Essay 3: Myth of
Education
Malcolm X wrote in "Learning to Read" "I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened up to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life." Education has been considered the pathway to achieving our dreams and goals in life, and a way to rise up out of poverty. You have now had a chance to read a different view of education in our society, a view which critiques a nation and system that produces such great disparity in education between those schools with money vs. those without. He also points out the way that education undermines its very goals. Kozol presents ways in which race and economic standing affect the educational experience of students. Education has long been considered the "great equalizer" providing opportunity for anyone to rise up from poverty and ignorance and become successful. Drawing on Savage Inequalities to support your position, Discuss the following question: Does education provide an equal opportunity for success? Why or why not?
Things you should address:
What is the myth of education according to Kozol?
Is it the “great equalizer of men”? Why or why not? (Yes, use quotes and/or paraphrase from the readings!).
And, since you have been students
for most of your lives, you may use some of your own experiences as well. Three
(absolutely full) pages
final
draft due: Th 7/12
|
Things to think
about: What is the myth of
education? Think about which
author(s) do you agree with and why Think about what ways
you think education suffers What are the biggest
problems in education today? What was your
experience like, compared to the students in the readings? Does education empower
or not? In what ways? |
Things I will be
looking for: · A solid thesis that
directly answers the prompt · An introduction
that introduces your topic, gets your reader familiar with the discussion · A brief summary of
the ideas of Kozol’s book · A thoughtful
organization of ideas—don’t just toss it all together! · Topic Sentences! · A conclusion that
concludes something about your topic as well as wraps up your main ideas. · Quotes and/or
paraphrase info from author(s) |