Lies My Teacher Told Me Summary

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The stance of education reform and curriculum examination is clearly echoed through “Arts of the Contact Zone” by Mary Louise Pratt as well as throughout “Lies My Teacher Told Me” by James W. Loewen. The possibilities of positive effects resulting from changes to either of these aspects of learning are outlined within these works, but no attention is paid to the cost that may occur. The cost I’m referring to of course is the affect that extended knowledge could have on the traditions that take place in a large percentage of homes across America. Despite the evident need for improvement in the current education system, we need to consider a solution that provides the most improvement with the least amount of social distortion. Although a large percentage of holidays commonly practiced show some form of historical inaccuracy, I will primarily focus on the tradition…show more content…
The testimonies found within introduce us briefly to the traditions carried out by a few families and state that “traditions don’t have to be on a grand scale. They don’t even have to make sense…the important thing is that they resonate with us” (17 November 2007 Star Tribune). I agree with this statement and use it as the basis for my argument. Emotional beliefs like this one, that arise from these family gatherings, make me believe that the details of an event so ‘misunderstood’ like Thanksgiving aren’t significant enough to jeopardize the way people feel and interact during this time. Loewen would suggest that “The antidote to feel-good history is not feel-bad history but honest and inclusive history” (352). This would imply that somehow we are poisoned by feel-good history, and need a cure. Again, I come back to the Tribune’s article, and present a few examples of the expression and unity that Thanksgiving motivates these people to partake
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