America’s education system is no longer one of the best in the world. Americans may act like education is the most important asset a person can earn. However, our country is falling way behind many Asian and European countries because children are lacking education in almost every subject. Benjamin R. Barber, author of “America Skips School”, explains what really is wrong with our education in in his essay. The article explains what is wrong with America’s educational system because we are focusing on other inputs but, not school.…
Innocence and Experience: A&P The title of the book is Literature: The Human Experience written by Abcarian and Klotz. It is a book that has several chapters that address diverse issues. In this context, the chosen story is one that is in the chapter named as Innocence and Experience while the story is named as A&P where the narrator is a nineteen-year-old boy known as Sammy. The writer of this story is John Uplike whom published A&P in 1961.…
A long-standing tradition and measure of academic excellence, the title of valedictorian has been an intense point of contention for high school students in recent decades. In her piece “Best in Class”, author Margaret Talbot considers the consequences of naming valedictorians in the highly competitive environment of today’s schools. Appealing to students and school workers, she assumes an approachable, conversational tone, examining multiple points of view without obvious partiality. Talbot uses numerous interviews, anecdotes, and personal experiences to explain the aggressive contest for valedictorian and the legal disputes that follow. Talbot’s selection of interviews emphasizes the extent of the conflicts and the sentiments that contribute…
In A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines shows the growing bond between frustrated school teacher Grant Wiggins and wrongfully convicted Jefferson on the journey to teach Jefferson to die with dignity before his execution. Through their interactions, both men learn about self-worth and the purpose of their existence in order to change the nature of society. Leo Rosten asserts “the purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Rosten’s claims are correct because the objective of life is to be attentive to others in order to have a positive impact, and happiness is a byproduct of these actions.…
However, the war ended prior to complete his training of becoming a pilot. After that, he finally realized that he is good at writing and decided to become a writer. According to Russell in Growing Up, he claimed “It was surprisingly easy. After two years studying what rewrite men did with the facts I phoned them, I knew that journalism was essentially a task of stringing together seamlessly an endless series of clichés” (Baker, p.328). This quote proves that Russell figured that he is good at writing.…
First, Let Teenagers Have a Fair Shot at Adolescence Across the hypercritical and interconnected global society that exists today, a multitude of notions and opinions constantly stream from every source imaginable; however, Leon Botstein’s analysis of education in America stands out among the most profound. Bluntly writing in a piece entitled Let Teenagers Try Adulthood, Botstein proposes, “the American high school is obsolete and should be abolished” (153). This provocative nature of Botstein’s writing leads to polarized views of the education system that could ultimately result in alienation of individuals or groups with more moderate views. That is not to say Botstein lacks valid points.…
One of which was J.D. Salinger. New to writing Salinger did not know where to go, so he decided to start by reading some of the greats. Fitzgerald and Hemingway were his favorites. “As he developed as a writer Salinger came to see himself as following in Fitzgerald’s footsteps” (Gabriel). Salinger was not the only writer to notice this, many other authors aspired to be like Fitzgerald because he left such a legacy in literature.…
Jessica Statsky, the writer of the essay, “Children Need To Play, Not Compete,” describes how children’s sports have been changing in recent times. She speaks of how the parents and coaches near fanatical criteria being imposed are negatively affecting many of the children involved with the sports. The concerns she feels derive from the potential dangers that children in the age ranges of six to twelve are exposed to in all organized sports activities. The dangers she covers are the physical well-being, mental health and anxiety, drop-out rate, and the stresses created by the adults involved in the sport. Statsky’s first observation is the physical risks that young, growing children are being exposed too in sports programs.…
I convinced myself that I was not a good writer and that English 15 was going to be the worst experience ever; this was because of my past writing experiences. To my dismay, I realized that English 15 was one of the best experiences that I have had in my whole life. Yes, I know, this is a bold statement, but there are many reason why I make this claim.…
The Lesson, is written by: Toni Cade Bambara, an African American writer. This is a short story about a wealthy, educated black woman living in the community, who believes in educating the youth in the neighborhood. Miss Moore plans to take the children on educational outings during the summer, to expose them to life’s lessons. While on the educational outings, the children don 't seem to be excited about spending their summer learning, let alone stuck with Miss Moore. In order for Miss Moore to teach the children, she must open their eyes and expose them to a world beyond their block in Harlem.…
In the article, “The Obligation To Endure” by Rachel Carson the author focused on explaining the consequences of human behavior. She explains how much harm we have done to our environment by the use of pesticides specifically referring to DDT, a pesticide that is not only poisonous to insects but to our Ecosystem as a whole. These pesticides instead of helping humanity they are having the opposite effect and are altering our nature. She could not be more accurate, pesticides tend to settle into our soil, from there they are transferred to our water supply creating a chain reaction, therefore contaminating wild life, plant life, and our water, etc. Therefore, regardless of some of the benefits that DDT can have, such as the ability to prevent…
“Study after study reminds us that higher education is one of the best investments we can make...”(Owen, S., & Sawhill). In the essay, “Should Everyone go to College”, written by Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill, the two authors work together to form a strong argument on idea that everyone should go to college. Money, personal success, and personal well- being are the main subjects that the authors present to the readers. This paper will evaluate some of the different components of writing that the authors used to get their ideas across to the audience. In the text, the authors use a few different methods and devices to help convey their point to the reader in a more clear manner.…
Imagine a world where everyone has technology, whether it’s a cell phone, laptop, tablet, you name it, everyone has it. Even those living in the far away depths of America, and those who can’t even afford free school lunch. This is hard to image and poses many questions, but in general, it is unrealistic. “Our Future Selves,” an article written by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, informs readers on the importance of technology in revolutionizing our today. Both authors are highly involved with the technical world as Schmidt is the former CEO of Google and Cohen is currently the director of Google Ideas.…
John Katz believes that in order for boys to become men they must learn how to be boys, first. John Katz states that there is a specific set of “rules” that all boys must automatically follow from a young age. For instance, the rules stated in the text are about hiding your sensitivity and emotions away. If a boy discusses his feelings, fears or problems he is called a “nerd.” The text implies that in order to be a “man” you must be independent and strong.…
According to Laurence Shames, “Americans have always been optimists, and optimists have always liked to speculate” (90). Shames starts to talk about how Texans would purchase some land, put a main street on it, building some structures and call it a town all hoping for the railroad to come through their town. Every single person who tried to do this we're optimists. In the article “The More Factor” they did this for two reasons: to make money and for America to keep booming like it was. I think that this was the one way that America was really going to take off and turn into the power house country they could be.…