Since I have three weeks off from school I have started reading for fun again. I am currently reading Fahrenheit 451 which I swear I was supposed to read in high school but don't remember actually doing it. Which is odd because I typically read what I was supposed to. My problem wasn't that I didn't READ the material it was my view of the material was always what the teachers called WRONG.
It leads me to believe that teachers really do not want us to think, they just want to pump us full of ideas that some high power has decided is what is right. I remember I once did a term paper and was told how wrong it was because of my personal view on the subject matter. I matter of factly told the teacher that I was not in fact wrong I just didn't believe in the same things that she did. I got an F anyway.
I also remember having to pick apart literary works of art and spew back to the teacher what the author meant by saying something like "the sky rolled with a blackness the color of death" of course me being the person I am my typical response would be "I haven't the slightest idea because death isn't black at all .. it is more of a teal." Again I would get a F. Why was it wrong.. because apparently that the author meant was something to the effect of "it was dark outside" My question was always.. well if that is what he meant why the hell didn't he say it was dark outside! My point also being that if the author wanted us all to think that what he meant was it was dark outside then he would have left no wiggle room, he would have said that.
I can give you many different means to "the sky rolled with a blackness the color of death."
1. there is a storm rolling in.
2. the sky was filled with spirits of the dead.
3. the sky was clouded with smoke
And I can tell you all of the are right... how do I know.. because I wrote the stupid line.
I get so tired of people telling me how to interpret things, I have a brain, I will decide on my own. Apparently I am failing life as well.
Father’s Day 2023
9 months ago
5 comments:
My daughter has always been a straight A student and she learned early on that in the first few weeks of school you can figure out what a teacher wants and give it back to them all year and get A's. She knows which teachers like you to quote exactly what they say, which ones like you to just write page after page no matter how good it is and which ones don't care either way.
I always hated reading something that we had to then pick apart. It took the joy out of reading. Plus I always felt - well just how do you know what the author meant unless the author actually told you?
I wrote tons of poems when I was in my teens. Many of them used symbolism and I meant very specific things when I wrote them. I always felt it insulting to think someone could come along and give their own interpretations of what I meant. But the really funny part is, if I read them now, I have absolutely no idea what I meant - & I'm the one who wrote the damn stuff!
Fahrenheit 451, in high school? Nope not us. I would have remembered it and had the Cliff Notes.
No, no, no, you are not either failing life. What you need to fail to do is this. You need to fail to listen to the people who are telling you how to interpret things. And if you're in a bad mood, you might want to also tell those people to kiss your sweet as* if they don't like your interpretation of things :)! I find you to be fine just the way you are; in fact, my interpretation of you is that you're delightful. So there. I think that maybe I was lucky to go to school when and where I did; the early 1970s was the time when we were encouraged to be individuals and think for ourselves so we didn't get a lot of that "your interpretation is WRONG" stuff. Plus, we had Led Zeppelin :)!
And here is a big smooch for you, too!
You're not failing in life, you're just not doing exactly what the teacher wants which isn't the way that learning is supposed to be. I'd like to think that as a teacher I've been working hard to not be the kind of person who sets unattainable standards (it helps that I teach math and you really can't make the answer more right), but I've had many college professors who felt that way. I had to beg for a B- once in a class for my major, that was a low moment.
Anyway, I'm enjoying reading your blog tremendously and I appreciate the comment on mine. If it's okay I'd like to link you up, just let me know if that's okay.
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