The Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method and William Gibson's The Miracle Worker --Part Two-- There was a lively discussion about a later scene in Act II between Annie and James, Helen’s step-brother. Annie has been teaching Helen in the summer house very intensively, and Helen has been making some progress. But James is cynical and mocking—and from the beginning has shown he is against this whole attempt to have Helen learn anything. Arnold Cintron—who earlier complained bitterly about any reading assignment—now was tremendously affected by how James often responds coolly. We saw that James is actively against—he is determined to find the world not so good. When Annie says to him, “That little imp is dying to know.” James says, “Know what?” Annie: Anything. Any and every crumb in God’s creation.
The class was excited to see: it matters to Annie Sullivan that Helen Keller learns; she’s for it without reservation and against anything in Helen’s way. The Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method makes it possible for every teacher to see—and I say this with the gratitude of my entire life—there is something to be completely for in every student, and something to be entirely against--not in order to be superior, but to bring out their strength and desire to like the world, which is the same as their desire to learn. Do we believe that our students, with all the things they face, want to like the world? We are crippled in the classroom if we do not. Annie Sullivan believes that with all Helen's willfulness, she wants to be opposed and desperately wants her desire to learn brought out. "Are we all like that?" I asked, "Do we want someone who'll be for and against us in a way that will make us stronger?" My students were greatly moved by the final scene which takes place after a tremendous fight. Helen has knocked over a pitcher in anger and Annie Sullivan takes her to the pump to refill it. As Helen pumps, “Annie takes over the handle to keep water coming, and does automatically what she has done many times before, spells into Helen’s free palm,” Annie: Water. W, a, t, e, r. Water. It has a—name—” The playwright tells us:
Although Helen Keller was never able to see or hear, she learned five languages, English, Latin, Greek, German, and French. She graduated from Radcliffe College and became an author, lecturing all over the world not only on behalf of the blind, but for justice to all people. She wanted to know the world's diversity through touch and smell and thought with a passionate love. In The Story of My Life, her first book, written when she was 22, she wrote:
Because she wanted so much to be affected and to learn, Helen Keller is loved and admired all over the world. My students respected Annie Sullivan very much and said they want to be like her. In essays, they wrote about her persevering and having a beautiful determination to have Helen learn, although people, including Helen herself and those close to her, were against this.
They saw they have to be against contempt, including in themselves, in order to be for the world. Seeing the oneness of for and against in drama and in the world, my students were better able to make a relation between for and against in themselves and in their knowing each other. Instead of fighting—as days passed they listened more thoughtfully to each other, and they also stood up for their own opinions. They talked frankly about criticisms they have of how boys and girls see each other and they were good-naturedly criticizing themselves. It was a pleasure to be with them, and now that the semester has passed, I miss them! Nearly every student in my classes passed every quiz and test in this unit. Most had an average of at least 80. When I commented on how well everyone did on one test in particular, Johnny Diaz, who in the past found it hard to express himself in writing said, "We like it." Louis Ramos, a young man whose family life had been turbulent, said with shame early in the semester that he was slow and couldn't learn like his classmates. One day during a discussion he stood up at his desk and said, "Last year, I just didn't get it. I didn't know what was going on and I just didn't get it. But now I understand! I understand and it's because of the way you teach!" I want teachers everywhere to know what I am so grateful to have learned. When they do, education will have a renaissance! * * * * *Works Cited:Aesthetic Realism Class, Aesthetic Realism as Beauty: Drama, 1951. Gibson, William. The Miracle Worker. New York: Bantam Books, 1968. Keller, Helen. The Story of My Life, Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1904. Reiss, Ellen. “The Answer for Education; the Solution to Prejudice,” The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known Siegel, Eli. Four Statements of Aesthetic Realism. New York: Aesthetic Realism Foundation, 1967.
|
|---|
Here are further links about how Aesthetic Realism sees the arts & sciences, urgent cultural and economic matters, ethics, and the life questions of every person:Anthropologist and author Dr. Arnold Perey tells of his field research in New Guinea and the classes he teaches today--and much more--at Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology For teachers, parents, and others, here are links that will tell you more about the Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method:
What makes a photograph beautiful? How can a photographer improve his or her work? What does the art of photography have to do with justice to people? Find out at Len Bernstein: Photographic Education Based on the Aesthetic Realism of Eli Siegel Some of Eli Siegel's books, essays, lectures, and poems can be read at The Aesthetic Realism Online Library Also, see what critics have said about Aesthetic Realism and Eli Siegel. Aesthetic Realism Associate Lynette Abel tells here about classes she attended taught by Eli Siegel, reports on classes conducted by Ellen Reiss, and reprints some of the newspaper articles she has written: Lynette Abel: Aesthetic Realism and Life What interferes with our expression? Find out at Aesthetic Realism Encourages Self-Expression the website of Miriam Mondlin Read Ellen Reiss's critical observations about the poetry of Robert Burns (one of our favourite poets). She shows how relevant what Burns was writing about 200 years ago is to what is going on today. His poetry has the terrifically just way of seeing people that is needed by government leaders and every one of us. |
Return to the top of the page | Home Page | Site Map | Contact Us