Confessions of a Misspent Youth
by Mara Wolynski
Complete Explanation and question-answers for the Prose included in the CHSE +2 Alternative English book ‘Approaches to English – I’.
Click here to download the PDFs of Approaches to English I & II free of cost.
Explanation
1. Mara Wolynski was schooled in New York city in a non-conventional school. Her parents were impressed by the relaxed, informal, and happy-go-lucky environment of the school, because they themselves believed that children’s schools must not have the rigidity, discipline, and the focus on learning that most conventional schools adopt as a standard practice.
The school was appropriately called Sand and Sea, possibly to underline its proximity to Nature’s open and welcoming ways. Quite a good number of parents having similar views on early education sent their wards to the school. Trying to make education for kids a pain-free experience, Sand and Sea stood in sharp contrast to normal schools.
2. The school was run by fifteen women, and one man. The latter ‘taught’ Science. All these people were like-minded, and were convinced that education in the early stages must attempt to unravel the innate tendency acquire knowledge that most youngsters are born with. ‘Arts’ was at the top of the informal syllabus, although organized coaching of any sort was shunned completely. The school authorities believed regimented teaching stifles creativity in youngsters.
Happiness and Hieroglyphics
3. There were specific timings fixed for different subjects, but the students could refuse to be taught anything that they didn’t like. The school had a well laid-out policy – no student must feel bored, and intimidated. Competition among class mates was also not allowed lest a pupil might think the other is forging ahead at his cost. When the author lost patience with Mathematics, she could escape to the library to write short stories. History was taught not by narrating incidents and their dates, but by recreating in the class room the scenarios of those bygone era. Education consisted of real life tasks like growing corns, eating buffalo meat, making tapes, learning Indian words etc. Such tasks gave the students some glimpses of America’s history. Another year, the students made costumes, clay pots, papier-machine gods. Through these, they got some ideas about Greek culture. In another year, to acquaint the students about the Middle Ages, the students robed themselves as kings and nights. The student used to drink orange juice from tin foil goblets, but had not got to know how the Middle Ages were alike.
4. The school taught the bizarre system among the Huns to drink raw blood straight from a horse’s body before embarking upon a military conquest. It was quite fascinating to learn this. The school didn’t deliberately teach other cumbersome facts about the Huns, that obviously wouldn’t interest the youngsters. On another instance, the author (then a child) did a project on ancient Egypt by drawing a thirty-feet-long mural.
Ignoring is not bliss
5. The author proceeds to narrate his early-education experience in the school that had teachers who didn’t ask the children to learn how to read till they reached the third grade. It was felt that making children read before that spoiled their creativity. Fostering creativity among children was a primary objective of the school’s pedagogy. The teachers actively kept the students away from tasks that burdened them intellectually. The stress was through spontaneous learning, and not by coerced learning. This approach continued till the children reached their age of nine. Despite such innovative approach, Sun and Sand had not produced a single artist of any fame. Th school encouraged the children to bond with each other well, and this single motto defined their informal teaching. By the time the children reached ten, they still hadn’t learned the skill of reading. However, they could use the words like ‘acting out’ and ‘introverted’ from the way their friends behaved in the class room.
6. Finally, the children passed out of Cannan, and had to move on in life. Sadly, they found themselves severely under-prepared and ill-equipped to cope with the academic load in the new schools. This caused disappointment and frustration to both the students and their parents who felt the precious money and time ad been wasted. The students were no better than the traditionally disadvantaged children of the slums.
7. An aluminous of Sun and Sand committed suicide at the age of twenty when he failed miserably in a high school in New York. The shame and ignominy did him in. Other alumni from Sun and Sand had to take psychiatric help.
8. The school psychologist of the place where the author enrolled later was baffled by his unusually low intellectual ability. He suggested to the author’s mother to put him through some incisive mental tests that could determine why the author (as a boy) was un-receptive to new ideas and skills. Such inability to reject new information afflicted other classmates of his studying elsewhere. The author’s reading comprehension was pitiably low. The author some how managed to get his B.A degree, although he stumbled many a times along the journey facing derision and disapproval all the way.
The lure of learning
9. When the author retrospects to find out the reason why Sun and Sands students prove to be such miserable laggards in studies, he discerns a pattern — the school’s carefree system of pedagogy with no stress on formal learning was the rot cause. The school’s system of coaching made fools out of meritorious students.
10. The author compares his twelve-year-old brother’s mental ability with his. The brother is studying in a traditional school. His Mathematics skill and his understanding of many other subjects in the world are much superior to the author’s. In another instance in the author’s own family, there is a 15-year-old brother who has also developed commendable academic skills. He was in Sun and Sand till he was eight. Then the author’s mother shifted him to a regular school, and that brought about the improvement. This brother can now make film documentaries.
11. The author has come to conclude that the schools must make the learning environment so enjoyable that the students opt in voluntarily to acquire knowledge. Those students who show no interest in learning must be coerced to learn things the hard way. In the case of the author, t was all along very softy-softy, and that retarded him so grievously.
Questions and answers –
Activity 8
State the central idea of the text.
Central idea of the text … Human beings often go to extremes in pursuit of innovation and creativity, but such adventures lead to disasters at times. In this case, a school by the name of Sand and Sea was run by some teachers where parents sent their wards for completely unfettered-and un-hinged study environment. There was no enforcement of discipline, no reprimand for misconduct, and no compulsion to remain inside a classroom when the teacher taught anything. At Sand and Sea, it was a free-for-all, do-as-you-like school campus with absolutely no focus on imparting knowledge or skill. The students with no one looking over their shoulders wasted their study time with activities that brought them no tangible education. It was a bizarre idea that led to children passing out of the school with virtually no education. Later, they faced embarrassment and humiliation in the next level of schools where they enrolled. The setback drove some to depression, and others to repentance. Over all, it was a grossly absurd idea to have such a school and to send children there.
The obvious conclusion is that imparting education is a structured skill-building process that needs sacrifice, self-control, and discipline. Children left to themselves would learn nothing if there is none to hold their hands and guard-rail their education journey.
———————————————
Activity 9
(Understanding the sequence of Presentation)
Rearrange the following sentences so that they reflect the sequence in which Wolynski presents her ideas.
You can begin with sentence (d) which is the first sentence in this sequence.
(a) The students were free not to learn anything that bored them, and there were no tests.
(b) One of the students of Sand and Sea committed suicide out of frustration although the writer was fortunate to continue her education and pass her B.A.
(c) Their reading lessons were postponed till the third grade as early reading was considered harmful to creative spontaneity.
(d) The writer was enrolled in a small private school in Greenwich village.
(e) As a result, the students of Sand and Sea came to hate intellectuality.
(f) They learned history by recreating its least important elements but without gaining any knowledge or insight.
(g) In this school there was a tremendous emphasis on art and educational freedom.
(h) The writer’s mother came to realize her folly and sent her son to a traditional school.
(i) They came to discover that their early education had gone waste only when they came to the high school.
———————————————————————–.—————–
Answer .. Rearranged sentences…
1st ..(d) The writer was enrolled in a small private school in Greenwich village.
2nd .(g) In this school there was a tremendous emphasis on art and educational freedom.
3rd..(a) The students were free not to learn anything that bored them, and there were no tests.
4th..(c) Their reading lessons were postponed till the third grade as early reading was considered harmful to creative spontaneity.
5th..(e) As a result, the students of Sand and Sea came to hate intellectuality.
6th. (i) They came to discover that their early education had gone waste only when they came to the high school.
7th..(b) One of the students of Sand and Sea committed suicide out of frustration although the writer was fortunate to continue her education and pass her B.A.
8th. (h) The writer’s mother came to realize her folly and sent her son to a traditional school.
Activity 10
(Comprehension)
Answer the following questions briefly.
a) What is Wolynski’s major criticism of Sand and Sea’s emphasis on creativity?
Answer ..Wolynski has torn apart the concept that children’s creativity would flourish if they are allowed to engage in anything that appeals to their young minds. The school, Sand and Sea, was a failed experiment in this regard, because with no rigour and no scrutiny, the young children just waste time and gain nothing. Their precious childhood years are wasted if they are left to themselves.
b) Wolynski says that she was an example of ‘educational freedom- freedom not to learn.’ What does she mean?
Answer .. At Sand and Sea, the atmosphere was grossly permissive and uncontrolled. The creativity of the children didn’t blossom; instead, their minds became dumb with no intellectual progress. The knowledge acquired was nil.
c) What is the basis of contrast between the two types of education?
Answer .. In conventional schools, classes are held strictly according to schedule. Well-trained teachers teach different subjects to students in a very structured manner. Syllabus guides both the teachers and the students. Examinations are held at fixed intervals, and the answers scripts are evaluated by the teachers. The scores tell the students and their parents about their relative strengths and weaknesses vis-à-vis their peers. So the children, though constrained by the rigid discipline of the school environment, gain knowledge and skill in a tangible manner. In a non-conventional school like the Sand and Sea, there is no monitoring, no coaxing, no evaluation, and so, no gain for the unfortunate students. Giving the pupils a free run in the school compound makes them ignorant, wayward and inept.
(d) Does Wolynski explicitly state the points of contrast between the two types of education?
If your answer is Yes, indicate the paragraph (s) and quote the words which explicitly state these differences.
If your answer is No, say why the author does not explicitly state her points of contrast.
Answer ..My answer is ‘No’. The author knows she has made a blunder, but sulks to admit her fallacy. She repents her decision, but does not want to elaborate on it in order to avoid beberated by her community.
e) In paragraph 9 Wolynski admits that she could be accused of overstating her case. How effectively does she refute this charge?
Answer ..Wolynski has made a vain attempt to absolve herself of the accusation that she promoted the faulty system at Sand and Sea by sending her child there. She can’t evade the feeling of guilt that was a manifestation of her stupid mind.
f) Briefly comment on the effectiveness of Wolynski’s conclusion. Does it accurately sum up her essay, or should she have written a different conclusion?
Answer .. Wolynski has become pragmatic and wise. Her retrospection has resulted in her realizing her earlier mistakes. Now, she is an ardent advocate of the conventional schooling system that the whole world has chosen to adopt. Her concluding lines are just and praiseworthy.
Activity 11
(Understanding the Structure of the Text)
Now, keeping the above sequence in mind, notice the pattern the author has used in presenting her thoughts and give an account of the structure of the text on the model presented under Discussion of Text B.
Paragraph No (s) —— Idea in points
1.. Answer .. Mara Wolynski has tried to explain how and why her idea of informal education dawned on her mind.
2… Answer .. She has described the school Sand and Sea that fitted well to her idea of an ideal and innovative school.
3 and 4..The author has described the methods adopted at Sand and Sea to expose the students to the peculiarities of civilization in different parts of the world in different ages, such as America, Greece and Egypt.
5 through 7..The author describes how the system at Sand and Sea gradually crippled the ingenuity of the minds of young children and made them prefer a life with no restrictions, no discipline and no accountability. She narrates how a few students took to suicide out of frustration and intellectual decay.
8.. The author vividly narrates how the non-existent education at Sand and Sea crippled her later education and made her feel shameful.
9 and 10 ..The author narrates the way she introspected her fallacious experiment with the education system, and the terrible consequences of such an experiment.
11..Wolynski admits her fault and repents her wrong-doing in the past. Now, she has become wise.