situation. Consequently, the student has no preconceptions about the essay. The honors class, on the other hand, is given ideas by the professors who made the assignment and the upperclassmen who have previously read the essay. Finally, the individualality of the incident contributes to the young student’s experience. By experiencing the essay by himself, he is prevented from being influenced by the reactions of others. The factors that prevent the class of students from having the same experience are defined by Percy as the “educational package.”Theorists, scientists, and teachers define the educational package that consists of subjects and theories. Percy states, “The educator whose business is to teach students biology or poetry is unaware of the whole ensemble of relations which exist between the students and the dogfish and between the student and the Shakespeare sonnet. (Percy, 6)” The educators believe in the predefined package, and the student who does not challenge the theories or subjects, naively and complacently accepts them as truth. Percy also explains that in order to truly learn something, one must salvage the knowledge from the educational package. He states that to escape from receiving the educational package, the student must first realize that he is receiving the package. In other words, the student must strive to be a sovereign individual, look past what is actually being presented. Searching for a sovereign experience is a difficult process, and though it is possible, it is far easier to fall in line with the masses and participate in consumerism. The institution of education makes it easy to become a very active consumer. A student’s education is somewhat spoon fed to him a few hours a week in a lecture hall. Does this method of learning not dull the appetite to learn? Receiving an education has become more of a requirement of society, rather than a desire to en...
