I think that Rita wants to study because she is eager to learn since she considers that study will enable her to see things from otherpoint of view, more deeply. For example, she says that she doesn´t want to see ballet or the opera and think that it is rubbish but she wants to watch it and understand it.
I think that she is an intelligent woman since she knows what she wants (to succed in life).
6 comments:
Whose point of view is Rita trying to get, Laura?
I also wonder: do you always know what you want in life? I don't... does that make me "stupid", would you say? (I'm not pulling your leg!) ;-)
Looking forward to reading more from you,
Gladys
I think that Rita is trying to get a more critical point of view. Because of the fact that she admires Frank for his knowledge, what she may want is to see things and to judge them from that point of view, a more enriched one.
I don’t know always what I want in life but that doesn’t make me stupid. I feel that what may make us intelligent is making good decisions for us to succeed in life. If we choose something that is bad for us to get what we want, in that case I wouldn’t be an intelligent person.
Here you can find several dictionary entries for "critical", Lau. Could you pls have a look at them and tell me which you mean?
Rita cannot really know how much (or how little!) Frank knows at this stage, can she? I mean, they've just met... So what might she actually be looking up to him?
I'd like to invite you to considere whether to you there's a difference between "an intelligent choice" (1 particular instance in somebody's life) and "an intelligent person"... Besides, many times what seems to be "an intelligent choice" turns out to bring about negative conseuqences, doesn't it... And what does "to succeed in life" mean exactly? Is it the same for everyone?
Wondering, wondering, wondering...
Gladys
When I said “critical”, I wanted to refer to give an opinion carefully, “with exact evaluation and judgment.”(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/critical ). To me, Rita would do that if she had some knowledge on the subject she is talking about; so in that situation she would be able to give a critical point of view.
I think that Rita might look up to him because she considers that he is a literate man; otherwise she would not be taken classes with him as a teacher. I’m not saying that learning or teaching classes just can take place when there is somebody who “has the knowledge” and other who don’t and have to learn; but what I wanted to say is that Rita needs somebody who can guide and help her so as to achieve what she longs: to be an educated woman.
As regards “succeed in life”, I think it is different for everybody. I think that to succeed in life depends on our values, since we tend to give more importance to some particular things rather than to others; so that while ones are successful from their point of view, others are not from that same view.
All depends on the moral values that every culture has, particularly every person has. That is why Rita attends this course since she gives a lot of importance to being a literate person.
I definitely support your belief that education should give us not just knowledge but criteria to make choices with that information, Laura! Otherwise, too many facts can just "kill us", can't they? ;-) Developing critical thinking skills has not been an educational concern for very long, I'm afraid (remember this as we discuss "Dead Poet's Society" in class!).
On another line of thought, Rita has not chosen Frank himself, university has appointed him as her tutor, and she's looked up to him from the very start, hasn't she? Now, since she doesn't actually know him, and we've got many clues that suggest Frank's not the wonderful professor we might expect, can you speculate on what it is Rita admires in Frank?
The remaining question would be: why does Rita value being "literate" that much?
I love the way your replies gradually help me understand your thoughts better, thanks for replying to all comments like this!
Fondly,
Gladys
Hi Gladys!! I’m trying to answer all your questions!!
Well, I think that although Rita doesn’t know him very much, she might admire him because he is a professor and she might suppose that he “knows a lot” and that he “has the knowledge” in the course, and she might consider herself as somebody who doesn’t know anything compared with him…
As regards being literate, Rita may value that much since she may consider that those who knows are the ones who success so that she may want to learn and to be educated in order to change and improve her life… remember that this is her main goal: improve herself and change for the better.
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