A high school education sets the pace for the rest of an individual's life, whether or not they attend college, receive the perfect job, or are able to function in the fast pace of society. The material taught in high school nowadays is not preparing students for life, or college, but rather feeding and exhausting their minds with tedious information they will forget in a matter of weeks. These “scholars” who are supposed to be the next generation of geniuses are not being taught the knowledge needed to be as successful as possible in our always developing and unforgiving world. In Kim Brooks essay, “Death to High School English” she explains her thoughts and personal experiences with college students who were improperly taught the fundamentals …show more content…
Kim Brooks, we know has been “teaching composition at state universities and liberal art colleges and community colleges as well,” (Brooks 2) however what makes her truly passionate about the situation is her love for literature since she was a teenager. “Like so many, depressive, creative, extremely lazy high-school students, I was saved by english class” (1). Brooks demonstrates through these quotes her credibility, not only because she’s a teacher but because she truly loves writing and believes others should receive the education which she was fortunate enough to get. She was not apart of any clubs or extracurriculars, she wasn’t interested in other academic classes, so she knows how beneficial having the skills to converse, to write and to properly articulate one's self are. Brooks shares this personal anecdote, otherwise known as pathos, to relate to those reading, most specifically high school students like she once was. While focusing this piece mainly on English it can also be associated with other classes in high school as well. She is trying to illustrate how one can use what is learned in high school in their life if given the proper tools and taught skills which can be applied
In ‘Abolish high school’ by Rebecca solnit, she writes “High school is often considered a definitive American experience, in two senses: an experience that nearly everyone shares, and one that can define who you are, for better or worse, for the rest of your life.” which means high school isn’t wonderful for many people, it has a lot of challenges for teens, maybe some of them ‘kill’ by pressure and challenges, it would affect their rest of life. The high school is not a wonderful place for everyone. People should skip it and escaped it that you would don’t be suffered by it. However I disagree with her, because I believe high school is a indispensable place for students. It is a place for students, they can find a great relationship and an unexceptionable place to learn. On the other hand, I believe the high school is the key to definitive teens who they are in an great way. For example, Teachers would shape everyone’s identity, make you strong to face challenges, and open child’s heart. For example, in my childhood, when I lived with my parents, I was happy to learn, because my parents always encourage me to learn. Also, they want me learn from mistake, because It is a way to learn. They want me to be someone. However my parents left me at 12 age, they have to work more hard to support this home. I can’t focus on learning, I was playing video games every day, because I think I was ‘release’ from my parents. I have no ideas about my future. There is no one like my parents to guide me , I feel alone and confuses. Until I was be a part of high school.The high school make me stronger and hopeful. Teachers guide me walk on the right way again, they talk to me about future and how wonderful thing would happen in high school. I
Maxine Hairston also has vast experience dealing with language. She is a Professor of Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Texas. Hairston describes what she feels is the ideal college composition class in her 1992 essay Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing. She explains that with changing demographics, we face an ethnic and social mix of students in our classrooms, which holds true in schools around the nation today. Now more then ever the landscape of our educational system is changing. Hairston introduces a composition course structure that would be centered on the students and their experiences. Hairston suggests utilizing each students life as a lesson and in turn to enlighten students to cultural differences. She proposes an interactive classroom where students collaborate with other writers, this process of decentering so one ca understand the other can foster genuine multicultural growth. Hairstons technique teaches students not only grammar and writing techniques but lets students experience what life would be like for a fellow student similar to Amy Tan. The experiences that someone like Tan would contribute to a classroom such as Hariston would be a rewarding contribution. Other students who would
Midlothian High School remains extremely well-known across the country for its intelligent, caring, and dedicated faculty and teachers. As a former student, I can affirm this claim. From History to French to Mathematics, my teachers made my learning experience feel important and worth-while. Despite this, among all these great faculty members, the English Department shines bright because of one teacher and leader that stands out above the rest. Mrs. Sharon Austin, my junior year John Tyler Community College composition teacher has impacted my life in extraordinary ways. Because of her influence in my personal education and growth as a student, I admire her greatly as a leader in the world.
The Essay “Too Dumb for Complex Texts?” by Mark Bauerlein, is about high schools not better preparing the upcoming freshmen for their college courses. He explains to the reader in what ways high schools can change what they’re doing to help this situation.
Cynthia Haven is the writer of an article called “The New Literacy: Stanford study finds richness and complexity in students' writing” that is a study based on the amount of writing college students do. She followed students at Stanford during their undergraduate years and the first year after that. She discovered that today’s students are writing more than any generation before it. Cynthia had the students she was studying submit all of the writing they did, academic or personal. She found that only 62 percent of the work submitted to her was for classes; the rest of the material was “Life writing”.
Welcome back my friends to the blog that never ends. I’m so glad you could attend. Read along! Read along! There in this class is some prose that’s pretty crass. Be careful as you pass. Read along! Read along! Wow! How disappointed Emerson, Lake and Palmer must be in this sophomoric attempt at humor. Certainly, a painful finale to wonderful class. Admittedly, I have struggled to produce original and interesting content for these blogs. It wasn’t always so. In the autumn of 73, I experienced no such struggle. Ideas burst forth freely and often to form exquisite prose delighting my English professors. Indeed, the fact that I now struggle was a compelling argument to register for this class.
Being exposed to new styles of writing isn’t the easiest thing to adapt to and finding new techniques and how to use them is very difficult as well. Understanding rhetorical devices helped create tight connections that readers can mesh with or relate to at a young age. I’m now able to link personal connections in my writing as I’ve begun to experience new areas of life that the authors love to discuss. Even though it’s not an easy process learning new topics and forms of reading and literature, I began to do what was better for myself and practice some of that on my own time as I prepared for the SAT test.
In the article “Death to High School”, written by Kim Brooks, she is a college English professor who has noticed that her students coming into college their first year are still not understanding the basic rules of Literature. She expresses how she did not do so well in certain subjects her high school years and that English was her only way out. She goes into more detail about how it stresses her out to grade student’s papers, and to have to re-teach those students are even more stressful. Brooks emphasizes that strongly by saying, “For years now, teaching composition at state universities and liberal arts colleges and community colleges as well, I’ve puzzled over these high-school graduates and their shocking deficits. I’ve sat at my desk, a stack of their two-to-three-page papers before me, and felt overwhelmed to the point of physical paralysis by all the things they don’t know how to do when it comes to written communication in the English language.” She is
In James Baldwin’s speech “A Talk to Teachers,” he says, “The paradox of education is precisely this -- that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.” During elementary and middle school, a very impressionable time period in students’ lives, children are taught what will be the foundation of their moral compasses. While learning is not entirely the responsibility of the education system, it still does have a major impact. Despite the fact that teenagers’ minds have matured, high school is still a very pivotal and confusing time in their lives. This is the point at which students are examining the society in which they are being educated, in some cases they are even encouraged to do so. While the foundation may have been laid, it can still be altered and built upon. As teenagers search to find themselves, the education system “assists” them in the
Through this creative writing class, I gained a newfound respect for writing. Writing had allowed me and continues to allow me to see the world through a different perspective; with this thought in mind, I decided I would no longer allow creative writing to be placed on the backburner in my life. When the outside world goes to shambles, I know I can turn to writing to help me make sense of what is happening and to escape life’s troubles even if only
Throughout my educational career, I have been taught English from a dominant perspective that ignored issues of class, race and gender. I have witnessed many students, including myself, become disinterested in great works because there is no personal connection to the texts. My hopes are to widen the paradigm so that more students can become interested in English and see how reading, analysis, and writing can develop not only one’s understanding of their society, but also themselves. I acknowledge that every student works and thinks differently; therefore, it should be the teacher’s responsibility to provide necessary resources that will develop each individual's their composition skills accordingly. I often tell myself, “I am teaching for the students who do not want to be there in the classroom”. With disengaged students in mind, I want to push myself to provide a learning experience that is pluralistic, informative and inspirational. Teachers should see their role not as expert, but as someone engaged in reciprocal learning and dialogue with students. To appeal to disinterested students, teachers must explain how writing and rhetoric is necessary in all fields by explaining how English cultivates strong communication skills, which are necessary in everyday life. A teacher's goal should be to motivate students to begin a personal exploration toward effective, ethical
As a teacher one looks forward to the beginning and the end of a school year. The beginning of a school year brings in new minds and attitudes that a teacher can influence and educate. Students also bring with them new ideas and knowledge that a teacher can use to work with them. My objective as a teacher is to get students acquainted with major works of literature and allow them to dissect the different meanings of the texts while fostering critical thinking. Literature works as a way to allow students an insight into a writer’s mind and the time period they resided in. The pain of a poet or writer is inscribed in their writing and this is one of the main things that a student will
When did I realize why I have hated writing for so many years? Well, it was a Monday afternoon in the beginning of my senior year. Walking into to my last class of the day, I realized I was in an exceptionally good mood. Soon I would no longer have to sit in these uncomfortable chairs of my school. The classrooms of Blackstone Valley Tech were no different to jail cells; the concrete walls covered in cream paint, the yellow tile which seems to break everyone’s’ phones and the lack of windows, restricting the outside view. I sat one of the blue plastic chairs with metal legs in the back corner of my English class. The teacher, Mr. Kehowski, comes bolting in the room with a pile of papers in his hand. He was a tall man of normal build, had thinning hair, almost balding. His eyes were sharp and his nose pointy, wearing the usual; a sweater vest and khakis. This man was always jittering and super enthusiastic, which seemed to be a side effect of the 10 cups of coffee he had to drink each day. His voice was deep and slightly raspy, similar to the voice of a smoker.
Within the English III class, my former experience in creative writing and affinity for classical styles of literature shall more than likely provide the ability for growth within the classroom. As a person who values differing perspectives, my ultimate goal is to obtain a variety of perspectives involving those in the course, as well as the literary discussions relating to real world social perspectives and morality. As a student I am aware of the need to make great efforts in not only becoming involved with the material, but learning to understand and analyze various styles of writing and grammar. despite my lack of experience in English college courses, it will be the strides I make both inside and outside of the classroom that leave a
In his article, Sizer first sets the stage by describing the similarities among American high schools. He articulates that the similarities in the system are so solid that a student moving schools, even across the nation, would be in the same academic situation as they left and would only “lose few steps.” Sizer continues by claiming that at least four properties can characterize American public literacy: it is centrally driven, usually for merchandising purposes; it is commercial; it simplifies, synthesizes, unifies, and focuses; and lastly, literacy is sophisticated. By starting his article with his observations of American public literacy, Sizer introduces and backs the issue. Sizer does not offer suggestions for change. Instead, he begins to ask carefully chosen questions which provoke his audience to ponder their own answers.