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Argumentative Essay : Argumentative Synthesis

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Argumentative Synthesis
Education can be defined by how we as humans learn to interact with one another as well as obtaining the skills and perspectives needed to reach our full potential later in life. While education may seem straight forward, there are many ideas as to how it should be successfully presented. The authors, Pratt, Rodriguez, and Freire, all share my belief that educational freedom is vital to a positive classroom experience. Throughout this essay, I will be using their ideas to support why the system of education requires radical reformation. Richard Rodriguez was the son of Hispanic working class parents during the 1940’s. From a very young age he was fascinated by books. He would go out of his way to isolate himself from his family in order to read. Throughout his life, Rodriguez maintained his practice of isolation from his family and peers. At the end of his schooling, he discovered the error in his ways. While reading a passage from Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy, Rodriguez found himself in the definition of a “scholarship boy.” “The scholarship boy is a very bad student. He is the 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.” (Rodriguez 352) Throughout his entire academic career, he had mimicked his instructors rather than forming his own opinion. Without these skills, Rodriguez became immediately aware of his “miseducation.” While Rodriguez’s story is rather

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