First of all, what do you think of what James Baldwin was saying (not just in this quote, but in his entire speech?) What do you think he means when he says “the world is larger?”

I think that James Baldwin was saying in his entire speech about his self-image and how he was perceived by the world. This quote in particular, “It would seem to me that when a child is born, if I’m the child’s parent, it is my obligation and my high duty to civilize that child. Man is a social animal. He cannot exist without a society. A society, in turn, depends on certain things which everyone within that society takes for granted.” I feel like he’s saying that keeping a child civilized in their own home is one way a child can maintain themselves by having manners, but once you put them out in society all the things a parent taught to a child may not be the same way because society is cruel and menacing. I think he means when he says “the world is larger” that there is so much out there that people don’t know or understand the concept of. When stepping out of your home, you have entered in a society with people who are just like you that have inferior complexity or folks who have superior complexity.

Secondly, what do you think you have the “necessity” to examine, or the obligation to learn more about? To put it another way: what do you wish had been taught to you in school that wasn’t? Why do you want to know about these topics?

I think it’s a “necessity” to examine not an obligation to learn about global warming. It’s a broad topic, it’s controversial, can stir a debate, but outdated information in science textbooks are not doing enough justice to the climate right now. The ice caps are melting, the greenhouse gases are burning, and air pollution intoxicating planet Earth. I wish global warming was taught to me in school instead of sizing it as a small discussion/problem in Earth Science class. I want to know more about this topic because the future for planet Earth isn’t looking so great if we are not being the change right now.