Analysis: What The SAT Didn T Teach Me

In the third chapter of Lies My Teacher Told Me, the author, James W. Loewen continues the topic of history teachers and textbooks not providing its students correct information, or leaving out details that are important to the specific topic of discussion The first specific topic Loewen discusses is the first settlers of what we now know as the United States. He describes that his students mostly said the first settlers were white men in the 1620s. Loewen then informs the reader that the first settlers besides the Native Americans were African slaves. He then describes that new settlers all over the world took over numerous areas of the United States in the 1500s.

James Loewen , a professor of sociology, wrote a book named From Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, which was published in 1996. In the book, Loewen claims that the American public education system poorly teaches history. He states that this is due to appease and induce overt sense patriotism and nationalism. This leads to the information being false, misleading, boring, and Disneyfied.

Humanity is constantly searching for this idea of inner peace. In a modern world of sometimes seemingly endless suffering, how can one interpret this idea of peace into their daily life? The ancient Taoist text, the Daodejing of Laozi, makes many lofty and vague sentiments about how to find piece and rise above inner struggle in order to find an abstract “Way” which will guide one to inner piece. However, this text leaves much to be desired in how one is supposed to find this way amidst a world that is often very painful and bleak. Shane Koyczan’s spoken word poem “Instructions for a Bad Day” focuses less on the idea of finding you way, and more about overcoming current struggles. Life, however, is neither just overcoming struggle, nor just finding your way. It is a constant struggle between rising over pain, and finding inner happiness. These two texts together, though, examine the ways in which one can rise above their struggles into this greater “way” of living. Together, these pieces argue that one can make their own inner peace by accepting that pain is as much a part of living as happiness is, and by allowing these two things to cycle in and out of their lives naturally without fighting against either.

Throughout high school, I have challenged myself both in the classroom and out in my community. By taking the honors classes, while participating in as many extracurricular activities as I can, I have learned the importance of balance and commitment. My school offered many dual-enrollment courses with conjunction to the local community college as well as Seton Hall University. These classes prepared me for the rigorous workload of college classes, while giving me the opportunity to earn college credits as a high school student. In addition to the dual-enrollment program, I have taken several AP classes that too transfer to college credits. I always challenged myself to take the upper-level courses because I want to be as prepared as I possibly

I do not know if there is any other field of knowledge which suffers so badly as history from the sheer blind repetitions that occur year after year, and from book to book.

Pain is universal. In life, everyone will feel pain; it is inevitable and cruel. Physical or emotional, insignificant or severe, it is there. The pain continues mounting into an unbearable amount of suffering. Suffering that blots out everything of worth, such as family, love, aspirations, and optimism. Hopelessness seizes any will to endure. With no way to subside or control the pain, often one will go to extremes in order to be free of it. Many take their life, in order to escape the horror. Committing suicide is a traumatizing experience for any and all involved. Life is precious. The chance to live is only given once, and cannot be taken for granted. Preventing even a single life from ending early is imperative and obligatory

I support this idea of achieving absolute pleasure from the removal of all pain due to a series of corresponding reasons. The first factor addressed in support of this claim is the tendency of human nature to focus on the negative. This observation will lead to the second supporting idea that these distresses which culminate towards the feeling of pain often block out the feeling of the pleasure desired. This secondary notion results in a comparison between the subsequent uplifting experiences from the removal of pain as opposed to the effect of a simple everyday pleasure on the mind. I

Even though truth is what humans seek, we are not always granted it. For example in, “Lies My Teacher Told Me”, Mr. Loewen uses the term heroification to describe the people who we are being taught about in our history textbooks, which is a perfect example of the “false” truth. Students across the country are being taught about all of these “heros” of america, getting told that they “achieved this” or “did this” to improve our country, only learning about the good details of that “hero”. In doing this, textbook authors and teachers are trying to make students strive to be the “perfect” person. Someone who can change the world, have no flaws, and be a role model for the rest of the people in the future, just like the “heros” of America.

In the textbook ‘Lies my Teacher told me’, James W. Loewen talks about how the monstrosities committed by the american troops in Vietnam have been covered up throughout history, especially in american textbooks. One line states “ We have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the family and the village. We have their land and their crops… We have corrupted their women and children and killed their men.’’ No textbook quotes king’’’ This quote is important because it proves my point that all of the american textbooks published to date, do not contain any such content related to the dark side of the actions that the american troops carried out in Vietnam.

In this dark place I began to hear people ridiculing me for my failures. I had not at the age of nineteen fulfilled any of the self- actualizations I made for myself. In steps substance abuse to hold me tight and caress my worries, silence the voices if I did enough of them at once. Suicide became my favorite dream and pain my release. During this major depression I learned that not everybody hears voices in their heads like I did. This caused further isolation, to complement the depression. I would often walk to Franklin Park a local golfing, sporting, and general hang-out spot. I went there, with pain stored up and compressed in my body, and wait behind the tall trees with a knife in my hand. My intention as usual was to cure my pain by afflicting pain on others. Pain on pain makes pain less painful. This went on for months until one night on the bus ride home from

David Kirp, professor at University of California, Berkeley, in “Text Your way to College”, through research finds that it is more effective to use texting to get to prospecting college students than anything else. By comparing students who received texts urging them to complete college requirements to those who did not receive such reminders, Kirp drew the conclusions that sending these reminders would help increase the amount of people who go through with plans for college. Kirp intends to bring to attention an incredibly inexpensive way to draw students to go to college, in order to further the growth of college educated Americans. It would seem to be Kirp’s objective to convince some administrations across the country to use texting as

Grinnell’s saying, “divorced from understanding” is the perfection wording to explain the loss of interest in students to learn subject matters. “A collection of facts,” as stated in Every Day Practice of Science, is basically just a bunch of things thrown at students to memorize and pass a test and not remember four hours after the test. There is a big difference between understanding and memorizing and I think this is where Grinnell is trying to get at. Textbooks and the education system are more focused on graduation rates and students passing exams instead of working towards building interest and understanding in subjects taught to the students.

Envision yourself facing endless suffering and excruciating pain but can do nothing about it. One becomes desperate to find solutions to end their agony but chooses not to ask beloved ones due to the trouble it could

In reading the Top 10 Thing Middle- School Students Wish You Knew, Rachel Vail states that middle schoolers “sometimes I just can’t focus.” I agree with that statement. I want to learn, I just have the urge to daydream. Daydreaming is an escape mechanism which I have always done. I've realized that one must be focused in order to maintain good grades, which I find very challenging. When I find myself daydreaming, I sometimes have to pinch myself to get back on task. Even while reading I find my mind wandering the pages. None of these habits are good to have in order to keep your grades high.

Bonanno, A. G. (2008). Loss, trauma, and human resilience: Have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events?. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, S(1), 101-113. doi: 10.1037/1942-9681.S.1.101