The Literate Arts: What is the Purpose?

Kim Brooks, we know has been “teaching composition at state universities and liberal art colleges and community colleges as well,” (Brooks 2) however what makes her truly passionate about the situation is her love for literature since she was a teenager. “Like so many, depressive, creative, extremely lazy high-school students, I was saved by english class” (1). Brooks demonstrates through these quotes her credibility, not only because she’s a teacher but because she truly loves writing and believes others should receive the education which she was fortunate enough to get. She was not apart of any clubs or extracurriculars, she wasn’t interested in other academic classes, so she knows how beneficial having the skills to converse, to write and to properly articulate one's self are. Brooks shares this personal anecdote, otherwise known as pathos, to relate to those reading, most specifically high school students like she once was. While focusing this piece mainly on English it can also be associated with other classes in high school as well. She is trying to illustrate how one can use what is learned in high school in their life if given the proper tools and taught skills which can be applied

In Dana Gioia’s article titled “Why Literature Matters”, he explains about the decline of reading literature for young Americans. Although “income rose to unforeseen levels, college attendance ballooned, and access of information increased enormously” he states, “the interest young Americans showed in the arts… diminished”. In his article, Gioia uses surveys, articles, studies, and statistics to persuade his audience that the decline of reading in America can have a negative effect on society.

Freire and Rodriguez would not agree that the process of education has to be certain way. Freire believes that banking education oppresses the students and to be free of oppression we, “must abandon the educational goal of deposit-making and replace it with” problem-posing education (323). On the other hand, Rodriguez’s father saw that education, even banking, “could enable a person to escape from a life of mere labor” (Rodriguez 522). Rodriguez embraced the deposits of information from his teachers. “Any book they told me to read, I read – then waited for them to tell me which books I enjoyed” (Rodriguez 518-19). Rodriguez was so into the banking concept of education that not only did he let the teachers deposit information in him, but also feelings. This type of learning may have made it take longer for Rodriguez to think critically; however, banking education did give him skills that

He uses figurative language to persuade his audience to believe that the problem-posing education method is better and more effective. Freire describes the “banking” concept of education as the “students are turned into “containers”, into “receptacles”, to be “filled” by the teacher. The more completely she fills the receptacles, the better the teacher is”. The teacher turns students into banks in which information is deposited in them. The teacher knows everything and the students know nothing. Freire starts his essay off by using this negative language to explain the “banking” concept of education to his audience. He wrote several paragraphs of how negative this concept is before he explained how great the problem-posing education method is. This helped him persuade his audience to think that the “banking” concept of education was bad before the audience had a chance to learn what the other method

In the excerpt from “The Banking Concept of Education” the author, Paulo Freire explains the critical flaw in the current education system. He continues by offering his believed solution to this problem. The two concepts Freire discusses in this excerpt are the “banking concept” of education and the “problem-posing method” of education. The “banking concept” is talked about rather negatively, whereas the “problem-posing method” is talked about highly. Freire believes in the “problem-posing method” and that students should have free-will to a certain extent in the classroom with less authoritative power from the teacher during discussions.

It can be quite a shock to confront the possibility that reading, writing, and talking exercise almost none of the powers we regularly attribute to them in our favorite stories. The dark night of the soul for literacy workers comes with the realization that training students to read, write, and talk in more critical and self- reflective ways cannot protect them from the violent changes our culture is undergoing.

Miller asked a question in his text, The Dark Night of the Soul, which is asked on numerous occasions. ‘What might the Literate Arts be good for?’ Miller gives situations and reasons why we could say the Literate Arts are useless in today’s world. What might the Literate Arts be good for? I ask this question a lot nowadays too. When I go for an English class or see literary books, the question creeps into my mind unconsciously. In this modern world ‘reading and writing’ have gone downhill and yet people do not seem bothered or affected by it which makes the doubt in literary power even stronger. But after a lot of thinking and research, I have come to realize that literate arts are still needed in

People have different opinions on the importance and meaning of literate arts. Literate arts are significant, but not mandatory. It is crucial for everyone to understand how it attributes towards the outside environment. Literate arts is a way for individuals to express and understand themselves through different forms of writing- like stories, poems, etc. Literate arts are good for promoting the development of aesthetic sensibility, using sentimental and cognitive responses- which leads to precise critical reasonings.

“The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This is how Dr. Seuss thought of reading, and I think of it in much the same way. Literacy is everywhere and influences us every day, therefore, it plays a major part in each of our lives. I believe that reading is an interactive activity in which learning happens, or as Clay (2001) defines it, “…a message-getting, problem-solving activity” (p. 1). Reading is the process through which one reads information and from doing so, constructs meaning about the material. The more exposure and practice one has with reading, the more knowledge one gains. In this paper, I will begin by discussing my own personal educational philosophy, then continue by stating and explaining four of my beliefs about the reading process and the research that is found to support each of them before sharing the remaining questions I have about literacy. I am an existentialist, and a strong supporter of a balanced literacy approach. My beliefs about literacy come from these foundations and perspectives that I embrace. For students to be successful in their literacy development, I believe that identity acceptance in the classroom is crucial, instruction for all students must be differentiated, direct and explicit instruction is at times necessary, and vocabulary is a significant component in the ‘Big Five’ of children’s literacy development.

Throughout my essay I will explain how I experienced the banking-concept and the problem-posing education system. In one hand, I definitely agree with Freire about his thoughts of banking concept but in the other hand I do not. Let me tell you my experiences from Hungary and the United States, so that might give you a better understanding.

Over the past month, we have been studying the concept of reading and writing in different communities. To assess this, we have read two different texts. Richard Rodriguez’s the achievement of desire”, from his autobiography “Hunger of Memory”; and Lucille McCarthy’s “A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing across the Curriculum” from “Research in the Teaching of English”. Both answer key questions regarding what it takes to become a great reader and writer, however, from the reading that I have done, each one only answers one part of the question. Rodriguez’s main focus is in the aspect of reading, whereas McCarthy mainly focuses on the writing portion. Both do a decent job of analyzing and putting forth a view of how they believe a person can best perform in these environments. This then allows us to use their concepts and create our own version, based on their points of view. But why should we care? Most people at this level of academia will have developed a system of writing that works for them, and will have a difficult time breaking from it if they’re process doesn’t meet the criteria that Rodriguez, and McCarthy put forth. The reason it’s so important is because of implications these ideas have. Both authors put forth concepts that are indirectly related to one another and that are highly beneficial to all who will apply them. They will force you to conform to new environments in order to succeed, this in turn will make you more

According to the "The Banking Concept of Education" by Paulo Freire, I believe that Freire does a good job of showing the reader his idea about education. He makes the reader think about him/herself by the way he shows the fact obvious in their life. He hopes the reader know the depth of difference between the banking system and the problem-posing system. Therefore, this essay is talking about learning can only be achieved by communication with others and this can't be achieved through the banking concept. He describes, “Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor” (Friera, 257). He thinks that the banking concept as narration because the teacher report to lead the students memorize and

In his essay “The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education”, Paulo Freire condemns the current beliefs about education, and argues strongly to support his own, new, and somewhat radical ideas about how he believes education should work. It is clear from his writing that he wishes to convey very strong feelings in this essay. At the very beginning, after a very brief description of the “current” education, he states that “education is suffering from narration sickness” (212), and later continues to say that in our current system “[words] become a hollow, alienated, and alienating verbosity” (212). These statements, especially at the very beginning of the author’s analysis, convey an amount of

As I read, “The Dark Night of the Soul” by Richard E. Miller, I found it to be an interesting read. He inquires, why we read, why we write and what might literate arts be said to be good for? In his essay he describes the school massacres that have occurred throughout the years. As he describes these events, he asks a deeper question, “What is the point of continuing to read, write and learn in the face of such underlying dangers. I think that with all that is happening, individuals/students should continue with education because reading, television, writing and communication makes a difference in the lives of individuals around the world. The bottom line is that literary art has a way of touching students unexpectedly one way or another and students should not just throw the art away because of society’s perception.

Our class has been extremely beneficial to my education, and I credit that completely to the structure of the class, one in which Freire would consider a step in the right direction: the direction of a problem-posing education. This course greatly exceeded any expectations I could have had. In the past, and recently, I have experienced a number of classes that use the banking concept of education. I find it extremely difficult to learn in an environment where I am solely a receptacle of the information thrown at me. In “The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education,” Freire describes this depository concept as one where “knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing” (217). I strongly believe this class did not represent that. There is always some form of discussion, and each side appears to be learning something new. The professor does indeed know more than the students, but my opinion and analyzation is always