The essay “In Praise of the ‘F’ Word” by Mary Sherry explains some flaws Sherry has noticed in our education system. These observations are from her teaching perspective, and from her son’s own experience in high school. Sherry claims that some students that have earned a high school degree should not have because they are “semi literate.” She starts out her essay by stating this bluntly, but further explains herself as it goes on. Sherry is an adult literacy grammar teacher, and often faces students that wish they could have had a more beneficial experience in high school. Before her theory now, Sherry explains how she blamed the “poor academic skills our kids have today on drugs, divorce and other impediments to concentration necessary …show more content…
Sherry goes on and explains why we think it is right to sometimes excuse students who cheat the system because they come from terrible environments, but then goes on to conclude that “most kids don’t put school first on their list unless they perceive something else is at stake.” I think this is why there is a UIL rule at a lot of schools with a “no pass no play” policy. Students who are involved in extracurricular activities then have a reason to strive to pass. Sherry believes that “people of all ages can rise above their problems, but they need a reason to do so.” This is where failure comes in. Sherry proclaims that we need to recognize that this fear of failure is a positive teaching tool. To make this tool work, teachers and parents need to accept that if the student doesn’t learn the material, they must follow through with their promises of flunking. Both teachers and parents have to realize that the future of the child is at stake, and only good intentions come from the
Having never taken a college writing course before, I did not know what to expect and therefore assumed that I would choose my own topic to write about; of course, this isn’t the case. However, if I had the choice, I would not have chosen to write a response to Gerald Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism”. After going through his essay with a fine-tooth comb, I have found a few flaws in his reasoning. Gerald Graff believes that schools and colleges are not taking advantage of “street smarts” by not using them in an intellectual setting when in fact, schools are providing students with a large assortment of other knowledge and skills. In Graff’s essay “Hidden Intellectualism”, he argues for the importance of changing school curriculums in order to better reflect the interests
Whatever the reasons of students’ learning difficulties are, one thing is sure: the solution proposed by Singleton would only make their struggle harder. In this particular case, failing students and “keeping them at one level until they did in time, one way or another, learn the material,” as suggested by Singleton, could only bring positive effects if it went hand-in-hand with the development of a comprehensive learning support
Dana Nguyen Ms. Newray ERWC, Period 5 August 28, 2015 Perez’s & Graff Articles Summaries In Perez’s article, Want To Get Into College? Learn to Fail [ Feb. 12, 2012], failure is the most significant, but hurtful step towards a successful life. If a person has never honestly dealt with failure, how can they possibly ever improve or move forward? It is important to learn and be able to solve problems in society, whether it is for academic or not.
Most schools in the United States promoted college or university as a student's only option upon graduating from high school. But is college really a necessary to be a literate individual who obtains a decent paying job? In the article "Are Too Many People Going to College?," author Charles Murray claims that in fact too many people are attending college today. Murray argues that college isn't necessary nor is it realistic for every person. Murray's claims that to be a literate American you should need nothing more than a basic kindergarten through twelfth-grade education.
In the article “Want To Get Into College? Learn To Fail” by Angel B. Perez the main idea was that colleges want to know the real you,the imperfect you not the just the great things you’ve accomplished over the year ,but also the failure you had to overcome. The reason why they want to know this is to see if you can overcome failing a class or two just to how you can you handle this, because life is not easy and healthy,family and money sometimes can get in the way of things but the goal is to make you succeed. Another thing I learned that I think is a main point is that parents are the ones pressuring their children to be perfect. So much that they didn 't want their child to take a risk in a class if there was a possibility for failure.
Failure is a Good Thing The teacher is walking by and giving back your tests. The girl in front of you got an A, then the teacher gives you your test and you failed. Your disapointed but, the teacher says you will learn from it.
In “Want To Get Into College? Learn to fail” (2012), Angel B. Pérez ,Vice President and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at Pitzer College, argues that students are not okay with failing and are pressured to only show their success, Perez believes that this problem exist because teachers and parents taught them to only show their success and not to show their flaws. Perez supports his argument with his own personal experience .Perez supports his argument with “I wish I could tell you this is an uncommon story, but kids all over the world admit they are under tremendous pressure to be perfect,” (pg. 1 )
In school, there are always those who do not understand the content in class, but get by with passing grades. In Mary Sherry’s essay, “In Praise of the F Word”, she writes about how in the American school system students get passed along without any consideration for their pace or skill level (Sherry, 564-566). Sherry also discusses how unprepared the American public is after high school and college (Sherry, 564). In, “In Praise of the F word”, Sherry also discusses her own son and one of his experiences in his high school (Sherry, 565). The content of “In Praise of the F word” was very persuasive, as Sherry effectively utilizes the aristotelian appeals.
After reading “In Praise of the ‘F’ Word” written by Mary Sherry I can tell you first hand that she did an exceptional job using rhetoric to make the readers believe what she believes. Although she used all three,ethos,logos,and pathos, she mainly used ethos and pathos to not only get her point across but to also persuade the audience. To begin, Mary Sherry used very little logos, but when she did she used it in a very powerful and effective way. In the very first sentence of the speech she says a shocking statistic, “Tens of thousands of eighteen year olds will graduate this year and be handed meaningless diplomas.”
In Carl Singleton’s article, “What Our Education System Needs is More F’s,” he argues that students aren’t receiving the failing grades they deserve. School systems are to blame for the lack of quality in America’s education. No other recommendation for improvement will succeed. The only way to fix the American education system is to fail more students. According to Singleton, the real root of the issue is with the parents.
Elona Kalaja Professor Eleni Saltourides ENG 101 Critical Analysis Paper February 21, 2018 Flunking vs Students In the article, “In Praise of the F Word” Mary Sherry argues that flunking students is a method that has been effective in the past and is still effective todays day, and anyone needs to see is as a positive teaching tool. Sherry indicates that flunking students is a method that motivates students to study more and to be more responsible for what is their responsibility. Students challenge is not to get an A or B, but to succeed or to fail.
Jose Gonzalez ENGL 1010 - 47 2-23-23 The Education System Needs Change The school system creates an environment where students’ academic identities are shifted to think that they aren’t allowed to make mistakes or that making mistakes is bad. Ashley comes from a broken home, and like in Mike Rose’s “I Just Want To Be Average” she gained mentors that weren’t family. She looks towards teacher guidance and help when confused or in need of support and like in Anzaldúa's “ How to Tame a Wild Tongue “she went through many struggles on her journey to get a higher education. At an early age, she was set on wanting to get higher education, from what she viewed, she was set on wanting to have a successful future.
“Teachers of English and literature have either submitted, or are expected to submit, along with teachers of the more "practical" disciplines, to the doctrine that the purpose of education is the mass production of producers and consumers” (Berry). Berry uses the word practical to describe the way in which we produce students as though they were massed produced. School systems today demonstrate specialization, and with that follows oversimplification. “In our society, which exists in an atmosphere of prepared, public language-language that is either written or being read illiteracy is both a personal and a public danger” (Berry). While schools relax their education standards and primarily focus on profitability, we become vulnerable to loss of literacy through
Flunk means to fail to reach standards; students, parents and teachers think it’s a bad thing, but is it really? Instead of thinking the negative of repeating a grade or class, people should see this as practice and becoming successful. Many students may not understand the material and making them retake it will improve their knowledge. In Mary Sherry’s essay, she talks about how teachers and parents should show that flunking is a positive teaching tool. I agree with her because we aren’t all perfect and sometimes we need that extra lesson
The diversity of student backgrounds, abilities and learning styles makes each person unique in the way he or she reacts to information. The intersection of diverse student backgrounds and active learning needs a comfortable, positive environment in which to take root. Dr. King continues by explaining, “Education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.” From back then to today’s society, kids are failing because they lack those morals that they need to succeed.