Unit-9教案-Confessions-of-a-Miseducated-Man

Unit 9 Confessions of a Miseducated Man

Teaching Aims:

Students will be able to:

1) Knowledge and Skills

Develop reading skills-understand the main idea，structure of the text， and the skills of reading for specific information-scanning; all but, not that…but that, rise to, wipe out, instruct sb. in, act on, respond to, etc.

2) Culture

Learn about relationship and globalization and education; tribalism, regionalism, racism; cultural differences and similarities; common concerns and issues of human being

3) Emotion

Be well aware of the similarities and differences in all kinds of cultures;

Have a critical view of the ideas posed by the author towards “mis-educated”

Warming-up Questions: --Understanding of the title

1. What is a confession?

-----It’s a formal statement that you’ve done sth. wrong or illegal;

It’s a private statement to a priest about the bad things you’ve done;

2. What’s the difference between being Miseducated and Uneducated?

-----A miseducated person is one who has received formal education but is educated in a wrong way. An uneducated person is one who has received no formal school education.

3. How do you predict the topic of the essay?

4. How would you relate the issue of this essay to that of Another School Year—What For? and The Green Banana?

About the Author—Norman Cousins (1915-1990)

Some of his life history possibly related to the essay

•Born in New Jersey, educated in and graduated from Columbia University Teachers College;

•Editor of Saturday Review for 35 yrs;

•Lifelong concerns include world peace, world governance, justice, human freedom, health, etc.; Proponent of world federalism and world government;

What is world federalism?

•World Federalism means having democratically accountable political institutions to deal with issues at the most appropriate level, according to the principle of subsidiary.

In the book, Cousins expanded his arguments for world federalism and for a world no longer based on the supremacy of nationalism and other superficial differences as follows:

“The new education must be less concerned with sophistication than compassion. It must recognize the hazards of tribalism. It must teach man the most difficult lesson of all—to look at someone anywhere in the world and be able to see the image of himself. The old emphasis upon superficial differences that separate peoples must give way to education for citizenship in the human community. ”

Cf. Para. 7

And he continued,

“With such an education and with such self-understanding, it is possible that some nation or people may come forward with the vital inspiration that men need no less than food. Leadership on this higher level does not require mountains of gold or thundering propaganda. It is concerned with human destiny. Human destiny is the issue. People will

respond.”

Cf. Para. 11

He concluded the book with:

“War is an invention of the human mind. The human mind can invent peace with justice.”

Background information:

1. Globalization and education (全球化与教育)

Generally speaking, globalization is the rapid increase in cross-border economic, social, and technological exchange. It is also defined as a process leading to greater interdependence and mutual awareness among economic, political and social units in the world. According to Rosenau, globalization can be described as the emergence of altered global structures and driven by a skill revolution, an organization explosion, and a continuous flow of ideas, money, goods, and people that is rendering long-standing territorial boundaries increasingly obsolete and fostering an extensive decentralization of authority.

Education systems can also be seen as the core of the globalization process. At present, governments are trying to compete on the global markets by placing the focus of policy on education to produce the “human capital” most appealing to global competition.

Rinne(瑞尼) emphasized that educational policy has become an ever more important part than economic, trade, labor and social policy in western countries.

Genre: Argumentation

The author’s view:

1) To prepare oneself for this new world, we must all be re-educated because so far the education we’ve received only tells us the differences among peoples, which are superficial, one-sided, and misleading. Education about differences may be useful for tourists, but it is useless if we really want to understand other people.

2) A proper education should tell us that there are more similarities than differences among peoples. The differences are insignificant whereas the similarities are essential and fundamental. These similarities mean that we have the same needs, face the same problems and poses the same potentialities to solve these problems. We can be equal members of the international community and learn to live happily together with mutual respect.

3) Over-emphasis on differences can easily lead to racism, colonialism, and imperialism---all tribalism in its varied forms.

Critical View:

Para 4 “… that the principal significance of such differences was that they were largely without significance”.

---Proper understanding of the differences is extremely important too. Without this, mutual respect is impossible. Differences don’t divide us. It is the wrong attitude toward our differences that turn us into bitter enemies.

4) People can learn not only to accept, but also to treasure diversities. They can gradually realize that people can be different but equal. They can learn from each other and benefit from these differences. Without these differences, there would be no point of international communication.

Critical view: Mis-educated-- Half-educated

Structure Analysis:

Part I (paras.1-4) In what way was I miseducated?

The education I received concentrated on differences and ignored similarities.

Part II (paras.5-7) Why was this education inadequate?

An education in differences cannot meet the needs of the age we are living in.

Part III (paras.8-10) What kind of education do we need?

We need an education with emphasis on the common needs of humanity.

Part IV (para. 11) What will this new education possibly bring about?

A nation may come forward to play a leading role in humanity’s efforts to solve its problems.

Text Analysis

➢What marks the differences between the world in 1850 and the world now?

➢Why is “Asia and Africa” the best place to apply the test?

➢What does the author’s education teach him? Give examples.

➢Why does he say that his education “protected me against surprise”?

➢What does the education fail to teach him? Do you agree with him?

Part I (1-4) In what way was I miseducated?

Para 2 Question:

1) What kind of test does the author suggest?

2) Why is “Asia and Africa” the best place to apply the test?

Language Focus

1. Distinguish between “enough, sufficient, adequate.”

adequate 表示足够的程度比enough, sufficient低，表示“刚够，刚好（only just enough）”。 温饱问题 （ the problem of adequate food and clothing）

•He was not tall ________ to carry a rifle. (enough)

•We lacked__________ funds to finish the project. ( sufficient)

•I don’t think she is __________ as the team leader. (adequate)

Para. 3

1. Not that… ----used before a sentence or phrase to express the opposite of what follows.

e.g. We’ve been happy together for half a century—not that we never quarreled.

I stopped and picked you up—not that I was not afraid.

She did not buy the coat—not that she did not like it. She just felt that it was too expensive.

2. Anthropology----the science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development, biological characteristics, and social customs and beliefs of humankind.

3. Paraphrasing: In short, my education protected me against surprise.

In a word, the education I had had taught me enough about the differences among people so that I wouldn’t feel surprised at what I saw, no matter how different they might be.

Para.4

1.Question: How do you understand the sentence

1) But what my education failed to do was to teach me that the principal significance of such differences was that they were largely without significance. -----The education I had did not teach me to see the fact that the main meaning of recognizing such differences was that they were not meaningful in a great measure (if compared with the meaning of understanding the similarities).

2) The differences were all but wiped out by the similarities. ---The differences became so insignificant compared with the similarities that they were almost completely pushed aside and forgotten.

3) My education had by-passed the similarities. ---- The education I had had (did not teach me/)avoided dealing with the similarities

among peoples.

4) And the simplest reality of all was that…. --- Today the world is divided into nations that force the world to become separate parts. But no single nation is more important than the whole community, and differences in their religious faiths, political or national loyalties, or their cultures should not be allowed to blind us to the basic things they all share.

2. Parallelism----“greater than…”

3. all but…

-----almost completely

e.g. Their screams all but drowned out the music.

I all but got attacked by the two timber wolves when Maheegun came to my rescue.

We all but lost the game.

4.wipe out : Half the population was wiped out by plague.

e.g. The heat has wiped me out. (informal, to make sb. feel extremely tired/exhausted)

Compare:

e.g. The price will wipe the smile off his face.

In a few years this species could be wiped off the face of the earth.

Part II Why was this education inadequate?

Para. 5

1. How do you understand the sentence “ … but to stop there was like clearing the ground without any idea of what was to be built on it.”

… but just respecting the differences is not enough; we must go further and realize our common concerns.

----clear the ground: to get the land ready for construction by removing irrelevant things from it.

2. to act on …:

---- to do sth. because of

e.g. the one making no distinctions of good and evil, acting on no principles…

He acted on his own initiative all the time. 他凡事都凭自愿。

She is acting on the advice of her lawyers.

Para 6

1. How do you understand the sentence:

It was the mark of a rounded man to be well traveled ----- Being widely traveled in foreign countries used to be regarded as the indication of a man with a fully developed personality.

----rounded: well-rounded, (of a person) having a range of interests and skills and a variety of experience

Well-traveled: much-traveled/widely traveled, having visited a lot of countries.

Para. 7 Questions

1. What is “the great compression” that “came overnight”?

---Suddenly, countries and nations became closely connected as if the world had become very small.

2. Why does “ far-flung area become crowded together in a single arena”?

----Modern transportation and telecommunication had shortened distances. Therefore, no country could be cut off from outside influence.

3. What can we get to know about the evolution of tribalism in intercultural communication in “tribalism had persisted from earliest times, though it had taken refined forms”? What are those “refined forms”?

---- Tribalism was outdated, even though it existed in new forms---regionalism, racism, and nationalism, which are equally harmful.

4. Compared with the education mentioned in Para. 6, what can be expected from “an education in self-recognition”?

5. How do you understand the sentence “ The old emphasis upon superficial differences had to give way to education for mutuality and for citizenship in the human community.”

----The traditional education with the emphasis on the superficial differences between different peoples, different cultures, etc. should be replaced by a new type of education focusing on mutual respect, mutual understanding, equality interdependence and how to be a citizen in the whole human community.

Para. 8 Questions

1. What is the fact in “we begin with the fact that universe itself does not hold life cheaply”?

----- So far we haven’t detected any sign of life in outer space. Some scientists say that we may well be alone in the universe. This tells us how precious life is. And this respect of life is the very basis on which we must build the future world community.

2. What sort of faculty or gift is “a creative intelligence”? What does it enable man to do in the author’s view? Can you explain “to reflect and foresee, to take in past experience, and also to visualize future needs”?

----Of all the faculties humans have, the most important is their creative intelligence that makes it possible for them to think and foresee, to understand and remember past experience, and to prepare for future needs.

3. to take in…

----to understand and remember

e.g. I told Grandpa we were going away, but I don’t think he took it in.

It is hard for children to take in the full meaning of social responsibility.

Para 9 Questions

1. Summarize (1st sentence) what all peoples have in common.

1) All humans are capable of thinking.

2) They are all capable of spiritual belief.

3) They are capable of creating print and communicating in print without the restriction of time and space.

4) They are capable of enjoying music and art.

2. respond to…

e.g Clive responded to my suggestion with a laugh.

The US responded to the challenge by sending troops into Iraq.

No one has yet responded to our complaints.

Her cancer failed to respond to treatment. ( to improve as a result of a particular kind of treatment)

Para. 10 Questions

1. How would you understand “Next in order would be instruction in the unity of

human needs”? ---- The next important thing would be to get people to realize that all human needs are a unified whole. The unity of human needs means “ the delicate balance or interdependence of human needs. (人类需要的整体性。)

2. Why does the author say “However friendly the universe may be, it has left the conditions of human existence precariously balanced”? What are “the conditions of human existence”? --- Human conditions nowadays are very delicate. We must have water and oxygen for

survival. Too much or too little of these things would cause a disaster. These things should be well balanced.

3. How can we use “self-understanding in the cause of human welfare”?

4. What are “the engines we have created that threaten to alter the precarious balance on which life depends”? Can you give some examples?

----- “Engines” is used figuratively to stand for all the technological developments human beings have achieved. Human beings have invented a great many things to give us more power and to make our life easier. But these human creations are now threatening the balance of our environmental conditions.

5. to concern --- If sth. concerns you, it affects/involves you

e.g. The price of water will concern many people.

(not in passive) to make sb. feel worried/upset;

That Bess did not work to save for her old age really concerned Lottie.

If a story/book/report concerns sb./sth., it is about them.

This essay concerns (is about) how the author thinks of his education in the past years.

Para. 11 Questions

1. What does “some nation or people” possibly refer to in the text?

2. What sort of “leadership” is the author talking about?

The author is hoping that some nation may take up the responsibility to lead us in solving the present problems, a country which understands the vital human needs and can give the rest of the world important inspiration. It is clear that the author hopes that the United States will be able to play that role. He implies this, believing as many of his countrymen did that such is their “manifest destiny.”

3. to come forward (with/as/to do sth.)

----to offer yourself for a job, election, etc.

e.g. More women are coming forward as candidates than even before.

We need more volunteers to come forward to help.

A girl has come forward with (offer help to sb. who needs or has asked for it) a description of the murderer.

Summary

1. Development of argumentation

2. Stylistic Features:

1. Parallelism (Para 3, 9, 10)

2. Repetition

3. Inversion

Further discussion:

Work in groups and discuss the following questions:

1. Why is it so important for peoples in the world to understand their similarities and differences? What might happen if we don’t?

2. What do you think is the proper attitude towards the differences and similarities among peoples?

3. Can you see any significance in proposing such an issue now?

Further questions:

1. What would you see as the biggest difference among human beings, language, religion, or political /ideological system?

2. What is their most important similarity?

3. Do you agree if some people say that globalization is the strategy of cultural differences?

4. What does the author want to say in the essay?

5. Can you pick out the sentence(s) you think best express(es) his idea?

6. According to the author, what is the most important similarity among human beings? Do you agree with him on that?

7. What are those “superficial differences”?

8. Is it true that there are more similarities than differences in human beings?

9. What are the basic lessons of a new education? And what is the importance of such a new education?