Word: reader
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Kohl's enthusiasm for the talent and creativity of the individual saturates each child's profile, giving the impression of a teacher as excitable and enthusiastic about the process of learning as the most idealized of students. Kohl also shows the reader the dark side of his experiences as an educator, placing considerable emphasis on the squalid conditions in which his students spent forty hours a week. He lambastes indifferent school directors and educational boards with as much zeal as he supports the creative power of his students. Kohl points out case after case of wasted time and money, antiquated...
Kohl draws stiff lines early and often between the educational policies he perceives as detrimental or constructive. While his outrage vented toward the policies of the New York Board of Education is reasonable, he has left at least one reader unconvinced of its necessity. For all his good intentions, Kohl tends to crowd educational instructors into anti-and pro-groups, conveniently dichotomized so that all who share his beliefs are members of the latter. Teachers who advocate distance between teacher and student are categorized as the opposition, and classified as uncaring brutes. While Kohl is completely convincing as an ardent...
...with school-age children, the author's gift for clearing out needless discourse has been honed to a razor's edge. Simple diction, while vital for pedantry, has its drawbacks in the modern non-fiction market: every once in a while Kohl's hand can be felt patting the reader on the head, as if recruiting another kindergartner into his throngs of supporters. This is not to say that condescension (if it can be called such) is not totally displeasing; the smothering presence of a truly dedicated teacher is a welcome change from the assembly-line approach of modern education...
...whole, Kohl's naivete and charm more than make up for his one-sided judgments. The passion he develops in the reader for elementary school is completely infectious and equally uplifting, while his students are more often than not downright cute (case in point, the Pee-Wee song: "I'm a Pee Wee / You're a Boo Boo / Get the heck out of here"). In spite of the flaws present in his approach or the occasional Elijian woe-is-me depression, Kohl's enthusiasm and unbroken spirit motivate and inspire, giving a bright point of light in the oft-maligned...
...with which his characters are attempting to come to terms. Coe tells a well-constructed story in which the themes of unrequited love, sexual identity, the ups and downs of the film industry and psychotherapy are intricately woven in a pattern that never fully reveals itself and leaves the reader curious to the very end. Despite occasionally questionable choices in symbolism and the awkward development of one leading character, The House of Sleep--ironically enough--makes for a compelling nighttime read...