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Example research essay topic: Liberal Arts Education Consequences - 1,624 words

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Liberal arts is a generalized term for a broad range of subjects including history, philosophy, and literature. These courses do not necessarily provide a solid foundation for a trade or profession, a lot of students ask or think why am I taking this class? or why is it necessary to take a class that is not really going to help me become a doctor or lawyer? The answer is that although they do not directly relate to there chosen area of study they expand horizons, give us a solid general knowledge base and establish better reasoning skills. They allow for question, exploration and deduction of ideas, thoughts and themes. For these reasons and many more they are a valuable and crucial part of an education.

Im going to try and compare the men to the women in the texts we have studied. It almost seems that the men lack certain skills that the women posses and that these skills could be obtained from studying liberal arts. When we begin our college education we are becoming adults. We are expected think for ourselves and accept full responsibility for our actions.

I think that liberal arts classes act as a catalyst to this process. Among the general population of adults it is believed that teenagers act impulsively, not thinking before acting and certainly not thinking about the consequences. This sort of reckless behavior is predominant in the male characters of the texts we have studied. Take for example when Tiresias, the blind prophet, in Sophocles, Oedipus the King, says: How terrible to see the truth When the truth is only pain to him who sees! (p. 626 Lines 359 - 360) Oedipus does not take the time to think about what the blind man was saying.

He acts rashly, making him foolish. This shows the lack of a liberal arts education. He wanted instant gratification. Tiresias even tells Oedipus that he is the murder [he] hunt[s] (pg 630 Line 413). Oedipus does not even pause for a moment to reflect on the prophets words. A liberal arts education teaches us how to sit down and think things out and how important this process is.

I think that if he had sat down privately with Tiresias and talked things over or even stopped to listen to him that the outcome would, perhaps, have been different. Another example of the male characters lacking certain skills that can be obtained through a liberal arts education is in Homers, The Odyssey. The main character Odysseus comes up with a fool proof plan to escape from an island where he and his men are trapped. Odysseus then foils his own plan by telling the Kyklopes his name.

This leads to extreme suffering for him and his men. Odysseus acted on impulse, now although being impulsive can add a certain spice to life, knowing when to keep your mouth shut and think be before you act can simply make life run smoother for you. This may sound like a contradiction but there are certain times when being impulsive is just not the smart thing to do, like when you are in fear for your life or just escaped from an island inhabited by Kyklopes. It seems to me that this would be common sense, part of the logical thought process.

Again, this shows that the men dont think before they act. This is a skill that is acquired from the study of liberal arts. Logical thinking, being rational goes hand-in-hand with this trait. The men, unlike the women, in the texts do not posses these traits from the get-go, instead they must learn from their mistakes. Next to contrast this I am going to move to Aristophanes Lystrata. Lystrata is a comedy dealing that deals with a serious subject war.

Lystrata is a woman who although may seem to act like a take charge man, certainly does not think like one. She sees a problemwarand wants the matter resolved. The conclusion she comes up with abstain from sexual (and probably still is) something that no man would ever dream of. A liberal arts education enables people to think about things from all angles, this sometime includes getting a second opinion, a fresh set of eyes on a stale problem. Lystrata does not act on impulse but instead takes the time to actually think about a solution. She is logical and considers all aspects of what she is going to do.

By doing so she knows that she is, at first, going to have some resistance from the women. Since she has anticipated this, she formulates a plan. Odysseus did not consider all the different outcomes and suffered greatly for it. We see this same methodical thinking in Euripides Medea. Medea is a woman whose husband, Jason, has left her for a younger woman, who just happens to be a princess. To Medea (and most women) this is unforgivable.

This is not the life she planned for, the life she betrayed her father and homeland for. She decides to settle the score with her adulterous husband. She plans out, very meticulously, her revenge. This thought process can be learned though a liberal arts education. By this I do not mean the actual thoughts but the way she forms her plan. Her plan is psychotic (killing her children), but she comes to the conclusion that this only way to actually hurt her husband.

When we obtain a liberal arts education, we learn to face the problem and explore the possible solutions. Jason did not know his wife possessed these traits. When she exacted her revenge he was blind-sided: Now I see it plain, though at that time I did not, when I took you from your foreign home And brought you to a Greek house, you, an evil thing, A trait ress to your father and your native land (p. 723 Lines 1304 - 1307) Jason did not think that any of her actions before killing her children was evil. When she betrayed her father and her native land she was doing so because of to him. She was helping him and he did not see this as evil but when she went one step too far for him she becomes an evil monster.

She may seem crazy to the naked eye but when you examine her actions closely, there is a logical thought processs he sees a problem and finds a solution. It is widely known that even the people that a psychopath would find crazy are among the most intelligent in the world. This again is also a perfect example of the men not thinking things through. Medea was quite comfortable to betray her father and her homeland when they got in her way. What would make him think that she would not want to get even with him? He did not think about the consequences of his actions.

Diverting for a moment from the thesis of my essay, I also learned from this class specifically the value of writing from the last module. I had never really considered it before (maybe thats part of the liberal arts education) but now that I have I think that writing is almost like going back to the drawing board. It is necessary for everything. Writing is a timeless way of telling a story, conveying and idea, or keeping records / accounts of history and business.

Through writing we learn history, we learn how people in ancient times functioned -- their society, way of life, mannerisms etc. Although passing a story on from one generation to the next is a method that is and has been used throughout history, writing is a more solid way to tell the story. It makes the story / history concrete. It is immortalized forever, and cannot be changed.

If you were to hear a story from your grandparent about their grandparent, it may have been changed in some shape of form. The ancient writings found on clay tablets are still the same as they were many thousands of years ago. They are unchanging. Also when writing you are given the opportunity to think about what is being said. You can go back and change it for accuracy (spell check); you can express the thoughts and feelings accurately by picking out certain words to convey exactly what you mean. I think that writing is the best form of communication; its timeless, precise, and resilient.

Along with being able to think about problems logically and come up solutions, a liberal arts education also helps you appreciate other view points and that there is not always a single solution to a problem. I think that although at first many people (college students myself included) would not realize the benefits of a liberal arts education, after that semester is over they will come to appreciate it. Although I have said that this type of class does not relate to a profession it does in subtle or maybe not so subtle ways help you in that profession. Think of it this way, if you are going to be a lawyer I think liberal arts who teach you better reasoning and debate skills, even if you were taking up a trade, liberal arts would help your judgment and remind you that there can be many solutions to one problem. "It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he does not really need a college. He can learn them from books.

The value of an education is a liberal arts college is not learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks. "~ Albert Einstein Word count 1683 incl quotes


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Research essay sample on Liberal Arts Education Consequences

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