Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
the importance of education in the prison system
Essay on is education on prison effective
the importance of education in the prison system
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: the importance of education in the prison system
Is it possible to make vital life changes to become a better person at heart? Who’s the one that can help you? The only person that will get you up on your feet is yourself, and you have to believe deeply to make those changes. In this essay there are many main points that are being brought across to explain the problems and wisdom that arose from Baca’s life as an inmate. It talks about how he was grown up into an adult and the tragedies that he had to face in order to become one. Later I fallow steps that lead to the purpose and rhetorical appeals of Baca’s essay. The purpose dealt with the cause and effect piece and problem/ solution structure.
For this specific essay that I read it is based on the effects of language and its values. I happened to read the essay called, “Coming into Language,” by a convict named Jimmy Santiago Baca. He was born in 1952 as an Apache Indian with a Chicano relation. Ever since Jim was a young individual he has been in and out of jail and roamed the streets before knowing the basics of right and wrong. From an early age he didn’t ever get a chance to read or understand writings. Because of his poor upbringing he wasn’t able to gain access to knowledge, and did not know that dropping out of the 9th grade could hurt the rest of his life. In the essay, Baca mainly focused on writing the essay to explain his values and beliefs. I believe that Baca wanted to bring his thoughts across to the Chicano decent and to other jail inmates who didn’t understand their upbringings as well. There is clear reasoning for this, stated in the essay it mentions when Baca started showing the Chicano’s and other prisoners, they too were building an interest. The main purpose of this essay is to show that people can change and make a difference. From a person who was given nothing, and dealt with misery for his first half of his life was able to learn to read and write (then later on learned to write poems.)
In Baca’s writing style for this piece was a cause/effect and problem/solution. Throughout his writing he mentions how he wasn’t the smartest person, and didn’t even learn the importance of schooling.
The book, Deaf Again, written by Mark Drolsbaugh, is an autobiography telling his life story which starts with a young boy growing up who goes through the process of losing his hearing and then, as he gets older, he struggles with trying to fit in as a normal child. When Mark was very young, he could hear fairly well then gradually he went hard of hearing until he eventually went completely deaf. Even though he had two deaf parents, the doctors advised speech therapy and hearing aids because they did not understand Deaf Culture and they thought that Mark would be a lot happier if he could hang on to his hearing persona. Throughout the rest of the book, Mark goes through a lot of stages of trying to fit in with everyone and eventually does find himself and realizes that being Deaf is not a disease, but just a part of who he is.
After reading Deaf Again I learned a lot of new things about Deaf culture and was drawn in by the story of Mark Drolsbaugh. "The hardest fight a man has to fight is to live in a world where every single day someone is trying to make you someone you do not want to be" e.e cummings. I was brought into the book immediately from this quote and realized how difficult it must have been for Mark to find his identity. He was trying to hang on to his hearing in fear of going deaf as if there was something wrong or not proper with being deaf. It took him a long time, twenty-three years to realize that the Deaf culture is receiving and it was there for him to embrace the entire time. It would be difficult to be able to hear and then slowly lose your hearing while having to communicate in the world we live in. Both his parents Sherry and Don were Deaf and I enjoyed reading the part where Mark was brought into this world through childbirth and the signing and conversation that was going on inside while the process was taking place. Like the anesthesia machine not working, which had to have been painful.
Typical stories of civil rights demonstrations by African Americans and civil rights workers in the south tell accounts of passive resistance and nonviolent protest. They tell accounts of African Americans being neglected and ignored in restaurants, verbally abused for being out of “their neighborhoods”, and beaten and arrested for speaking up or acting out against such grave injustices. They were further repressed by the fact that the police, prosecutors, judges, mayors, and even governors of southern areas not only turned a blind eye to newly enacted civil rights legislation but also actively participated in ensuring the continued suppression of African American acceptance. This complete segregation from society and lack of protection under the law naturally spawned groups of African Americans who decided that the only protection they were going to get was the protection they provided for themselves. They began to arm themselves, forming small bands that set out to protect civil rights demonstrators and retaliate against racist acts. One such group was the Deacons for Defense and Justice in Louisiana. In his book Crossing Border Street Peter Jan Honigsberg tells of his experiences with the Deacons while working as a civil rights worker in Louisiana. Becoming deeply immersed into African American culture Honigsberg learns what it means to be black and living in the south during the civil rights movement. Furthermore he reveals some of the motivations of white individuals who participated in the movement.
Sandra Cisneros’s “Never Marry a Mexican” introduces readers to Clemencia. Cisneros eludes Clemencia as a woman who appears proud of her Mexican heritage, yet knows not how the slanderous phrase “Never marry a Mexican” uttered from her well-meaning mother’s trusty lips about Clemencia’s own Mexican father negatively foreshadows her seedy life and gloomy world perspective later down her destructive journey of adulthood.
The Old Gringo is a fiction novel written by one of Latin America's most renowned and eloquent authors, Carlos Fuentes. Filled with war, adventure, love and more, this novel takes you back to the Mexican revolution fought in 1912. This contemporary fiction is based on many themes found and experienced by the main characters in this novel. The relationship between Mexico and the United States, the drive to find one's true self and the different ways two men need a woman are only a few themes contained in this story. The question: Is he Ambrose Bierce or just an old gringo, is one that I had to answer while reading this book. We all have different opinions, but it is a question that all ask themselves while reading The Old Gringo.
In his book “Between the World and Me”, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores what it means to be a black body living in the white world of the United States. Fashioned as a letter to his son, the book recounts Coates’ own experiences as a black man as well as his observations of the present and past treatment of the black body in the United States. Weaving together history, present, and personal, Coates ruminates about how to live in a black body in the United States. It is the wisdom that Coates finds within his own quest of self-discovery that Coates imparts to his son.
The Broken Spears is a book written by Miguel Leon-Portilla that gives accounts of the fall of the Aztec Empire to the Spanish in the early 16th century. The book is much different from others written about the defeat of the empire because it was written from the vantage point of the Aztecs rather then the Spanish. Portilla describes in-depth many different reasons why the Spanish were successful in the defeat of such a strong Empire.
In the short story “Being There”, by Jerzy Kosinski, there are multiple examples of satire that are displayed throughout both the book and the movie. A few of them are: media, death, politics, and racism. The satire of the media was very similar in the book and the movie. Media played a big role in society and still does to this day.
Eva Hoffman’s memoir, Lost in Translation, is a timeline of events from her life in Cracow, Poland – Paradise – to her immigration to Vancouver, Canada – Exile – and into her college and literary life – The New World. Eva breaks up her journey into these three sections and gives her personal observations of her assimilation into a new world. The story is based on memory – Eva Hoffman gives us her first-hand perspective through flashbacks with introspective analysis of her life “lost in translation”. It is her memory that permeates through her writing and furthermore through her experiences. As the reader we are presented many examples of Eva’s memory as they appear through her interactions. All of these interactions evoke memory, ultimately through the quest of finding reality equal to that of her life in Poland. The comparison of Eva’s exile can never live up to her Paradise and therefore her memories of her past can never be replaced but instead only can be supplemented.
In the article "Why Good English is Good For You," by John Simon, the intended audience is English speaking Americans. Simon stresses the importance of keeping good English alive, and spreading it. He explains how the influence of adults can greatly impact the future of the upcoming generations. Simon makes it clear to the audience, which consists of young adults, adults, and professionals, that language is a daily necessity that should not be used in a way that makes Americans appear illiterate. Simon uses many rhetorical devices such as analogies, personification, asyndeton, and anaphoras to demonstrate the importance of utilizing English in a proper manner. Those who use English must train themselves to exert the language in the correct
As a journalist in 1920 for the New York Herald Tribune, Sophie Treadwell was assigned to go to Mexico to follow the situation after the Mexican Revolution. (Mexican Revolution 1910-1917) She covered many important aspects of the Mexican Revolution during this time, including relations between the U.S. and Mexico. She was even permitted an interview with Pancho Villa in August 1921 at his headquarters. This interview and other events that she experienced in Mexico are presumably what led her to write the play Gringo. In Gringo Treadwell tries to depict the stereotypical and prejudicial attitudes that Mexicans and Americans have about each other. There is a demonstration of how Mexican women are looked at in the Mexican culture and how they see themselves. The play also corresponds to similar events that occurred during the Mexican Revolution.
For example, when a person in the store talked using their type of language: “‘I ain’t worried ‘bout this fight. Joe’s gonna whip that cracker like it’s open season. He gone whip him till that white boy calls him Momma’” (105). This shows the reader how the society felt when the fight was taking place and the type of language the African AMericans used during their daily lives. Also, there is an appeal to ethos when Maya talks about God: “True that we were stupid and ugly and lazy and dirty and, unlucky and worst of all, that God Himself hated us and ordained us to be hewers of wood and drawers of water, forever and ever, world without end” (106). This shows credibility because this is how Maya Angelou felt as an African American. The style of diction that Maya Angelou conveys is to portray the way that African American people communicate threw one another and so the reader can have the sense of how the society was in the late
“Restorative justice is an approach to crime and other wrongdoings that focuses on repairing harm and encouraging responsibility and involvement of the parties impacted by the wrong.” This quote comes from a leading restorative justice scholar named Howard Zehr. The process of restorative justice necessitates a shift in responsibility for addressing crime. In a restorative justice process, the citizens who have been affected by a crime must take an active role in addressing that crime. Although law professionals may have secondary roles in facilitating the restorative justice process, it is the citizens who must take up the majority of the responsibility in healing the pains caused by crime. Restorative justice is a very broad subject and has many other topics inside of it. The main goal of the restorative justice system is to focus on the needs of the victims, the offenders, and the community, and focus
Johnstone, G. and Ness, D. (2007) Handbook of Restorative Justice. USA: Willan Publishing. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-big-question-what-are-the-alternatives-to-prison-and-do-they-work-419388.html [Accessed 01 January 2014].
As the purpose of restorative justice is to mend the very relationship between the victim, offender, and society, communities that embrace restorative justice foster an awareness on how the act has harmed others. Braithwaite (1989) notes that by rejecting only the criminal act and not the offender, restorative justice allows for a closer empathetic relationship between the offender, victims, and community. By acknowledging the intrinsic worth of the offender and their ability to contribute back to the community, restorative justice shows how all individuals are capable of being useful despite criminal acts previous. This encourages offenders to safely reintegrate into society, as they are encouraged to rejoin and find rapport with the community through their emotions and