Richard Rodriguez On The Importance Of Education

Kareem Abdul-Jabber writes an article explaining the attack on education and the serious problems in the classroom involving teachers and students. Abdul-Jabbar describes how students only hold on to one perspective; students should explore different perspectives on topics, and question education’s opinions on practical matters. Republicans, Democrats, and non-partisan discuss this controversy over education. Abdul-Jabbar demonstrated bias by outlining his side of the argument, to where the other argument had little outlining. The author’s argument of the education system has problems was discussed throughout the article and there was rarely any discussing of the education system

Gerald Graff’s argument on how educational systems are missing a great opportunity to tap into “street smarts” and focus them into a path of academic work is indeed convincing (Graff, 198). After all, anyone who’s been through the American educational system knows odds are often stacked against the “street smarts.” This is especially true in english classes, where one is often required to read boring and somewhat heartless books like, 1984, Beowulf, and the majority of Shakespeare’s classics. This is not to say these books are bad or shouldn’t be read during one’s schooling years, instead, the problem is one of apathy. For instance, in my high school years I never even remotely liked to read books Othello, but I loved to read magazines and

What this essay is saying about students and education is there is no student who doesn’t want to learn or what’s to get an education. Everybody is capable of learning, but the problem is sometimes the education are given by people who don’t care if you are learning or not. In this essay, we learned that the author was put in classes where the teachers didn’t care too much about their students and because of this he become a mediocre student. Not because he didn’t like school or he was lazy, but because there was no inspiration in learning. Luckily, Mike Rose the author of I Just Wanna Be Average found someone that wants him to start learning someone that make him change his mind.

No matter how someone may be living their life there will always be obstacles to face. Everyday someone may face an obstacle they come across by and figuring out how to overcome something. Wheather it is a work related obstacle or a school obstacle there are many possibilites and opportunities to over come these series obstacles.

In the article, “College Pressures,” William Zinsser discusses the many struggles college students face while trying to focus on their studying. He convinces the reader of his point by using different types of rhetorical strategies. Zinsser’s usage of the rhetorical strategies such as getting straight to the point, quoting, paragraphing, the use of word pictures, and choosing a title was effectively done in his article to persuade his reader of the struggles faced by college students.

In the essays, “Reading to Write” by Stephen King, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie, “Learning to Read” Malcolm X, and “Learning to Write” by Frederick Douglas have three things in common. In each essay Reading has contributed towards the authors life leading to benefit from learning to read, allowing them to leave a legacy behind. In each essay the authors has thought their self how unlike Frederick Douglass.

Barrientos tells of learning to read and write in spanish. One key feature of a literacy narrative is an indication of the narrative 's significance. The aurthorś significance of learning the language is sha wants to feel like she belongs in the Latino community. According to the text the author felt out of place because she did not speak spanish, but she was Guatemalan. “I am Guatemalan by birth but pura gringa by Circumstance?” This quote explains that the author feels out of place. When Barrientos came to the United States she stopped speaking spanish, partly because her parents wanted her to speak english. One reason she did not want to be classified as Mexican American was that society has negative connotations outsiders. Learning spanish

Fredrick Douglass was born enslaved,but he escaped to freedom. He became an outspoken opponent of slavery and a civil rights advocate. He lectured widely and even published his own newspapers. In this excerpt, I have learned the most important event that occurred in his life and why its important, the reason why he compared the enslavers to criminals, and the reason why he wished to be an animal.

The essay, The Seven Lesson Schoolteacher, by John Taylor Gatto addresses educational curriculum with a cynical truth that transpires around the United States. His brutal honesty grasps the reader by using common sense and a hint of sarcasm to appeal to humor. The main point of his argument in my perception, states that we must develop children to be critical thinkers and not always agree with authority. By allowing the schooling in a child’s development expecting them to not question an adult’s words does lead to a population that has accepted being dumbed down. Following what has been indicated, a direct quote positions people deprived forever of finding the center of their own special genius (Gatto, part III, pars 3). I agree with the

Malcolm X, who used X to signify his lost African tribal name, was an American Muslim minister and a human rights activist. He stated in his excerpt “Learning to Read” from The Autobiography of Malcolm X, “[People] will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade” (Learning to read, X,3). Malcolm X was kicked out of the school after 8th grade, and went to the prison. He learned how to read in the prison. Ever since then, he started to read books and think about the fate of black people’s. As I reading the excerpt, I was impressed by his wonderful writing skill and by how books influenced him like everybody who had read it. Two literary techniques that he used in the excerpt impressed the readers. He used

“Hidden Intellectualism,” by Gerald Graff starts off with an older argument between being book smart and street smart. Throughout the reading, Graff uses his own life experiences to critique the education system today. Points made focus on the idea of overlooking the intellectual potential of those who come across as being, “street smart”. Different authors cited in the reading to show how to accept another’s different intellectual. However, we realize that people who come across as being intellectual weren’t always labeled as that.

The history of my literacy has been a long road of a frustration and learned lessons. As a child, I was a bit of a loner so reading and writing were the closest thing to a social life for me. The things that I bottled up inside came out through my writing and it became somewhat of a pass time for me. As long I could remember literacy as has been an important value for me in my life because from very young age I got express my true self without being judged by the outside. Even though in my later years I would deal with some heartaches and set back that lead me to give up on my love for reading. I would always come back to my real first love.

Education has a cost, and that cost can be far greater to some achievers of it. Author, Rodriguez Richard talks about his idea of education in the essay “Achievement of Desire”. Richard, in the essay is a man who looks back into his childhood and his path into being an educated man. He is new to America and learning a new culture seemed really difficult to him. But his desire to learn more led him to his ambition to read and study about the culture of America, but slowly saw himself being separated from his own culture. Richard talks about his opinion on his path to success when he states. “A primary reason for my success in the classroom was that I couldn't forget that schooling was changing me and separating me from the life i enjoyed before becoming a student.”(Pg. 50) It is in this quote that made me realize the cost of his education. He is very sad about the path he took, although he chose education to be his priority, he did not want to see himself separating himself from his child self(the time when he would spend more time with his family than anything else). It is argued whether if Richard’s final goal became successful, I believe that it did not. Later in his text, he quotes “After years spent unwilling to admit its attractions, i gestured nostalgically toward the past. I yearned for that time when i had not been so alone. I became impatient with books….I wanted something, I couldn’t say exactly what. I told myself that I wanted a more passionate life.” This sets the conclusion that Richard did not in fact reach success. Success is not always achieved even after a life of education. It’s what one desires to achieve that defines your

To be truly educated is to be in a position to inquire and to create on the basis of the resources available to you. Having the motivation and the ability to pursue inquiry and discovery on one’s own is an essential tool. Two examples of people who were seen as truly educated were Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X. The qualities that helped Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X become truly educated were intellectual curiosity, being well read, and having self-awareness. These qualities are shown in Learning to Read and Write by Frederick Douglass, a famous slave, and A Homemade Education by Malcolm X.

Anthem is a science fiction which is written by Ayn Rand.It tells the shoking future were people have no freedom of speech,act or do watever they want to do there is one guy who’s name was equality he is a street sweeper and very smart.Who had great pation to be a scholar (scientist) in those times but most of them didn’t want him to become a scholar because his teachers thing he is so smart kind of our opposite world now and they think we are unmentionable time which was very dangerous to them they always thought what we left behind was dangerous but equality thinks opposite he thougt the stuff we left behind can help there world so he go inside a tunnel and so some bulb and wire he connected the wire and at last it lit up and he made it ready for showing this invention to scholar but he got caught for being late to where they live and was put in jail.