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Alejandro Zambra's Critique Of Contemporary Education

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The Game of School: Alejandro Zambra's critique of Contemporary Education in "Reading Comprehension Text 1" Contemporary Education is a difficult topic to discuss. Since President George W. Bush's "No Child Left Behind Act", there has been a political debate about education. Many see the standardized nature of education as constricting for students and teachers, and ultimately a negative system as a whole. Alejandro Zambra would likely fall into that category. His short story, "Reading Comprehension Text 1", details the inner workings of a broken system. Zambra's intent behind this story is clear. Zambra details an attack on the empirics focused education system that has come to define modern schooling. Zambra uses four pieces of evidence …show more content…

Segovia's failed the test, getting locked into a career he hated after spending his entire education as an honest student. Mr. Segovia laments to the narrator, "I was the best in my class, My whole school. I never cheated on an exam, but I bombed the aptitude test, so I had to major in religious education. I didn't even believe in God." (71-72). Mr. Segovia's past highlights the main fault with the education system; It is built all around one single test rather than a consistent career. Those who do not do well on the aptitude test are punished, while those who cheat to get a good score, like the Twins, benefit. The comparison between the two highlights just how broken the system truly is. The Twins and Mr. Segovia have similar starting points. Both the Twins and Mr. Segovia where, from what we can gather, honest students. They were all intelligent, and all performed well in school. The difference, however, is that Mr. Segovia took an honest attempt at the aptitude test, and failed. The Covarrubias Twins were dishonest and cheated, and they passed. The Twins went on to become rich and successful lawyers, while Mr. Segovia was a metro conductor. The message is clear. The system awards not those who work hard, but those who get results, no matter how unethical those attempts to get the results may

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