Question

Hard Times

by Charles Dickens (excerpt)

The scene was a plain, bare, monotonous vault of a school-room, and the speaker's square forefinger emphasized his observations by underscoring every sentence with a line on the schoolmaster's sleeve. The emphasis was helped by the speaker's square wall of a forehead, which had his eyebrows for its base, while his eyes found commodious cellarage in two dark caves, overshadowed by the wall…

The speaker's obstinate carriage, square coat, square legs, square shoulders, —nay, his very neckcloth, trained to take him by the throat with an unaccommodating grasp, like a stubborn fact, as it was, —all helped the emphasis.

"In this life, we want nothing but Facts, sir; nothing but Facts!"

The speaker, and the schoolmaster, and the third grown person present, all backed a little, and swept with their eyes the inclined plane of little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim.

What does the passage imply about children and learning?

A. Children are usually rowdy so teachers need to be strict disciplinarians.
B. Children are overly passive in school and therefore do not learn well.
C. Children who learn facts and conform will likely succeed in life.
D. Children would be best served if allowed to develop as individuals.

I know for sure it's NOT C

Answer 1

D. Children would be best served if allowed to develop as individuals.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this excerpt of Hard Times, from the beginning, Dickens builds up himself inside a contemporary discussion on the idea of learning, knowledge and education.

The depiction of the study hall is certainly satire, a study of utilitarianism, and comparable philosophies of insight that recommended the outright dependence upon estimations and facts contrary to emotion, imaginative inspiration and leisure.

Answer 2

The best statement that the passage imply about children and learning is that D. Children would be best served if allowed to develop as individuals.