Will Bunch and James Loewen both have stated valid points that people have not been taught history the way people are supposed to retain the information. The retiree told Will Bunch "I have learned more from Glenn Beck about American history and government --than in the previous 40 years of my life," (Bunch 1). This indicates that the retiree has not retained information taught about history through his years of school and/or life. This also worries me because he may have been voting and not really understanding the consequences he can cause; Voting for a new president of the United States, the person who makes many vital decisions and impacts our future. Loewen argues that students are not being taught history well enough to comprehend life and the reality of it. He argues that the textbooks are so large that in order for teachers to teach they tend to mainly teach the information for the test rather than the vital part- the history of America. Students not learning the history of America is a horrible concept because it will affect our future negatively leading to wars, battles, debt, and more because they will not have the knowledge of the past of our history; As we know ,“who controls the past ...controls the future,” (Bunch 2). Bunch’s story talks about the re-education campaign in which history in schools will be taught in a new way for students to understand the information. Bunch and Loewen both state many facts on how people do not comprehend the history of America which will only lead to problems for our future.
Jordan, I completely agree with your arguments. The fact that people such as Glenn Beck state that have learned more from Glenn Beck then in any type of school also worries me (Bunch 1). Everyone needs to be informed about history so they can do things like vote for the president of the United States and stay up to date with politics. Adding in Loewen's idea's proves that there needs to be a change in the way people focus on history. Everyone needs to be more informed about our countries past and about history in general in order to proceed through the future. It scares me that many people feel un-educated about history because it is so important.
ReplyDeleteYou made some really good points in your response. It is scary to think that people are voting for something they do not even know anything about. For all we know they could be sending our country to the slumps and we not even know it! It is also scary to think that we are not being taught history the way we are supposed to be. For all we know, everything we have been taught could be a lie. We have spend so many years believing what our teachers and books say that we do not even think to question if we are getting accurate information. Not only that, but the way it is presented to us makes us lose interest in the matters discussed.
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