Ramifications of chasing traditional rewards in “Iced Cream” and “How Not to Get Into College”
In the “So Called Iced Cream” by Daniel Barwick and How Not to Get Into College: The Preoccupation with Preparation” by Alfie Kohn, the authors develop the message that people assume extrinsic rewards will bring joy, and satisfaction with their lives. Yet, they ultimately end up filled with regret and grief for everything they have sacrificed in the process of achieving their goal. Firstly, in “Iced- Cream”, Monty Burns is depressed with his life, despite having all the riches money can buy; similarly, in Kohn’s essay, the students are upset, after sacrificing their happiness and well-being in the process of gaining admission into top-tier universities.…show more content… Many of them may have been desperately unhappy, filled with anxiety and self-doubt” (Kohn, paragraph 7). Both groups of individuals, focused completely on achieving their extrinsic motives, believing it will eventually bring joy and comfort into their lives yet they end up only in distress. Secondly, in Barwick’s essay, Mr. Burns only gives importance to the tangible rewards of everything, discarding anything else that comes in his way; likewise, in Kohn’s essay, students only give importance to school because it would result in greater rewards in the future. For example, during the bowling game between friends “winning the worthless bowling trophy is much more important to him than the sweet, albeit momentary, pleasure of a group of jocular friends [brings to a person] and in the end, everything turns out to bore him” (Paragraph, 4) and during one of Kohn’s speeches to parents about “what is threatening to take over their [teens] lives” suddenly a “well-dressed boy of about 16” stands up to say, “ ‘You’re telling us not to just get in the race for the traditional rewards’, ‘ but then what else is there…’”(Paragraph, 10). Both sets of individuals regard external accolades as a