ipl-logo

Flannery O Connor's The Know-It-All Generation

501 Words3 Pages

In the story “The Know-it-all Generation” the author sets the scene in the first person and gives a personal account to prove an underlying issue that the generation may be facing. The generation consists of individuals that ultimately go off into the world with a sense of entitlement, false hope, and a pompous attitude due to constant specious comments made by those around. Meaningless compliments have become requirements for teachers, coaches, parents, and even peers. Being wrong is not an option in this generation. The main two points that the author states throughout the paper are 1.) that adolescents and people of this time have been brainwashed and conditioned to believe that they are better than they actually are and 2.) many times they do not understand that they are not perfect and criticism is a part of life. In a sense, many kids have been brought up in homes where praise is merely an everyday morning routine. From the time they are born, children are being taught that they are “winners” no matter what. They are being praised for the simplest accomplishments and being rewarded for things they should already do. If a parent is the first person to make an impression on the child, and their impressions are misguided and unrealistic this could be detrimental to the way kids see the world. They now believe that …show more content…

By using personal accounts the reader is now able to see how prevalent these actions are, and able to relate them back to his or her own life. The author speaks to those people who have an issue with criticism and reality. The statement “We’re programmed to devour compliments, and our gears break down when we encounter a new type of software: criticism” develops the second main idea of the paper. The generation does not favor criticism in any form. Even constructive criticism has been turned into a compliment

Show More
Related
2596 Words | 11 Pages

Brooks states, “One terrifically observant senior, Victoria Buhler, wrote a paper trying to capture how it feels to be in at least a segment of her age cohort” (Brooks). His use of diction is an attempt to provide credibility to Buhler, as she is a terrifically observant student. However, what Brooks fails to acknowledge is the fact that Buhler represents a very demographic in being a Yale student. Even though she may have a better grasp of the “Empirical Kid” generation, does not mean she represents the viewpoints of everyone. Her Yale education suggests her values and arguments are more attached to well-educated middle to upper class.

Read More
845 Words | 4 Pages

People who become parents, generally understand that they have to raise their children in a certain way so that they will become healthy and functional members of society. Most of these parents also understand that if they do not give their children proper care and attention, their child may not have a successful future. Often times, parents would argue which method is the best to raise their child and which way is wrong. Everyone seems to have their own definition of parenting. Most people however, would disagree with the way Rex and Rose Mary Walls in The Glass Castle raised their children.

Read More
341 Words | 2 Pages

Mark Bauerlein, author of ‘The Dumbest Generation’, argues that today’s youth has had a decline in academics due to new technology in today’s economy. In retrospect, we’re growing up in a different time than the generation before us; the world and it’s products are different as to be expected, and with them we must learn new materials than they did. Today’s generation isn’t ‘dumb’, instead we’re adjusting to the times and retaining different knowledge than the generations before us. Many older generations always thinks that the generation after theirs is ‘dumber’, and think themselves to be the superior one.

Read More
184 Words | 1 Pages

John Kaag begins his article by stating that the desire of any “good student” is to be told that they’re paper was “flawless.” He then goes on to recount his experience during the 9th grade of being told exactly that, and how when he told his mother, she became upset and decided to show him the error of his ways. He says that from this experience he learned the value of criticism. From this point on he talks about his first case of writers block and of how writing forces you to look inwardly.

Read More
869 Words | 4 Pages

With the general assumption that millennials are arrogant, Wallace shares a story to prove to everyone that being arrogant is not worth it (Wallace, 2005). So much more can be done if we focus our energy in thinking in a more positive manner. For instance, he talked about being a little less arrogant, saying “Because a huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded. I have learned this the hard way” and further claims “as I predict you graduates will, too.” (Wallace, 2005)

Read More
1455 Words | 6 Pages

Generational Disconnect As Margaret Oliphant once wrote, “every generation has a conceit of itself which elevates it, in its own opinion, above that which comes after it”. Throughout time, each generation has held their own values above the values of others. They are reluctant to change their views and ideologies for the benefit of others. In The Graduate by Charles Webb, the protagonist, Benjamin Braddock, faces the struggle of understanding and being understood by his parents and their friends.

Read More
797 Words | 4 Pages

They do not care if it is earned, or if they even did well; as long as there is something to brag about, it does not matter. Teens should take time to enjoy life to grow into mature, experienced individuals and actually go places and do things because that is what they enjoy, not because they think it will be another thing to brag about Youth fails to see what life is about; they need to understand, growing from failure is better than learning nothing from winning. McCullough, towards the end, emphasizes that “Generation Z” should not just experience life to brag about it, but to grow by saying, “Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.

Read More
1852 Words | 8 Pages

Children's growth and development are greatly influenced by their parents, and this has an impact on their mental processes as well as how they interact with their environment. However, institutions have an impact on adults, and these institutions affect how they interact with the world. These institutions also directly impact how parents interact and raise their children, and it can have an impact on a child's development and cause trauma and grief that lasts a lifetime. More specifically, a child's freedom and trust can be affected by parents who conform to cultural and traditional expectations. This is because conforming to harmful expectations or societal norms can affect children negatively due to these expectations being inherently harmful.

Read More
1491 Words | 6 Pages

“A garbled echo returned to her. A final surge of fury shook her and she roared, ‘Who do you think you are?’” (O’Connor 33) This line is from Revelation when Mrs. Turpin was talking to a person that judged her, little did she know this person was jesus. Flannery O’Connor is trying to show that people often put themselves before others without ever wanting or letting themselves and others judge them.

Read More
2090 Words | 9 Pages

Depending on a child’s family history, they could be born with a perfectionist mindset (Basco 30). Additionally, parents have a large impact on childhood development because children are vulnerable at young ages. If a parent expresses a belief that what his/her child has done is not “good enough” or could be better, then the child will often internalize this belief (Basco 30). Parents can also push their children to be overly successful in every sense of his/her life and when the children don’t reach their parents’ goal, the parents will show disapproval (Perfectionism). After years of hearing criticism from parents, many people will internalize the criticism and believe it, leading to internal

Read More
659 Words | 3 Pages

The predecessor’s generation feels that millennials are out of line but they are just reluctant to accept changing times because they are used to things being a certain way. In the end, the anger amongst predecessor’s generation towards millennials come out to be nothing but envy because they feel like they are obsolete (Ellin 211). In the words of Roy Cohen, an executive coach in New York, “they’re an extraordinary generation that we should be celebrating, not dumping on” (Ellin 212). The millennials generation is looked down on because they do not follow the old

Read More
870 Words | 4 Pages

A millennial is the title of anyone who is born after 1984. The author, Simon Sinek, is not a millennial, but does express his opinion in his informal lecture, “Millennials in the Workplace.” Sinek argues that all of the millennial’s issues stem from bad parenting, technology, impatience, and the environment and their long lasting effect the workplace. The only way to resolve the problem is to have corporate environments take responsibility and train the new employees to their standards. It is reasonable to agree with a majority of Sinek’s argument, but a corporation does not need to overcompensate; it is best to give millennials a push in the right direction and let them experience the world with the proper tools and skills necessary.

Read More
1033 Words | 5 Pages

Criticism is the inspection and judgment of the merits and demerits of a work. Criticism never seems good and there is nothing pleasant about it. Even the critique having best intentions still stings. All of us like to be right, accomplished and correct and when we are not, it still hurts to hear the truth, no matter how nice others critic tries to be.

Read More
859 Words | 4 Pages

Some of the judgments are well thought out; yet, others are more mechanically offered. At times, judgments are made to belittle the receivers. Other judgments are communicated to make critics appear superior or powerful rather than to support or enhance receivers. I would like to say that constructive criticism creates a nice platform which nurtures us to make ourselves competent and proficient. Besides it helps us in enhancing the following vital aspects.

Read More
960 Words | 4 Pages

As a child you are reliant on your parents to help you become who you are. Part of that involves their own distinct opinions that of which children don’t have the maturity to form on their

Read More

More about Flannery O Connor's The Know-It-All Generation

Related Topics

Open Document