanan is a conservative political leader in the United States. The article Deconstructing America was published in his 2007 book, Day of Reckoning. Buchanan says "America is today less a nation than an encampment of politics and power.." Although the rhetoric surrounding the creation of the nation did focus on themes such as equality, democracy, and diversity, in practice there were certainly more superficial ideologies at play. "The
That is why I became Treasurer of the Wives Club, out of gratefulness for this extended family. I know many people of my generation struggle to find 'who they are' but the structure of the military offers a potent and compelling answer to that question. To serve means always to be at home amongst people who understand exactly what you are going through: "Home is the place where, when
There are specific daily steps that students in these working class schools must take, and in math, for example, the teacher "told them what the procedure was for each problem, rarely asking them to conceptualize or explain it themselves" (Anyon 528). And so the emphasis was on memorizing the steps, not on understanding how or why they are taken. Language arts class was much the same (copy the teacher's notes
Challenging Cultural Myths" is an introductory preface to the seventh edition textbook Rereading America, published in 2007 by Bedford/St. Martin's Press and edited by Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle The authors believes that becoming a college student is one of the most challenging experiences of your lifetime. For most students, it is the first time you have been independent, which can be exciting but scary. If you are
The great American writer Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay that has become very well-known called "Civil Disobedience." In the essay Thoreau said "That government is best with governs least" and then he clarified himself by adding: "That government is best which governs not at all." Thoreau admitted that governments need a standing arm, but that is only "an arm of the standing government," he said. But he disagreed in
According to both testimonials and statistics, educated people report higher levels of personal happiness and job satisfaction. In her book, Nickel and Dimed, comfortably wealthy author Barbara Ehrenreich reports being taken out for a "$30 lunch and some understated French country-style place" and discussing "future articles I might write for [the editor of Harpoer's] magazine" (1). It is lunching with this editor from Harpers that she decides to take on