Partial Draft

I have pieced together and laid out the overall outline for my paper but I am confused on where to begin for two of the paragraphs. Many of my citations may be incorrect but I will correct those by the time the final draft is due. I feel as if I have too much information and I do not know where to start. I am thinking about writing the paper then adding in support from my sources at the end, what do you think? Any helpful comments or ideas are appreciated.

INTRO-

Catholicism works because it is provides an answer to questions that we inherently ask as people. What is the purpose of life? What am I? Where am I going? As people we have an innate desire to know and understand (still looking to choose a source for this). Catholicism is popular because it offers us a pleasing answer to the question: Can we live forever? The answer is yes in this case. Catholics have the ability to chalk life up to a stage on which they get to prove themselves. It gives them a goal, a cause (God), and a truth that if they buy into it they can defeat the ultimate fear: death. Why are people afraid of death? Well, to begin with, we do not know what happens when we die. The fear is uncertainty. There is no definitive proof that when someone dies he goes to heaven or hell. An alternative answer to the question may include the idea of hell alone. Nobody wants to burn in Satan’s fiery pit while he holds a 3-pointed pitchfork over your head. I am exaggerating, but the notion of hell induces fear in those who take up religions that include the idea of the underworld. This thought leads to another question: do Catholics do “good” things to avoid going to hell or because they are actually “good” people? Religion is good, especially in Catholicism, in how it is completely airtight in its logic if one chooses to accept the fundamental assumptions that it makes (Jesus, Resurrection, Incarnation...etc.). Catholicism, I would argue, does not cause the fear. The fear is borne out of humans not knowing or understanding what happens to us when one dies. Catholicism then, can become a breeding ground for this fear in that it simplifies what it means to be human, that is, it answers the questions of not knowing and misunderstandings of death with assumptions and statements that are presented as true that are improvable (though they make sense once accepted). Catholicism has become dealt with in fear by many faithful followers everywhere because of the uncertainty of life after death and this motivates them to accept the fundamental assumptions and act in ways they may not completely understand. In my research essay I will begin by explaining how humans acquired the idea of religion (and more specifically Catholicism). I will then proceed to offer what Catholicism does well and how its central messages of love and selflessness help people grow in relationship with one another and motivate them to a life filled with purpose. My central argument of the paper against Catholicism will then be supported: how people are able to accept fundamental ideas and teachings that Catholicism offers to its followers out of fear of the afterlife. My argument will be supported by breaking down Catholic practices of bible passage interpretations, sacraments, and ideas about “community.” Following my main argument I will describe how Catholics are able to live a good life without fear and explain how spirituality ultimately answers the questions about life’s meaning.

ORIGIN OF RELIGION-

Religion, from its very beginnings, took on three forms in the ancient Near East: polytheism, pantheism, and monotheism ( need help citing online source ). People created religion as a response to describe where they came from and where they thought they were going. It was a “security blanket” for the insecure soul to be able to fall back on something when his fellow man was not enough. Humans wanted something that would bring rain for their crops when their mere desire for rain was not enough. The need to describe nature and its mysterious beauty became essential to the human mind as more and more people became curious as to where everything came from and why it acted the way it did. Water randomly dropped from the sky out of fluffy white objects, why? It was the basic questions of natural phenomenon that inspired the most basic forms of polytheistic and pantheistic religion. Humans wanted a God that controlled nature so they themselves could also feel that control through worship and reverence. When nature turned against humans (thunderstorms, earthquakes, fire, etc.), people felt they had to make up for mistakes they had been making. Sacrifices were made out of fear that some higher power would spiritually come down and obscure human nature in a less-than-pleasing way for the humans. As religion took on a more specific structure and more in depth explanations were given for the reasons of religion, Judaism was created with rules and guidelines that allowed for structure in worship of one true God (Yahweh). Deeper questions were being asked as to the meaning of life and what happens when one dies.

ORIGIN OF CATHOLICISM AND HOW IT HAS BEGAN TO INSPIRE FEAR-

The story goes that God revealed himself to Abraham and thus the nation of Israel received the word of God. The Jewish Scriptures- or, the Old Testament of the Bible- described the story of the Israelites journey led by Moses to the Promise Land in Canaan after being saved from their slave-ship in Egypt. The Old Testament gives the history of Israel along with the origin of Judaism and the character and laws of God ( online source ). Catholicism is a branch of Christianity that started when the long-awaited messiah (Jesus Christ) was born in Bethlehem during the period of the Roman Empire to fulfill the word of God (online source ). Many Jewish people did not believe Jesus to be the promised messiah but those who did were converted and coined the term “Christians.” Catholicism, as one of the oldest and most popular religions in the world, takes on the form of a monotheistic religion and dates back to about 2000 BC (online source). “At age 30 he (Jesus) launched an independent ministry, aided by a dozen disciples who accompanied him as he preached his new version of faith” (Thomas 184). The ministry only lasted 3 years until Jesus was crucified on a cross and is believed to have resurrected from the dead 3 days later to assume his seat at the right hand of God the father in Heaven. After Jesus ascended into Heaven the Christian Church grew and men were believed to be inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the New Testament so all could remember the life, lessons, and example of Jesus along with various other letters and stories concerning the ministry of the church. Catholicism grew out of Christianity and is believed to have started when Peter was handed the “keys to the church” from Jesus and thus the first Pope was named and the religion was given structure. The rest is history as Catholicism now stands as one of the world’s most followed religions and millions of people everywhere participate in daily mass and receive communion regularly to take part in the most coveted sacrament of the Catholic Church.

The worship of a “Deified Man” laid the foundations of the Catholic religion as people found the need to place their uncertainties of the afterlife into one man’s teachings who claimed to be the son of God (Allen 7). Catholicism essentially turned the concept of God into “nothing more than that of a Dead Man, regarded as a still surviving ghost or spirit (resurrection), and endowed with increased or supernatural powers and qualities” (19). Jesus, as “true God and true man,” was revered by Christians as a savior (Catechism of the Catholic Church 117). His teachings and ideals found in the New Testament of the Bible laid the cornerstone of the Catholic faith as more and more Christians began to follow him. People wanted to put meaning into their lives and find out what essentially they were living for and Jesus seemed to have all the answers. Jesus gave the notion that there was a separate kingdom (heaven), and that people were to strive to be in this kingdom by living good, faith-filled lives. In one of his references to heaven Jesus claims, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). The lives of Christians were given a cause: to one day enter the kingdom of heaven. People found purpose in Jesus’ teachings and they were motivated to fulfill this purpose because it offered truths that allowed them to overcome their fear of death. Along with the purpose came guidelines and practices that Jesus offered in order for one to “become like little children” and “enter into the kingdom of heaven.” The phrase “become like little children” may take on the idea of a sinless nature in this case. The Beatitudes are a good example of the help Jesus gives his people to enter into the kingdom as he describes different people such as the “peacemakers” and the “clean of heart” and reassures them of God’s desire for them to be with Him (Matthew 5: 1-11). The teachings motivate other people to want to be peacemakers or clean of heart so that they too will enjoy everlasting life in God’s kingdom. Many of Jesus’ teachings revolve around love and selflessness and encourage people to help those in need. Jesus says, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21). Back to the question in the introduction: Do Catholics do “good” things just to have an opportunity to be in God’s kingdom or because they are actually good people? The question is not a simple one to answer. Yes, some people may “give to the poor” because they feel by doing so they are being good Catholics- and good Catholics mean they are going the heaven. On the other hand, Catholics may give to the poor because their religion inspires them to be selfless and their desire to be a “good” person is influenced by a yearning to help others as opposed to not wanting to go to hell. To fully answer the question one must look at what Catholicism does well: how the religion “works” and allows people to grow both on a personal level and spiritual level by living a full faith-filled life.

            WHAT CATHOLICISM DOES WELL IF ACCEPTED-

Catholicism works because it makes sense and what it has to offer is an essential good to human nature if it is used correctly. It contains many fundamental assumptions- or, mysteries, so to speak- that once accepted allow for the religion to be seen as a very logical and pleasing ideology and theology. It is hard to believe that Jesus died and his body was laid in a tomb and three days later he was floating above the tomb being “raised” to a magical place in the sky. How many times does that happen in one year in the present time? Zero. But once one is able to accept the mysteries presented by the Catholic Church a logical flow ideas and explanations follows that all make sense. Jesus rose from the dead. He fulfilled the word of God. He is now in Heaven. Everyone is happy because he truly was the messiah. Of course the rationalizing of Jesus’ resurrection is extremely more in depth than that but the point is this: once one is able to accept the fundamental assumptions of Catholicism as truth, the religion allows for a logical flow of explanations that makes it easier for a Catholic to accept the central “truths” of the Church. The “truths” refer to various concepts such as the idea of forgiveness in the sacrament of confession or the receiving of the actual body and blood of Christ in communion. The problem is that the "truths" that one might experience about life once they “turn to the church” are non-universal in that they are true only in that they work within the Catholic tradition and teaching the idea. By accepting that idea Catholics open themselves up to a community of believers that is much larger than themselves. Teachings on love and universalism are engulfed in the overall message of Catholicism as people all over the world strive to live a life like that of Jesus. When one thinks about it, Jesus had a full life. He sacrificed everything he had for the good of his people and died so that they may one day be able to gain salvation (Catechism…..still reading for source).

^^^ In the above (unfinished) paragraph I will begin to describe the overall message of Catholicism (love) and how that in itself is an intrinsic good in the religion. I will explain how Catholicism has motivated people to do many “good” things through charity and service. I will also describe how Catholicism (and religion in general) gives people a foundation in their lives to fall back on when everything else seems to be falling apart. Catholic ideas on community and universalism will be analyzed as well to support Catholicism and its desire to spread the word of God to all people. This paragraph will utilize the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church as sources.

Next paragraph: How Catholicism has become dealt with in fear. I am confused about where to start for this paragraph and how to arrange my sources and support in a logical, flowing argument. This is the paragraph I wanted to discuss in my writing appointment because I feel like the majority of my sources serve to back up what I will say in this paragraph and I did not want to start writing it without first getting some help. In the paragraph I will break down how Catholicism may come to inspire fear through individuals in its use of sacraments, ideas about community, practices, and Bible readings at daily mass. I will also explain how some of the Catholic practices have begun to veer away from the overall meaning of the church. For example, people are considered a part of the Catholic “community” once they have received the sacrament of communion. Well, this seems to go against the one on the essential messages of Catholicism: universalism. I fing that by limiting the community those who do not have the opportunity to receive the body and blood of Christ are cut off from what it means to be truly “Catholic.” The paragraph will use a majority of my sources as the bulk of my argument for my research will be contained in it.

Final paragraph before the conclusion: Following the paragraph on fear in Catholicism I will describe how one can live a good life without fear and support how spirituality ultimately answers the questions about life’s deepest meanings. To do so I will use the following sources:

-       No One Sees God by Michael Novak

-       Kierkegaard’s Philosophy

-       A study done by Ziva Kunda and Shalom H. Schwartz on undermining intrinsic moral motivation.

Formation of Conclusion (completely unedited, just wanted to see what you thought):

There is always uncertainty. The thing is that religion says with certainty things that are uncertain. All one then has to do to reach certainty is accept those things. That, of course, is the danger--because they can't know. And because they can't know it makes what they believe seem shallow, because it would appear that the only reason to accept something that you can not prove to be certain as truth would be to reap the benefits of that truth. In the case of Catholicism, you accept the truths and you get a safety blanket--you get eternal life--you get all the tough moral questions answered for you. It is the same as if someone told me that if I said "2-1=0" he would give me 20 dollars; or maybe he would take 20 dollars from me. I don't believe that 2-1=0, or maybe there is just no way to prove that 2-1=0, but I say it anyway so that I can either gain the money or keep my money. Religion is even more convincing than that though. It would be like once I said that “2-1=0” that I suddenly was opened to some kind of explanation that rationalized that whole equation for me. For example, it is very hard to think that Mary's (Jesus’ mother) body was taken to some physical, cosmic location called heaven. But if I blindly follow or rationalize it in my mind in order to accept it to calm my fear of not knowing, I am opened up to this whole logical progression that follows from that fact. Mary was taken body and soul to heaven because she was perfect. She was perfect, so God chose her to birth Jesus. Jesus came from the perfect being, God, and the perfect human, Mary, and thus is God and man. Therefore, if I want to become closer to God I should follow Jesus. Jesus says that if I follow him that I will live forever. To follow Jesus means to love everyone and give my all and pray and receive the sacraments. So if I do those things I will be closer to God and live forever. Boom. I win. (ßnot putting that in the academic paper my apologies) One has to remember, however, the first part of that chain was accepting something that can never be proven or at least something that you have no reason to believe. Fear comes in because people see the end: Heaven. Wanting to reach that end, they just go and accept the steps necessary to reach it.

In Class Activity Essay

In Class Activity: Argument against online learning

In Nancy Bunge’s article “Why I No Longer Teach Online” she addresses the issues that made her drop the online segment of her “Philosophy in Literature” class that she taught because it was weakening the relationship she shared with her students. By removing online learning from her course she discovered that students learned more and were more intellectually challenged when it came to the subject being taught in the course. Bunge analyzed surveys given to students who had and had not taken the online portion of her class and compared the results to conclude that actively participating in a relationship with the students was the most important part of teaching. Whether this active relationship is online or in the classroom, Bunge found it was much easier to do when one is able to see the face of the student.

Derek Bruff’s article “A Social Network Can Be a Learning Network” describes in detail the way social networking cites are able to form “social pedagogies” and equate the “representation of knowledge” with the “construction of knowledge” in the minds of the students (Bruff p.4). When students write and display knowledge on social networking cites they transform their audience away for the single teacher to the “authentic audience” (Bruff p.5).  By writing to the authentic audience many believe students are motivated to do their best work because they feel as if their efforts are branching out beyond the single-person audience (teacher) to a whole realm of people willing to critique the work.

A distinction has to be made between the two opinions for and against online learning. The distinction between learning and applying what you learn is what separates the classroom and the virtual classroom (online). I find that students are best able to gain new knowledge when the teacher and student are able to grow with one another in a relationship and build on the relationship through the two-way interaction of learning. When the student is left to learn online on his own he is left with uncertainties because there is no one there to communicate to him how to learn. There is no relationship he is able to fall back on and grow from. Good teaching, teaching that requires students to grasp the knowledge and build on it, happens in the classroom and revolves around the student-teacher bond. Online learning weakens that bond. What online learning does well, however, is that it allows for the application of student knowledge after one has learned the material. The “social pedagogies” are a good example of this as they allow students to display their knowledge to a community of people rather than the single teacher. By taking part in the social pedagogies students become more motivated to do their best work: the work that stems from authentic learning within the classroom in a true student-teacher relationship. 

Susan Bordo Blog

Work Cited

Pope Jr., Harrison G., Roberto Olivardia, John J. Borowiecki III, and Geoffrey H.

Cohane. "The Growing Commercial Value of the Male Body: A Longitudinal

Survey of Advertising in Women’s Magazines." Psychother Psychosom 70.4

(2001). Kargar. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.

This article could be used by Bordo in her essay “Beauty (Re)discovers the Male Body” to support her idea of females being the “triumph of pure consumerism” (Bartholomae and Petrosky 197). The article, “The Growing Commercial Value of the Male Body: A Longitudinal Survey of Advertising in Women’s Magazines,” describes how advances in feminism has caused the male body to be the last part of masculinity still standing in society. In examining two women’s magazines, the article presents a survey on how pictures of undressed men in advertisements have increased dramatically from 1958 to 1998. Although the male body still stands as a mark of masculinity on society, I would use this article to support Bordo’s argument for how women have become the triumph of pure consumerism in the advertisement world and describe how “male ‘femininity’” has increased due to the “erotic display” of the male body in the media (197). By citing the article I would be able to show that the feminist appeals for sexual equality within the world for advertising are finally being answered and that a newfound appreciation has come about in the viewing of well-formed men on billboards and magazine ads. 

Synthesis Essay

Don’t Bank on It

Upon entering the kindergarten classroom every 5 year old quickly figures out that school is a place where you learn things. This learning, known ambiguously as “education” to the youngsters,  gives children an awareness of a whole world of knowledge and understanding that surrounds them in their everyday life. What is a light bulb? How does it work? Who invented it? Education brings people the intellectual ability to connect the experiences, opinions, and creations of others and transform them to a thought or idea in the hopes that it will build into something more meaningful and relevant in the future. The effects of education on an individual differ from one person to the next but it does, without a doubt, inspire one to generate some form of awareness on a topic whether it is from his own mind or the mind of someone more knowledgeable. From the beginning of life, education serves as an essential structure that promotes and fosters human growth in a diverse world filled with oppression, hardship, and misunderstandings on how to live and the purpose of “being.” In a world filled with altering opinions and wide ranges of ideas on various topics, finding the “right answer” to a question is not always possible. What matters is finding the right answer for yourself: gaining awareness about an issue and consciously deciding whether or not it has meaning to you and from there changing your own outlook into one that fits what you believe to be important.  That is true education.  By gaining new knowledge through the process of learning not simply to regurgitate this knowledge but transform it into something of meaning we turn ourselves into reflective beings. In this transformation we receive a unique freedom that allows us to adjust to the world so we may realize what is important and what our own human desires are falsely making important.  By analyzing the essays The “Banking” Concept of Education by Paulo Freire and the The Achievement of Desire by Richard Rodriguez I am able to combine Freire’s ideals on the “banking” method of education verse the “problem-posing” method and apply these ideals to Rodriguez’s own story of how he gained his academic success at the expense of his family. In doing so I form an opinion on how real education inspires one to gain a conscious freedom and acquire an awareness on learning how to think in terms of  “others.” My opinion generated through studying Freire’s and Rodriguez’s essays centered on the theme of “education” will be further supported and elaborated on by taking separate pieces of knowledge from David Foster Wallace’s “Address to Kenyon College” in 2005.  As Rodriguez gives his personal account on how Friere’s idea of the banking concept of education took over his academic life as a child, Wallace breaks down how true education moves away from mere memorization of knowledge toward learning how to exercise control over what one thinks and becoming more adjusted not only to oneself but to others around him. 

In The “Banking” Concept of Education Freire presents the reader with the educational method of the banking concept and how it treats knowledge “as a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing” (Bartholomae and Petrosky 319).  In the banking concept students act as mere containers ready to be “filled” by the knowledge the teacher has to give them. The only job for the students is to take in this knowledge and memorize it in the hopes that they will be able to repeat it in the future. The teachers are assumed by the students to know everything while they themselves know nothing and the knowledge they receive is taken as true and “right.” In this sense, the teachers become the “oppressors” and the student’s creative power is minimized because their ability to think critically is replaced by memorization and repetition. The oppressors avoid student questioning and true communication is lost within the teacher-student relationship causing a “false understanding of men and women as objects” (322). In order to overcome this false understanding the core problem of the banking concept of education- the teacher-student relationship- must be transformed into a two-way reflective relationship between the students and the teacher. The reflective relationship inspires a dialogue between the teachers and the students that causes both sides to communicate and grow in knowledge with one another. To put it simply, the teacher must teach the students and the students must teach the teacher. This view of education brings about a light of freedom as the practice of domination and memorization is eliminated and a new method arises: the problem-posing method. In this method “the teacher presents the material to the students for their consideration, and re-considers her earlier considerations as the students express their own” (324). By engaging in the problem-posing method teachers and students alike can become integrated in authentic thinking: “thinking that is concerned about reality” (322). The authentic thinking is made possible by the communication the teachers and students share in making themselves aware of their own pursuit of liberation for the process of humanization. When communication occurs, a reflection between men and women acts upon the world and helps people to become conscious beings concerned with the problems other humans face with their relation to the world.  People become connected to a reality in progress that is moving toward a transformation of humanization between the conscious social beings of the world when they take part in the problem-posing method and deny the banking concept. When one denies the banking method he essentially denounces becoming a subordinate being to the oppressors that wish to fill his mind with “empirical dimensions of reality” (318). In its relation to The Achievement of Desire, Friere’s idea of the banking concept of education takes over Rodriguez’s life as his becoming of a “scholarship boy” forces him to be dehumanized and causes him to become nostalgic about his childhood. During this nostalgia Rodriguez transcends himself by looking back on his past and, by taking part in the problem-posing method in his own self-education, moves forward to look ahead to a new future of immediate experience with his family relationships rather than mimicry and memorization in his academics.

In The Achievement of Desire Rodriguez admits to the reader that a primary reason for his success in the classroom was that he could not forget that schooling was changing him and separating him from the life he enjoyed before becoming a student (516).  By reading Richard Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy  Rodriguez was one day able look back on his childhood and find a fitting description of himself known as the “scholarship boy” which helped him realize his academic success came at the loss of intimate relations with his family. As a child, Rodriguez was passionate about his schooling and he would have done anything to please the teachers and receive their praise. He was embarrassed at the lack of education of his parents and he would correct their minor grammatical mistakes around the home occasionally. The parents became “figures of lost authority” and young Rodriguez’s attention was now focused on the knowledge of his teachers (518). He yearned to be “like” his teachers in every way possible and to possess their knowledge and authority on a topic. His home and school became separate environments and Rodriguez begin to “hoard the pleasures of learning” to himself and leave his family behind (520).  As he looks back now on himself as the true “scholarship boy,” Rodriguez admits that, to his teachers, his success was their proudest achievement. The knowledge he took from them and memorized made him into the good student he thought he was being. After 20 years of education Rodriguez is now able to admit how the scholarship boy is actually a very bad student. “He (the scholarship boy) is a great mimic; a collector of thoughts, not a thinker; the very last person in class who ever feels obliged to have an opinion of his own” (529). The scholarship boy takes part in the banking concept of education as he takes in information given to him by his teachers and memorizes it for what it is and not what it means. In acquiring information he gains knowledge but he does not gain how to use this knowledge.  He is only “filled” with ideals given to him by his teachers because he equates “imitation” with “education.” Not until Rodriguez grew up and acquired the realization that real education required a “radical self-reformation” did he begin to move towards the problem-posing methods of education and put an end to the nostalgia he had been feeling about his family dehumanization (529).  Rodriguez’s education had adjusted and liberated him to the reality of the world of immediate experience with his family. His education brought him into a conscious awareness in learning how to think in terms of others (his family) and not his own academics. By learning how to exercise control over what he thought Rodriguez was able to consciously make the decision about what he wanted to give meaning to and what he wanted to decide to “worship” (as David Foster Wallace says).  This takes effort.  The unconscious worship of intellect and academics had taken over Rodriguez as his “scholarship boy” roots had managed to stay with him into his adulthood. The “default setting” to hang onto this unconscious worship of what the “self” desires had to be overcome in order for Rodriguez to find freedom in being able to truly care about his family and think in terms of others around him. That is what David Foster Wallace believes to be real education:  an awareness of our own arrogance and desire to just mimic those who we see as “intellectual” and instead forming our own conscious opinions on what we choose to believe and what we want to have meaning in our lives.  Rodriguez was able to overcome a life engulfed in the banking concept and transform it into one of real education. It is the thoughts, perceptions, ideas, imaginations, and creations of the people that make the world what it is. Without people the world is nothing; it is merely just a planet. Lifeless. As Rodriguez transforms his outlook he makes the world an object of transformation in which men and women both have the power to bring about humanization. He uses his real education to become selfless and begin to reflect on what is important to him.

David Foster Wallace finds that people have a “hard-wired” setting to be deeply self-centered and to perceive everything through the thoughts and opinions of the self (Wallace). To support this he gives the idea that “there is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute centre of” (Wallace).  The notion that the world as a person experiences it is completely unique to him and other people’s thoughts, feelings, and desires must be communicated to that person in order for him to gain an understanding of a separate perception causes people to develop their own hard-wired natures. The thoughts we have are so urgent and real that the idea that another thought not in our immediate possession can be true is immediately questioned. Because of this people tend to be arrogant and do not want to accept, nor do they bother to find out about, the beliefs and opinions of another person. This is the problem. By learning how to think we become aware of the opinions and perceptions of others and we adjust ourselves away from our default settings of arrogance and begin to live a life connected to the human reality around us.  The default setting is what prevents us from following the “problem-posing” methods of Freire because it is easier for us to take something we believe to be undoubtedly true from a teacher and make it our own without having to listen to anyone else’s opinion who we deem “not educated enough.” As people learn how to think and learn to control what they think, as Wallace mentions, they begin to construct meaning of things rather than just memorize them and “fill” themselves with information. The adult life is a concept that Wallace hits on often in his commencement speech and he finds that, to keep from entering into a dull and lifeless adult life, one must construct meaning from the everyday life experiences he is put in. If one wallows through life taking information in and never putting his own mark on it he is taking part in the banking concept and no critical thinking or growth is brought about from it.  The banking method turns into a seemingly meaningless and boring routine because the person is not making conscious decisions about “how to think and what to pay attention to” (Wallace).  Wallace brings up the story of grocery shopping after a long, tiring day at work. A person is miserable because they just worked a full day and now they want to go home and relax but first they have to stop at the crowded grocery store and buy food because he just recently remembered there is no food at the house. He is mad because things do not seem to be going his way and starts to get angry at the small things going on around him at the crowded grocery store. His default setting is telling him he should be miserable because his situation is the most immediate and real experience he can feel and at the moment he feels miserable. There is no consideration for the people around him in the store and all he wants to do is have his own way and leave as quickly as possible. This presents an interesting solution. By making a conscious decision to become aware of his miserable grocery store surroundings the person shopping is able to put meaning to his own immediate reality and try to see things in a new way with the realization the he is not the most important person in the world. With this newfound realization he can take into consideration possibilities that are greater than himself and develop a new respect for the people that surround him. Bottom line people are going to go through some crappy times. It is how you adjust yourself and draw meaning from these crappy times that count. Because our unconscious desires cause us to falsely worship things we find to be of importance (i.e. Rodriguez and academics), we many times forget about what matters the most. Without other people on this planet we are left with nothing but ourselves and our own selfish desires. There is no communication. There is no dialogue. There is nobody that allows us to learn from our own mistakes and make ourselves aware of the fact that we need each other to grow as human beings.  As Wallace says, we need to adjust ourselves and gain the “freedom of a real education”- an education that makes us aware of others and encourages us “to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day” (Wallace). The real value of education is not knowledge but an awareness of the need to humanize within the family and beyond. An awareness that not only adjusts the perceptions we have about our own struggles but the perceptions we have for the struggles that other people endure every day. This is everyone’s job as human: to think in terms of one another and be conscious of the need for humanization in the world. As Wallace states, “Your education really is the job of a lifetime” (Wallace).

All three pieces of work give a unique outlook on education and how true, authentic thinking is only acquired when one decides to form his own opinions based on a selfless awareness of world perceptions and experiences. The works also show that humanization is an essential part of “being” that allows for growth and understanding in one’s own life.  By applying Friere’s idea of the transformation from the banking concept to the problem-posing method to Rodriguez’s story of growing up a “scholarship boy,” one can connect the two essays to David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech and see that real education allows for a freedom to become adjusted to the conscious desires of what one wants to worship between the unconscious desires of what one’s default setting wants to worship. In overcoming this tie and discovering one’s own conscious awareness, he is capable of putting meaning to an experience and understanding how to think in terms of others. It is not knowledge that great education brings, but awareness of how to think. To do this we do, without a doubt, need “more than luck” (Wallace).

Works Cited

Bartholomae, David, and Tony Petrosky, comps. Ways of Reading. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. Print.

"DAVID FOSTER WALLACE, IN HIS OWN WORDS." More Intelligent Life. Web. 20     

Oct. 2011. <http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/david-foster-wallace-in-his-own-words>.