Assertion: Education

The purpose of education is to give yourself the ability to make your own decisions and to better yourself. In the essay, A Talk to Teachers, James Baldwin expresses his beliefs that education is about asking questions of the universe in order to achieve our own identity. Education is not simply going to school, taking English and science, and taking tests. It is everything in our lives that makes us think or reason. It is anything that teaches us about ourselves and betters our ability to make decisions. The essays in Chapter 4 offer different stories on education, proving that there are many ways to be educated. You can educate yourself, by a comic book, in literature class. You can also learn just from being on the streets, from listening to music, or painting a picture.

The school system is beneficial as a base for learning. It offers many opportunities to learn different subjects and interact with different people. It helps you realize that you enjoy. It broadens your mind and that ways in which you see the world; However, school is just the start. It is what you take from the experiences in school and how you apply them to your life outside of the classroom. The things you learn from your own experiences, through your own thoughts, is what means the most. These situations is what builds your personal identity and betters it throughout your life.