In this case we will direct students to focus on finding what caused the sudden change, why it should have happened then, and, in following its progress, what events were crucial in making it “revolutionary.” What was the main dynamic of the revolution? We can start by reexamining the French Revolution, which most students will have studied in their history program. Here we will want to engage the student in reflecting on Revolutions in a way that explores how they work-what narratives, first, do we find in them, and then how we can generalize towards a meta-narrative. What accounts for the enduring appeal of this story? In discussion students can consider the following questions: What kinds of binary oppositions come to play in the story? How does fear, power mongering, pride or bullying influence decisions for these men? How are outward appearances misleading in this story? Students could be asked to think of historical conflicts and current disputes that parallel the confrontation between David and Goliath. The plan is to read closely, paying attention to contrasts, binary opposites, dramatic tensions, descriptions of Goliath, motivations of David and symbols in the story. Have students read and discover anew the dramatic story of the mighty man-of-war, Goliath, as he confronts David, the boy-hero of Israel. ![]() ![]() In the fateful contest of fully armed versus disarming, one story stands above all. How could this kind of devastation be explained? World War 2 and the massive destruction of human life, the natural world, architecture and other cultural artifacts, rocked this sense of progress. Prior to this war, one notes what might be described as an ameliorative view of history-the world was obviously getting better, progressing in terms of scientific knowledge, economics, politics and so on. How can we employ meta-narrative structuring in teaching?Ĭognitive Tool: Meta-narrative StructuringĪ meta-narrative framing the study of World War II might examine this war as part of a series of cataclysms that rocked the 20 th century and its basic views of how the world works. But is proper use allows us great facility in bringing together in emotional harmony an array of abstractions. Like all of our tools, we may misuse it or not develop it very adequately. ![]() Meta-narratives are clearly tied to complex higher psychological processes and their purpose is to create for us emotional satisfaction with regard to the complex inhabitants of our abstract realm. ![]() It is a very general, and very powerful, tool which prominently uses our emotions to create coherent responses to varied phenomena. What binds theories together is a meta-narrative. That is, we don’t just organize facts into theories, we shape even our theories into more general meta-narratives that further shape our emotional commitments.Īs stories help us to organize facts and events into emotionally meaningful patterns, so meta-narratives help us to organize generalizations, theories, metaphysical schemes, ideologies and other abstract conceptions into emotionally meaningful patterns. Meta-narrative understanding is a tool that orders facts or events into general ideas and allows us to form emotional associations with them.
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