Standing Out for the Common Good Essay -- Literacy Analysis

C.S. Lewis’s, â€Å"Democratic Education,† is story that exemplifies our democratic government and how it is to be preserved through education. He gives an account of a school system where all children had equality. The equality was not that of â€Å"they were getting taught and treated the same†, but equality of the inner being. Every child should feel the same about where they are intellectually and no person should feel more or less educated and smart than the other. The account gives propositions of what society would be like in different situations depending on the other interpretations of democratic education and what prompts the positivity or negativity of having democratic education. This analysis will explore why there is strong hint that there are negative connotations about a democratic education system when the text seems to be for this particular idea. C.S. Lewis has a distinctive style of sarcasm that is found within the piece and he uses this style to make the reader realize why the idea represented is one of stupidity. He explains what would have to happen in school systems, the sources of equality, how this type of equality and democracy do not relate, how the examples given are actually not examples of democracy, and what would happen if democratic education system (despite everthing) would, in the end, hinder the boy rather than help him. Lewis begins by stating, â€Å"Until we have realized that the two things [democracy and education] do not necessarily go together we cannot think clearly about education.† Here he is bluntly stating his point of view before we even get into the argument. He then, spends the next three to four paragraphs of the text giving examples of how people may think democracy and ... ... If someone is in a high position that they are not qualified for then it will fail. If we promote democratic education in order to preserve political democracy then these people may find themselves in a position that they are not qualified for because they were lied to and as a result we still have not preserved our original goal of political democracy. Lewis is pro political democracy and therefore, against democratic education because it covers up an initial problem in order to make someone feel more superior and better about themselves for the time being. Later on there will be consequences and Lewis is trying to prevent those consequences. References Lewis, C. (n.d.). Democratic Education. . Retrieved April 2, 2012, from https://mycampus.umhb.edu/ICS/icsfs/Democractic_Education_(Lewis).PDF?target=bccee72d-d8f9-45bc-985d-dd7a86b570ad