Posted on 06/20/2018 6:29:08 PM PDT by huckfillary
Poetry, GOOD POETRY, should be taught and kids made to memorize it, as it once was.
You're being proud of being an uneducated lout?
Not all fiction is worth reading/knowing; however, much of it is! Not only are good. well written stories fun, you will expand your vocabulary, if you read older works, especially those considered to be "classics".
Heck, even the Sherlock Holmes books are written with such an extensive, beautiful vocabulary, that you'll probably need to sit with a dictionary.
I'm now basically only a non-fiction reader; however, I read /was read to, so much great fiction in my youth ( and remember it!), that I can well afford to not read fiction now and for the past many decades.
By NOT knowing this part of Western Culture, you help to destroy it. And many things will elude you, because so much of it is referenced in every day conversation and yes, in non[-fiction work.
Knowing the dates of historical events ( and why they are important ), is hardly "trivia"!
Being able to tie a quote, a character ( today, most people don't even understand what the stupid, uneducated insult, "UNCLE TOM" means, where it comes from, nor why it is inaccurate )from a work of fiction, isn't "trivia" either!
And nobody is claiming that knowing these things makes one a "genius"; it just makes one WELL EDUCATED!
Schools no longer teach kids how to diagram sentences. I really never understood why it is that important anyway.
You conflated multiplication with division!
With due respect FRiend, do be careful calling someone you do not know uneducated or a lout.
Let us agree to disagree, and leave it there.
Knowing how to think and reason are fine qualities; however, that, alone does NOT make one "well educated"...knowing dates and lit and math skills etc. does!
Actual quick mental status ? used 50 yrs ago:
y = mx + ____.
I suspect most millennials cannot get one question right.
But THAT’S the point, Mears...that what passes for an education, today, isn’t.
E=mc^2 +/-3dB
Well, private schools do.
I never liked nor thought that diagramming sentences was worth a damn, but that's because I have always spoken and written grammatically correct English. But perhaps it can help others who don't.
I did and do understand that it was a stab at being funny and/or clever; however, it was neither.
And just WHAT would YOU call someone who uses a colloquial, heavily accented English of an UNEDUCATED LOUT, who conflates multiplication with division?
I was dragged to a lot of performances of Shakespeare when I was a teen. All I remember is some dude peeing on the stage and how funny my Old Maid aunt English teacher (liberal!) thought that was. The places we visited were more memorable because they were beautiful and full of history. We read Shakespeare in junior high and high school. I did not have any appreciation for the language at the time. I took a Shakespeare course in college and loved it!
Four out of five of our oldest children are extremely well read. They all attended public schools and had at least one year of home schooling. They love reading. The outlier had trouble reading for years due to some undiagnosed reading issue. By the time he was in high school, he was reading much better. He can take apart and put together the most complicated of military equipment, so I guess it is ok that he doesn’t quote Shakespeare. :-)
An actor urinated on the stage? REALLY? That's NOT called for in ANY play written by Shakespeare!
The thing is, one does NOT have to "like" Shakespeare or any other great work; just knowing it, really is enough. OTOH,there are almost as many everyday quotes, used in every day speech, that come from his plays, as the ones we use that come from the Bible. So it is a good thing to understand/know that.
Being a well rounded, well educated person has more or less fallen out of fashion, today; sadly.
Good for ALL of your kids!
It's a damned shame that you child with the reading problem wasn't helped with it at school! There actually ARE methods which can and DO help people who have an underlying problem.
Julius Caesar was murdered on March 15th., 44 ad in Rome.
Wow, they killed him while he was on a date? Harsh!
Actually there was a time when I could answer all of them, but I am appalled that no longer can do so. I have printed off the questions and intend to do some reprograming of my brain. It’s amazing how much we forget with old age. I think that is the saddest thing about aging.
“But THAT’S the point, Mears...that what passes for an education, today, isn’t.”
—
Yes it is-——I went to school through the forties,it was a different world.
(Hope all is well with you):-)
-—Off to bed,I’m exhausted.————
Ciao!
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I’m a fan of engineering courses and books from the 1920s and 30s
They’re fascinating so much was learned in that period
Pleasant dreams, my friend; sleep well!
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