Defining Reality
Everyone perceives reality in a different light. Reality is a result of the upbringing and surroundings of an individual and as a person matures, they are exposed to more ideas, thoughts, and events. The actions and events that a person is exposed to are communicated through language, which defines reality by allowing people to become receptive to different ideas. While language can expand ones reality, language also places limits on that reality. Society, geography and language simultaneously expand and limit an individual's reality. From the moment a person enters the world, his or her reality is different from that of anyone else's. Everything that a person sees, hears, smells, touches or tastes will add to his or her wealth of knowledge. This collection is thrown into a mashed pile of sayings, images and life experiences that is regurgitated when a person experiences the next object or thought. Richard Rodriguez explains how much he has changed in his essay "The Achievement of Desire", included in the collection Ways of Reading, "It will be harder to summarize what sort of life connects the boy to the man" (622). The road to any position in life is long and filled with unique obstacles, all of wh
Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. People take in objects around them and "reflect upon them", categorizing the objects into "their action and cognition" (Freire 356). Then, the people use everything they have been exposed to in defining their world. 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 (356). Geertz, Clifford. "Ideology as a Cultural System." The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, 1973. Objects and ideas in a person's reality are defined using language. Without language, there would be no reality. Society defines everything that exists, if humanity did not define an object, it would still exist. However, if there were no definition of the object, there would not be a reality of it, Freire explains this concept best in his essay: Freire, Paulo. "The 'Banking' Concept of Education." Ways of Reading. David Language can change what we perceive as reality. As a person becomes educated they are exposed to more ideas or "a constant unveiling of reality" (Freire 355). In turn, these ideas shape the individuals perception of what surrounds them and "strives for the emergence of consciousness and critical intervention in reality"(355). To truly understand how a computer works, you first have to know how information is stored. Secondly, one learns more and more about the computer. Each step of the learning process builds on itself, in the same way, to truly understand certain concepts one must learn in steps. When people are exposed to new information, they use everything they have ever been exposed to, in the process of understanding it, language and literacy guide the way people perceive their surroundings.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2113
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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