In A Joumbled Drawer Analysis

Following a recent visit to an elementary school, I contemplated a set of construction-paper projects that hung on the walls of the school’s narrow third grade hallway. The objective of the brightly colored projects entitled “A Timeline of Me” was to help the students develop goals. The timelines ranged from birth to high achievement in school to having traditionally successful jobs and families. Strangely enough, the societal expectations of following a restricted formula reflected in those children’s simple projects. Specifically, the timelines echoed the limiting philosophy that the status quo is the only reasonable path, a sentiment many feel pressured by. This outlook on life can result in thought errors and obstruction of growth. To illustrate the contrast of positive thinking that results from ability to change, and the negative thinking that is caused by the inability to wander from expectations and previous theories we turn to several readings: Atul Gewande’s “Suggestions for Becoming a Positive Deviant”, which exemplifies positive thinking, and examples of negative thinking, the academic life of N.S. Shaler, as explained in Stephan Jay Gould’s “In A Jumbled …show more content…
Progress is made through breaking, and exceeding, social norms. Malcolm X illustrated the success that is a product of pushing what society tells individuals they can achieve, and believing that change is possible. In “Saved”, Malcolm X detailed the process he took to educating himself in prison. Society’s expectations of a black man with an eighth grade education were unambitious. Malcolm X shattered this assumption by broadening his vocabulary and educating himself with extensive reading (Malcolm X 2-3). Just as Malcolm X benefited from rejecting societal expectations, students, as well as current and future professionals, and all others, can benefit from questioning the path that society pressures us to