Anyone who has made though twelve years of formal education, can think of a class or an occasion outside of class, to serve as examples of what Freire calls the "banking" concept of education, where students were turned into "containers" to be be "filled" by their teachers. Now that we have discussed the meaning of Freire's essay in class, take a few moments to reflect further upon how this essay relates to your own educational experience. In your reading journal, review responses to questions that asked you to relate your personal experiences to Freire's argument. Then make note of any other personal experiences that occurred to you during our discussion of Freire or your later reflections. Choose two or more of these and free write in your reading journal for fifteen minutes or so on each. Record the details of the experience and how Freire's arguments relate to that experience in as much detail as possible.

Now that you have begun a more focused exploration of how Freire's ideas relate to your education, choose one that will serve as the focus of your essay.  Write an essay that describes that incident and interpret or "read" it as Freire would. You will need to provide careful detail: things that were said and done, perhaps the exact wording of an assignment, a textbook, or a teacher's comments.  And you will need to turn to the language of Freire's argument, to take key phrases and passages and see how they might be used to investigate your case. Your purpose is to make your experience a part of a large conversation about education. In other words, you paper will need to make analysis of your experience that was not available to your before you read Freire's work.

Do note that Freire would not want you to work passively or mechanically, however, as though you were following orders. He would want you to make your own mark on the work he has begun. A successful essay will test and examine what Freire says.

Note: This assignment is adapted from "Assignments for Writing" #1 on page 271 of Way of Reading. Some wording from the original has been preserved.