Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Book Club:  Imagination Method #4


It destroys memory
and weakens the mind,
relieving it of the work
that makes it strong.

It is an inhuman thing.

What is it?



Just like Plato lamented the use of the stylus during his lifetime, Anthony Esolen makes a valiant case against exposing ourselves to the synthetic light emanating from the GNAC, whether it be an LED or a neon billboard.

Sound bites, cliches, spin, or propaganda, Esolen gives us example after example of how truth has been corrupted and reading literature will keep you from falling for everything (from decay).

Just like I admired the dust jacket for Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, this week I spent time studying the bibliography and index.  Those two sections distinguish this book, making it more useful.  But in order for our charges to be able to read and comprehend the recommended novels, we teachers must lay a solid groundwork early on in our children's schooling.

There are lots of ways to build that foundation.

Those basics never change.

But there is a host of skills that parents alone must demonstrate.

Nothing better than a cursory examination of the current state of affairs in the great USofA (link to Land of Opportunity) and watching our current leaders talk like they are living in Camelot (link to prayer b'fast analysis) proves that we are already stultified.

Please don't tell me that you dont know what I'm talking about.



Bonus Link:  (Creative Writing by Yours Truly)

3 comments:

  1. Dana,
    Thanks for the extra articles. I read them both. I had also noticed Obama mentioning his father in a new light but didn't follow up on thinking through it. I sent the one on the prayer breakfast to James, my son who is researching this.

    The pathos of Camelot is that it was so short-lived.

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  2. I love it that the journalist used baseball terminology ;-)

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  3. I've bookmarked the articles and look forward to reading them tonight when all is quiet. :)

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