In Robert A. Heinlein's chapter, "Our Noble, Essential Decency", he talks about all the people he believes in.
What really struck me was when Heinlein wrote; "I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are splashed with crime. Yet for every criminal, there are ten thousand honest, decent, kindly men," (Heinlein 120).
If you watch the news, the majority if the headlines are consumed with negatives things. We are focused on the handful of people who do horrible things.
I think most of us can connect to this. I have teachers who give the whole class a talk about our bad behavior, lack of focus, determination, etc. 99% of the time, in their speech, the teachers say "And it's only two or three of you who are doing this." But the rest of this class still gets lectured and possibly punished just because of these few kids.
Currently, Mason High school is being looked down at because a few people decided to vandalize the school bathrooms. And in my gym class, we are constantly being lectured about our lack of effort. It's really only two or three people who refuse to jog four laps because they might get sweaty. Like seriously??? There are people who have to walk miles and miles everyday just for water. You can run four laps.
This book actually connects to what we are currently learning in English. These chapters that people write have similar characteristics to creative non-fiction:
- Author's voice
- Persuasion
- Personal stories/connections
- About 3 pages
I like how connectable you made this post. These are everyday frustrations that people see when they are trying to achieve something and others are doing nothing and holding them back. While reading, I found myself agreeing to what you said and nodding along. Your arguments are very targeted and do a good job of connecting the book to our everyday lives.
ReplyDelete