Talk about the relationships between the members of a family like those described by S.Maugham (Mrs.Garstins Hopes and Disappointments).
The story about Kitty unfortunately is a common situation that occurred in families in that time and is not uncommon in these days. In this story Mrs. Garstin got married unsuccessfully, as was said, her father saw a great future in her husband, but it turned not so. She decided to be the neck in their family and turned her husband head any way she wanted. And it all worked. She tried to get acquainted with rich and noble people with the expectation that her two daughters grow up and like any good mother she would like them a good marriage.
But the most important thing in such situations is to follow the right path. Yes, it very important to invest in children, giving education and teaching them good manners. Kitty had good upbringing, she was beautiful, and she knew her self-worth.
And she certainly would have found a soul mate sooner or later, if her parents really loved her and wanted her to be happy. First of all, her mother's vision on marriage was hereditary that husband should be only rich and noble man with a respectable position in society and certainly older than her daughter.
Secondly it is established stereotypes in society. I would say 50 years ago for a girl was determined period of 18 to 22 years to get married. If till 25 years she was still single, she fell into a panic. So Mrs. Garstin confirms this by saying that after 25 years old Kitty will not be pretty anymore and no one will want to marry her. As a result what we see in the end, the girl from despair got married for the first comer, without any feeling. However she did it for entering into framework of public established stereotypes and for calming down her mother, who was getting more and more irritable with every year from 21th Kitty's birthday. In addition the probability that such a marriage will be long and happy is not high.
Are public opinion and stereotypes more important to parents than the happiness of their children or there lies something else? Looking at this family can be concluded that the mother, offering advice to her daughter thinks she is doing the right out of a sense of love, but love is long gone - only the pure self-interest and calculation, and of course because of that she gives away the wrong advice and Kitty when taking such advice destroys her personal life. Then, after a while she will understand who owes her misfortune, but it will be too late because it is often already irreversible. Therefore, the surest way to happiness of their kids is love them, to be able to listen and understand them. Moreover, thanks god, lifes priorities have shifted. Today gives priority to education and a diploma which is acquired in time for 22 years. Then you need time to gain some experience and then to think about marriage.
Talk about the frustrations and rewards of teaching as seen by an American university teacher. Share your views on the problem. (Why I Teach).
|
|
|
To begin with I must admit that teaching is a really challenging and rewarding job, but it is a demanding as well. Its an incredible responsibility to be the guardians of the human spirit and the human mind. To be a good teacher you must be sincerely interested in what you are doing not to quit because teaching is a red-eye, sweaty-palm and sinking-stomach profession: Actually there are some frustrations about this job, for instance a teacher not always feels ready to teach, no matter how late at night he stays up to prepare; he is always nervous before entering the classroom; sometimes it happens so that a teacher realizes that the lesson failed and he was even more boring than usual. But still on the other hand there are many rewards of teaching which recompense for all the frustrations. Firstly, teaching is built on change, even when the material is the same, the teacher himself changes and his students change. Secondly, a teacher is the boss of his own, he is free to make his own mistakes, to learn his own lessons, to stimulate himself and his students. Even if there is a colossal failure, he can learn from those failures. Thirdly, teaching gives many nectars to taste, many woods to enter and leave, many fine books to read, and many ivory towers and real-world experiences to discover. Teaching gives pace, variety and the opportunity to keep on learning. And we know that every time you learn smth new, became smth new. Besides, its a great pleasure to see the people who grow and change in your presence. Alongside with all this, teaching offers smth else: it offers love, not only love of learning, but also the love a teacher feels for that rare student who walks into the life of a teacher and begins to breathe. And being around people who are beginning to breathe, you can find yourself catching your breath with them.
