The infamous senior paper. This was something that I had been dreading all year. It came at the end of my senior year, when I was definitely no longer in the mood to work. In my high school all seniors were required to write one last paper in order to graduate. I remember talking to some of my friends about how much the paper was stressing me out. The members of my AP English class complained about how the students in other classes could pick to write about any topic that interested them. Some students would write about the affects of drugs, some would write about sports, or the debate over abortion. Pretty much anything that appealed to them and that could take up five pages.
My honors class was stuck with writing about ten pages of Shakespeare, or the feminist works of Kate Chopin, anything that had to do with reputable literary sources. It was just accepted that we were honors students and we had more challenging work. We couldn’t just breeze through this paper like every other student.
Why is it that two classes have such different guidelines for the same assignment? Students are grouped in classes based on their assumed intellectual abilities. This classifying is known as tracking. “In its traditional sense, tracking refers to the practice of sorting secondary school students into different programs of study, often called ‘college preparatory,’ ‘general,’ or ‘vocational.’ Ability grouping typically reflects similar sorting at the elementary and middle levels” (Wheelock 1).
It was not until I sat down to interview my high school English teacher, Mr. Sim, that I really began to see the problems with tracking. I have always been in the honors track ever since I was in elementary school, so I was evaluating the education system by how I was benefiting from school. Getting a teacher’s point of view, a teacher who clearly had some major criticisms regarding the practice, made me think about how other students are affected by tracking.
I attended Irvington High School, a small public school in Westchester County, New York. For the most part I had been going to school with the same kids since kindergarten. We had been separated into ability groupings early on. I remember being separated into reading groups and math classes in elementary school.
Throughout this paper, criticisms and praises will be mentioned in the borrowing of these ingenious practices, along with arriving to a conclusion of whether we are ready to deal with offenders in the restorative justice aspect. This is an important issue because, with a newly arrived program, we need to realize whether or not we are rushing into something that the criminal justice system is not ready for and also whether they are effective.
One could approach this topic from two points of view; the British and the Indian. One could choose either party and find very different opinions. When British colonizers first arrived in India, they slowly gained more and more control in India through many ways, the most prominent being trade and commerce. At first, they managed India’s government by pulling the string behind the curtain. However, soon they had acquired complete rule over India, converting it into a true British colony. The British considered Indian civilization to be inferior and implemented their western ways overriding ancient Indian customs. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that British imperialism in India resulted in both positive as well as negative reforms in political, economic and social aspects of its new colony.
the school that you went too. It was all about class, but did any of
Restorative justice can be defined as a theory related to justice that is concerned on repairing the harm that is caused or revealed by a criminal behavior (Barsh 2005: 359). Over the years, restorative justice has been seen as an effective way of dealing with both social as well as cultural issues of the aboriginal people. Because of these, restorative justice is used in many of the local communities in an effort to correct criminal behavior. This concept is seen as a conceptualization of justice which is in most cases congruent with the cultural and the community values of the aboriginal people. There is growing body of evidence which suggests that there are a number of challenges which accrue the effective implementation of restorative justice amongst the aboriginal people.
...d to be a jock and rough person who is really competitive as a wrestler. However he is actually pressured to be aggressive and competitive by his father, which he does not accept or like. Brian is perceived to be a genius, confident and nerdy person. However he is in fact pressured by his parents to exceed in school and do more than what he is capable of doing. As such, he breaks down when he gets bad grades which is a disappointment to his parents. Lastly, John is perceived to be a cold, “badass”, gangster type of person who harasses people with regret or remorse. However he behaves this way because his parents are abusive to him and treat him disgustingly. To cope with this, John behaves coldly. In The Breakfast Club various social psychological theories and concepts are demonstrated by the characters through the way they reveal their behaviors and inner selves.
Transitioning from writing five paragraph essays to a five page paper was definitely a challenge. In writing 121, we spent our time reading, discussing and analyzing complex stories in particular Heart of Darkness. We analyzed not only Joseph Conrad’s novel; but also, Anton Chekhov’s short stories on characterization. After reading these short stories from Chekhov, we wrote our 100 minute timed write; in addition, I wrote my best other essay about poverty. This class has given me a glimpse of the writing expected of in college. Although it posed challenges for me, it has helped me improve my skills as a writer.
There is no doubt that British imperialism had a large impact on India. India, having previously been an group of independent and semi-independent princedoms and territories, underwent great change under British administration. Originally intended to consolidate their hold on India by establishing a population that spoke the same language as their rulers, the British decision in the 1830s to educate Indians in a Western fashion, with English as the language of instruction, was the beginning of a chain of events, including a rise in Indian nationalism, that led to Indian resentment of British imperialism and ultimately to the loss of British control over India.
Homogeneous tracking has not yet shown any positive long term effects. When one middle school in 1992 mixed students of high achieving and average achieving ability, the high achieving students ?suffered no decrease in computation or problem-solving achievement? (Mills 2). The students also scored higher in concepts than their peers from years prior (Mills 2). Robert E. Slavin, author of ?Achievement Effect of Ability Grouping in Secondary Schools: A Best Evidence Synthesis?, argues that since homogeneous tracking has no long term effects on the higher achieving students, there is no more reason to keep the practice (Sl...
I am interested in the honors community since I am an honors student myself, I believe that I will be able to provide the most help for those students and be able to share my personal experience and be able to help guide them towards success. In addition, I would like to see the study succeed and I believe that I could help achieve this by encouraging study groups within the hall and set up meeting times for those that are in the same classes to encourage study groups. In addition, since I am already apart of the honors college, I think making sure that the residents are informed with the events that the honors college is putting on is very important, to make sure that this is achieved I would contact the honors college to get a calendar of
Growing up in a competitive academic environment with a rigorous class schedule, I am familiar with the demands that advanced classes require. While participating in the Honors College at the University of Arkansas this semester, I am taking two honors classes and can clearly notice the difference in rigor between the two honors classes and the rest of my schedule. I strive to be able to challenge myself by taking even more honors classes at Texas Tech in order to not only learn more but to continue developing my sense of self-discipline and perseverance. Both in high school and at the University of Arkansas my advanced and honors classes included a much smaller class size, which helped tremendously in learning and truly understanding the material.
All my life, I have been taught to push myself and not to take the easy way out. Before I say anymore, I must first explain what the term honors means to me. Honors, I believe, means pushing yourself farther and harder than average, not because you have to, but simply because you want to. That is why, throughout my years in school, I have always taken honors classes, along with dual enrollment classes from the Community College of Beaver County and Advance Placement classes. I always make a point to try to take the highest course possible, and that is why I want to now experience the Honors Program at Slippery Rock University.
Pros of the restorative justice system are that it brings parties together in crime. Instead of a short term goal, the restorative justice system takes a long-term approach to reducing crime and violence using different kinds of methods. In restorative justice programs, offenders work with others affected by their criminal actions. Restorative justice promotes instilling positive behaviors in young criminals and teaching long-lasting changes in behavior to prevent future crimes. There also could be negative consequences from the restorative justice system. For restorative justice to work, criminals and their victims must communicate about the crime and its consequences. Since violent crimes often leave victims feeling helpless and vulnerable, encouraging communication can result in increased anxiety and fear. Additionally, communication might breach confidentiality for victims of violent crimes, such as rape and assault, because they must discuss the outcome of the crime and how it has impacted
Guy de Maupassant is a realist whose claim to fame is the style in which he conveys political and socioeconomic themes in his literary publications. He achieves his writing style by putting small unfortunate life events under a spotlight. His literary performance is described in his biography from Cambridge, the writer says “He exposes with piercing clarity the small tragedies and pathetic incidents of everyday life, taking a clear-sighted though pessimistic view of humanity” (Halsey, par. 1). Guy de Maupassant’s story The Necklace is a great representation of the style he uses. In The Necklace the main character Mathilde Loisel a beautiful but impoverished woman married to a clerk is in conflict with her lack of wealth and desire to acquire
The moral of Guy de Maupassant’s story “The Necklace” seems to be suggested by the line, “What would have happened if Mathilde had not lost the necklace?” If Mathilde had not lost the necklace, or in fact, even asked to borrow the necklace, she and Mr. Loisel would not of been in debt ten long years. Because Mathilde had to borrow the necklace to make herself and others like her better her and Mr. Loisel’s economic situation had become worse than it already was. I think that the moral of the story is that people need to be happy with what they have and not be so greedy.
India was the first major Asian civilizations to fall victim to European predatory activities (Duiker 31). With conquering India, the British had various purposes behind it. Their main purpose was to achieve a monopolistic trading position (The Economic and Social Impact of Colonial Rule in India). The second purpose was the control of India; this was a key element in the world power structure, in terms of geography, logistics and military manpower (The Economic and Social Impact of Colonial Rule in India). When the East India Company continued to trade under the British, huge armies were created, largely composed of Indian sepoys (Marshall). The armies were used to defend the Company’s territories protect the Indian states (Marshall).