Educational Reviews (Part I)

Some linguistic food for thought
When I conversed with Muiz about his Ramadan (or is it Ramadhan) fast, it occurred to me that the word "breakfast" could have originated here. After a night's snooze (which is a kind of a fasting), we break the spell with a meal. So this meal came to be known as breakfast.

Ernest Hemingway's Anthology Of Short Stories
I enjoyed "The Snows Of Kilimanjaro" and "My Old Man" the most.

"The Snows Of Kilimanjaro" very graphically narrates how death creeps up on a man, stranded in the African outbacks after his jeep runs out of fuel, who lays "bed-ridden" on his cot while awaiting help to arrive for the gangrene that is infecting his entire leg. It is at once real and surreal with the man hallucinating about being bounded up to the summit of the snow-capped mountain that coincides with the discovery of his death by his girl-friend.

"My Old Man" tells the tragedy of an equesterian jockey and his son. There were narratives of their close relationships and outings together, ending with the father buying up a prized horse but only to lose his life in a fixed horse racing accident, with money changing hands of course for the winning horse.

Ernest Hemingway's stories are written based on his life experiences. From the short stories of the laborious pangs of birth-giving of a squaw and her husband's gruelsome suicide to the bull-fighting scenes that span several chapters of the novella as synopses before an actual essay, the descriptions are life-like and brutal.

It isn't an easy read and I had to re-read the sentences a few times just to picture the swift-flowing action, the lucid details and grapple with the going-ons. But what a marvellous read once you do.

Impressions of America after reading "The Cult Of Personality" And "The Simpsons And Philosophy"
America prides itself on being one of the most technologically advanced and powerful economy in the world. It is also a mecca for immigrants of every hue and color. This, no doubt, is one of its chief lineaments: from many, one.

There would be some who take advantage of its porous and welcoming stance, only to abandon it in times of crises when their own native lands offer better. Worse, they actually bite the very hand which has fed, trained and prospered them.

However in the midst of all this, it is also the well-spring of many a misplaced directive - be it its imperialistic conquests, its financial scandals or its cultural nonsense.

"The Simpsons" clearly illustrates this. From consumerism to capitalism with a capital "C". But America has its detractors, its very own citizens in fact, who unlike many other parts of the world, speak out and serve as a check on issues that have gone awry in American life.

Americans are a highly politicised and vocal body-politick. The Filipinos are not too far behind in this. This is the unique part of American heritage. There is a yang for every ying to counterbalance the disequilibrium. For every one Republican, there is another equally well-placed Democrat.

What do we have here?
Absolutely nothing or at least, not very much save for the occasional whimper and even that is scarce most of the time.

The education system will have you believe that too. Only scoring well at exams , winning at competitions, gaining entry to prestigious universities and landing a cushy, well-paying job matter. Never mind living and understanding life as wholey as we all should or grappling with global issues (which include ours) or being able to cut through a maze of goobledegook to get at the truth.

I think we should have schools of specialisations in various disciplines (School of English Language or Liberal Arts or Geography) after some years of a common and compulsory curriculum. If this occurs at a very late stage, students should not be penalised in their earlier years if they don't even have an inkling of what they really like or want to do for life.