Abstract This is an essay that analyzes "Dumbing Us Down", points out the messages of the author and enhances the position that the author has taken on this complex subject. The essay is as equally clear as the book was and discusses the situation in a very clear pattern. Gatto has received awards for teachings that boost his message as written throughout this book. The message is that the current education system is purposefully dumbing down the population of the United States to create "drones" that fit in perfectly with the 9-to-5 working class, which makes up the basis of the capitalistic economic pyramid. Without that working class of consumers, the capitalistic economy would fail.
From the Paper "For the time that children spend that is school-related, they are under constant supervision and are constantly micromanaged. They seldom get chances to express themselves throughout this time. Basically they are sponges, soaking up information throughout the mornings and afternoons. By 3:00 they have heard about different cultures, sciences, languages, and numbers. Mentally they are fatigued, and when they get home, they realize that all of their desires and motivations were used up in school. They end up sitting in front of the TV or playing a video game just so they can try and explore different environments without expelling too much energy."
Abstract This paper discusses the point made by Tom Shachtman, in his essay "Talk Shows and the Dumbing of America", that talk shows are indicative of a dumbing down of America. The discussion focuses on talk shows such as Oprah, Jerry Springer, Maury Povich and uses the Hilton sisters as examples of the types of people to whom Shachtman is referring.
From the Paper "Tom Shachtman, in his essay titled "Talk Shows and the Dumbing of America", makes the point that the talk shows that are featured on network and cable television tend to present a portrait of America and Americans that is indicative of a gradual dumbing down effect. It is Shachtman's thesis that despite the inherent literacy of the people who create talk shows, the vast majority of these programs present individuals, both celebrities and ordinary people, who seem to be largely illiterate, unable..."
Abstract This paper examines the issue of communication in Pinter's play. The main characters Gus and Ben are simple characters and their means of communication are the central theme in this play. It shows how even though the two characters interact and talk and discuss, they don't really communicate. The essence of the difference between just talking and really communicating is analyzed.
From the Paper ""Silence": the stage direction that often speaks far more clearly than words ever could. The characters in Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter are bound by this direction throughout the work, locked in a pantomimic parody of our own world. Pinter's dialogue, the stage directions and the world created within the play must follow this golden rule; however, silence is only one course within the larger meal. By examining the text, reading critical works, and studying Pinter's words himself we find that the meal we have trouble swallowing is listed on the menu as "communication"; true communication is often something too difficult to even attempt. By "true communication" it is meant the ability to get another person to understand your ideas in their purest form; a notion that, after studying The Dumb Waiter, is increasingly in decay."
Abstract This paper examines how the book "In this Sign" is about Janice and Abel who meet at a school for the deaf and dumb during the first half of the 20th century, before the acceptance of deaf culture in America. It looks at how the novel chronicles the changing world of American life, and the largely unchanging nature of American prejudice against the deaf.
From the Paper "The school for the deaf, which also teaches the blind, is dirty, dim, and grim, and takes a patronizing attitude to the students. The nature couple's education highlights some of the assumptions about the deaf that run through the text. The deaf are assumed to be inferior versions of hearing persons, so they are forced to learn a method of communication that is a kind of parody of hearing communication, lip-reading, rather than the signing that comes so naturally and fluidly to the deaf. The deaf are grouped with persons with a variety of difficulties, rather than to have their uniqueness as a group acknowledged."
Abstract The paper discusses the impact that television has on American society, and especially in the field of politics. This includes how television is used as a means to celebrate America's positive qualities, such as in the aftermath of World War II. The paper explains how television has influenced politics in America, with examples such as the famous debate between Richard M. Nixon and John Fitzgerald Kennedy in the 1950s. It also mentions how television has a direct effect on women's perceptions of themselves and of what they desire in a politician. The paper further discusses the rise in acceptance of Freudian psychoanalysis and the "dumbing" down of knowledge received through the television. It concludes that television has led to the start of the erosion of political intelligence in the American public.
Introduction
Truth in Broadcasting
Coming to You 'Live' from the Universe
Freud and the American Political Animal
Lifting Up or Dumbing Down?
Women and Broadcasting
Changing a Way of Life
Works Cited
From the Paper " Until the advent of commercial television in the United States in the early 1950s, political campaigns in this country depended on newspapers, magazines and radio shows to reach the American people, and town hall meetings were still used as well, arguably for more than the 'photo ops' they provide to TV news crews these days. Anyone who was treated to the 'dueling banjos' of the last presidential campaign, in which the 'fight songs' of Bush and Kerry were played in endless counterpoint on every TV station in the nation, must wonder how much TV had changed politics, making the entire event into a media circus rather than what it once is rumored to have been, an exchange of ideas about how best to continue the great experiment that is American democracy."
Abstract This paper looks at comedians from the silent era such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, the early talkies such as Mae West and the Marx Brothers, as compared to actors such as Jim Carrey in "Dumb and Dumber" and Kevin Spacey in "American Beauty" and attempts to analyze why comedies from a long time ago may not be considered as funny by modern audiences.
From the Paper "In the past hundred years, the comedic motion picture industry has gone through a drastic change in the way movies are written, acted and structured. What began as silent black and white shorts has turned into colored films with sound, lasting up to three hours. While most of these changes came about with improved technology, changes in the way these films have been written have come about with a change in society as a whole. What people found to be funny and comedic in the past has dramatically changed from what people find funny today. Despite this, comedic critics today still consider works of Chaplin and Keaton and such to be masterpieces, even though the majority of "general" audiences today wouldn"t find them as funny as a Jim Carrey. Alas we come across the question of why people have been finding different things funny as the times go by, and the main answer to this is that society's idea of what is funny has changed. However, the critics" idea of "good comedy" has not changed, and thus critics still consider the older silent films masterpieces."
Abstract This paper explores the philosophical and historical underpinnings of educational theory, also touching on theories about society, leadership, democracy, and personhood. It deals with the socio-political and anthropological significance of modern education and leadership styles, and with comparative styles throughout history. Finally, the paper selects and reviews books which deal with an array of perspectives involving educational methods.
Table of Contents
Introduction
A Philosophical Approach to Education Leadership
Plato's Counsel on Education & Socratic Education
Descartes, or the cultivation of the intellect
Hobbes: Truth, Publicity, and Public Doctrine
Locke on the Education of Paupers
Leibniz as a Theorist of Education
Rousseau's Education Experiments
Condorcet and Adam Smith on Education and Instruction
Jeffersonian Ambiguities
Deweyan Pragmatism and American Education
Furtherment of the Will; Nietzsche and Education
"The Philosophy of Childhood"
"Pedagogy of the Oppressed"
Socio-politically Based Analysis of Education and Leadership
Civil Education in the Liberal State
?Dumbing us Down?
"The Stigma of Genius"
Kinderculture and "Children of the Corn"
"Lying about the Wolf"
"Culture & Pedagogy" and Non-Western Traditions
The Japanese High School
Competing Answers to the Failure of the Modern School System
Creating the Future School
Technology: The Ideal, the Reality, the Devil Inside
The School Choice Debate
Changing Theories of Education
Rebellion and Resistance
Democratic Co-Regulation
Experiments in Democratic Schooling
Conclusion
From the Paper "Entering the educational section of any decently sized library proves very quickly that the Western world entertains a glut of information regarding problems in modern education, teaching styles, leadership methods and prerogatives, and the politics and power struggles inherent in schools. Considering the availability and abundance of even simple, easy-to-read primers on educational and classroom theory, it is certainly a testament to the inefficiency and apathy created within our school system that there does not exist a more active debate both within the system and between the system and its students and parental figures over choice of theories and practices. Certainly, the populace has every appearance of being aware of the studies and statistics that make up the alarmist cross-cut of research. Many parents, teachers, and children will be able to volunteer the opinion that schools are decaying and inefficient, that America is a global failure in education, and that little learning takes place within schools. (A social cynic would point out that these lessons are often glossed in the evening news, and their alarmist nature requires little research to be believed by a gullible public)."
Abstract MTV is considered a station that supports and perpetuates dangerous stereotypes and contributes to the dumbing down of 18-24 year olds all over the world. This paper examines literature and published studies on the subject where the common thread is noted that MTV contributes to a low level of self esteem, eating disorders, violence and gender stereotypes among young people.
From the Paper "The portrayal of women in MTV music videos and commercials made for MTV have been the subject of controversy for a long time. According to Else, males who watch MTV have a "greater belief in rape myths, more conservative sex-role stereotyping, greater belief in sex role stereotyping, greater belief in adversarial relationships between the sexes, more conservative attitudes towards women, lower ratings of victim injury in a date-rape scenario, and a greater tendency to classify events in a date rape scenario as forced sex rather than rape" (Else, 1995).
Given the amount of time young men spend watching MTV, is it any surprise that the incidence of rape is as high as it is in the United States? If this study resembles reality at all, these young men don?t even think they have done anything wrong. MTV is promoting an attitude that is physically dangerous for young women and dangerous also for the young men, who will be surprised to find themselves in jail for crimes they did not even know they were committing. That is, if the female, who has been drained of self-esteem by this very institution has the courage and the self respect left to press charges against him."
Abstract Autobiographies present a personal view of a life that often lacks the kind of unflinching insight that a biography brings. But, the strength of the autobiography is that it presents a person's individual view of their lives. They present stories and details that most others could not know. Frederick Douglass was never more artfully subtle or persuasive than in "Narrative of the Life of an American Slave." In this memoir, Douglass - a black man who, as slavery was still in practice, engendered admiration and respect from both black and white people, including Abraham Lincoln - revealed his torturous boyhood as the work-beast of many owners of varying degrees of cruelty, though none so bad as Mr. Covey. The eloquently keen observations made by this former slave flew in the face of the conventional rationale that black people were just dumb beasts put on Earth for the use of white men. In "Narrative," Douglass ultimately earns his right to be a man in a final physical and psychological showdown with his brutal master, Covey. He achieves his 'rebellion', by defying those who would whip him (Mr. Covey) and those who would censor his identity as a man and a human. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the psychology of the relationship between Douglass and Covey and to demonstrate how it was psychology that ultimately defeated Covey.
Abstract Position paper arguing that the solution used by many school districts as an answer to their severe teacher shortages, that of hiring unqualified and noncertified college graduates, is an unsatisfactory solution and contributes to the "dumbing down" of the educational system.
From the Paper "But, the question of whether non-credentialed teachers are truly "qualified" is the real issue, not paranoia and pranks. According to an article in Educational Leadership journal (Berry, 2001), 41 states (as of 2001) have some form of alternative that replaces the requirement for teachers to return to college for a year following their undergraduate work. Fourteen states (again, as of 2001) have passed laws relating to alternative teaching methods, and approximately two-thirds of the 1,354 universities and colleges that offer teacher training classes have at least one program for "mid-career" professionals."
Tags: credentialed, classrooms, teach, competence, training, period, normal, training, process
Abstract This paper examines how a look at some of the laws still on the books in our states and cities makes the reader wonder what the lawmakers were thinking when they passed those laws. These "protective" laws may not have actually protected many people or animals from very much. It explores some of the dafter regulations that still hold today that cover issues of dress, language, and animals.
From the Paper "Language is another behavior that many cities and states felt they needed to regulate on public streets. Some laws had a legitimate reason. For instance, in Jonesboro, Georgia, it is illegal to say ?Oh Boy!? That sounds pretty silly at first, but as it turns out, after slavery ended, it was common for former owners to call to their slaves by saying ?Oh, Boy!? Several would respond, fighting for the right to do whatever job the man had in mind. By forbidding ?Oh Boy,? the law owners forced the former slave owners to use the former slaves? names, ending the confusion, and fights over the job to be offered."
Abstract This paper looks at the origins and history of American pit bull terriers and why an individual cannot hope to own this dog within city limits without fear of being arrested or being faced with the euthanasia of the dog, for daring to own this dog that is certified as a 'vicious dog' under the city ordinance laws. It contends that current regulations are grossly unfair on the dog owner as well as on the dog, and how somewhere there must be justice for the poor dumb creature that has been trained to be as mean as it is by certain unscrupulous elements of society who had their own reasons for doing it.
From the Paper "The American Kennel Club in fact eschewed the breed known as the 'Pit Bull' until the year 1936, and it was after this that the American Pit Bull Terrier came to be recognized as the 'Strafford shire Terrier', actually named after the Stafford shire miners who had had a hand in creating the breed for the purpose of fighting in the pits where they worked. In the year 1972, this name was changed to the American Stafford shire terrier', and this was for the purpose of differentiating this breed from the Stafforsdhire Bull Terrier of England, the actual ancestor of the American breed of dog, which was later recognized by the American Kennel Club in the year 1974. In the United Kingdom, the dog is about 14 to 16 inches tall, and weighs about up to 45 pounds, while the breed found in America is about 18 to 19 inches tall, and weighs about up to 80 pounds."
Abstract This paper examines the qualitative effects on programming, structure, governance and employment when a broadcast industry is deregulated and when state TV is privatized. The author points out that media output in the form of programs is affected by deregulation and privatization in the areas of format, content and program schedules, such as the pushing aside of public service and traditional cultural formats in favor of talk shows. The paper illustrates that the negative effects of privatization outweighs its benefits because commercial operations are reliant on advertising and ratings resulting in dumbed-down, infotainment types of programming.
From the Paper "The argument is more into whether Governments' goals of rationalization of the Government corporate sector; competition and debt service were realized after privatization. First, governments embarked on reengineering of the bureaucracy and disposition of state-owned assets with the goals of efficiency and maximum ownership base in privatized corporations. While it is true that some private TV networks (e.g. ABS-CBN 2 in the Philippines), perform more efficiently in a limited economic sense (fiscal performance or economic viability) than State TV in a liberalized environment, economic efficiency is not a measure of ultimate economic performance."
A discussion of the negative effects of technological advances and entertainment media, especially in the form of television and Internet, on human intelligence.
Abstract This paper examines the issue of the "dumbing down" of the American people by means of technological "progress." The paper states that American society is becoming overly obsessed with technological advances and entertainment media with a goal of making life better. However, the opposite is occurring: The reduction of the effort needed to succeed is causing a downgrade in human intelligence and the drive to learn. The paper questions whether this can be blamed on machinery created with the original intention of making life easier, or by our educational system which encourages this relinquishing of academic and leisurely thought. The paper concludes that, in order to counter this trend, several changes in attitude must be made. First, the paper suggests that the misplaced belief that all changes in technology are an improvement must be diminished. Second, the paper stresses the fact that mass media should be seen merely as a form of entertainment. Most importantly, the paper advocates improving our knowledge and understanding of the world around us.
From the Paper "Furthermore, the educational system is deteriorating and busy parents with full time jobs no longer have time to tutor their children in the methods of the old world, with one on one interaction. These days it seems much more convenient to place the child in front of the television set watching shows presumed to be educational, such as "Sesame Street" or "Blue's Clues", while the mother or father do other, seemingly less important things. It is true that the above mentioned shows are much better for the young mind then violent or explicit shows, which are also sprouting up on every channel, but this method of teaching only forces them to depend more heavily on television for education and entertainment. It is, for the children, just another form of passive learning, another topic that Bradbury tackles in Fahrenheit 451. In the beginning of the novel, Clarisse describes the current educational system as completely unsocial. As she says, "they just run the answers at you, bing, bing, bing, and us sitting there for four or more hours of film teacher." Moreover, at a later part of the story, Mildred and her friends are discussing how to care for children and Mrs. Bowles makes a rather disturbing statement. She says "I put up with them when they come home three days a month; it's not bad at all. You heave them into the 'parlor' and turn the switch..." These references to television in this work of fiction are fairly worrying, as it is no longer such a fictional theory. This form of education is becoming more and more feasible for the near future. Parents already just "heave their kids in the parlor and flip the switch" so who's to say that schools will not soon also take on these apathetic teaching methods. Rather than teach young ones to amuse themselves in ways that will benefit them, the kids of today are taught that television is the source of all significance, and with the short attention spans of today, even television shows must be careful not to be overly verbose. A child must be taught that activities such as reading, which expands the mind and inspires thought, and playing with other children, to teach them valuable social skills, are far more important than vegetating in front of a box with moving pictures."
Abstract This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the poem "The Force That Through The Green Fuse Drives The Flower," by Dylan Thomas. According to the rules of American formalist, or new criticism approach to literature, the writer takes the poem at face value, without imposing mystical or other meanings on it, and interprets it purely through the mechanics of the poem. The writer shows how Thomas makes statements through metaphor and imagery, and how "the force" is different in every stanza and at the same time a manifestation of the same underlying and redundant power.
From the Paper "In the third stanza, the poet appears to be using a metaphor ("hand") to present an image of whirlpools, wind, quicksand and its slippery movements. This power, this force, does all those things, and there is a theme of regeneration in this stanza, as there is indeed in all stanzas. The same force that pushes the flower up through the earth, that pushes the water through the rocks, that makes the water swirl in a circle and sends the sailboat moving through the water, is also the force that moves the quicksand downward taking everything with it that got caught in its spin."
