Lives On The Boundary Summary And Analysis English Language Essay

Lives On The Boundary Summary And Analysis English Language Essay The education system in America is broken according to Lives on the Boundary, by Mike Rose. Rose gives examples of how and why education should be equal for everyone. The first part of the book I found it very difficult to find a theory out of the things that Rose wrote because the majority of the first 67 pages were about how he grew up and the low socioeconomic world that he had the trudge through to get where he is now. But then when I look at the statistics from the beginning, I see that yes, our nation is not proficient in many subjects, but we are also growing in mass amounts with college and high school graduates when compared to other countries and even ourselves in the 1800s. In 1890, 6.7 percent of Americans fourteen to seventeen year olds were attending high school; by 1978 that number had risen to 94.1 percent. (Rose, pg 6) For a country that has a failing education system, that number seems to have grown, making me believe the opposite. Yes, I agree that our education sy stem is not perfect, but it is not as terrible as many believe it to be. For those students who have now will to learn, we as teachers can not force them and when people say lets look to the past for the answer, there was never an answer for why our schools are not working. There has never been a solution, only a problem that has been reworded and restated in so many different ways that when reading a book this about the failing of the education system seems to be redundant. When Mike Rose was growing up he had only a few books available to him so he began to buy comic books because he loved the heroes and the action. After comic books he moved to other items like the instructions to his chemistry set and science fiction novels. He wrote very little in his schooling until his last year of high school where a teacher helped him find an interest in doing so. My first enthusiasm about writing came because I wanted a teacher to like me. (Rose pg 102) Although he did become a good reader, with help from his comic books and chemistry set instructions, he did not score well on English tests. It can be assumed that Rose only liked to learn or read about the concrete things in life; basically he was only educated by what entertained him and tuned out the things he did not understand. He even states in his book that this was a method he commonly used, but it proved to be harmful for him and his education in the long run. Rose goes on to explain the struggles of immigrants in this country and their need to learn English to improve their own lifestyles. Not only are we all categorized as black, red, yellow and white, but we have to understand what those categorizations mean, especially when we are trying to understand the world of education. We all hope that racism does not exist amongst teachers and professors, but we can not say anything for the parents or siblings. The education system can not control the time a student is out of the classroom. As Rose points out, whether we like it or not, race can and sometimes does play a factor into education. Rose says a failed education is social more than intellectual in origin. We as educators must realize that a traumatizing experience may have a very negative effect on a students education. Losing a parent or a sibling can cause a student to regress or stand still in their education, unable to move forward. After such an experience, we should try to work w ith the students to help them regain the ability to learn and comprehend things, instead of just tuning out. The only solution I could really see Rose proposing is trying to keep the children engaged with each other as well as the teacher. This may have a positive effect so the child does not grow up to be the shy wall flower that is underprepared. Rose goes on to argue that great classic novels should be taught and the students should be able to learn from them by choice, not just because they have to regurgitate something later on for an exam or a paper. It would even be a good idea to revise these messages and redress past wrongs would involve more than adding some new books to the existing cannon. (Rose p. 107) In this quote, Rose is saying that education needs to be changed so that education is available to all, this can help the underprepared students to have a fair chance at advancing in their education. Also, by bring in great, classic novels, this can help students to become more cultured and well versed in literature. If teachers are trying to keep students engaged by bringing in books by Snookie and Lady Gaga, that is when I will agree that our education system is failing miserably because students need literature, not pop-culture trash. The more we try to cater to their needs with literature, the more of a decline w ill be apparent and the underprepared will then grossly outnumber the prepared. The narrative of this book offers the theory deeply buried within the authors own personal story. I think that I struggled reading a novel be such a narrative voice when I was trying to find a theory. When you as the reader get to move with him through his school experiences, being the underprepared and then into his own classrooms, you can see the growth that is possible. Many people believe it is not probable for the underprepared to succeed. That is where I believe the theory comes into plan. I began to see a theory emerge within Roses own experiences. Throughout the book, he is talking about how the underprepared are being stuck on a continued path of underachieving or even failure because no one seems to give them a real chance or the tools required to achieve success. For a good portion of the book, I felt like I was reading another article for class; the problem is brought up and addressed, in several different ways, but we never find a solid solutions. The only solution that educators have been using is to put all of the remedial or underprepared together so they dont hold anyone else back, but they also never get the opportunity to learn. Rose makes the good argument that tests or exams should not just be a regurgitation of information that the teacher gave, but failed to give more than one or two examples. To engage students, we as educators must be able to do more than just lecture for an hour and expect them to be paying attention. Teaching, I was coming to understand, was a kind of romanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦You wooed kids with these things, invented a relationship of sorts, the terms of connection being a narrative, the historical event.(Rose pg 102) I think this quote embodies everything that a teacher needs to do to engage students to help them want to learn. By creating a romance with learning, the students can feel excited and happy about learning. The students can feel giddy about buying a book or even solving the math equation, it all depends on how the teachers choose to engage them. All in all, Rose makes some very convincing arguments about the decline of the education system, but like many of the authors we have read, he only offers a few ideas to fix the problem. His idea of creating a kind of romance with education to engage the students is a good idea, but a lot of teachers may argue that it will meet with to much resistance. As many of us have witnessed or even experienced, standing at the front of the classroom and just lecturing does not engage many students and with todays generation, they will probably be on Facebook or Twitter while you are giving your lecture. So how do we engage the students of this generation? Do we turn to technology to help us run a classroom or do we stick with the old lecture and hope that students are paying attention? I believe there has to be a compromise between lecture, some form of group work and technology. By allowing group work, like Rose does in some of his classes, the students can learn from each other and help to e xpand their own ways of thinking. By still using some lecture, as Rose does as well, you as the teacher still get your say in, hopefully in a creative way that the students enjoy listening to and learning from. And with technology, the students in this generation get to use what they are familiar with to help them, and some students even find enjoyment when the teacher needs help with the new projector or smartboards. Rose brings up many problems and offers just a few good solutions but I believe the problem of education and the underprepared has been around for a very long time and it will take more than a book or a few ideas to fix it.

Friendship Essay -- Friendship Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A friend is defined as a person whom one knows, likes, and trusts. This type of a relation is friendship. In every society in the world people have and follow this relationship and support it. In some societies this relationship is given more importance than others. In our society friends are given almost the same attention as ones family member. Family is the closest relationship a person has, and if that is disturbed a friend can be very helpful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For me my friends are a part of my family. I trust my true friends as much as I just my closet family member. A true friend would do anything to save your life. I have experienced this fact when I was 13 years old. My family and I were in Bahamas for our summer vacations along with our very old family friends from Canada. This family used to live in Pakistan but later on settled in Canada. Their youngest son Hassan, and I had been together since we both were born. Our family’s had made our relationship so strong that we were more like brothers than friends. I had always trusted him because he was the only one of my age whom I used to associate with quiet often. That particular summer I had met him after two years and we were both extremely excited to see a drastic change in our personalities. Even though our personalities differed from one another we realized that our friend has had no effect. We got along the same way we used to when me were not mature enough. While si...

Gun Control in Canada Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚   There has been considerable debate recently in Canada over the issue of gun control. The Canadian parliament enacted the Firearms Act to enforce gun control by requiring gun owners to register their firearms. Just recently, the government of Alberta lead in a charge, including five other provinces and numerous pro-gun groups, complaining that the law is unconstitutional and intrudes on provincial jurisdiction. They also claim that the act infringes on property and civil rights that are guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Parliament contends that the government of Canada is within its rights to protect public safety. Pro-gun control organizations, police chiefs and the City of Toronto also back the Firearms Act. The enacting of the Firearms Act by the government of Canada is legitimately constitutional and is within the jurisdiction of Parliament as it only seeks to protect the well being of Canadians. Furthermore, this legislation does not intrude on provincial jurisdiction because it is a representation of all Canadian’s rights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Canadian law that requires the licensing and registration of handguns has been around since the 1930’s. The new statute, enacted in 1995 is currently under heated debate, the act extends the licensing and registration requirements to shotguns and rifles. Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control says, â€Å"More Canadians are killed with rifles and shotguns every year than with handguns†. The ultimate purpose of the Act according to the government is to reduce firearm offences and violent crimes including murder. Moreover, Cukier believes the real issue is saving lives, as licensing and registration help make gun owners more accountable. She also points out a list of kids killed with firearms- a boy shot at a birthday party, a Grade 3 student shot as his twin played with a rifle. Gun control advocates may also highlight some other incidents involving firearms including the 1989 massacre at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique that claimed the lives of fourteen women and the recent school shooting that killed a fifteen-year old student. Ironically, the shooting occurred at a Taber, Alberta high school, the same province that is leading a fight to strike down the Firearms Act as unconstitutional. On February 21 and 22 of this year, the Supreme Court of Canada was asked to rule whether th... ...legitimate recreational pursuits; and guns are the tools of some trades. At the same time, guns intimidate; guns maim; and guns kill. It is precisely because of this paradox that guns are used for good as well as evil- that controversy surrounds government efforts at gun control.† It is clear that the new firearms legislation is looking out only for the best interests of the citizens of Canada. Public safety and well-being undoubtedly takes precedence to a traditional gun culture. The argument by pro-gun advocates that licensing and registering firearms will turn them into criminals is invalid since guns have the potential to seriously injure and kill people and thus, should be treated with caution and special care.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Firearms Act enacted by the government of Canada should be considered as a positive notion and not as a law that invades on property and civil rights. The reason why Canada is a safe country is all due to our strict gun control laws. Moreover, if this statute was struck down as unconstitutional, there is no doubt in my mind that Canada would head towards a gun culture society that would inevitably lead to more violent crime and murders involving firearms.

Arts and Sciences essay Essay

â€Å"To what extent does the subjective nature of perception act as an advantage for artists and an obstacle that is to be overcome by scientists?†Ã‚  In the theory of knowledge, there are four ways of knowing: perception, reasoning, language and emotion. The central focus is on perception which is fundamentally about using one or more of the five senses to gain knowledge. There are several areas of knowledge such as the arts, sciences, human sciences, history, mathematics and ethics. However, the two focal areas of knowledge are the arts and sciences. A science is an area of knowledge where the scientific method is employed through formulating a hypothesis, constructing a method and drawing a scientific conclusion from the results. The arts are completely different on the other hand. It accentuates the importance of using one’s imagination and expressing emotions through an aesthetically pleasing medium be it visual arts, drama, dance, music or literature. Perception is known to be very subjective which means that different individuals can perceive and interpret the same object in a different manner. What may be deduced by someone may not be the same as the conclusion that another person has drawn. The subjective nature of perception has been known to obscure the nature of science and at the same time, work well for artists. Despite certain exceptions, the subjective nature of sense perception can be viewed as a substantial advantage for artists but it can be a hindrance for scientists. Perception is known to be very subjective regardless of the sense because different people have different abilities and tastes. We know perception is subjective because one person might perceive something different from his/her acquaintance. For instance, in the movie A Beautiful Mind, the protagonist Nash has taken drugs therefore he hallucinates. Whilst he sees images of his past, his family and friends are not able to see or hear those images therefore Nash’s perception has been substantially deceived. This shows that the perception is skewed towards one viewpoint because people have different abilities to see and hear different things. Another reason why perception may be subjective is because different individuals have different tastes and this can formulate differing opinions about a particular topic. For example, a Middle Eastern person, who is not very accustomed to spicy food, might find jalapenos very spicy because of the amount of heat in jalapeno however an Indian may find it insufficiently spicy because they eat much spicier food at home. Across the world, different people have contrasting tastes therefore this makes the nature of perception even more subjective. However, there are counter claims which contravene with this knowledge issue. For instance, when it comes to color, almost everyone can agree on one standpoint. For example, everyone can safely say that the sky is blue including the color blind people because they only struggle perceiving the colors red and green. This shows that perception is sometimes objective. There are some other examples that apply to the different senses besides eyesight. For example, coffee without any sugar is very bitter and almost all, if not all people can agree on the fact that sugarless coffee is bitter. This shows that there are some aspects of this world where people’s views about a particular object are the same no regardless of where they originate from. This means they acquire the same knowledge. However, the fact still remains that perception can sometimes be subjective because not too many people would interpret an object in the same manner due to differences in tastes, abilities and cultural perspectives. Moreover, we know that the subjective nature of perception can hamper a scientist from gaining correct knowledge about the sciences. For example, according to what we cover in the chemistry syllabus, the atom is composed of protons, neutrons, electrons, electron shells and orbitals. However, these subatomic particles are so infinitesimally small to the extent that no one can be able to see them, not even with the aid of a microscope. This can pose a major problem for scientists because it hampers with their knowledge of atomic chemistry. It also ignites doubts about whether claims about the atom are correct or not. There are many experiments to find out what exists within an atom but they are all different, thus substantiating the subjective nature of perception. However, this can prove to be an invalid argument because different people interpret different phenomena differently. In this case, even though all the people would struggle to see the subatomic particles, some people would more easily find evidence of atomic structures. Acids are another example which substantiates the subjectivity of perception. Orange contains an acid called citric acid which has a high pH and is therefore a weak acid.

Artist Statement for Sculpture

Our tape projects shows artistic investigation In that we had to look Into the aspects of this character to try and figure out how we could best represent them with what we had. We looked Into the culture of the show and his character In order to do lust that. As for the process, It was quite a long one. We first had to figure out the stance and position of the character that would best represent the character (oddly enough, in our case, it was his dead, which happens quite a lot to his character in the how, surprisingly) and what props/colors we would need to make his character known.Once we had it all planned out, we started the tape, using different parts of each person in our group. We used Drain's limbs, lower body, stomach area, and head, and then used Earache's upper body. We used the technique of wrapping the tape around the part needed with the sticky side out and building up until it was thick enough and very carefully cutting the tape off the person, without hurting the st ructure of the tape or the person. Once all our pieces were all cut out, we put them all together, using even more tape. The spray painting came next.We used the spray paint to color In the pants, shirt, hair, and shoes. One of our characters signature items Is his trench coat and tie that he Is almost always wearing. We used the actual articles of clothing for that. Since our character is also an angel, we made angel wings out of cardboard and then spray painted those as well and attached them to the tape sculpture itself. We did this project and used this character because, seeing s we both are big fans of the show and this specific character, it is sort of a nerdy representation of the both of us.The material and media influenced our artistic decisions because, using mainly tape, it forced us to think simply. We needed mostly the vague outline of a human figure through the tape which was time consuming and difficult in itself, and the props we needed had to be so associated with this character that It would be very easy to figure out who It was If the person happened to know of the show. The Intended expression or communication intended with this ice was to deep down Just accept the nerdy side of you, If you have one.And, for those who know this character, they know that he is all about being true to yourself and coming over tremendous odds, which can also hopefully be seen through our piece. I would say we were fairly successful in manifesting our vision with our sculpture. Artist Statement for Sculpture By researches Our tape projects shows artistic investigation in that we had to look into the what we had. We looked into the culture of the show and his character in order to do lust that. As for the process, it was quite a long one.We first had to figure out the paint to color in the pants, shirt, hair, and shoes. One of our characters signature items is his trench coat and tie that he is almost always wearing. We used the actual the vague outline of a hu man figure through the tape which was time consuming and character that it would be very easy to figure out who it was if the person happened to know of the show. The intended expression or communication intended with this piece was to deep down Just accept the nerdy side of you, if you have one. And, for Artist Statement for Sculpture Adrian Sage Rachel Shaw Our tape projects shows artistic investigation in that we had to look into the aspects of this character to try and figure out how we could best represent them with what we had. We looked into the culture of the show and his character in order to do just that. As for the process, it was quite a long one. We first had to figure out the stance and position of the character that would best represent the character (oddly enough, in our case, it was his dead, which happens quite a lot to his character in the how, surprisingly) and what props/colors we would need to make his character known.Once we had it all planned out, we started the tape, using different parts of each person in our group. We used Drain's limbs, lower body, stomach area, and head, and then used Earache's upper body. We used the technique of wrapping the tape around the part needed with the sticky side out and building up until it was thick enough and very carefully cutting the tape off the person , without hurting the Truckee of the tape or the person.Once all our pieces were all cut out, we put them all together, using even more tape. The spray painting came next. We used the spray paint to color in the pants, shirt, hair, and shoes. One of our characters signature items is his trench coat and tie that he is almost always wearing. We used the actual articles of clothing for that. Since our character is also an angel, we made angel wings out of cardboard and then spray painted those as well and attached them to he tape sculpture itself.We did this project and used this character because, seeing as we both are big fans of the show and this specific character, it is sort of a nerdy representation of the both of us. The material and media influenced our artistic decisions because, using mainly tape, it forced us to think simply. We needed mostly the vague outline of a human figure through the tape which was time consuming and difficult in itself, and the props we needed had to be so associated with this harasser that it would be very easy to figure out who it was if the person happened to know of the show.The intended expression or communication intended with this piece was to deep down Just accept the nerdy side of you, if you have one. And, for those who know this character, they know that he is all about being true to yourself and coming over tremendous odds, which can also hopefully be seen through our piece. I would say we were fairly successful in manifesting our vision with our sculpture. Artist Statement for Sculpture By researches

Adversity in ‘Lord of the Flies’ Essay

Adversity is presented in many forms during ‘Lord of the Flies’ for the main character Ralph. It comes not only in the form of other people but a corruption of what society the boys on the island have managed to hold onto. One of the strongest forms of adversity came in the form of a strong and outspoken boy Jack; Jack often overwhelms and disregards things that Ralph, the chief of the boys on the island, has said to be done. Ralph, we can see, struggles to hold his control over the group of boys when Jack refuses to believe the importance of these jobs. Ralph’s biggest struggle against adversity against Jack happens during a time of panic and distress. We know he struggles for power as Jack ‘interrupted’ him, use of the word ‘interrupt’ shows that there is no respect between the two of them. As there is no respect, especially for the chief of the tribe, it causes adversity between the more outspoken members of the tribe and Ralph because they believe they can override his authority. Here Golding explores adversity through his language choices. His language choices can be very important when portraying adversity within the group of boys; certain words portray different levels of adversity for example ‘mutinously’ shows that there is a high level of adversity as the boys are unhappy with the situation they are in. Golding also explored adversity through the emotional turmoil of being on an adult-less island. Without adults, the children have no boundaries and therefore have to understand for themselves the boundaries of adult life; what is socially acceptable and unacceptable. They did this by making mistakes and learning from them, they do everything they to keep what society has instilled upon them; with rules and roles in their society. They have had to grow up and overcome the adversity by becoming adults and learning to survive and fend for themselves and the littluns by building their shelters and learning to hunt and ‘kill the pig’. He has explored the struggle of adversity particularly well through Ralph, this is because it easy to see how well he steps into the role of chief and protector of the group, he overcomes the adversity of growing into adult thought well. He understands what the basics are as he knows they need food, hygiene for safety and smoke signal for passing ships to see, this is obvious because he knows they need a smoke signal or they ‘will die’. One of the biggest forms of adversity with which the boys struggled was undoubtedly learning to cope and overcome the fear the littluns had instilled upon themselves associated with ‘the beast’. Golding does this by changing the way Ralph handles the crisis and changing his basic survival instincts back to that of the society the boys have left behind and learn to be compassionate towards the obviously scared young boys. This is obvious because throughout the book Ralph has been harsh, we can see this most in the first few chapters where he himself is obviously scared at the prospect of surviving with no adult help or guidance, we can see this through the way Golding has made Ralph speak and react to the other characters, such as his harshness to another key figure in the book, Piggy. An example of this is the fact that Ralph continuously tells Piggy to ‘Shut up’. However, when he understands the littluns fear of ‘the beast’, his tone softens and he understands that they need to be protected and looked after to feel safe, this is obvious because he made sure that a bigger child was there to look after them when all of them go on hunts, this shows that they have overcome their instincts to look after only themselves. However, they overcome the adversity of adjusting to life in fear of ‘the beast’ very well. They adjust everything about the way they were living, moving the fire to their beach instead of leaving it on top of the mountain where they knew the beast was. We can see he is doing this for the protection of everybody as they do it so they ‘needn’t go near-‘. The use of the word ‘needn’t’ in this context shows that Ralph is protecting the group because he’s keeping them out of what they believe to be harm’s way.

Lexington and Concord, Who Fired First? Essay

The battle that was fought at Lexington and Concord was seen all across America as â€Å"The shot heard around the world† or the beginning to the American Revolution. It is truly began the war between America and Britain, especially from the rage created by the battle. But to tell who exactly fired first to start this event is really unclear in some minds. But in perspective, the British were the ones who most likely set the spark aflame because they knew about the weaponry, they came knowing they’d take the land by force so the intention was there, and the Americans were minimally prepared for the invasion. Since the conflict was going on throughout the two countries, battles were beginning to up rise in the colonies and frustration was building up. To give themselves an advantage in the fighting, the red-coats knew where the American weapons were stored in large numbers and intended on taking it from them to give them the upper hand with the attack and put them forward towards victory. And in addition, when American troops came out and stopped the British for Simon, who was apparently taken by force, blocking their way of proceeding any further, an officer was observed by Simon commanding to fire at the American militia. This was the only observed action that provided the first shot by anyone which leans towards the British beginning the revolution. However the source may or may not be true, hence more detail can be looked into what actually happened. Seeing that also that a British soldier also admitted on their own side that their captain was the one to command firing at the scene the evidence pushing it to their fault is leading to be above needed. Though no proof itself was presented the known facts lead us to believe that the first shot was given by the red-coat soldiers. Now getting back into the reason they were going to concord, their purpose was specifically to infiltrate their weapons area containing threatening items of warfare to give them an advantage. Obviously the Americans wouldn’t give up their stash of things that protects them from the British without force. So this means that the English troops were expecting revolt against them and were prepared to fight to receive the artillery. This leads to the last fact given to support the assumption of the British attacking first, preparation. The soldiers of England were given orders to march from Boston to march to Lexington and Concord to take the intimidating weaponry from them. They were mentally and physically prepared for the upcoming battle awaiting them as they marched. However, the colonist militia had no clue of the attack until they had Prescott come and warn them of the march awaiting their fate soon to come. No reason was given, no knowing whether or not to be ready to defend their home or if they were just passing through. All they had was the sense of trouble that could possibly be coming. They actually were ordered to disperse, and they did, when the troops arrived, to cause no harm or threat. But once the shooting started, it sparked something much bigger. And it is for these reasons and supporting facts that I believe it was the British were the ones to first fire at the American militia. Even though there is no true way of finding out with the existing known facts of whose actual fault it was, the details basically are saying that it was the British militia who fire the first shot at the battle, being the ones who shot the â€Å"Shot heard around the world† and beginning the revolution. The evidences that support it is that the knowledge of armory by the British, the intention to attack by them , and lastly the minimal preparation of the American people that lead us to think that it was the British who fired the first shot.