Little Tree Reflections

Rishi Garg Theory of Knowledge Mrs. Beck 2 September 2008

Reflections on The Education of Little Tree Page 4: Right from the beginning, it seems like the author is trying to convey different ways of acquiring knowledge. Maud, one of the dogs, doesn’t have good sight or sense of smell, so she must depend on her hearing to understand what is happening around her. This is an example of one of the Ways of Knowing: perception. Page 9: Granpa is teaching Little Tree how to understand and practice The Way. His reasoning seems sound, so I don’t think Little Tree’s knowledge acquisition is being hindered much. I was first skeptical, because Granpa is simply teaching Cherokee beliefs to his grandson without giving Little Tree much time to think for himself about them. However, I think that for the most part, Granpa knows what is best for nature and his family, so it is justified. Family is one of the factors that influence knowledge acquisition. Page 14: Little Tree is reading and learning from books, so the Way of Knowing is language. He and Granpa go to the library once a month to pick out some books for Granma to read to them. In addition to hearing stories from Granma, Little Tree reads the dictionary and learns five new works each week. This practice is a great way to acquire knowledge, because the dictionary is a book that contains no bias. This brings me to another point: the definition of knowledge. I believe that there two kinds of knowledge: concise facts that the general majority of people agree with, and beliefs that only a few people hold, but might be true for those people. What Little Tree is learning from the dictionary is definitely the first type of knowledge. The stories that Granma reads to him are mostly the second type of knowledge, because the authors of the books she reads could have altered facts to suit their beliefs. In this manner, language can both aid and hinder knowledge acquisition. It depends heavily on one’s definition of knowledge. Page 32: Granpa and Granma are having disagreement about Alexander the Great. They decide to get a book about him from the library to settle the dispute. This shows that they have great trust in books, and that they believe everything written in books to be true. This might hinder their knowledge acquisition, because if they happen to read something in a book that is actually false, they would believe it to be true. I believe that since books are

a something of a novelty to them, they view them as omnipotent knowledge sources. This is a factor in their knowledge acquisition: how much they trust the source. Page 65: Granpa teaches Little Tree the whiskey-making trade. He says that every man should have a trade, and that whiskey-making shouldn’t be illegal. He blames all the negative stereotypes about whiskey on the big-city gangsters and their careless methods of production. Little Tree helps Granpa make the whiskey, and carry it to the store to be sold. In this case, Little Tree is learning the trade through multiple Ways of Knowing: reason and emotion. Granpa explains why, logically, it should be legal. He also wants to teach the trade to his grandson because there is no one else to carry on his legacy. There are a lot of emotional reasons involved in the teaching. This might hinder Little Tree’s knowledge acquisition because he only hears one side of the argument; he doesn’t understand why it is illegal. Page 123: “Me and Granpa thought Indian.” This is complete proof that Little Tree has been taught only Native American values and traditions by his grandparents. Emotion has a lot to do with his education. Granpa and Granma don’t want their culture to fade away, so they are instilling it in Little Tree. It’s not yet clear whether his Native American upbringing will hinder his dealings in life later, but it’s very possible. Page 153: Little Tree’s family goes to Church on Sundays. This is the only part of his education that isn’t solely Native American. However, he finds religion very confusing. Little Tree talks about how the Bible says in some parts to do something, and then in other parts it says to not do that thing. Religion incorporates many Ways of Knowing: language, reason, and emotion. Little Tree talks about how some people get very flustered if someone tells them that they are wrong about religion. It is ironic, because since religion is indeed very confusing, everyone is right and everyone is wrong. Little Tree is trying to find his balance between religion and Native American values, and he seems to much prefer what he’s taught at home. Page 190: While all the time we thought Little Tree’s education would be hindered by the fact that he was only learning Native American values, it seems that the situation has turned. Little Tree has been sent to a regular school in the city. When his teacher shows a picture to the class, he tells her that the deer in the picture are clearly mating. He is sent to the principal’s office and is beaten severely. Obviously, even though he knew the correct answer, the school system didn’t want the students to know it. The other students at the school are being educated through language, which has no emotion in this case. It appears that emotion is triumphing over language at this point.

Page 214: Both Granpa and Granma have died, and Little Tree is alone with a few of the dogs. He has been traveling throughout the region, and a few of the dogs have died. He is surviving only because of his Native American knowledge of the wilderness. A student in the school could not have survived in the wild, similarly to how Little Tree could not have survived in the city. It seems that different ways of education and Ways of Knowing all lead to a full education, but of different types. Little Tree hasn’t really lost in life, but hasn’t won either. The same can be said of the students.