In 1954, a drastic change to the educational system by integrating schools across the U.S. Prior to this event, students were sent to certain schools based on their race. R.V Cassill wrote The First Day of School at the point of the transition to integrate schools. Cassill writes a tale of an African American family that was confronted with the challenge of one of six black children to attend and all whites school. Cassill shows progression of John, the protagonist, facing struggles leading up to his first day at and integrated school.
In the beginning of The First Day of School it states that John is jabbing the bubbles in his milk, which means he is upset about something in his life. John also states that it is the end of summer so the
thing he is upset about could be involving school. On page 272 it states that John thinks it is taking Audrey, Johns sister, so long to come down because she didn't feel like going to school today. On page 272 that John is thinking of the worst because it states that he kept saying something might happen. John also shows on page 272 that he is frustrated because he doesn't have a strong relationship with his mom. Clearly, page 273 you can see John is upset about something because it states that the rain crow is cawing. After that, John says, “Maybe the bird knows it’s going to rain, after all. He hoped it would. They won’t come out in the rain, he had thought. Not so many of them, at least. He could wear a raincoat. A raincoat might help him feel more protected on the walk to school. It would be a sort of disguise, at least.” Then he states that the crow is probably wrong because it was a nice sunny day. On page 274 it states that the thing John is upset about is so bad that the National Guard has to come.
In Ron Koertge’s “First Grade”, the author employs indirect characterization and foreshadows the affects of education by describing the speaker’s initial thoughts and beliefs and by writing in the past tense to show how education can limit students’ minds and rob them of their vitality.
The quotation stated above from “Long, Long After School”, written by Ernest Buckler; demonstrates a great significance that reveals both character and theme. The quotation reveals who the main character really is and the change he undergoes in the telling of Wes’ flashback in the story. While Wes is reminding the main character of all the things he and his friends did that bullied the poor boy at school, he realizes what a terrible person he was back then- resulting in him (in the moment) feeling like a young boy; and certainly not a gentlemen! It makes him metaphorically “feel less beautiful” because of the torture the main character, Wes was put through. During this part of the story, it shows the main character is a dynamic character-
John Gatto argues against the on-going cycle of compulsory education, in his essay “Against School.” In Joel Stein’s essay “The Newest Greatest Generation,” he discusses characteristics of the millennials that he disapproves of and admires. In the essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr discourses the ways Google is or is not making society stupid. Gatto addresses several of his concerns in his essay both Stein and Carr agrees with him Gatto’s argument against compulsory education in their essays.
In Celia, A Slave, a slave named Celia was sent to court because she committed homicide. However, the murder was justified, because she was trying to defend herself from her slave owner, Robert Newsom, who was attempting to rape her once again. This time around, Celia attempted to protect herself by striking Newsom, just in order to daze him for a bit. She did not intend to kill the man, but simply keep him away from her. Unfortunately, in Missouri in 1850, the only person that would be protected by law would be the slave owner, when it came to the rape of a slave. The slave owner would be allowed to immediately punish a rapist for trespassing on their property, which in this case, would be the slave. Celia, A Slave is a story that
Culture has the power and ability to give someone spiritual and emotional distinction which shapes one's identity. Without culture society would be less and less diverse. Culture is what gives this earth warmth and color that expands across miles and miles. The author of “The School Days of an Indian Girl”, Zitkala Sa, incorporates the ideals of her Native American culture into her writing. Similarly, Sherman Alexie sheds light onto the hardships he struggled through growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in his book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven in a chapter titled “Indian Education”. While both Zitkala Sa and Sherman Alexie were Native Americans, and take on a similar persona showcasing their native culture in their text, the two diverge in the situations that they face. Zitkala Sa’s writing takes on a more timid shade as she is incorporated into the “white” culture, whereas Alexie more boldly and willingly immerses himself into the culture of the white man. One must leave something in order to realize how
Aristotle once claimed that, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Artists, such as Louise-Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun and Mary Cassatt, captured not only the way things physically appeared on the outside, but also the emotions that were transpiring on the inside. A part no always visible to the viewer. While both artists, Le Brun and Cassatt, worked within the perimeters of their artistic cultures --the 18th century in which female artists were excluded and the 19th century, in which women were artistically limited-- they were able to capture the loving relationship between mother and child, but in works such as Marie Antoinette and Her Children and Mother Nursing her Child 1898,
Before rising on his birthday, John sleepily daydreams about how he, himself has isolated himself in the student lavatory,
The 60s. They seem so long ago. The Vietnam War, the first GPS satellite, a time of 8-tracks and cassette tapes, they seem like so long ago. The 60s is also when To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was first published, a majorly successful book written about a majorly controversial topic. Lee sets out to tackle the topic by telling a story through the perspective of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, a nine year old girl. The story focuses on the events of the Finches, the Ewells, a trial of a black man, and Boo Radley, all in the town of Maycomb. Using these characters, Harper Lee shows how racism is something that is learned through society, and can be avoided.
Education was provided to the children from higher classes to become more intelligent to be able to lead and be ahead of those that were in lower class systems. However the government created the public education system to allow children to have the same opportunities as any other kid in the country rich or poor. Yet, did the government really provide this experience for children to become more intelligent than those whom were rich, or is there more to the real meaning of public education? In “Against School”, written by John T. Gatto, looks into the “real” intentions of what the purpose of education is. Gatto looks beyond the meaning of children acquiring only knowledge from education, but comes to a point where he believes that educations
“More than 3,000 youngsters will drop out will drop out today and every day for the rest of the school year, until about 600,000 are lost by June. One in four will pass through the correctional system, and at least two or three of those will be dropouts.” (Barber pg. 209) In Benjamin Barber’s essay, “Americans Skip School,” the American Educational Systems underlying problems are revealed and expose society’s ignorance to the importance of receiving an education. Statistics display the quantity of students in America that drop out of school and become criminals, nonetheless Americans continue to sidestep the issue. How can we expect students to listen to their teachers when they lack guidance and encouragement from their parents? Skewed moral
By way of example, This Boy’s Life reads like the work of a writer who understands that he’s in fact “surrounded by stories” (Wolff 271). Additionally, its novelistic style and details have been altered in order to give Wolff’s memoir a fiction shape. Furthermore, much of the book was written in scenes, and dialogue which Jack felt it was due to his “good memory” (15). Not to mention that, “most of the people” Jack “lived with repeated themselves a lot” which allowed him to remember how certain characters spoke, and behaved while writing the memoir (26). Wolff’s book is entirely different from his brother’s Geoffrey’s book, which takes on a completely different view.
In the two passages it talks about being patent and knowing that the time you are waiting for will come. Being patent means to wait either excitedly or even scared because or never know wither it will be good or bad, happy or sad.
Labeling is a big issue in the society in which we live in. As students, educators and of course humans we are consistently labeling others and ourselves. “Seeing the student “by Ayers brings to light the issues among labeling students. Ayers depicts the issue of labeling students with different disabilities whether it is a learning disability or a physical disability. The idea that some educators are unable to see the best out of their students raises a great issue on how students are affected by us as their teachers.
The main theme of to kill a mockingbird is coming of age, and it can be seen in many passages, but one of them is when Miss Maudie gives Jem a slice of the big cake while Scout and Dill receive a small cake “there was a big cake and two little ones on Miss Maudie’s kitchen table. There should have been three little ones. It is not like Miss Maudie to forget Dill, and we must have shown it. But we understood when she cut from the big cake and gave the slice to Jem.”and through the use of how the author makes the character of Miss Maudie treat Jem different. At the beginning of the book Jem used to tell Scout that she was becoming more like a girl and later as he became more older he wanted Scout to “act more like a girl” because that’s what she is.
Maturation is an important process where children lose their innocence and are thrust into a world that is outside of their proverbial bubble. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, exhibits this process through the salient characters Jem and Scout. The novel is told in 1st person point-of-view which documents each phase in which they exemplify the theme of coming of age. The children are immersed in a town that has its fair share of bigotry, fascism, and racism. They often grapple with extreme stereotypes in their environment. Now, Jem and Scout have dynamic characterization which supports the theme of coming of age because the reader can see their evolving and complex feelings throughout the novel.