Heron Jones Somnambulism

Everyone ultimately has one common desire; to achieve happiness. In Kohn’s essay, “How Not to Get Into College: The Preoccupation with Preparation” and in Heron Jones poem, “Somnambulist” they discuss that individuals are not achieving happiness because they rely on extrinsic motivators to produce intrinsic happiness. Kohn and Jones argue that people use extrinsic motivators to provide intrinsic happiness for themselves without knowing the toll they are carrying; instead people should tend to follow their dreams and focus on intrinsic motivators to provide intrinsic happiness. As a result, individuals are either unaware or unsure of their intrinsic goals and feel that their goals will be unaccomplished
In society, one’s intrinsic ambitions
Since the parents put pressure on their children to achieve high grades and scores, those result extrinsic goals. Also the teachers emphasize the post-secondary preparation which causes the students to even more pressured. This all results in the students losing interest in the learning and only focusing on the good grades as they set the post-secondary acceptance as their main goal. In relation to Jones’s poem, the workers are in pursue of money. They usually do jobs that are high in income and to impress others. But most of the time, the workers will dislike their job but will keep it just for the money. They waste their energy, physically and mentally, for something they do not love. In both works, the workers/ students are unclear of the effectiveness when striving for extrinsic rewards. Kohn have noticed that the students “have been desperately unhappy, filled with anxiety and self-doubt. Some of them may have had eating disorders, substance abuse problems, even suicidal thoughts. They might have gone to therapy except they had no spare time” (Kohn, para 7). As for Jones’s poem, he discusses that the employees are “Refusing to take holidays or go home to [the employee’s] spouse” (Jones, 54). In both examples, it shows the effects of striving towards those extrinsic rewards like grades and money. These insignificant achievements begin to add burden on the
This leads those individuals to believe that it is more important to pursue extrinsic rewards and become incomplete by neglected their intrinsic goals and desires. If the students were set with a different mind set when going to school, they can realize the importance of intrinsic rewards and how it can result in intrinsic happiness. Kohn also explains that the “Schools don’t have to give out awards or otherwise create artificial scarcity” (Kohn, para 25). And in “Somnambulist” Jones discusses that the workers “Don’t have to quit [their] job or find a new career / Wonder how many truly find their job fulfilling / And of not, what hobbies or activities fill the void that they’re in?” (Jones, 64-66). Kohn gives a suggestion to the education system in a way to help the students from striving towards those extrinsic rewards such as getting good grades. He is also referring to the awards like honor roll or highest grade award because that too can cause the students in only focusing on getting good grades. While in Jones’s poem, he provides the workers with advice on how to live life and to do things that they will actually