The Mysterious Benedict Society Education Quotes

Reynie's been on his own for most of his life. Sure he's got Miss Perumal at the beginning of the book, but the orphanage director only brought her in after Reynie had finished all of the school's textbooks. On his own. So Reynie is a great example of an autodidact. An auto-what? Autodidact. Someone who's self taught. You know, like Beatrix Potter, Benjamin Franklin and a slew of other well-known people.

Reynie reads like crazy, and we all pretty much know that reading is a great way to get an education—about anything. Clearly Trenton Lee Stewart is a big fan of books, but here's a question we have for you: is there a difference between reading a book the way Reynie has likely read all of his and reading a book on an e-reader? Or listening to an audiobook? Or watching a film adaptation of a book? Do people acquire the same knowledge no matter how they take in the contents of books? And finally, what do you think Stewart would think about this topic?

This is sad for multiple reasons. First because Reynie has to squirrel himself away somewhere to avoid being teased and taunted by his classmates, and second because it means none of the other students at the orphanage ever go into the reading room, which implies that none of them are big fans of reading. Do you think the Stonetown Orphanage is way different from most schools in this way? Or do you think people's interest in reading is really decreasing?

This makes us wonder why it is, exactly, that the other students at the Stonetown Orphanage find Reynie so odd. Is it because he's inquisitive? Or because he has a sophisticated vocabulary? Because he spends so much time reading? Aren't these all the qualities of a good student? We're curious as to whether you see other kids being teased (or maybe just ignored or not included) because they're, well, bookish. And if so (or even if not), we're wondering why you think that might happen.

The more we hear about the students at the Stonetown Orphanage, the more we get the feeling that this school, this institution of learning, is actually anti-intellectual. What do you make of that? How can a place that's supposed to encourage learning be against, um, learning?

These are great rhymes and very entertaining, and they definitely give us some insight into just how stubborn and contrary Miss Contraire can be. But is there something more going on here? Do you get the sense that maybe, just maybe, Trenton Lee Stewart might agree with Constance's assessment of rules and schools? Why or why not?

Okay, so Constance refuses to follow the rules (and the non-existent fourth step) for the second test. Most of the time when people respond to test questions in this way they fail, right? Yet Constance passes. And not only that, but Mr. B loves her answers, and her poem. So what's the deal? What qualities has Constance shown here that make her a good fit for the MBS team? And what kinds of intelligence has she shown that she has?

One way to figure out the ways in which you're intelligent is to think about the things you like to do. Why? Because the things we like to do tend to become the things we're really good at, whether it's taking apart household gadgets or car engines and putting them back together again, or reading, understanding, and appreciating literature. Kate loves exploring—and climbing and running and jumping and balancing—because that's where she can best use her strengths. And her strengths? Are her best ways of being smart. What are yours?

Do you attend school? If so, does any of this sound familiar to you? The part that interests us the most (at this particular moment) is the whole rote memorization thing. The word rote means mechanical routine, so learning by rote is learning by memorizing or repetition—you know, the way Mr. Curtain has his students repeating words and phrases over and over until they stick in their heads.

Our question to you is: is this type of learning valuable? Don't answer too quickly. People are really divided on this, with some saying rote memorization is pointless and can't lead to real learning while others think it has its place. But what do you think? And while you're sorting out your opinion, help us sort out Trenton Lee Stewart's. What is he saying about rote learning in that first sentence above? Why would it be discouraged? And if discouraged, why would it then be required?

This is actually a big point in Kate's column—at least when it comes to Mr. Curtain's lessons. Why? Because they are nonsense. The logical conclusions all his lessons lead to would make Mr. Spock's head spin, because they aren't logical at all. So really it's not so bad that Kate can't absorb them. Sticky and Reynie, of course, have no problem memorizing the lessons, so what does that say about them? Is Kate smarter because her brain refuses to retain this gobbledygook, or are Reynie and Sticky smarter because they can keep track of it in their heads even if they think it's nonsense? Or are they just smart in different ways?