When I Heard The Learned Astronomer

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People will often say that the type of the class you have depends upon the teacher. James B. Stockdale once said, "A liberally educated person meets new ideas with curiosity and fascination. An illiberally educated person meets new ideas with fear." In other words, a person who is taught with a sense of empowerment and real-world ideals will learn better, and will readily accept knowledge than someone who is not taught in this way. A person will struggle and be unwilling to learn if they are taught in a strict manner, and are only given facts from the subject area that is being taught. The films Dead Poets Society and The Man Without a Face, the novel The Once and Future King by T. H. White, and the poem "When I Heard the Learned Astronomer" …show more content…

This teacher talks all of facts, and seems to not care about the feelings of his students. "When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me... How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick." These lines from the poem shows what lecturing strictly facts can do to a student. The student featured in the poem dreams of leaving the class and looking at the stars, while the teacher, an astronomer, drones on about facts and figures of the stars. In contrast, the relationship between Merlyn and the Wart is one of support and learning. While Merlyn appears to be a silly man at first, he truly shows his knowledge and competence as a teacher. Merlyn throws the Wart into to action of a situation in order to strengthen his knowledge in a unique way. "Education is experience, and the essence of experience is self reliance," (White 46). This quote, from Merlyn himself, establishes who Merlyn is as a teacher. It shows that Merlyn values the importance of a student learning for themselves. The trust between Merlyn and the Wart is what allows the Wart to be able to accomplish these fantastic

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