首页
登录
职称英语
Literature and Life In a reaction against a too-rigid,
Literature and Life In a reaction against a too-rigid,
游客
2023-12-07
51
管理
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) [br] In the author’s opinion, as seen in this passage, one outcome of the influence of the "life experience" adherents has been ______.
选项
A、the gradual subordination of the study of great literature in the schools
B、a narrowed interpretation of the theories of John Dewey
C、a sharp swing over to "learning through doing"
D、an end to rigorous study as a way of learning
答案
A
解析
事实细节题。作者在第一段的结尾指出这一理论的支持者所造成的不良影响the influence of this philosophy has been felt in the public school curricula,as evidenced by the gradual subordination of great literature.伟大的文学作品的地位正在慢慢下降。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3253213.html
相关试题推荐
In1954,______wasawardedtheNobelPrizeforliteratureforhis"masteryoft
AmongthefourpillarsofEnglishliterature,whowasNOTbornandraisedinIre
Thebookfromwhich"allmodemAmericanliteraturecomes"refersto_______.A、Mo
ThefirstwriteinAmericatowintheNobelPrizeinliteratureis_____.A、MarkT
ThefirstAmericantowintheNobelPrizeforLiteraturewasasharpsocialcrit
ThefirstwriterinAmericatowintheNobelPrizeinliteratureis______.A、Mar
WilliamFaulkner,authorof______,wasawardedtheNobelPrizeofLiteraturein
______wasconsideredasthebeginningofEnglishliteratureandthefirstepic
WhywasCharlesTayloraccusedofcrimesagainsthumanity?[originaltext]Thefor
Literatureisameansbywhichweknowourselves.Byitwemeet【M1】
随机试题
—Haven’tyoueverstudiedwithagroup?—______I’velearnedalotthatway.A、Ye
Itisacommonplaceamongmoraliststhatyoucannotgethappinessbypursuin
HowtoMakePeacewithYourWorkloadA)Swamped(忙碌的),undertheg
It’ssuchapitythatthosefineoldhouseshadtobepulled______tomakeway
Anewscholarlystudydocumentingthepoorhealthofsouthernmilitaryrecrui
变电所中变压器到避雷器的最大允许电气距离与 ( )。A.侵入波的幅值成反比 B
以下IP地址中,属于网络10.110.12.29/255.255.255.
既能承受主要负荷又能承受设备运行时产生强连续振动的垫铁是()。A:三角形垫铁
幼儿与成人有同样的权利。
2020年年初甲企业拥有房产原值合计5000万元,其中,幼儿园用房原值为300万
最新回复
(
0
)