oh, really?

School promotes 'correctness' over 'creativity'

The case that school promotes ‘correctness’ over ‘creativity’ is a simple one. This is because the very nature of ‘creativity’ runs contrary to the concept of a schooling system. The principle that the school is based on is the education of young minds in what is intelligent, morally upright and socially acceptable. Only when the correct foundations are laid can the student be said to have ‘graduated’, or to have moved on to the next phase in life, where he builds on these foundations by his own to attain new heights and develop his capabilities. This step is generally known as creativity, and is based on the discovery or the innovation of knowledge, rather than the receiving of knowledge that the student undergoes in the school system.

The link between ‘correctness’ and ‘creativity’ is that school – pardon the pun – schools students in the methods of creating new ideas. At this stage, where the mind is naïve and impressionable – and when it has no prior knowledge to work with – school rightly emphasizes ‘correctness’ over ‘creativity’ to ensure that the student has the right tools for the creative stage later on in his life. A simple analogy would be teaching a child to move about on his own. One must teach him how to walk before one can see him inventing a bicycle – surely one cannot leave the baby to create a vehicle on its own! In the same way, the purpose and nature of school is to show the student what is right, before the student can find out for himself what is beautiful.

An example would be the writing of expositions. The school teaches the student what an exposition is and how to write it, and places more emphasis on ensuring the logical flow of thought rather than what the argument is about. True, the student is allowed to choose his own topic, but he does not get bonus marks if his topic is unconventional – he is still graded on the exposition itself: whether his argument is clear, whether it is in the right form, and whether it is in the right tone. It is only after one has graduated that one can use this form of writing to explore and create – and it is from such exposition-writing roots that presidential speeches are formed.

In conclusion, school promotes ‘correctness’ over ‘creativity’, because that is the rightful purpose and nature of schools.  

the dangling conversation -

My harebrained topic - Why is the concept of utopia unacheivable?

Besides the age-old argument that the world is inherently evil and that there will always be something that is imperfect, here's an alternative solution to the above question.

The very reason why we can have the concept of utopia is because we live in a dystopia - taken here to be a society with imperfections, rather than its conventional meaning of a dysfunctional society. Thus, so long as we have the concept of utopia, it means that there is something in our current society that has not been perfected to utopian standards. If somehow, we managed to perfect every facet of our society, then we would have lost the concept of utopia - indeed, we probably wouldn't know that it was utopia, because we would not have the concept of a perfect place to compare it to. 

In other words, the concept of utopia can never be realized. 

thoughts from a Sunday afternoon -

What is an exposition?

I guess many would see expositions as “the essay-things that our English teachers demand over the weekend” or “number twenty-four on my list of things to study before EOYs” – and while these might hold some element of truth, I believe an exposition goes far deeper than that.

A skin-deep glance would make it seem like the purpose of an exposition is “to expose”, in other words stating that which is hidden and uncovering what lies below the surface of any topic. But in actuality, the word ‘exposition’ stems from the root meaning “to expound”, and thus a good exposition should not only inform but explain. It should also provide opinion and connection to larger concepts alongside mere fact, and give the reader a wholesome and concise view of the subject. In other words, it is an essay aimed towards simplifying and evidencing that which is difficult to understand, and making every outsider a connoisseur.

“ex·po·si·tion  (ksp-zshn)

n.

1. A setting forth of meaning or intent.

2.

a. A statement or rhetorical discourse intended to give information about or an explanation of difficult material.

b. The art or technique of composing such discourses.

3. Music

a. The first part of a composition in sonata form that introduces the themes.

b. The opening section of a fugue.

4. The part of a play that provides the background information needed to understand the characters and the action.

5. An act or example of exposing.

6. A public exhibition or show, as of artistic or industrial developments.

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[Middle English exposicioun, from Old French exposition, from Latin expositi, expositin-, from expositus, past participle of expnere, to expound; see expound.]

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ex·posi·tive (k-spz-tv), ex·posi·tory (-tôr, -tr) adj.

ex·posi·tor n   .”

 

Dictionary definition quoted from:

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.