Reading 16

Binged a lot of Deadwood today, so did less reading than usual, but I still wanted to meet my goal and read an essay, a story, and a poem.

John Dewey, "Education as Growth," in Democracy and Education

Pretty straightforward. Our immaturity when we're at our earliest developmental stages is a net positive, Dewey says, because it means we have the capacity for growth. Viewing education as growth would translate into not only learning to learn new skills but learning for learning's sake. The best sort of education, he says, is to learn to be lifelong learners.

Alice Munro, "Royal Beatings," in The Beggar Maid

A young woman named Rose grows up in a home above her father's hardware store. She has a younger brother named Brian and a stepmother named Flo. Rose barely knew her biological mother because she died of a clogged artery when Rose was a young girl. Rose recounts how when her stepmother Flo threatened to give her a "royal beating," she knew the threat would be empty. But one day, after making such a threat, Flo enlists Rose's father to spank Rose but the encounter turns beyond a spanking to a downright beating. Flo screams and shouts at him during and subsequent to the beating, and afterward attempts to comfort Rose by letting her stay sequestered in her room while she calms down and heals. Many people have family stories in their part just like this one, unfortunately.

William Shakespeare, "Sonnet 43," in The Norton Shakespeare

The poet says he truly sees when he closes his eyes and night and dreams of his radiant beloved.