|
(2015
midterm assignment) Model Student Midterm answers 2015 (Index) Essay 2: Personal / professional topic |
 |
Karin Cooper
Teaching Literature of the Future in a Personal Way
I was home schooled my entire life, and I want to home school my son.
Since I am planning on homeschooling my son every class I teach, I take mental
notes of the important things from that class I want to educate my son about.
The literature of the future is full of fodder for my future curriculum. I was
raised to believe very strictly in the truth of the apocalyptic narrative
described in the Bible, and I have since explored other avenues of belief. It is
important for me to teach my son how to respectfully dialogue between the
different narratives at family gatherings because my family feels very strongly
in the beliefs that I was raised to believe. This literature of ideas can be
used for me to teach my son how to understand the world, and discuss the world
regardless of any different belief systems.
I think it is important to teach my son about the cultural significance
of the Bible regardless of if he chooses to believe it as truth. As Adria Weger
points out in her essay "The Rules of Science Fiction: 'Nothing is Interesting
Where Anything May Happen,'" the apocalyptic narrative used in the book of
Revelation sets a standard for all
other works of apocalyptic narrative to start from. This is an excellent point.
It is important to respect the apocalyptic narrative in
Revelation as an important work of
literature regardless of what is believed about it. If I teach my son how to
think, and discuss works of literature with respect, and tact then family
gatherings and any place where these things may come up will go more smoothly.
Teaching the literature of ideas correctly will teach my son to discuss ideas
different from his own with respect regardless of the setting.
Another thing that the literature of the future can help me teach my son
about is time travel. In the literature of ideas time travel can be found all
over the place. I would like to integrate the different subjects I teach with
each other. So while I am teach physics, science, and the possibility of time
travel I can use stories such as "Mozart in Mirrorshades", and "The Garden of
Forking Paths" to illustrate the different ways time travel could play out.
These are tough concepts to understand, so attacking them from every angle will
help cement them in my son's mind. In "Garden" by Jorge Luis Borges he discusses
time with the use of the alternative narrative: "network of times which
approached one another, forked, broke off, or were unaware of one another for
centuries, embraces all possibilities of time". This is intense stuff to teach,
and understand. I honestly do not understand it fully, but I want my child to at
least be able to have an intelligent conversation about it, and the literature
of ideas will help with that conversation.
The potential for the amount of useful things that can be taught from
literature of the future almost seems limitless. This comes as a surprise for me
because science fiction is not usually thought of as something that is important
when educating someone. Literature of the future opens doors in the mind that
would have remained shut otherwise. Either shut from complete ignorance, or
simply lack of interest. For information to really stick with someone a certain
amount of interest goes a long way, and there is nothing wrong with enjoying the
subject matter you are trying to learn. I will use what I am learning in this
class to teach my son, and create a well rounded individual. My son will have
the capacity to discuss, and think about ideas that may not be what he believes,
or agrees with, but that have good characteristics about them that should be
respected. It would do the world some good if every child were brought up to
think this way.
 |
 |
|