There are hundreds of questions in this database about To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm currently working towards a professional certification with an educational organization. As part of a project I'm working on, I'd appreciate getting others' perspectives on this issue. I'm concerned about the state of our education system when so many kids seem incapable of understanding such a straight-foward, important piece of literature. What is it about this book? What am I missing? Help me understand why so many people keep asking the same questions about this book over and over. I can't understand the misunderstanding.
2006-11-28 23:19:20 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Primary & Secondary Education
Clarification for those who seem to be taking this personally -- in order to help someone, it helps to understand where the misunderstanding is.
2006-11-28 23:56:27 · update #1
I know that my confusion with this piece was what the instructor was asking us to do: identify imagery, discuss diction choice, and how 'X' effects the end product. We had not been given the tools needed to answer these questions. I think the problem is that there is not enough focus on literature in early years, these days school is focused on math and science, which are languages of their own.
2006-11-29 17:34:19 · answer #1 · answered by tselea 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Part of the answer may be that this book is so universally studied/taught in US schools. You see lots of questions about it because lots of schools assign it. If schools suddenly started assigning the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales in the same number, you'd start to see the same number of questions about it. And maybe To Kill a Mockingbird isn't as straightforward (viewed from the perspective of today's students) as we'd like to think. The themes in it are relevant, but the specifics are a couple of generations removed from today's young readers. Just a guess on my part, and an incomplete answer, I know.
2006-11-28 23:42:56 · answer #2 · answered by Rusting 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm not certain I fully understand your question. If you're referring to Yahoo Answers specifically, people are rewarded for asking questions and it's an easy way to have others do their research or homework for them. If you're asking about how people learn, one way is by asking questions and the answers seem simple when one already knows them. Generally, there isn't only one answer to a question, and I've often found it interesting--and a learning experience--to be able to argue both (or all) sides of an issue, regardless of which side I personally believe.
2006-11-28 23:37:33 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Fear - most kids are just afraid to deal with things they don't know. That is why I will give links - mostly to wikipedia - to help them find information - but I wont answer their questions. They aren't going to learn if they don't get over their fear.
Respectfully,
MikeInRI
2006-11-28 23:24:15 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
They are obviously not as smart as you.
2006-11-28 23:23:09 · answer #5 · answered by jcboyle 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋