The book is about the self-censorship and homogenization carried out by the publishing conglomerates who produce our nation's school textbooks. In an effort to not offend anyone, these publishers have cut out just about anything meaningful from our students' textbooks - including history textbooks, nay, especially history textbooks. It is so bad, many history textbooks don't even give a mention as to why students should read the darn thing in the first place. Ravitch gave an example of what kind of justification used to be included in textbooks:
It was once customary for writers of American history textbooks to explain to their readers why it was important to study history. In the depths of the Depression, David Saville Muzzey told the readers of his popular high school text, A History of Our Country:I think that is an outstanding piece of persuasive writing. I especially appreciate where the author points out that no matter what you do for a living, you are an American first, and you should learn about your heritage. That shoots down the whole line of questioning students always use about how are they going to use this when they are older when their future job will have nothing to do with history. If I was to use this quotation, I would have to frontload some vocabulary, such as "inherit" "heir" "ungrateful" "bequeathed" and "marauders." The fact that my students don't know such words - I have been asked before what an "heir" is - shows that aside from history class, they don't seem to think that much of Language Arts either.
You are growing up in this age of opportunity and responsibility. In a few years we of the older generation shall have passed on, leaving to you the duty of carrying on the American tradition of a free republic, of preserving our ideals, and remedying our faults. this is Your America. Whatever business or profession you may choose to follow, you are all, first and foremost, American citizens. Each of you should think of himself or herself as a person who has inherited a beautiful country estate, and should be proud to keep up that estate and to make such "modern improvements" as will increase its beauty and comforts. You would be ungrateful heirs indeed if you did not care to know who had bequeathed the estate to you, who had planned and built the house, who had labored to keep it in repair for your occupancy, who had extended and beautified its grounds, who had been alert to defend it from marauders and burglars. If you agree with me, you have already answered the question why you should be eager to study American history...
Good Day to You, Sir
6 comments:
I teach history classes at a few local community colleges. And on the first day of class, I answer the question that you've posed like this:
For me, personally, the answer to the question "why study history?" is pretty straightforward. If you want to understand the world and why it is the way that it is, you have to understand its history. I begin by assuming that you would, in fact, like to improve your understanding of the world. It seems obvious to me that understanding the world is very much preferable to not understanding the world. The fact of the matter is that there is a larger world out there that affects how you go about living your daily lives--whether you want it to or not. And I think that most everybody forms some kind of an understanding of what this world is like and how it functions—even if they never make a formal study of the subject. People have a basic need to understand the world they live in.
So how can you really improve your understanding of the world? One way is to study its history. And how does studying history help? It starts with the realization that there is nothing inevitable or “natural” about the world as it now exists. To a remarkable extent, the world that we live in now is the product of a very specific series of events—a complex chain that stretches back into the mists of time and leads right up until the present day. The world we were all born into was created, for better or worse, by the countless generations of people who came before us. And the better we can understand those events in the past—and the people who shaped and formed those events—the better we can understand just how the world came to be the way that it is.
Obviously, the rationale I provided above is short on the flag-waiving. Not that I have anything at all against flag-waiving—far from it. But I teach Western Civilization and World History classes as well as American History, so the spiel I’ve provided above is one I can—and do—use in multiple contexts.
Are you telling me that today's junior high school students don't know any common vocabulary? Is that because their heads are so full of the faux science with which the liberals are trying to scare them? Don't use any "big" words when you tell the fat kids they're the next Obama target.
If the left wrote it:
You are growing up in this age of diversity and multiculturalism. In a few years we of the older generation shall have passed on, leaving to you the privilege of carrying on the American traditions of a tolerance, diversity, and taking care of our environment. This is the world's America. Whatever profession you may choose , or if you choose no profession at all, you are all, first and foremost, citizens of the world. Each of you should think of himself or herself as a person who shares a beautiful country estate, and should be proud to share that estate and to make such changes as will help others to share in its beauty and comforts.
You should be grateful that others have brought change and hope. You too must bring about change. Our history is filled with greed, hatred of women, homophobia, violence, and racism. We have a responsibility to learn how those who once controlled this country went astray. But we also have the right to study about those who did get it right, about those who became agents of peace, about those who brought a positive difference and are still advancing the causes of human rights. If you want to be a change agent, a revolutionary for human rights, then you should study history.
George
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