Summary Of Mike Rose Lives On The Boundaries
In Lives on the Boundaries, Mike Rose claims that developmental English classes that are meant for remedial students are not actually helping them to become literate. The curriculum is actually hindering students from becoming literate. Rose states that those kinds of remedial classes teach the students that writing is about structure and being grammatically correct instead of being a way to express meaningful ideas. Because of these “corrective teachings”, the students see writing as tedious. Rose’s claim relates to his descriptions of two different English classes. Developmental English at a state college in Ohio, and English A at the University of California, Los Angeles. In the Developmental English course in Ohio, Rose explains how the
students have a workbook with multiple grammar exercises that must be completed and turned in to the teacher for grading. On the other hand, the English A class at UCLA has a class discussion about the topic in the curriculum. On page two, Rose writes, “She has situated the Golden Age of Athens on a time line on the blackboard, and she is encouraging her students to tell her what they already know about Greek culture.” In this particular class, Rose describes how students are engaged and contributing to the class discussion by throwing out any knowledge they have about Greek
Mythology. In contrast, the students in the Developmental English class in Ohio are described as not quite paying attention to the lesson and occasionally filling out the blanks in their workbooks. “Young men along the back wall fill in a blank now and then; the rest of the time, they’re eyeballing the teacher and talking softly.” (page 206) This class bring about a dull, juvenile lesson based on rules and memorization while the English class at UCLA produces a very active lesson that encourages ideas, concepts, and brainstorming.
students have a workbook with multiple grammar exercises that must be completed and turned in to the teacher for grading. On the other hand, the English A class at UCLA has a class discussion about the topic in the curriculum. On page two, Rose writes, “She has situated the Golden Age of Athens on a time line on the blackboard, and she is encouraging her students to tell her what they already know about Greek culture.” In this particular class, Rose describes how students are engaged and contributing to the class discussion by throwing out any knowledge they have about Greek
Mythology. In contrast, the students in the Developmental English class in Ohio are described as not quite paying attention to the lesson and occasionally filling out the blanks in their workbooks. “Young men along the back wall fill in a blank now and then; the rest of the time, they’re eyeballing the teacher and talking softly.” (page 206) This class bring about a dull, juvenile lesson based on rules and memorization while the English class at UCLA produces a very active lesson that encourages ideas, concepts, and brainstorming.