Educational barrier
DIRECTIONS:
For our first unit of this course, we will be discussing educational barriers. We will talk more about what I mean when I say “educational barrier” later on in the week as well as next week, but for now, I want us to consider the purpose of education, and to do so, I want us to read Martin Luther King Jr.’s estimable text by the same name.
STEP 1:
Carefully read through “The Purpose of Education” by Martin Luther King Jr. Read it slowly! Read it twice! Annotate it! If you need a refresher on annotating your work, you can review the materials I’ve supplied here: English 020 Connection: Reading Strategies.
To help our understanding of the material, I have provided below some helpful notes.
- bull session: noun, an informal, spontaneous discussion, usually pertaining to close-door politics.
- bull session: noun, an informal discussion, as in College students love late-night bull sessions about anything and everything, from professors to poetry to politics. This expression originally referred to an exchange of opinions and anecdotes, including stories of sexual prowess, by men, and then came to be used more broadly. [Slang; c. 1915]
- Eugene Talmadge: (1884-1946) American politician who served as the governor of Georgia for three terms, elected to four. He was also involved heavily in the politics regarding the University of Georgia. Talmadge presented himself as an aggressive defender of white supremacy, arguing keeping Black people disfranchised and segregated was far more important than education. At one campaign rally, Talmadge stated: “We in the South love the Negro in his place-but his place is at the back door” (Anderson). King is responding to Talmadge’s insidious, racist remarks and ideology when he address him in this text.
- Morehouse College: A historical black men’s college or HBCU in Atlanta, Georgia which played a key role in the American Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King is among the list of its vary storied alumni.
123_Jan-Feb1947_The Purpose of Education.pdf
STEP 2:
Fill out an annotation worksheet for the reading.
Blank Annotation Worksheet here. (DOCX)
Blank Annotation Worksheet here. (PDF)
(You can download it, type in your responses, and save your file or you can print it out, write your answers on the worksheet, and post a scan of the document.)
STEP 3:
Answer the following questions. Your answers should be clear and detailed. Each answer should be a a minimum of 150 words long. These can be attached/written in a separate document or text submission or at the end of your annotation worksheet.
- In your own words, what is the purpose of education? Why is it important to get an education?
- How would you summarize Dr. King Jr.’s argument? What are some of the things he said that stood out to you most?
- How does Dr. King Jr.’s text relate to your experience in education so far?
Submission:
To submit, please attach your saved files as either a Word, PDF, JPG or PNG file below and click Submit. You can submit twice for each annotation worksheet.
