The Hand By Mary Ruef

After reading these two passages I have found some students take opportunities; whereas, others watch them pass on by. The poem, The Hand, by Mary Ruefle, discusses how a less motivated student is simply ignored and passes over by the teacher. However, the essay, A Model for High Schools, by David S. Broder, discusses a solution the engages less motivated students and guides them into a more academically opportunistic favored future. In the poem, The Hand, by Mary Ruefle, a student who is clearly overlooked and is struggling to find the courage to raise their hand. The students knows the answer but instead of raising their hand they take out an apple and look out the window and watch a robin ruffle its’ feathers. The students does not raise their hand because they feel as if they’re the only one in the classroom and they personally are the one being questioned. This student’s school atmosphere puts them in a feeling of abandonment because they are all one, and also a feeling of lack of self worth because they are questioned on their self being. This environment causes the student to retract and become reserved. …show more content…
In the essay, A Model for High Schools, by David S. Broder, the reader learns about a program that has been put in place to aid less opportunistic students into gaining back those missed academic opportunities. These students were “prodded by their teacher's questions, the students grappled with the issues of appearance and reality, freedom and slavery, like thousands of college students before them.” (David S. Broder). The strange piece is that these students are teenageers who all dropperd out of high school, walked out/