Hard Times<\/a>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=everydayeducatio&l=as2&o=1&a=0199536279\")
\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>by Charles Dickens. His depiction of the essence of the Common Core and modern educational methods is spot on, though he wrote over 100 years ago. Ironically, students educated in this way would be sure to miss the point, as well as the humor in Dicken’s character names. I hope you’ll find this excerpt edifying.<\/p>\nCHAPTER I: THE ONE THING NEEDFUL<\/h2>\n
\u2018Now, what I want is, Facts.\u00a0 Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts.\u00a0 Facts alone are wanted in life.\u00a0 Plant nothing else, and root out everything else.\u00a0 You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them.\u00a0 This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children.\u00a0 Stick to Facts, sir!\u2019<\/p>\n
The scene was a plain, bare, monotonous vault of a school-room, and the speaker\u2019s square forefinger emphasized his observations by underscoring every sentence with a line on the schoolmaster\u2019s sleeve.\u00a0 The emphasis was helped by the speaker\u2019s square wall of a forehead, which had his eyebrows for its base, while his eyes found commodious cellarage in two dark caves, overshadowed by the wall.\u00a0 The emphasis was helped by the speaker\u2019s mouth, which was wide, thin, and hard set.\u00a0 The emphasis was helped by the speaker\u2019s voice, which was inflexible, dry, and dictatorial.\u00a0 The emphasis was helped by the speaker\u2019s hair, which bristled on the skirts of his bald head, a plantation of firs to keep the wind from its shining surface, all covered with knobs, like the crust of a plum pie, as if the head had scarcely warehouse-room for the hard facts stored inside.\u00a0 The speaker\u2019s obstinate carriage, square coat, square legs, square shoulders,\u2014nay, his very neckcloth, trained to take him by the throat with an unaccommodating grasp, like a stubborn fact, as it was,\u2014all helped the emphasis.<\/p>\n
\u2018In this life, we want nothing but Facts, sir; nothing but Facts!\u2019<\/p>\n
The speaker, and the schoolmaster, and the third grown person present, all backed a little, and swept with their eyes the inclined plane of little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim.<\/p>\n
CHAPTER II: MURDERING THE INNOCENTS<\/h2>\n
Thomas Gradgrind, sir.\u00a0 A man of realities.\u00a0 A man of facts and calculations.\u00a0 A man who proceeds upon the principle that two and two are four, and nothing over, and who is not to be talked into allowing for anything over.\u00a0 Thomas Gradgrind, sir\u2014peremptorily Thomas\u2014Thomas Gradgrind.\u00a0 With a rule and a pair of scales, and the multiplication table always in his pocket, sir, ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human nature, and tell you exactly what it comes to.\u00a0 It is a mere question of figures, a case of simple arithmetic.\u00a0 You might hope to get some other nonsensical belief into the head of George Gradgrind, or Augustus Gradgrind, or John Gradgrind, or Joseph Gradgrind (all supposititious, non-existent persons), but into the head of Thomas Gradgrind\u2014no, sir!<\/p>\n
In such terms Mr. Gradgrind always mentally introduced himself, whether to his private circle of acquaintance, or to the public in general.\u00a0 In such terms, no doubt, substituting the words \u2018boys and girls,\u2019 for \u2018sir,\u2019 Thomas Gradgrind now presented Thomas Gradgrind to the little pitchers before him, who were to be filled so full of facts.<\/p>\n
Indeed, as he eagerly sparkled at them from the cellarage before mentioned, he seemed a kind of cannon loaded to the muzzle with facts, and prepared to blow them clean out of the regions of childhood at one discharge.\u00a0 He seemed a galvanizing apparatus, too, charged with a grim mechanical substitute for the tender young imaginations that were to be stormed away.<\/p>\n
\u2018Girl number twenty,\u2019 said Mr. Gradgrind, squarely pointing with his square forefinger, \u2018I don\u2019t know that girl.\u00a0 Who is that girl?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Sissy Jupe, sir,\u2019 explained number twenty, blushing, standing up, and curtseying.<\/p>\n
\u2018Sissy is not a name,\u2019 said Mr. Gradgrind.\u00a0 \u2018Don\u2019t call yourself Sissy.\u00a0 Call yourself Cecilia.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s father as calls me Sissy, sir,\u2019 returned the young girl in a trembling voice, and with another curtsey.<\/p>\n
\u2018Then he has no business to do it,\u2019 said Mr. Gradgrind.\u00a0 \u2018Tell him he mustn\u2019t.\u00a0 Cecilia Jupe.\u00a0 Let me see.\u00a0 What is your father?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018He belongs to the horse-riding, if you please, sir.\u2019<\/p>\n
Mr. Gradgrind frowned, and waved off the objectionable calling with his hand.<\/p>\n
\u2018We don\u2019t want to know anything about that, here.\u00a0 You mustn\u2019t tell us about that, here.\u00a0 Your father breaks horses, don\u2019t he?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018If you please, sir, when they can get any to break, they do break horses in the ring, sir.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018You mustn\u2019t tell us about the ring, here.\u00a0 Very well, then.\u00a0 Describe your father as a horsebreaker.\u00a0 He doctors sick horses, I dare say?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Oh yes, sir.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Very well, then.\u00a0 He is a veterinary surgeon, a farrier, and horsebreaker.\u00a0 Give me your definition of a horse.\u2019<\/p>\n
(Sissy Jupe thrown into the greatest alarm by this demand.)<\/p>\n
\u2018Girl number twenty unable to define a horse!\u2019 said Mr. Gradgrind, for the general behoof of all the little pitchers.\u00a0 \u2018Girl number twenty possessed of no facts, in reference to one of the commonest of animals!\u00a0 Some boy\u2019s definition of a horse.\u00a0 Bitzer, yours.\u2019<\/p>\n
The square finger, moving here and there, lighted suddenly on Bitzer, perhaps because he chanced to sit in the same ray of sunlight which, darting in at one of the bare windows of the intensely white-washed room, irradiated Sissy.\u00a0 For, the boys and girls sat on the face of the inclined plane in two compact bodies, divided up the centre by a narrow interval; and Sissy, being at the corner of a row on the sunny side, came in for the beginning of a sunbeam, of which Bitzer, being at the corner of a row on the other side, a few rows in advance, caught the end.\u00a0 But, whereas the girl was so dark-eyed and dark-haired, that she seemed to receive a deeper and more lustrous colour from the sun, when it shone upon her, the boy was so light-eyed and light-haired that the self-same rays appeared to draw out of him what little colour he ever possessed.\u00a0 His cold eyes would hardly have been eyes, but for the short ends of lashes which, by bringing them into immediate contrast with something paler than themselves, expressed their form.\u00a0 His short-cropped hair might have been a mere continuation of the sandy freckles on his forehead and face.\u00a0 His skin was so unwholesomely deficient in the natural tinge, that he looked as though, if he were cut, he would bleed white.<\/p>\n
\u2018Bitzer,\u2019 said Thomas Gradgrind.\u00a0 \u2018Your definition of a horse.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Quadruped.\u00a0 Graminivorous.\u00a0 Forty teeth, namely twenty-four grinders, four eye-teeth, and twelve incisive.\u00a0 Sheds coat in the spring; in marshy countries, sheds hoofs, too.\u00a0 Hoofs hard, but requiring to be shod with iron.\u00a0 Age known by marks in mouth.\u2019\u00a0 Thus (and much more) Bitzer.<\/p>\n
\u2018Now girl number twenty,\u2019 said Mr. Gradgrind.\u00a0 \u2018You know what a horse is.\u2019<\/p>\n
She curtseyed again, and would have blushed deeper, if she could have blushed deeper than she had blushed all this time.\u00a0 Bitzer, after rapidly blinking at Thomas Gradgrind with both eyes at once, and so catching the light upon his quivering ends of lashes that they looked like the antenn\u00e6 of busy insects, put his knuckles to his freckled forehead, and sat down again.<\/p>\n
The third gentleman now stepped forth.\u00a0 A mighty man at cutting and drying, he was; a government officer; in his way (and in most other people\u2019s too), a professed pugilist; always in training, always with a system to force down the general throat like a bolus, always to be heard of at the bar of his little Public-office, ready to fight all England.\u00a0 To continue in fistic phraseology, he had a genius for coming up to the scratch, wherever and whatever it was, and proving himself an ugly customer.\u00a0 He would go in and damage any subject whatever with his right, follow up with his left, stop, exchange, counter, bore his opponent (he always fought All England) to the ropes, and fall upon him neatly.\u00a0 He was certain to knock the wind out of common sense, and render that unlucky adversary deaf to the call of time.\u00a0 And he had it in charge from high authority to bring about the great public-office Millennium, when Commissioners should reign upon earth.<\/p>\n
\u2018Very well,\u2019 said this gentleman, briskly smiling, and folding his arms.\u00a0 \u2018That\u2019s a horse.\u00a0 Now, let me ask you girls and boys, Would you paper a room with representations of horses?\u2019<\/p>\n
After a pause, one half of the children cried in chorus, \u2018Yes, sir!\u2019\u00a0 Upon which the other half, seeing in the gentleman\u2019s face that Yes was wrong, cried out in chorus, \u2018No, sir!\u2019\u2014as the custom is, in these examinations.<\/p>\n
\u2018Of course, No.\u00a0 Why wouldn\u2019t you?\u2019<\/p>\n
A pause.\u00a0 One corpulent slow boy, with a wheezy manner of breathing, ventured the answer, Because he wouldn\u2019t paper a room at all, but would paint it.<\/p>\n
\u2018You\u00a0must<\/i>\u00a0paper it,\u2019 said the gentleman, rather warmly.<\/p>\n
\u2018You must paper it,\u2019 said Thomas Gradgrind, \u2018whether you like it or not.\u00a0 Don\u2019t tell\u00a0us<\/i>\u00a0you wouldn\u2019t paper it.\u00a0 What do you mean, boy?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019ll explain to you, then,\u2019 said the gentleman, after another and a dismal pause, \u2018why you wouldn\u2019t paper a room with representations of horses.\u00a0 Do you ever see horses walking up and down the sides of rooms in reality\u2014in fact?\u00a0 Do you?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Yes, sir!\u2019 from one half.\u00a0 \u2018No, sir!\u2019 from the other.<\/p>\n
\u2018Of course no,\u2019 said the gentleman, with an indignant look at the wrong half.\u00a0 \u2018Why, then, you are not to see anywhere, what you don\u2019t see in fact; you are not to have anywhere, what you don\u2019t have in fact.\u00a0 What is called Taste, is only another name for Fact.\u2019\u00a0 Thomas Gradgrind nodded his approbation.<\/p>\n
\u2018This is a new principle, a discovery, a great discovery,\u2019 said the gentleman.\u00a0 \u2018Now, I\u2019ll try you again.\u00a0 Suppose you were going to carpet a room.\u00a0 Would you use a carpet having a representation of flowers upon it?\u2019<\/p>\n
There being a general conviction by this time that \u2018No, sir!\u2019 was always the right answer to this gentleman, the chorus of\u00a0No\u00a0was very strong.\u00a0 Only a few feeble stragglers said Yes: among them Sissy Jupe.<\/p>\n
\u2018Girl number twenty,\u2019 said the gentleman, smiling in the calm strength of knowledge.<\/p>\n
Sissy blushed, and stood up.<\/p>\n
\u2018So you would carpet your room\u2014or your husband\u2019s room, if you were a grown woman, and had a husband\u2014with representations of flowers, would you?\u2019 said the gentleman.\u00a0 \u2018Why would you?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018If you please, sir, I am very fond of flowers,\u2019 returned the girl.<\/p>\n
\u2018And is that why you would put tables and chairs upon them, and have people walking over them with heavy boots?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018It wouldn\u2019t hurt them, sir.\u00a0 They wouldn\u2019t crush and wither, if you please, sir.\u00a0 They would be the pictures of what was very pretty and pleasant, and I would fancy\u2014\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Ay, ay, ay!\u00a0 But you mustn\u2019t fancy,\u2019 cried the gentleman, quite elated by coming so happily to his point.\u00a0 \u2018That\u2019s it!\u00a0 You are never to fancy.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018You are not, Cecilia Jupe,\u2019 Thomas Gradgrind solemnly repeated, \u2018to do anything of that kind.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Fact, fact, fact!\u2019 said the gentleman.\u00a0 And \u2018Fact, fact, fact!\u2019 repeated Thomas Gradgrind.<\/p>\n
\u2018You are to be in all things regulated and governed,\u2019 said the gentleman, \u2018by fact.\u00a0 We hope to have, before long, a board of fact, composed of commissioners of fact, who will force the people to be a people of fact, and of nothing but fact.\u00a0 You must discard the word Fancy altogether.\u00a0 You have nothing to do with it.\u00a0 You are not to have, in any object of use or ornament, what would be a contradiction in fact.\u00a0 You don\u2019t walk upon flowers in fact; you cannot be allowed to walk upon flowers in carpets.\u00a0 You don\u2019t find that foreign birds and butterflies come and perch upon your crockery; you cannot be permitted to paint foreign birds and butterflies upon your crockery.\u00a0 You never meet with quadrupeds going up and down walls; you must not have quadrupeds represented upon walls.\u00a0 You must use,\u2019 said the gentleman, \u2018for all these purposes, combinations and modifications (in primary colours) of mathematical figures which are susceptible of proof and demonstration.\u00a0 This is the new discovery.\u00a0 This is fact.\u00a0 This is taste.\u2019<\/p>\n
The girl curtseyed, and sat down.\u00a0 She was very young, and she\u00a0p. 8looked as if she were frightened by the matter-of-fact prospect the world afforded.<\/p>\n
\u2018Now, if Mr. M\u2019Choakumchild,\u2019 said the gentleman, \u2018will proceed to give his first lesson here, Mr. Gradgrind, I shall be happy, at your request, to observe his mode of procedure.\u2019<\/p>\n
Mr. Gradgrind was much obliged.\u00a0 \u2018Mr. M\u2019Choakumchild, we only wait for you.\u2019<\/p>\n
So, Mr. M\u2019Choakumchild began in his best manner.\u00a0 He and some one hundred and forty other schoolmasters, had been lately turned at the same time, in the same factory, on the same principles, like so many pianoforte legs.\u00a0 He had been put through an immense variety of paces, and had answered volumes of head-breaking questions.\u00a0 Orthography, etymology, syntax, and prosody, biography, astronomy, geography, and general cosmography, the sciences of compound proportion, algebra, land-surveying and levelling, vocal music, and drawing from models, were all at the ends of his ten chilled fingers.\u00a0 He had worked his stony way into Her Majesty\u2019s most Honourable Privy Council\u2019s Schedule B, and had taken the bloom off the higher branches of mathematics and physical science, French, German, Latin, and Greek.\u00a0 He knew all about all the Water Sheds of all the world (whatever they are), and all the histories of all the peoples, and all the names of all the rivers and mountains, and all the productions, manners, and customs of all the countries, and all their boundaries and bearings on the two and thirty points of the compass.\u00a0 Ah, rather overdone, M\u2019Choakumchild.\u00a0 If he had only learnt a little less, how infinitely better he might have taught much more!<\/p>\n
He went to work in this preparatory lesson, not unlike Morgiana in the Forty Thieves: looking into all the vessels ranged before him, one after another, to see what they contained.\u00a0 Say, good M\u2019Choakumchild.\u00a0 When from thy boiling store, thou shalt fill each jar brim full by-and-by, dost thou think that thou wilt always kill outright the robber Fancy lurking within\u2014or sometimes only maim him and distort him!<\/p>\n
CHAPTER III: A LOOPHOLE<\/h2>\n
Mr. Gradgrind\u00a0walked homeward from the school, in a state of considerable satisfaction.\u00a0 It was his school, and he intended it to be a model.\u00a0 He intended every child in it to be a model\u2014just as the young Gradgrinds were all models.<\/p>\n
There were five young Gradgrinds, and they were models every one.\u00a0 They had been lectured at, from their tenderest years; coursed, like little hares.\u00a0 Almost as soon as they could run alone, they had been made to run to the lecture-room.\u00a0 The first object with which they had an association, or of which they had a remembrance, was a large black board with a dry Ogre chalking ghastly white figures on it.<\/p>\n
Not that they knew, by name or nature, anything about an Ogre Fact forbid!\u00a0 I only use the word to express a monster in a lecturing castle, with Heaven knows how many heads manipulated into one, taking childhood captive, and dragging it into gloomy statistical dens by the hair.<\/p>\n
No little Gradgrind had ever seen a face in the moon; it was up in the moon before it could speak distinctly.\u00a0 No little Gradgrind had ever learnt the silly jingle, Twinkle, twinkle, little star; how I wonder what you are!\u00a0 No little Gradgrind had ever known wonder on the subject, each little Gradgrind having at five years old dissected the Great Bear like a Professor Owen, and driven Charles\u2019s Wain like a locomotive engine-driver.\u00a0 No little Gradgrind had ever associated a cow in a field with that famous cow with the crumpled horn who tossed the dog who worried the cat who killed the rat who ate the malt, or with that yet more famous cow who swallowed Tom Thumb: it had never heard of those celebrities, and had only been introduced to a cow as a graminivorous ruminating quadruped with several stomachs.<\/p>\n
To his matter-of-fact home, which was called Stone Lodge, Mr. Gradgrind directed his steps.\u00a0 He had virtually retired from the wholesale hardware trade before he built Stone Lodge, and was now looking about for a suitable opportunity of making an arithmetical figure in Parliament.\u00a0 Stone Lodge was situated on a moor within a mile or two of a great town\u2014called Coketown in the present faithful guide-book.<\/p>\n
A very regular feature on the face of the country, Stone Lodge was.\u00a0 Not the least disguise toned down or shaded off that uncompromising fact in the landscape.\u00a0 A great square house, with a heavy portico darkening the principal windows, as its master\u2019s heavy brows overshadowed his eyes.\u00a0 A calculated, cast up, balanced, and proved house.\u00a0 Six windows on this side of the door, six on that side; a total of twelve in this wing, a total of twelve in the other wing; four-and-twenty carried over to the back wings.\u00a0 A lawn and garden and an infant avenue, all ruled straight like a botanical account-book.\u00a0 Gas and ventilation, drainage and water-service, all of the primest quality.\u00a0 Iron clamps and girders, fire-proof from top to bottom; mechanical lifts for the housemaids, with all their brushes and brooms; everything that heart could desire.<\/p>\n
Everything?\u00a0 Well, I suppose so.\u00a0 The little Gradgrinds had cabinets in various departments of science too.\u00a0 They had a little conchological cabinet, and a little metallurgical cabinet, and a little mineralogical cabinet; and the specimens were all arranged and labelled, and the bits of stone and ore looked as though they might have been broken from the parent substances by those tremendously hard instruments their own names; and, to paraphrase the idle legend of Peter Piper, who had never found his way into their nursery, If the greedy little Gradgrinds grasped at more than this, what was it for good gracious goodness\u2019 sake, that the greedy little Gradgrinds grasped it!<\/p>\n
Their father walked on in a hopeful and satisfied frame of mind.\u00a0 He was an affectionate father, after his manner; but he would probably have described himself (if he had been put, like Sissy Jupe, upon a definition) as \u2018an eminently practical\u2019 father.\u00a0 He had a particular pride in the phrase eminently practical, which was considered to have a special application to him.\u00a0 Whatsoever the public meeting held in Coketown, and whatsoever the subject of such meeting, some Coketowner was sure to seize the occasion of alluding to his eminently practical friend Gradgrind.\u00a0 This always pleased the eminently practical friend.\u00a0 He knew it to be his due, but his due was acceptable.<\/p>\n
He had reached the neutral ground upon the outskirts of the town, which was neither town nor country, and yet was either spoiled, when his ears were invaded by the sound of music.\u00a0 The clashing and banging band attached to the horse-riding establishment, which had there set up its rest in a wooden pavilion, was in full bray.\u00a0 A flag, floating from the summit of the temple, proclaimed to mankind that it was \u2018Sleary\u2019s Horse-riding\u2019 which claimed their suffrages.\u00a0 Sleary himself, a stout modern statue with a money-box at its elbow, in an ecclesiastical niche of early Gothic architecture, took the money.\u00a0 Miss Josephine Sleary, as some very long and very narrow strips of printed bill announced, was then inaugurating the entertainments with her graceful equestrian Tyrolean flower-act.\u00a0 Among the other pleasing but always strictly moral wonders which must be seen to be believed, Signor Jupe was that afternoon to \u2018elucidate the diverting accomplishments of his highly trained performing dog Merrylegs.\u2019\u00a0 He was also to exhibit \u2018his astounding feat of throwing seventy-five hundred-weight in rapid succession backhanded over his head, thus forming a fountain of solid iron in mid-air, a feat never before attempted in this or any other country, and which having elicited such rapturous plaudits from enthusiastic throngs it cannot be withdrawn.\u2019\u00a0 The same Signor Jupe was to \u2018enliven the varied performances at frequent intervals with his chaste Shaksperean quips and retorts.\u2019\u00a0 Lastly, he was to wind them up by appearing in his favourite character of Mr. William Button, of Tooley Street, in \u2018the highly novel and laughable hippo-comedietta of The Tailor\u2019s Journey to Brentford.\u2019<\/p>\n
Thomas Gradgrind took no heed of these trivialities of course, but passed on as a practical man ought to pass on, either brushing the noisy insects from his thoughts, or consigning them to the House of Correction.\u00a0 But, the turning of the road took him by the back of the booth, and at the back of the booth a number of children were congregated in a number of stealthy attitudes, striving to peep in at the hidden glories of the place.<\/p>\n
This brought him to a stop.\u00a0 \u2018Now, to think of these vagabonds,\u2019 said he, \u2018attracting the young rabble from a model school.\u2019<\/p>\n
A space of stunted grass and dry rubbish being between him and the young rabble, he took his eyeglass out of his waistcoat to look for any child he knew by name, and might order off.\u00a0 Phenomenon almost incredible though distinctly seen, what did he then behold but his own metallurgical Louisa, peeping with all her might through a hole in a deal board, and his own mathematical Thomas abasing himself on the ground to catch but a hoof of the graceful equestrian Tyrolean flower-act!<\/p>\n
Dumb with amazement, Mr. Gradgrind crossed to the spot where his family was thus disgraced, laid his hand upon each erring child, and said:<\/p>\n
\u2018Louisa!!\u00a0 Thomas!!\u2019<\/p>\n
Both rose, red and disconcerted.\u00a0 But, Louisa looked at her father with more boldness than Thomas did.\u00a0 Indeed, Thomas did not look at him, but gave himself up to be taken home like a machine.<\/p>\n
\u2018In the name of wonder, idleness, and folly!\u2019 said Mr. Gradgrind, leading each away by a hand; \u2018what do you do here?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Wanted to see what it was like,\u2019 returned Louisa, shortly.<\/p>\n
\u2018What it was like?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Yes, father.\u2019<\/p>\n
There was an air of jaded sullenness in them both, and particularly in the girl: yet, struggling through the dissatisfaction of her face, there was a light with nothing to rest upon, a fire with nothing to burn, a starved imagination keeping life in itself somehow, which brightened its expression.\u00a0 Not with the brightness natural to cheerful youth, but with uncertain, eager, doubtful flashes, which had something painful in them, analogous to the changes on a blind face groping its way.<\/p>\n
She was a child now, of fifteen or sixteen; but at no distant day would seem to become a woman all at once.\u00a0 Her father thought so as he looked at her.\u00a0 She was pretty.\u00a0 Would have been self-willed (he thought in his eminently practical way) but for her bringing-up.<\/p>\n
\u2018Thomas, though I have the fact before me, I find it difficult to believe that you, with your education and resources, should have brought your sister to a scene like this.\u2019<\/p>\n
p. 12\u2018I brought\u00a0him<\/i>, father,\u2019 said Louisa, quickly.\u00a0 \u2018I asked him to come.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018I am sorry to hear it.\u00a0 I am very sorry indeed to hear it.\u00a0 It makes Thomas no better, and it makes you worse, Louisa.\u2019<\/p>\n
She looked at her father again, but no tear fell down her cheek.<\/p>\n
\u2018You!\u00a0 Thomas and you, to whom the circle of the sciences is open; Thomas and you, who may be said to be replete with facts; Thomas and you, who have been trained to mathematical exactness; Thomas and you, here!\u2019 cried Mr. Gradgrind.\u00a0 \u2018In this degraded position!\u00a0 I am amazed.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018I was tired, father.\u00a0 I have been tired a long time,\u2019 said Louisa.<\/p>\n
\u2018Tired?\u00a0 Of what?\u2019 asked the astonished father.<\/p>\n
\u2018I don\u2019t know of what\u2014of everything, I think.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Say not another word,\u2019 returned Mr. Gradgrind.\u00a0 \u2018You are childish.\u00a0 I will hear no more.\u2019\u00a0 He did not speak again until they had walked some half-a-mile in silence, when he gravely broke out with: \u2018What would your best friends say, Louisa?\u00a0 Do you attach no value to their good opinion?\u00a0 What would Mr. Bounderby say?\u2019\u00a0 At the mention of this name, his daughter stole a look at him, remarkable for its intense and searching character.\u00a0 He saw nothing of it, for before he looked at her, she had again cast down her eyes!<\/p>\n
\u2018What,\u2019 he repeated presently, \u2018would Mr. Bounderby say?\u2019\u00a0 All the way to Stone Lodge, as with grave indignation he led the two delinquents home, he repeated at intervals \u2018What would Mr. Bounderby say?\u2019\u2014as if Mr. Bounderby had been Mrs. Grundy.<\/p>\n
*****<\/p>\n
And to find out who Mr. Bounderby is, you’ll have to read the book!<\/p>\n
![\"Excellence](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/excellence-in-literature-curriculum-683x1024.png?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A look at the literature portion of the the Common Core Standards (CCS), with an excerpt from Hard Times by Charles Dickens. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26,296],"tags":[348,438,454,487,511,648,658,758,309,1055,1118],"class_list":["post-1110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homeschool","category-language-arts","tag-anthony-esolen","tag-classical-learning","tag-common-core","tag-cultural-literacy","tag-dickens","tag-hard-times","tag-high-school-literature","tag-literary-analysis","tag-teach-literature","tag-truth","tag-writing-standards"],"yoast_head":"\n
Literature, Language Arts, and the Common Core Standards • Doing What Matters with Janice Campbell<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Literature, Language Arts, and the Common Core Standards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A look at the literature portion of the the Common Core Standards (CCS), with an excerpt from Hard Times by Charles Dickens.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing What Matters with Janice Campbell\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/janicepcampbell\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-09T10:54:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-03T17:19:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=everydayeducatio&l=li2&o=1&a=1420954342\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Janice Campbell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@janicecampbell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@janicecampbell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Janice Campbell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"27 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Janice Campbell\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6d486c70b1d19d8e3d40396f23f8630c\"},\"headline\":\"Literature, Language Arts, and the Common Core Standards\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-09T10:54:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-03T17:19:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/\"},\"wordCount\":5353,\"commentCount\":3,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=everydayeducatio&l=li2&o=1&a=1420954342\",\"keywords\":[\"anthony esolen\",\"classical learning\",\"common core\",\"cultural literacy\",\"dickens\",\"hard times\",\"high school literature\",\"literary analysis\",\"Teaching Literature\",\"truth\",\"writing standards\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Home School\",\"Language Arts and Literature\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/\",\"name\":\"Literature, Language Arts, and the Common Core Standards • Doing What Matters with Janice Campbell\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=everydayeducatio&l=li2&o=1&a=1420954342\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-09T10:54:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-03T17:19:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6d486c70b1d19d8e3d40396f23f8630c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=everydayeducatio&l=li2&o=1&a=1420954342\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=everydayeducatio&l=li2&o=1&a=1420954342\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Literature, Language Arts, and the Common Core Standards\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/\",\"name\":\"Doing What Matters with Janice Campbell\",\"description\":\"Cultivating creativity, wisdom, and virtue in education, entrepreneurship, and soul care.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6d486c70b1d19d8e3d40396f23f8630c\",\"name\":\"Janice Campbell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6803057fd3ec21e56aa22283629c4b68ab7403083401413a8a6d24cf5c6ae80c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6803057fd3ec21e56aa22283629c4b68ab7403083401413a8a6d24cf5c6ae80c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Janice Campbell\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/everydayeducation.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/author\/admin-2\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Literature, Language Arts, and the Common Core Standards • Doing What Matters with Janice Campbell","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Literature, Language Arts, and the Common Core Standards","og_description":"A look at the literature portion of the the Common Core Standards (CCS), with an excerpt from Hard Times by Charles Dickens.","og_url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/","og_site_name":"Doing What Matters with Janice Campbell","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/janicepcampbell","article_published_time":"2013-04-09T10:54:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-03T17:19:11+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=everydayeducatio&l=li2&o=1&a=1420954342","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Janice Campbell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@janicecampbell","twitter_site":"@janicecampbell","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Janice Campbell","Est. reading time":"27 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/"},"author":{"name":"Janice Campbell","@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6d486c70b1d19d8e3d40396f23f8630c"},"headline":"Literature, Language Arts, and the Common Core Standards","datePublished":"2013-04-09T10:54:55+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-03T17:19:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/"},"wordCount":5353,"commentCount":3,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=everydayeducatio&l=li2&o=1&a=1420954342","keywords":["anthony esolen","classical learning","common core","cultural literacy","dickens","hard times","high school literature","literary analysis","Teaching Literature","truth","writing standards"],"articleSection":["Home School","Language Arts and Literature"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/","url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/","name":"Literature, Language Arts, and the Common Core Standards • Doing What Matters with Janice Campbell","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=everydayeducatio&l=li2&o=1&a=1420954342","datePublished":"2013-04-09T10:54:55+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-03T17:19:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6d486c70b1d19d8e3d40396f23f8630c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=everydayeducatio&l=li2&o=1&a=1420954342","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=everydayeducatio&l=li2&o=1&a=1420954342"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/literature-language-arts-and-the-common-core-standards\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Literature, Language Arts, and the Common Core Standards"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/","name":"Doing What Matters with Janice Campbell","description":"Cultivating creativity, wisdom, and virtue in education, entrepreneurship, and soul care.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6d486c70b1d19d8e3d40396f23f8630c","name":"Janice Campbell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6803057fd3ec21e56aa22283629c4b68ab7403083401413a8a6d24cf5c6ae80c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6803057fd3ec21e56aa22283629c4b68ab7403083401413a8a6d24cf5c6ae80c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Janice Campbell"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/everydayeducation.com"],"url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/author\/admin-2\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1102,"url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/what-does-the-common-core-mean-for-homeschoolers\/","url_meta":{"origin":1110,"position":0},"title":"What Does the Common Core Mean for Homeschoolers?","author":"Janice Campbell","date":"April 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Common Core Standards are a cause for concern. The CCS promise to nationalize mediocrity and increase control over every aspect of K-12 education, and ultimately over every citizen. Here are articles and resources to help you learn more, including an alphabetical list of state groups opposing CCS.","rel":"","context":"In "Home School"","block_context":{"text":"Home School","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/category\/homeschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The sky is falling!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/roostercthyrymn-dt_8027424.jpg?fit=480%2C305&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1855,"url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/the-stages-of-learning-language-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1110,"position":1},"title":"The Stages of Learning Language Arts","author":"Janice Campbell","date":"July 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"There are five stages in learning language arts, and each stage has a different focus. This graphic will help you remember what to do when.","rel":"","context":"In "Language Arts and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Language Arts and Literature","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/category\/language-arts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Five stages of language arts learning.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/stages-of-learning-language-arts-graphic.png?fit=533%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/stages-of-learning-language-arts-graphic.png?fit=533%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/stages-of-learning-language-arts-graphic.png?fit=533%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1752,"url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/the-core-curriculum-teaches-connections\/","url_meta":{"origin":1110,"position":2},"title":"The Core Curriculum Teaches Connections","author":"Janice Campbell","date":"May 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Whenever the weather permits, I eat lunch outside on the patio in the edge of the woodland. At this time of year, there are spiderwebs everywhere. It doesn't matter that I come out every day and sit in the same chair, I still have to brush away an accumulation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charlotte Mason"","block_context":{"text":"Charlotte Mason","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/category\/homeschool\/charlotte-mason\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The core curriculum teaches connections.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/The-Core-Curriculum-Teaches-Connections.jpg?fit=560%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/The-Core-Curriculum-Teaches-Connections.jpg?fit=560%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/The-Core-Curriculum-Teaches-Connections.jpg?fit=560%2C315&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1712,"url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/why-read-classic-literature\/","url_meta":{"origin":1110,"position":3},"title":"Why Read Classic Literature?","author":"Janice Campbell","date":"May 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Literature in its most comprehensive sense is the autobiography of humanity.\" Bernard Berenson \"This is old stuff\u00a0\u2014\u00a0how can it be relevant to my life?\" I've heard this objection from both students and adults, as I've spoken through the years on the importance of reading classic literature. I've been thinking more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Reading"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Reading","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Why read classic literature? Why the great books are important.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Why-Read-Classic-Literature.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Why-Read-Classic-Literature.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Why-Read-Classic-Literature.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Why-Read-Classic-Literature.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Why-Read-Classic-Literature.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1696,"url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/thoughts-on-choosing-literature-from-a-1903-reader\/","url_meta":{"origin":1110,"position":4},"title":"Thoughts on Choosing Literature from a 1903 Reader","author":"Janice Campbell","date":"March 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I love old books. Although I strongly advocate reading whole works for high school literature, I find that old readers can be very useful in introducing an author and creating a taste for his or her work. I was browsing through The Jones Fifth Reader by L.H. Jones, A.M., published\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inspiration and encouragement"","block_context":{"text":"Inspiration and encouragement","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/category\/inspiration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Old books","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.everyday-education.com\/p7110009-grose-antique-books-with-candle-499x384.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1846,"url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/should-you-teach-literature-and-history-in-chronological-order\/","url_meta":{"origin":1110,"position":5},"title":"Should You Teach Literature and History in Chronological Order?","author":"Janice Campbell","date":"February 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"How important it is to study history and literature in chronological order? Here's what we did, and why a timeline makes whatever you do work better.","rel":"","context":"In "High School, College, and Alternatives"","block_context":{"text":"High School, College, and Alternatives","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/category\/high-school\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adams' Illustrated Panorama of History. By Sebastian C. Adams [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/1878_Adams_Monumental_Illustrated_Panorama_of_History_-_Geographicus_-_WorldHistory-adams-1871-sm-pd.jpeg?fit=1000%2C424&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/1878_Adams_Monumental_Illustrated_Panorama_of_History_-_Geographicus_-_WorldHistory-adams-1871-sm-pd.jpeg?fit=1000%2C424&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/1878_Adams_Monumental_Illustrated_Panorama_of_History_-_Geographicus_-_WorldHistory-adams-1871-sm-pd.jpeg?fit=1000%2C424&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/1878_Adams_Monumental_Illustrated_Panorama_of_History_-_Geographicus_-_WorldHistory-adams-1871-sm-pd.jpeg?fit=1000%2C424&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p65lfN-hU","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Hard](\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1420954342&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=everydayeducatio\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=everydayeducatio&l=li2&o=1&a=1420954342\")
Charles Dickens offers a remarkably prescient view of the CCS in the first chapter of Hard Times<\/em>. A government functionary is visiting the class of Mr. Gradgrind, and in the course of an unpleasant exercise in classroom manipulation, a government representative admonishes:<\/p>\n