Texts discussed: Part II of Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha & 2nd half of Freire’s “Chapter 2 of Pedagogy of the Oppressed”
*Please choose 7 of the following 16 questions to answer. Please make sure to number your answers to the corresponding questions
Review of Annotating
In problem-posing education, people develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they find themselves; they come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation
1. In opposition to the “Banking Concept” why do you think it’s important in problem-posing education be able “to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process”?
Problem-posing education affirms men and women as beings the process of becoming — as unfinished, uncompleted beings in and with a likewise unfinished reality…In this incompletion and this awareness lie the very roots of education as a human manifestation. The unfinished character of human begins and the transformational character of reality necessitate that education be an ongoing activity.
2. How do you make sense of this seemingly ironic (saying the opposite of what you mean) goal of problem-posing education to remain “unfinished”?
3. In the Kamala chapter, what does Siddhartha realize he must do in order to find the Self he is seeking?
4. Discuss one possible interpretation of Siddhartha’s dream by the river.
5. What is the ferryman’s philosophy about people and life? Where has he learned it?
6. Even as Siddhartha grows wealthy and pursues a life of pleasure, what distinguishes him from other people?
7. Why does Siddhartha enjoy gambling so much?
8. What realization about life and death comes to him after he hears the Om?
9. The last sentence of the “By the River” chapter reveals a new relationship between Siddhartha and the river. Explain this in your own words.
10. Once both Siddhartha and The Ferryman acquire the art of listening, what happens in their relationship with other people?
11. What in Siddhartha’s attitude toward his son might be interpreted as selfish? Is his love for him completely unconditional?
12. What thoughts come to Siddhartha when he sees his father’s face in the water?
13. Why, according to Siddhartha, has Govinda not found peace?
14. How do Siddhartha’s teachers, Vasudeva and the river, differ from Govinda’s teachers?
15. What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom?
16. What, according to Siddhartha, is the fault in words?
Have fun!
BrainTacos 