The Progression of Henry Adam's Education
The Progression of Henry Adams’ Education Education is vital to human development. This is believed because if it weren’t for education, one’s knowledge would never fully develop, and maturity could not be reached. Although some may be resistant to education that is forced upon them such as undergraduate studies, these vital years may just set the stage for the rest of one’s scholastic career. A suitable representative of this description would be Henry Adams, a man who at first hated the education he was receiving, only then to later become a professor and honored scholar. Adams wrote an essay entitled “The Education of Henry Adams” which demonstrated to the world his rapid progress in wisdom due to his education not only through schooling, but through travel, exploration, and the search for his own identity. The three selected chapters from his essay reflect Adams’ progression of personal education, the kind of knowledge one receives through self-teaching. Although education may start out as “boring” or “worthless,” it certainly always pays off in the end, and Henry Adams is to prove.
As most undergraduates may, Adams describes his early education has an “intolerable bore” in the chapter titled “Harvard College (1854-58.)” He felt as though he was born matured past high school, as if he wouldn’t have been any less knowledgeable if he hadn’t attended the Private Latin School of E.S. Dixwell. Despite the fact that he despised this education, he was more than willing to attend Harvard College as most other young men did. He mentions that nobody takes Harvard seriously, and students enrolled because their friends did. It was a liberal school which sent its students into the world with just enough to make amends and be decent citizens, but not necessarily extraordinary. Adams defined the faculty as poor and the education delivered was not needed. The four years spent learning at the institution could have been condensed into four months, as Adams views it.
As most undergraduates may, Adams describes his early education has an “intolerable bore” in the chapter titled “Harvard College (1854-58.)” He felt as though he was born matured past high school, as if he wouldn’t have been any less knowledgeable if he hadn’t attended the Private Latin School of E.S. Dixwell. Despite the fact that he despised this education, he was more than willing to attend Harvard College as most other young men did. He mentions that nobody takes Harvard seriously, and students enrolled because their friends did. It was a liberal school which sent its students into the world with just enough to make amends and be decent citizens, but not necessarily extraordinary. Adams defined the faculty as poor and the education delivered was not needed. The four years spent learning at the institution could have been condensed into four months, as Adams views it.
Cited: Pardini, Samuel F.S. “The Electric Education of Henry Adams: Inventing the History of Technology.” Interdisciplinary Humanities 24.1 (2007): 21-35 Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Jan. 2013 Samuelson, Richard A. “The Real Education of Henry Adams.” Public Interest 147 (2002): 86. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Jan. 2013.