Philosophy, Interdisciplinary Teaching and Student Experience

Our cohort is nearing the end of its secondary education and therefore it is important that we reflect on the ways in which it has shaped our attitudes, values and beliefs. For example, over the past five years, we have read, analysed and evaluated various literary works such as novels, plays, poems and films in our English studies. These texts have expressed various ideologies, explored interesting themes and introduced us to fascinating characters. These elements have left a lasting impression on our attitudes, values and beliefs. In addition to this, English literary texts have provided us with historical knowledge as well as a thorough understanding of the role that aesthetic devices

Harold Bloom understands that we read not only to learn of literary composition but also because “we require knowledge, not just of self and others, but of the way things are.” This proves true to essentially all humans for any great

The Educated Imagination discusses major ideas that answer the question “what good is the study of literature?”. Frye does so by discussing concepts such as the desire of humans to connect to nature, the conformity to conventions and deviation from reality in literature, and the ideal manner in which literature should be taught. Northrop Frye’s The Educated Imagination proposes the idea that through the consumption of literature, the individual is able to develop an imagination which allows him to connect to society from an educated perspective.

Beiderwell, Bruce and Jeffrey M. Wheeler. "The Literary Experience." Beiderwell, Bruce and Jeffrey M. Wheeler. The Literary Experience. Boston: Thomson Higher Education, 2008. 217-229.

In his article “Hidden Intellectualism,” Gerald Graff writes about how “schools and colleges are missing an opportunity when they do not encourage students to take their nonacademic interests as objects of academic study” (par. 18). In is work Graff describes the ways school associate the “street” topics as unintellectual. Graff goes to show how a healthy balance of studying both “book” and “street” topics in school is a healthy way to learn. Graff then talks about his childhood and how Graff came to be a professor of English and education of the University of Illinois. Graff then goes back to say, like in the beginning, that schools need to encourage the students to use their hobbies as academic study. With all of this, Graff successfully portrayed his main idea throughout his article.

In his piece entitled “ Disliking books” Gerald Graff, a professor of English and education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, tells his story of how with some helpful insights he shifted from disliking literature to enjoying reading and analyzing the texts. The author shares that during his early school years he developed an aversion to literature as well as most liberal arts disciplines for not being able to find their application in his daily life. Coming from a middle class family, it was expected that young Graff would go to college. Since no particular discipline really interested him and his family did not own a business to set him up on a successful business path, he decided to major

In the article “Why Literature Matters,” Dana Gioia discusses about how interest displayed in the arts has declined, especially in literature. Gioia uses a variety of different literary tools to create a compelling argument including appealing to the reader’s emotion, using facts and statistics, and creating a “call to action”. Throughout the whole essay, Gioia skillfully plays with the reader’s emotions to convince them. Gioia brings out aspects such as the consequences of the situation.

English Literature has enabled me to expand my capacity for independent thought, reflection and judgement through constantly reviewing and redrafting my coursework intensely. Studying “The Great Gatsby” allowed me to formulate my own view about the novel and about how 1920s America, optimism of the Roaring Twenties, and the period of The Jazz Age dissolved into the bleakness of the Great Depression. This has also allowed me to be more aware of my quality of work and time management, and has enabled me to broaden my vocabulary and ability to use critical terminology

While reading The Fading Hope of Interdisciplinary Studies by troy camplin i found many useful facts .In the article i found that the author thinks of interdisciplinary as going away. He does not find that students choosing to discipline themselves. The author also says that it could have something to do with education In fact in second paragraph he says “These programs don’t even live up to their own descriptions as a way for students to understand how to integrate a variety of disciplines of their own

When trying to teach an author’s work, a movie is an inadequate way to do so, especially in a formal environment. In a classroom, it can be a struggle to gain the attention of students when they may not be interested in the subject at hand and a movie may seem like a good way to attract focus. In reality though, a movie will only deter the education of the students. On movie days, the class attendance is noticeably lower than on a regular day. This can be attributed to how a student perceives watching a movie in class. Ever since elementary school, watching a movie in class meant learning time has stopped. This continues through middle and high school where teachers show movies for days after the class may have taken a big test and the teacher decided the students needed a break. Teachers also show movies when they are absent and a substitute teacher—who is not prepared or willing to teach a difficult, high school subject—covers the class, and no new material is taught. This mindset sticks with a student, so when a professor in college says the next class is a movie day, the student instantly thinks they can skip class because nothing new will be taught. These thoughts also

In reading the article Higher Education, Liberal Arts and Shakespeare written by Frank Bruni, my thoughts centered on my own experiences in instruction from the beginnings of formal education with many knowledgeable teachers who created in my life a desire to impart this exciting experience to future students. This shared goal between myself and Bruni originated from the excitement and excellent experiences demonstrated by outstanding role models.

As students grow older, they are expected to take on a heavier load in school. In this development, they can struggle with understanding certain aspects of their studies. For many, analyzing literature can be difficult. These students might suffer from distractions outside of school, such as family issues, finding time to study, or just simply having problems understanding the material. Jack London’s writing however can help with these types of issues. London’s works are very easy to grasp with his straightforward writing style and explicit themes which contain storylines that students may find engaging and even relate to. More of his works should be taught in schools because they are easy to understand, and help lead students through certain

There is a no more challenging task than defending an apparently lost cause and this is precisely what I am doing today. However, I have never shied away from any of my responsibilities. Like a medieval gladiator, I will fight to death for the permanence of Literature in the student’s curricula. Depriving a human being from the power of creation, imagination, which has the extraordinary gift of taken us to an unimaginable dimension is the worst mistake we can possible make.

Philosophy is a general overview of how our society functions, by how we think and the many ways in which we act. It can also be described as the love of wisdom. As individuals we are introduced to ideas that test our knowledge of the different concepts of life, with questions such as who are we and why were we brought here? Philosophical questions have made an impact on us with thoughts that don't usually have an answer to the question which was brought forward, and to which neither side knows the answer to. For thousands of years mankind has questioned the origins of human life and the nature of the cosmos. Over the years, great philosophers such

In the past five weeks, we have covered a great deal of material in this course. I remember my first day coming to class, I had to check my schedule multiple times to ensure that I was in the correct place. After spending hours of my morning in back-to-back philosophy courses, medieval and 20th-century, I was convinced that I had somehow walked into another philosophy class rather than English. However, as it turns out, I was in the right place. It also turns out that I did know very much about modernism or literary modernism. I soon discovered that modernist literature is greatly rooted in the philosophical movement of modernism that took place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This was a movement that centered on the heightened awareness of the self.