|
|
Irony (![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} isntitironic) wrote in ![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/community.gif){kind=small} fandom_wank,@ 2005-01-12 21:49:00 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| Current mood: | Amazed |
The Ron/Hermione Couple Phenomenon: A Sign of the Failure of the American Education System!
I'm posting this for a friend who doesn't have a Journalfen account.
The Ron/Hermione Couple Phenomenon: A Sign of the Failure of the American Education System!
This mess all starts when an H/Hr fan on the “HHShippersAnonymous” egroup who goes by “Cat” announces that she is in a “mood,” which is not usually a good sign. She introduces herself as a teacher, and says that her husband is also a teacher, which she seems to thinks gives her the status of “all-knowing.” Then, she gets to the fun part, and launches into her theory!
One of the things we found was that most reading comprehension tests only "test" for certain types of understanding. Of the hundreds of types of understanding, most schools only test for 12 to 14 types of /surface/ information. Students are not asked to "infer" or come to their own conclusions based on context clues. They are only asked to identify /obvious/ facts. This means that most students (unless they study on their own or read a lot) don't learn how to "read between the lines." Can we all see where I'm going with this? Good, I thought so!
SO! R/Hr shippers identify themselves with "Isn't it Obvious?" while most H/Hr shippers identify themselves with "Read Between the Lines." There are (at least on certain websites) about twice as many R/Hr shippers as H/Hr shippers. So here's my thesis: /*IF*/ H.M.S Pumpkin Pie is the ship that sails, Harry Potter may just prove that there is a large gaping hole in the American Education System.
There you have it! R/Hr, product of a faulty educational system! I'd love to have seen what this would have done on a less civil group.
Viki, who amusingly has an e-mail address which starts with “hogwartzchik” agrees with this, definitely seeing in her experience how H/Hr fans are more intelligent.
JenniferLupin then speaks up and says: “I just wanted to say that I don't think that R/Hrs are R/Hrs because they can't grasp subtle literary clues. I think it's just a difference in opinion.”
Cat, who sees the need to argue every point, objects, and says that this is not a difference of opinion, it’s a difference in personal preference. She also asks JenniferLupin to “enlighten” her.
JenniferLupin warns Cat that an essay won’t change her mind, and gives Cat a link to an (IMHO) badly done essay on SugarQuill. Cat makes a statement before reading the essay: “IF* I were presented with good evidence I would change my mind” and “The only real flaws I would debate would be logical not preferential.” Keep that one in mind.
Cat reads the essay and says: “This was a heartbreakingly accurate example of the type of shoddy thinking I was talking about in the first post of this series. And now I'm seriously depressed.” Oh, nos! She didn’t agree with the R/Hr essay, the educational system still sucks, and now she’s depressed! She ends the e-mail with a comment about kicking a hole in her soap box. As you can see, logic reigns here. Cat continues on to say that JenniferLupin doesn’t know how to debate, and tells her to try “honest introspecting” in Harry Potter and then apply it to the rest of her life.
JenniferLupin responds by saying that there are R/Hr fans in other parts of the world – does that mean their educational systems are failing too? She also says that she wasn’t debating, she was just giving Cat what she wanted, and ‘shipping interpretation is a matter of opinion anyway.
Cat says: “I've said before that I cannot speak for any other system besides America but I can say that our system has been imported and exported to and from several other countries. I will also say this: If a majority of the world were learning to think properly and carefully, would there be so much hate?” She also adds that it isn’t a matter of opinion, and still insists that a shred of logic would change her mind (uh-huh, and pink elephants are prancing around in my basement) and is insulted that JenniferLupin implied that she wouldn’t change her mind. Cat thinks that JenniferLupin is taking everything too personally (who was kicking a hole in her soapbox?) and says that she never said R/Hr fans weren’t as intelligent(?!)
Erika pops in to defend JenniferLupin, which is a hopeless effort, because Cat is always logical and correct – she’s a teacher, remember! She adds that “Logic is, by nature, unemotional.” And “I ruthlessly apply logic to both sides impartially and gleefully. It would only take one or two good, solid pieces of evidence to sway me. But no one has presented these so I remain unconvinced.” She signs her name and says that none of this is a hard concept.
Finally, JenniferLupin suggests that things are getting out of hand ('are getting?') and suggests ending the thread.
Cat leaves a final message:
“First: I expect you to have thoroughly read and /*understood*/ what was originally said. Read it several times and take notes. Print it out and pencil all over it if it's hard to follow. People are commenting back with critiques that make no sense if they have actually read and understood the comment they are arguing against.”
I think they understand you perfectly, Cat. ;)
I have no journalfen account, so I big ‘Thank You!’ to my friend who is posting this.
ETA: This was on a mailing list - no links, I'm afraid!
