On The Educational Enlightenment Of English Nursery Rhymes In Terms Of Their Dark Sides

The traditional English enlightening reading material Mother Goose has always been circulated among the western countries. Some English enlightening Nursery Rhymes reveal the dark side of ancient British society and expose distortion of human nature and dark side of society under feudal autocracy. They have been passed down from generation to generation. The profound cultural backgrounds and unique educational significances of the rhymes are elaborated from societal, human, historical and ethical dimensions. English Nursery Rhymes portraying the dark side play a special role of showing the ultimate solicitude for life. This research on English Nursery Rhymes of different styles is also a new exploration of Chinese children's education.Nursery Rhymes are our first teacher of literature. By reading rhymes, children can get acquaintance with a lot of literary knowledge. Nursery rhymes impart valuable cultural information and stand as a source of literary quotations. As a result, we have to make a keen study on Mother Goose, the enlightening book of the West.Although readers are children, Mother Goose is written by adults. This has determined that the original intentions and inspirations of rhymes may not be so simple and innocent. The aim of our research is to analyze their profound educational enlightenment and historical backgrounds. In addition, we make a comparison between Mother Goose and Chinese Gray Rhymes and offer new perspectives on the Chinese education. Psychology says that childhood is a critical period for formation of personality. Mother Goose blazes a way in English learning as a second language. Therefore, it is not surprising that our research on Mother Goose, especially on rhymes portraying the dark side stands as a bridge for the understanding of English education.We adopt one of the five dimensions characterized by Greet Hofstede---Uncertainty Avoidance, to explain the cause of weird rhymes. It refers to the degree to which people from a particular culture can tolerate uncertain situations, or the extent to which a society attempts to cope with anxiety by minimizing uncertainty. Besides, the Neutral versus Emotions dimension Trompenaars and Hampen-Turner discovered in their research are also used for further explanation. The third of Trompenaars'dimensions is called Neutral versus Emotions. This dimension concerns different contexts and ways that cultures choose to express emotions.The dark side of our society is unmasked by English Nursery Rhymes. We preliminarily explore the subconscious of the rhymes. The brutality and cruelty behind the naivety and innocence of the children are astonishing and startling. The seemingly paradoxical theme of life is a real and twisted reflection of inner struggles between evil and good. We compare Mother Goose with the newly-emerging Chinese Gray Rhymes so as to get rid of its limitation and learn the strengths. We gain educational enlightenment by comparison.This essay is divided into the following six parts:Chapter One and Two introduces the origin and themes of Mother Goose and briefs readers on the definition of Culture Shock, Hofstede's Uncertainty Avoidance and Trompenaars'Neutral versus Emotions Dimension.Chapter Three gives a brief explanation to English Nursery Rhymes portraying the dark side of human nature and society, in principle of Trompenaars'Neutral versus Emotions theory. We try to learn educational enlightenment from the differences. Chapter four shows that many Nursery Rhymes have hidden historical meanings and keep a record of terror in the past. They play a crucial role in the English learning as a second language.Chapter Five explores Mother Goose on life in accordance with Hofstede's theory of Uncertainty Avoidance and studies the unique use for education in the West.Chapter Six summarizes the whole essay, compares Mother Goose with Chinese Gray Rhymes and points out both the strengths and the weaknesses.