Module 6 Poetry, Drama, Film, Response
13 years ago
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Peer Review #3-Chapters 7-8
Explain the quote in Chapter 7 by Alexander Pope in his Essay on Man (1732) as it relates to the early childhood movement, "Behold the child, by nature's kindly law, Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw. Some livelier plaything gives his youth delilght, A little louder but as empty quite" (Lascarides & Hinitz, p. 171).
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The importance of children during the colonial period was loving, yet guarded. The Puritans believed that infancy began in the womb and that an unborn child had an immortal soul. Children were generally cared for, however, infant mortality rates soared due to the lack of proper sanitation.
Schooling became important after religion. The main goal of education was to "instill the habits of obedience, reverence, and industry...", (Lascarides & Hinitz, p. 177). It is also important to note the emphasis on schooling for boys acquiring knowledge as girls needed to learn household duties.
In our earlier chapters, we read about the importance of allowing children to direct their learning based on their interests and needs. Teachers are observers and facilitators, allowing children to problem solve. This is quite a contrast to the colonies in America as discussed in the above paragraph.
It is important to note these differences in a child's upbringing and schooling as it relates to the poem by Pope. Although children are regarded as a 'gift' by nature, and children can be easily amused by playthings, in the colonial times, children were to be seen but not heard. The liveliness of childhood was often squelched by the doctrines and rules inflicted on children. As children got "a little louder" they were not encouraged to be gleeful, but discouraged and harshly punished. Children were not encouraged to question or involve themselves with nature unless they were instructed to do so. Instead, they were "but as empty quite."
The colonial times in America were not the times for children. They were harsh and cruel times; times of existence and survival for families. It is not until later when Horace Mann became a spokesman for American educational reforms that all children were respectfully regarded and mattered in society.
Hornbooks and primers became the books used in the schools at this time. As children advanced, they would go on to grammar school and texts written in Latin, not English. Discipline was harsh and children were sternly punished for any foolishness. It was to break the child's will. The poem states succinctly the demise of the child during the Colonial times in America.
Lascarides, V., & Hinitz, B. (2000). History of early childhood education. New York: Palmer Press.
I think perhaps this may be Pope's analogy to the Ages of Man as he writes "pleased with a rattle" indicating the young infant and next he writes of a "livelier plaything for "youth", and then the "Riper Age" as one of beads and prayer books, and finally death as he writes of sleep and the "play is oer". Just a thought, although it does tie in with the notion of children during the colonial period.
Epistle II
Behold the child, by nature's kindly law,
Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw:
Some livelier plaything give his youth delight,
A little louder, but as empty quite:
Scarfs, garters, gold, amuse his riper stage,
And beads and prayer-books are the toys of age:
Pleased with this bauble still, as that before,
Till tired he sleeps, and life's poor play is o'er.
Thanks, Technohound for the insight. I wasn't aware of Pope. I appreciate the shift in perspective!
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