Is My Teacher Told Me - 862 Words

Robert Kiyosaki stated, â€Å"French fries kill more people than guns and sharks, yet nobody s afraid of French fries.† inferring that people are only afraid of what causes immediate danger or disturbance. What we refer to as â€Å"history† causes such disturbances, proving that we live with the scars we choose to show by our everyday decisions based on our past everyday mistakes, so by editing our recorded history to all facts, the gates of perception will cleanse everything. Those following theses false stories in â€Å"history† live in ignorance which is deceitful bliss and when an individual doesn’t know reality they have no choice but to relish in lies. James Loewen highlights this clear case of living in ignorance throughout the novel Lies My Teacher Told Me, analyzing how our history is taught from perspectives rather than the total truth which creates false heroes and eliminates other perspectives to a situation, here we see reality versus the perc eption. Furthermore, throughout chapter 1 (Handicapped by History: The Process of Hero-making) in the novel Lies my teacher told me Loewen shows how false heroes can be created when history is told from a perspective rather than straightforwardly. He states, â€Å"Textbooks typically fail to show the interrelationship between the hero and the people. By giving credit to the hero, authors tell less than half of the story†, meaning that authors in textbooks are missing the majority of stories being told. He brings false icons in AmericanShow MoreRelated Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen Essay1948 Words   |  8 PagesLies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen High school history textbooks are seen, by students, as presenting the last word on American History. Rarely, if ever, do they question what their text tells them about our collective past. According to James W. Loewens Lies My Teacher Told Me, they should be. Loewen has spent considerable time and effort reviewing history texts that were written for high school students. In Lies, he has reviewed twenty texts and has compared them to the actualRead MoreLies My Teacher Told Me1094 Words   |  5 Pages The book Lies My Teacher Told me, by James W. Loewen, was written with the intention to inform anybody that has ever learned about history, in the United States, using a textbook that they have, most likely, been given false information. The books and information that has been in Elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and even college classes are skewed, by mostly telling stories in the United States favor. Loewen wrote the book to tell the real stories of our nation s h istory. The bookRead MoreEssay on Lies My Teacher Told Me910 Words   |  4 Pagespast. This is where we get the misinterpretation of history. In chapter five of the book Lies My Teacher Told Me, these contradictions are brought into light and force us to look at them again. As I have learned in my history courses we can always question the accuracy of a story but we may never fully understand the truth. There have been three important times I have been through that have shaped my understanding of history today, specifically the part of history dealing with slavery and racismRead MoreSummary Of Lies My Teacher Told Me2933 Words   |  12 PagesThe book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, begins with an introduction in which author James W. Loewen empathizes with the students. He discusses how History, specifically American History, is taught incorrectly. Loewen is able to share his understanding of why high school students think history is boring. He begins his argument with facts and n umbers by saying that out of all the subjects in school, history is almost every students least favorite subject. He goes on to say that teachers also misrepresentRead MoreLies My Teacher Told Me Essay3234 Words   |  13 Pagescountry. It is held as a core curriculum for every American student because of the importance found in teaching our youth of our â€Å"perfect nation† and our â€Å"perfect past†. However, contrary to popular belief, James W. Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, has found American history to be taught with a completely nationalistic approach. Not only is the history of our country taught with a horribly strong patriotic sentiment, but generally with a misunderstood concept of the history of AmericaRead MoreEssay on Lies My Teacher Told Me Heroification821 Words   |  4 PagesAshley Walker Mr. Scott INTD 101-18: The Art of Seduction 29 September 2011 A False History James Loewen uses his piece Lies my Teacher Told Me to reveal the flaws in America’s mainstream textbooks. Loewen points out the fact that textbooks try to â€Å"indoctrinate blind patriotism† (Loewen 6) and â€Å"keep students in the dark about the nature of history† (Loewen 8). Almost every American textbook sells history using the â€Å"soft seduction† approach, as explained in Robert Greene’s book, The Art ofRead MoreEssay on A Critical Analysis of Lies My Teacher Told Me1014 Words   |  5 PagesA Critical Analysis of:Lies My Teacher Told Me It would be better not to know so many things than to know so many things which are not so. -FELIX OKOYE Out of all forms of literature currently known to man, educational textbooks are arguably the least interesting. On top of being incredibly boring, textbooks, especially American history ones, neglect to include the entirety of the information that it should. Because American history textbooks wish only to paintRead More Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen Essay example1439 Words   |  6 Pages James Loewen wrote the book ?Lies My Teacher Told ME? to help the students of the United States become aware of their true history. This book attempts to show how and why American history has been taught the way it has without regard for the truth. Mr. Loewen had compared twelve different history textbooks they are: The Great Republic, The American Way, Land of Promise, Rise of the American Nation, Challenge of Freedom, American Adventures, Discovering American History, The American TraditionRead More The Lies My Teacher Told Me and People’s History of the United States1462 Words   |  6 Pagesmeans it is always accurate. Historical facts, similar to words whispered in the child’s game, â€Å"telephone,† are easily transformed into different facts, either adding or subtracting certain details from the story. James Loewen, in The Lies My Teacher Told Me, reveals how much history has been changed by textbook writes so that students studying the textbooks can und erstand and connect to the information. In Howard Zinn’s, People’s History of the United States, the author recounts historical talesRead MoreThe Lies My Teacher Told Me And A People s History Of The United States1691 Words   |  7 Pagesfocuses in a lighter manner and leaves the learner asking questions. In their novels, The Lies My Teacher Told Me and A People’s History of the United States, James Loewen and Howard Zinn divulged the missing facts that textbooks omit. Loewen and Zinn highpoint the important facts that people were not exposed to in the textbooks or other novels. In the case of young children, it is understandable for teachers to leave out such facts and only promote what is relevant at the time. However, for high school