...so that government by the people, for the people, shall not perish. Yesterday, on my way in to work, MPR interviewed Ken Burns about his newest documentary, The Address. Burns was passionate about the power of remembrance, but also the power of remembering--as in memorizing the less than 300 words in the Gettysburg Address. Just a few weeks ago, I heard our about-to-be-11-year-old granddaughter recite the Declaration of Independence, in its entirety. Our 8-year-old granddaughter recited the first three chapters of Genesis and part of the fourth. All of this over pizza buffet in a Mexican familys place of business decorated for the Easter holiday. We were astonished that the kids knew the meaning of the individual words and the passages as a whole--delivered with appropriate inflection and pronunciation--and amazed at what they are learning in the private, classical school they attend, an opportunity provided by their other grandparents. I know the arguments in the great debate over rote learning versus critical thinking (I taught 5th grade for 10 years). I observe that the two approaches must be applied mutually and not exclusively. And so, I found Burns interview inspiring. It appears that other people, like Uma Thurman, Louis C.K., Stephen Colbert, the living presidents, and many other folks--including even the un-folk, Elmo--shared their recitations of the Gettysburg Address at Learn the Address. Go to the page, Video Gallery, to find all the regular folk who submitted videos of their own recitations--including 17 from North Dakota, Heidi Heitkamp & John Hoeven among them.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 14:22:14 +0000