首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Literature and Life In a reaction against a too-rigid, over-refined classical curriculum, some educational philosophers have
Literature and Life In a reaction against a too-rigid, over-refined classical curriculum, some educational philosophers have
admin
2014-09-17
108
问题
Literature and Life
In a reaction against a too-rigid, over-refined classical curriculum, some educational philosophers have swung sharply to an espousal of "life experience" as the sole source of learning. Using their narrow interpretation of John Dewey’s theories as a base for support, they conclude that only through "doing" can learning take place. Spouting such phrases as "Teach the child, not the subject," they demand, without sensing its absurdity, an end to rigorous study as a means of opening the way to learning. While not all adherents to this approach would totally eliminate a study of great hooks, the influence of this philosophy has been felt in the public school curricula, as evidenced by the gradual subordination of great literature.
What is the purpose of literature? Why read, if life alone is to be our teacher? James Joyce states that the artist reveals the human situation by re-creating life out of life; Aristotle that art presents universal truths because its form is taken from nature. Thus, consciously or otherwise, the great writer reveals the human situation most tellingly, extending our understanding of ourselves anti our world.
We can soar with the writer to the heights of man’s aspirations, or plummeting with him to tragic despair. The works of Steinbeck, Anderson, and Salinger; the poetry of Whitman, Sandburg, and Frost; the plays of Ibsen, Miller, and O’Neill; all present starkly realistic portrayals of life’s problems. Reality? Yes! But how much wider is the understanding we gain than that attained by viewing life through the keyhole of our single existence.
Can we measure the richness gained by the young reader venturing down the Mississippi with Tom and Huck, or cheering Ivanhoe as be battles the Black Knight; the deepening understanding of the mature reader of the tragic South of William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams, of the awesome determination and frailty of Patrick White’s Australian pioneers?
This function of literature, the enlarging of our own life sphere, is of itself of major importance. Addition- ally, however, it has been suggested that solutions of social problems maybe suggested in the study of literature. The overweening ambitions of political leaders and their sneering contempt for the law--did not appear for the first time in the writings of Bernstein and Woodward; the problems, and the consequent actions, of the guilt ridden did not await the appearance of the bearded psychoanalyst of the twentieth century.
Federal judge Learned Hand has written, "I venture to believe that it is as important to a judge called upon to pass on a question of constitutional law, to have at least a bowing acquaintance with Thucydides, Gibbon, and Carlyle, with Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Milton, with Montaigne and Rabelais, with Plato, Bacon, Hume, and Kant, as with the books which have been specifically written on the subject. For in such matters everything tums upon the spirit in which he approaches the questions before him. "But what of our dissenters? Can we overcome the disapproval of their "life experience classroom" theory of learning? We must start with the- field of agreement that education should serve to improve the individual and society. We must educate them to the understanding that the voice of human experience should stretch our human faculties, and open us to learning. We must convince them--in their own personal language perhaps--of the "togetherness" of life and art; we must prove to them that far from being separate, literature is that part of life which illuminates life. (578)
The author’s purpose in this passage is to ______.
选项
A、list those writers who make up the backbone of a great literature curriculum
B、compare the young reader’s experience with literature to that of the mature readers
C、plead for the retention of great literature as a fundamental part of the curriculum
D、advocate the adoption of the "life experience" approach to teaching
答案
C
解析
主旨大意题。作者在本文中对文学,尤其是伟大文学作品作用的讨论是针对那些鼓吹“经历说”的人在学校里造成的不良影响,即文学作品地位下降而进行的,其目的实际上在于呼吁保留文学课程,因此C项是正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/6TdO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
TheCommercialisationofScienceandTechnologyScienceandtechnologyandtheroleofcommercialisationinthatareaarevery
TheoriginalsofAmericanJazzareasinterestingasthemusicitself.
In______,linguistsprobeintothepossibilityofcombininglinguistictheoriesandlanguageteaching.
IrelandiscalledtheEmeraldIsleforitsrichgreencountryside,butpoliticallyitisdividedintotwoparts:______
In1966,TheyRefusedtoSue?NotNowWheneverthephrase"compensationculture"isused,anactivecoalitionoftradeunion
WhatDoWomenGameDesignersWant?DeniseFultonspentmuchofherchildhoodplayingcomputergames.Andthefascinationcon
SchoolIsOutTooManyUsKidsFallTo"self-care"Thekidsarehangingout.Ipasssmallbandsofstudents,onmywaytowo
Working-classfamiliesintheUnitedStatesareusuallynuclear,andmanystudiesindicatethatworking-classcouplesmarryfor
多极化趋势正在全球范围内继续发展。各种重要力量相互依存,相互制约,相互合作,有利于世界的和平与稳定。全球有近二百个国家。国家不论大小、贫富、强弱,都是国际大家庭的平等成员。世界和平要靠各国人民的共同努力。世界事务应由世界各国共同参与。我们生活在一个丰富多彩
Slovenlyspeechcomesoffthesamespool.Vocabulary,likebluejeans,isbeingdrainedofcoloranddistinction.Acompletese
随机试题
等离子弧切割时采用正接极性电源。
患者,男,34岁。慢性肾炎病史4年。现颜面水肿,面色萎黄,倦怠乏力,恶风,易感冒,腰酸膝软,舌质淡,苔白润,脉细弱。查:尿常规示:蛋白(++),镜检可见颗粒管型。其证型为
患者牙痛,局部肿痛,口渴而臭,便秘,脉洪数,苔黄,治疗取穴当用( )。
某公司以1300万元的报价中标一项直埋热力管道工程,并于收到中标通知书50天后,接到建设单位签订工程合同的通知。招标书确定工期为150天,建设单位以采暖期临近为由,要求该公司即刻进场施工并要求在90天内完成该项工程。该公司未严格履行合同约定,临时安排了一位
填写报检单时,报检单位应加盖单位公章,所列各项内容必须填写完整、清晰、不得涂改。“标记及号码”一栏应填写实际货物运输包装上的标记,如果无标记,应填写N/M。()
财政预算制度最早出现在()。
在存货允许缺货的情况下,导致经济批量增加的因素有()。
和平共处五项原则的首要原则是()
(2017年济南高新)学生上课玩手机,被老师当场没收。课后学生向老师承认错误并要求归还其手机,该老师以违反校规为由拒绝。这位老师的做法()
【B1】【B9】
最新回复
(
0
)