Herbert Khol's purpose for writing was to reflect on the understanding of his student's personal lives, and to show how his culture reflects in comparison to others. His views are portrayed in the literature, where he states "I...know what it is like to face the problem of not-learning and the dissolution of culture" (Paragraph 3, Line 3). Kohl writes for his readers to learn from his previous experiences, and to teach them the lesson of finding middle-ground within our differences, instead of pushing them aside.
I agree with Herbert Khol's ideas on learning and "not-learning", finding his thoughts of "...ingenious willful rejection of even the most compassionate and well-designed teaching." (Paragraph 4, Line 2) as an inspirational guide, and an eye-opening depiction for all. For some, the process of learning culture may be very difficult, like it was for Wilfredo, the grandfather of a student in Khol's class. As Wilfredo had his complexities with learning to speak English, many have the same issue with understanding different culture too. Khol continues to move his focus throughout his piece that he was born and raised in New York City, coming from a partially bilingual …show more content…
Whether you choose to learn, or "not-learn" from others is your decision on you and yourself as a whole. As Herbert states in his final paragraph, "To agree to learn from a strange who does not respect your integrity causes a major loss of self." (Paragraph 5, Line 2). This quote proves my thesis, showing that finding middle-ground with the tools of learning and understanding can restore any loss of self. Respect of integrity and differences will always trump rejection and "not-learning". The only opposing issue is to gather ignorance and avoid seeing the new and different in every-day situations. To some, this may seem as the easy way out, but we all must hunker down and embrace the