Education in the older days is shown through Huck's life in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. At the beginning of the book, Huck is going to school and obeying the wishes of the Widow. He also attends Sunday School and learns about religion. As the book continues, Huck doesn't return to school and runs away with Jim. His life experience is what helps him makes his decisions throughout the book.
Governor Baldachi is trying to consolidate the schools in the state of Maine. The purpose of this task it to save money. Several years ago MSAD #48 had trouble passing the budget. Many people wanted to cut classes, positions and extra curricular activities to save money.
Education is important to our society. Its hard to get a job with only a high school diploma. Many businesses only hire college graduates. Colleges are offering more financial aid and scholarships so more people can attend college.
More classes are being offered. Electives such as foreign languages and music classes are being offered to anyone that wants to take them. During Huck's time, education was only offered to white people. As you can see, education has become extremely important to our society.
Showing posts with label The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Show all posts
Friday, August 10, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Book Learning Vs. Life Experience
The debate between book learning and life experience is played out throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck talks about the education that the Widow Douglas wanted for him. It was not only regular school, but Sunday School, also. He talks about the Widow reading her Bible to him after supper. Books were very important to them. Books could teach them about history, religion, cooking, etc. Tom Sawyer read books that were about gangs and he used ideas from the books he read throughout the novel.
Life experience also played an important part in Huck’s adventures. Some of these adventures include escaping from his father and making it look like he had been murdered and sailing down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave. Huck had been with Jim a long time when the King sold Jim, but Huck’s conscience told him to save Jim. The books said that white people were of higher class than black people, but because of Huck’s life experienced he tried to save Jim.
Miss Watson and her sister both thought learning from books was more important than life experience. Miss Watson would keep telling Huck to behave. The Widow Douglas read her Bible to Huck every night. Huck’s father was the exact opposite. He didn’t want Huck to go back to school. He thought that if Huck had an education, he would think he was better than him. I believe Mark Twain felt that life experience was more important than book learning. His view can be seen through the two main characters Huck and Jim. Huck stopped going to school and Jim never had an education, but Huck and Jim both became free.
I think that life experience is more important than learning things from a book. Sure, books can help teach you things but they are nothing compared to a real hands-on experience. I’ve learned things from books, but I’ve learned a lot more from my experiences and other people. For example, I baby-sit a lot. I’ve learned a lot through the years while I was baby-sitting, and I’m pretty sure a book would not be able to teach me everything that I know about how to take care of a child.
Life experience also played an important part in Huck’s adventures. Some of these adventures include escaping from his father and making it look like he had been murdered and sailing down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave. Huck had been with Jim a long time when the King sold Jim, but Huck’s conscience told him to save Jim. The books said that white people were of higher class than black people, but because of Huck’s life experienced he tried to save Jim.
Miss Watson and her sister both thought learning from books was more important than life experience. Miss Watson would keep telling Huck to behave. The Widow Douglas read her Bible to Huck every night. Huck’s father was the exact opposite. He didn’t want Huck to go back to school. He thought that if Huck had an education, he would think he was better than him. I believe Mark Twain felt that life experience was more important than book learning. His view can be seen through the two main characters Huck and Jim. Huck stopped going to school and Jim never had an education, but Huck and Jim both became free.
I think that life experience is more important than learning things from a book. Sure, books can help teach you things but they are nothing compared to a real hands-on experience. I’ve learned things from books, but I’ve learned a lot more from my experiences and other people. For example, I baby-sit a lot. I’ve learned a lot through the years while I was baby-sitting, and I’m pretty sure a book would not be able to teach me everything that I know about how to take care of a child.
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