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Jacob Lee
Professor Ancekewicz
Writing and Composition Studies I
7 September 2017

The Relevance of a Persons Freedom to Think

Kie Hos article, which was originally published in the Los Angeles Times newspaper,

discusses the difference between education in America versus education in other parts of the

world. Ho comes to the conclusion that other countries, such as Poland, Germany, Lebanon, and

Japan, outperform the United States in school on a concrete level. These countries can more

effectively grasp concrete knowledge, learn new languages, memorize, and quote facts while the

United States falls behind. Ho argues, however, that education provided in the United States is

more valuable, because students in the country are free to think and individualize their education.

In my educational experience including preschool up until my senior year in high school, I have

experienced examples that both conflict and correspond to Kie Hos perspective.

In my freshman year of high school, my English class was critical to my development as

a student. My teacher, Mr. Lindsay, has been known around my school as being a very strict

grader and straightforward person. Being a whimsical and imaginative person, I grew somewhat

uncomfortable being in his class. The first couple of weeks did not ease my nerves as we did

nothing but learn about rules that go along with grammar and vocabulary. Ho denounces the

education system outside of the United States by stating that in high school, he and his fellow

students sat to listen, to answer only when asked, and to give the only correct answer. Even

when studying word forms, there were no alternatives (Ho 113). However, I found that this is

sometimes the case even in the U.S. In Mr. Lindsays English class, we were assigned an essay

on the heros journey of Hercules in the Disney Film (having just finished our mythology unit).

In retrospect, I should have adhered more tightly to the assignment, as instead of analyzing
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Hercules journey through specific examples from the film, I tied in the tellings of the music. I

took up pages and page writing about the use of the reprise, the beauty of the I Can Go the

Distance underscores, and the evolving function of the Muses, the literal Greek Chorus, over

the course of the film. I received a D on the assignment, to my frustration. While Americans are

largely free in the education system, they are not completely in control of their own course.

There will always be classes and teachers and disciplines that will require students to aim for

precise perfection.

Alternatively, in the same English class, draw boo radley

The education System in the United States bOTH