"Lies My Teacher Told Me"

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses, reviews and critiques Loewen's book. It attempts to inform the reader how and why American history has been taught in the schools without particular attention being paid to the truth. The author of the paper also expands on the book's main themes, that of heroification, Eurocentrism and racism.

From the Paper:

"Loewen employs the term 'Heroification' frequently when describing the country's past and defines the concept as a degenerative process that makes people into heroes regardless ones individual character flaw. Further, it appears that Loewen's greatest concern about 'Heroification' does not revolve around who gets chosen for inclusion in the history books rather what actually happens to them after they are included - a cart before the horse analogy. He cites two notable examples of people that had led colorful and extraordinary lives but are portrayed in our textbooks as people we should strive to become like. These two people referenced are Helen Keller and President Woodrow Wilson (Lies, 19). In these instances Loewen feels that heroification has distorted the lives of both Keller and Wilson and as a result can no longer think candidly about them. However, he does not merely reference these two notable alone but references many others as well throughout our history."

More papers on "Lies My Teacher Told Me":

• Book Review # 73556 : "Lies My Teacher Told Me"
• Analytical Essay # 72265 : "John W. Loewen's "Lies My Teacher Told Me"
• Analytical Essay # 72270 : "James W. Loewen's "Lies My Teacher Told Me"
• Book Review # 29202 : "James W. Loewan's "Lies My Teacher Told Me"

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