Imagine having to give a presentation in class on a topic that is completely new to you. Your research consists only of typing the topic into Google and copying down the definition that pops up, and that is it. When you go to give your presentation, you put up a slide with only that definition on it. How well do you think that presentation will go? Probably not real great because the context is missing. When one’s only focus is on the conclusion, or the answer, the process of learning, and possibly the point is totally missed. Without inquiry, there is no story, but a list of conclusions. Both Stephen Jay Gould, and Sherman Alexie explore this idea, that the conclusions are the consequence, not the essence, in their essays, Sex, Drugs, and the Extinction of the Dinosaurs, and Superman and Me.
While Stephen Jay Gould did not specifically address writing as a mode of inquiry in his …show more content…
He says,” Writing was something beyond Indians” (Alexie 36). However, this statement did not apply to him; I believe this was due to the fact that he read so much when he was younger. His inquiry led to a longer education for him, while the others lack of inquiry led to their education’s decay. Because Alexie worked for his education, he was able to retain it better than those who just sat around pretending to not be there. When first learning to read, Alexie mentions that, “The words themselves were mostly foreign, but I still remember the exact moment when I first understood, with a sudden clarity, the purpose of a paragraph” (Alexie 35). Since Alexie was not just told what a paragraph was, having to discover its purpose himself led to a stronger understanding of what it really was. If he had just been told what a paragraph was, the deep understanding of how the paragraph operated would not have been created. The idea lasted because of the inquiry it took for him to finally grasp the
While Stephen Jay Gould did not specifically address writing as a mode of inquiry in his …show more content…
He says,” Writing was something beyond Indians” (Alexie 36). However, this statement did not apply to him; I believe this was due to the fact that he read so much when he was younger. His inquiry led to a longer education for him, while the others lack of inquiry led to their education’s decay. Because Alexie worked for his education, he was able to retain it better than those who just sat around pretending to not be there. When first learning to read, Alexie mentions that, “The words themselves were mostly foreign, but I still remember the exact moment when I first understood, with a sudden clarity, the purpose of a paragraph” (Alexie 35). Since Alexie was not just told what a paragraph was, having to discover its purpose himself led to a stronger understanding of what it really was. If he had just been told what a paragraph was, the deep understanding of how the paragraph operated would not have been created. The idea lasted because of the inquiry it took for him to finally grasp the