The Good Example

                                                                                                                                Riva Palacio

Literal Comprehension

Vicente Riva Palacio’s “The Good Example” has taken from his book “Good Examples”. The author shows the conventional education system of 19th century Mexico. In a Mexican village, there was a school run by Don Lucas Florida. In that school, the traditional customs and practices of the time dominated both teaching and learning. Learning consisted of repeating the teacher’s words. The students would chant the alphabets, syllables, and multiplication table in a chorus.

When the students left their school at four o’clock, Don Lucas considered himself a freeman. Then he shared his time with his friend Perico, a parrot, which always perched above the school door. Don Lucas had a soft heart for the parrot and both of them understood each other perfectly.

Lucas had sufficient confidence in Perico because they had passed several years together. But one morning, a child told Lucas that Perico was flying away. Upon hearing the child, the teachers and the students rushed outside and saw the parrot far away in the sky struggling hard to reach the nearby forest. The parrot did not return and everyone forgot the incident. Several months later, Don Lucas made a trip to a neighboring village on his horse. It was very hot and so the birds were hiding in the tree branches. Suddenly, Lucas heard a familiar sound: children chanting syllables, words and catechism. First Lucas thought it was merely an illusion, but as he went near, the sound grew clear. He was surprised to see a flock of parrots chanting syllables in unison. He also saw Perico flying behind the flock. After seeing his master, the parrot said that he had opened a school.

Interpretation:

Through this story, Palacio has satirized on memory-based education that has ignored the creativity and innovativeness of the learners. With the memory-based education, even a parrot can open a school. The writer is also suggesting us to apply new methods of teaching and learning instead of using the traditional one.

Critical Thinking

The story gives a very good example that memory-based education cannot guide the people in the proper way. It cannot increase the human personality. However, the writer is not free from the criticism that he has compared the human being with the mere animal like a parrot. When we read the story, we get indirect information that whatever activities are taking place at the school, the parrot is watching and it is not satisfied with the teacher's method of teaching. How can it be possible? Can we believe that the bird has challenged the human being and opened its own school? Although the story seems to be based on the reality, by the incidents which are included in the story, we can say that it is like a fairy tale.

Assimilation

The story  "The Good Example" taught me a lot. It reminded me about my past learning in my school when the teachers used to ask us to repeat the answers time to time from their note given to us. Now I realized that the memorizing method was very bad. Now I have realized that this method of memorization has no practical application. If we understand the matter, we can explain and create many things out of it. This can be applicable in our life. Thus, the story gave me a lot to enrich knowledge.