Similarities

The Achievement of Desire by Richard Rodriguez

I found Richard Rodriguez' essay, the Achievement of Desire, to be an easy, engaging read. Rodriquez' desire and drive to do well in school and the yearning for a teacher's approval is something that I am intimately familiar with, having more memories than I can count involving my running out of a classroom crying after being teased by various classmates for being a goody-two-shoes and a teacher's pet. I too yearned desperately for those heights that could be reached through education and for any approval a teacher could give. I, however, lacked the true passion that Rodriquez seemed to posses--which seems to have stemmed from a desire to escape from family situation. His stories of parroting others' opinions is also a familiar one, and one that I most identify with. I sit here, becoming college educated, and still I lack a definable critical thinking skill that I feel will allow me to excel as a scholar.

I can easily agree with and parrot others' opinions when I hear them presented to me. What is much MUCH harder is to critically think about what is presented to me, to take it apart and analyze it. I even find it hard to expand upon a good base of knowledge, to take information further, and I am generally uncomfortable trying to do so. And this is why I'm in school, because I feel, as Rodriguez does, that the end of education is to do just that--to learn to become your own educator and become and individual secure in one's knowledge and learning. Hopefully I can get there some day.

Members Only

I find myself on both sides of the fence when it comes to hearing scholars speak of themselves in a 'members only' way. When Bartholomae writes in Inventing the University about "--in the privileged language of university discourse--", about "[students] must learn to speak our language", it makes me think that scholars are stuck-up people who think they're better than everyone else. On the other hand, I know that completing school is a challenge and something to be proud of, and that it does kind of launch you into new territory and a new class of people. I guess I'm one who prefers equality in all things, and I don't like to seem as though I am putting myself above others.

Along with the equality thing I sure wish it were equally easy for me to write academically as it seems to be for others. If only the transition from childhood writing to scholarly writing came easily and swiftly, I'd be made. Though I have inherited the language with which the words for essays and assignments come, the form and organization in which they are put from mind to paper is just learning to walk. This new language of academia is, well...new. I'm hoping I can begin to learn a rudimentary form before too long or I'm going to be struggling for awhile.

Cynicism from a bullshitter

A Kind Word for Bullshit: The Problem of Academic Writing by Philip Eubanks and John D. Schaeffer

A university student is, by need, a professional bullshitter for the years in which they pursue “higher education”. They have to navigate a system of bullshit—catering to professors who do not truly care about students’ thoughts and opinions but desire only to hear their own beliefs parroted back to them, and catering to a school system that forces them to wade through miles of course and degree requirements in order to be fully prepared for a “real job”, only to be handed a piece of paper that says—what? That they have successfully waded through the bullshit? That they’re fully licensed as a bullshitter in a professional capacity? (Do I sound cynical yet?)

Though Eubanks and Schaeffer assert that “No one, not even the “bullster,” would contend that bullshit can really substitute for well-informed and thoughtful writing,” I wonder if the authors mean that students going through the education system in the United States do not truly learn to write because they bullshit their way through classes, or that the bullshit contents of their writings do not sufficiently substitute for honest thoughts. I do believe that most people who bullshit their way through, say, an assignment, fully realize that they have learned nothing and have not advanced their writing style and expertise, but I disagree with Eubanks and Schaeffer if their meaning is that the bullshitters believe that the content of a completely bullshit writing exercise is useless or substandard. In fact, I find that most people are proud of the content and find it to be a perfect substitute for thoughtful writing. I am likely in the minority in this belief, but for all you know this whole post could be complete BS.