Martín Espada Essay

America is known for being a cultural melting pot, but how does American actually respond and relate to other cultures? This is a question that Spanish poet Martín Espada grapples with throughout his poetry. Three of Mr. Espada’s works, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson,” “The new Bathroom Policy at English High School,” and “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3 1877” all share the common theme of Americans attacking or censoring other cultures out of ignorance, fear, naïverty, and uncomfortableness.

The first poem mentioned, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson,”  addresses how America treats other cultures by discussing assumptions American society makes about people of other cultures. One way Mr. Espada deals with these issues is by specifically discussing how Americans have stereotypical ideas of what a typical Spanish gangster would look like. To appear dangerous he would “put on dark eyeglasses, push my [Mr. Espada’s] beret at an angle, comb my beard to a point,” this helps to illustrate how Americans have this stereotypical idea of what someone of a certain culture should look like. In addition Mr. Espada continues to say that if he continued in his faux act of being a gangster, Americans would call in a “bilingual SWAT team to helicopter overhead begging me [Mr. Espada] to be reasonable.” By reading these lines of the poem we can infer that a bilingual SWAT team would be called in because there would be an assumption that Mr. Espada was Spanish and unable to understand English. We can see how Mr. Espada’s poem “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson,” confronts Americans behavior with other cultures.

The second poem mentioned “The new Bathroom Policy at English High School,” this poem mainly deals with censorship of and discomfort with other cultures. This is first seen in the lines “The only word he recognizes is his own name and this constipates him so he decides to ban Spanish from the bathrooms.” The American principal feels uncomfortable by the Spanish or the other culture so he censors it. In addition the line “Now he can relax” shows how once the other culture has been censored the principal now feels relaxed because he does not have to deal with anything that is foreign or uncomfortable to him. The poem “The new Bathroom Policy at English High School,” deals with many other issues around other cultures.

The third poem mentioned “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3 1877” deals with American violence towards people from other cultures. Even the title “Two Mexicanos Lynched,” shows the theme of the poem which continues to reveal many sad stories about American violence towards people from other cultures who are not mainstream. In addition the lines “forty gringo vigilantes cheered the rope that snapped two Mexicanos into the grimacing sleep of broken necks,” shows another example of American violence towards people from another culture. The poem lists many examples of how Americans have brutally hurt those of other cultures. The poem “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3 1877” shows another type of American hate towards other cultures, and in this poem through the lens of American violence.

This selection of three of Mr. Espada’s works when put together share the common theme of American cruelty towards people from other cultures that are not mainstream. Whether it be through violence or even cruelty by stereotyping people, or distrust of people from that culture, these works illustrate some American attitudes to and actions taken towards other people of cultures Indeed this problem occurs in America with exclusion acts and many other instances of discrimination. This issue of American alienation and hate stretches on to anyone who is different than what a mainstream American society knows. It is clear in issues surrounding the LGBTQ+ community and towards many marginalized groups.  Mr. Espada’s works challenge this behavior that occurs in American society and makes us wonder how do each of us unfairly respond to and treat people from different cultures from our own?

Gaokao Arguement Essay

          

Hundreds of students sit in a room bending over test prep books preparing for standardized tests that will determine their future. In today's society a lot rides on test scores. In China a standardized test called the gaokao determines whether or not a student will be accepted to college. It is the only factor in determining whether or not a student will be accepted and there is a lot riding on this single test. It is completely ridiculous how much pressure and emphasis is put on doing well on these tests and how high the stakes are for the millions of students taking the gaokao.

          Tests like the gaokao put so much stress on students and many Chinese students go to cram schools just so they can study even more. For example, “Two years ago, a student posted a shocking photograph online: a classroom full of students all hooked up to intravenous drips to give them the strength to keep studying.” This photo shows a completely disturbing picture. These students have so much riding on this test that they need to use drugs in order to keep studying. The gaokao is so high stakes that students to stop at no limit in order to get a high test grade. In addition “ ‘If you connected all of the practice tests I’ve taken over the past three years,’ he said ‘they would wrap all the way around the world.’ ” This continues to show how much preparation and time is spent preparing for the gaokao. The amount of stress placed onto Chinese students is preposterous and unjust.

The gaokao replaces learning, and the expansion of one’s brain with test prep and memorization. This does not provide students with a good education and does not teach them to think critically. For example, one former student of Maotanchang, a cram school, Yang Wei, said “There is nothing to do but study.” This shows how students are not being given an education but are really just memorizing information and studying for a test. This is wrong and unfair to students and does not prepare them for real world situations. In addition this is the curriculum at a typical Chinese highschool “Everything taught in the 10th and 11th grade in focused on what the gaokao tests [are on]... In 12th grade, students typically just review and memorize what they’ve already learned.” This shows how four years are devoted completely for preparing for a test. This creates an environment where students don’t become critical thinkers, but instead become memory machines. This is extremely unfair to the students and creates an environment that is focused solely on testing.

If a student doesn’t do well on the gaokao then they will most likely have to take an industry job and won’t have a good future. This causes even more stress around the gaokao. For example “The boys knew that manual labor would be their fate too, if they failed to do well on the gaokao.” This shows how much pressure there is to do well on the gaokao, especially if they live in families with less money. Many families take on extra jobs and do as much as they can so that their child can attend schools like Moatanchang. If students fail it is a huge disappointment and they have to take a job as a factory worker. In addition, “Cao, tanked on the exam. Cao’s family was heartbroken. His father had worked 12 hour days 50 weeks a year… Cao really had just one option: manual labor.” Students who are less successful at taking tests are unfairly denied admission to college. Everyone learns differently and not everyone can take a test well.

Basing everything on a test is ridiculous and doesn’t represent a realistic student body. The gaokao has so much power and can ruin someone’s life just because they do not get a high score.

Darrell Hammond, an American philanthropist said “We are raising today's children in sterile, risk-averse and highly structured environments. In so doing, we are failing to cultivate artists, pioneers and entrepreneurs, and instead cultivating a generation of children who can follow the rules in organized sports games, sit for hours in front of screens and mark bubbles on standardized tests.” This quotation helps us to see the outcome of standardized tests like the gaokao. They create environments where students are surrounded by stress and pressure. It creates machines, not critical thinkers. The gaokao is extremely unfair and unjust and should not be used to determine whether or not a student is fit for college.

Speak Synthesis page

Sorry that there is a shadow and this is blurry. Also this is very old but I forgot to post it

"Speak" Blog Post

Today is the first day of school, I walk in scared for highschool and what my future will be. And then, it hits me, waves of nausea come over me as I hear the cruel whispers and feel the stares bearing into me. “Speak” by Laurie HAlse Anderson is a moving narrative about Melinda Sordino. Melinda walks into highschool surrounded by many cliques none of which she was part of and faces constant judgement and alienation. She becomes very depressed and loses who she is all because she was at a party and was brutally raped, so she called the police. Many people at  the part were drinking alcohol and were arrested, causing uproar in her school. Everyone shuns her for “ruining” the party but no one actually knows her story. A huge theme in the book “Speak” is transformation. Melinda transforms into a more stable person even though she takes a path filled with hardships to get there.

Melinda learns to express herself and speak her mind through her art class. In her art class she is challenges to convey emotion, to tell a story. This helps Melinda to be able to tell her own story. For example when Melinda first comes into her art class she is told "This is where you can find your soul, if you dare. Where you can touch that part of you you've never dared look at before." This is what Melinda is able to do through her art class and she learns to find her soul. In addition she is also given a very important lesson and told that  "Art without emotion is like chocolate cake without sugar… The next time you work on your trees, don't think about trees. Think about love, or hate, or joy, or pain- whatever makes you feel something, makes your palms sweat, or your toes curl. Focus on that feeling. When people don't express themselves, they die on piece at a time.” This advice and lesson helps Melinda to express her emotions and feel a transformation through her art work. Art is an essential part to Melinda’s journey because it gives her a way to express and find herself.

Melinda also grows and learns to express herself through plants and gardening. Gardening gives Melinda a hope for the future and she starts to become a much more emotionally stable person. For example “I dig my fingers into the dirt and squeeze. A small clean part of me waits to warm and burst through the surface. Some quiet Melindagirl I haven't seen in months. That is the seed I will care for.” This helps the reader to understand how gardening gives Melinda hope. She is waiting to burst through the surface and recreate a happier version of herself. Gardening is helping Melinda to work through her trauma and go back to the way her life was before she was raped. In addition the quote “He's not chopping it down. He's saving it. Those branches were long dead from disease. All plants are like that. By cutting off the damage you make it possible for the tree to grow again. You watch - by the end of summer, this tree will be the strongest on the block.” shows a parallel between Melinda and plants. The tree with dead branches is exactly like Melinda, sad, and partly dead. All that needs to be done is to remove the dead parts so that the tree can bloom and grow again. When Melinda sees this happening with a tree it makes her feel hope and like she will be able to grow and bloom again. Gardening and plants give Melinda hope and stability and are an important part of her growth and transformation.

At the beginning of the book Melinda is depressed and has everything bottled up. She doesn’t know how to express herself and feels constantly upset. Throughout the book Melinda learns to express her emotions and tell her story. She learns to speak. By the end of the book Melinda is able to stand up to her assaulter when he tries to assault her again. She has grown and transformed herself into a place where she is more stable. Melinda had a hard journey filled with many obstacles but she overcame it and was able to express herself through art, and gardening. “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson tells the compelling story of Melinda. We are all Melinda in some ways, bound by our own demons fighting to grow and to speak.

"The Scarlet Letter" blogpost

“A,” the letter was prominent on her black gown. With her head bowed, Hester Prynne slowly hobbled out of the prison. The crowd stared at her in disapproval, because she had a committed a great sin, the sin of adultery. The book “The Scarlet Letter” is a moving narrative by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Set in the mid seventeenth century right outside of colonial Boston, this classic work of art tells the tale of Hester Prynne, a woman who is publicly shamed and punished for committing adultery. When her strict Puritan community finds out that she is pregnant Hester is sentenced to time in prison, and to wear a scarlet “A” on her clothing at all times for the remainder of her life. The “A” represents adultery or adulterous so that wherever Hester goes she will always be reminded of her mistake. Although Hester does feel some agony surrounding the “A” she also learns how to come to terms with her.  Hester Prynne faces a journey filled with self doubt, shame, but also pride, and joy. “The Scarlet Letter” is a book surrounded by enriching symbolism that helps to transform the book and to tell the entrancing story.

One significant symbol throughout the books are the characters. One character that has a lot of symbolism surrounding him is Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s previous husband represents the devil, and constant darkness. For example in chapter 10 we see Chillingworth’s dark side “But with what a wild look of wonder, job, and horror! With what a ghastly rapture....making itself even riotously manifest by the extravagant gesture with which he threw up his arms towards the ceiling, and stamped his foot upon the floor! Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven, and won into his kingdom.” This quotation helps the reader to view how Roger Chillingworth represents evil, and the devil. It allows us to further view that he is a very dark and twisted character. In addition the character Pearl represents truth. In chapter 16 Pearl and Hester await Dimmesdale in the forrest. Pearl notices how the sun seems to run away from Hester, and speculates that this is as a result of the “A” that Hester wears. "'Mother,' said little Pearl, 'the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. Now, see! There it is, playing, a good way off. Stand you here, and let me run and catch it. I am but a child. It will not flee from me; for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!'" This shows how Pearl represents the truth because she is showing the truth of how Hester’s “A” scares off the sunshine. I think we also see from this quotation that sun represents people, and social interactions that would bring Hester happiness. The characters in “The Scarlet Letter” are major symbols that are constantly seen throughout the book.

One of the major symbols that is in the entire book is the “A” itself. The “A” represents shame, defying society, ability, solitude, joy, and the countless emotions that Hester experiences throughout the book. For example we see how the “A” represents grief and pain that Hester faced when in chapter 18 she takes it off. "The stigma gone, Hester heaved a  long, deep sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit. O exquisite relief! She had not known the weight, until she felt the freedom!” This helps the reader to understand more how the “A” represents Hester’s pain and suffering, and has deeply emotionally burdened her. Throughout the book, the “A” takes on many different meanings and represents other sides of Hester. For example in chapter 13 we begin to see how the “A” has taken on other meanings "[M]any people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength." This shows how the “A” represents positive concepts, and represents many aspects of Hester. She herself has transformed what the “A” means and made it into something good in her own life. The “A” is a symbol that appears in the entirety of the book and takes on many meanings as the plot develops.

Throughout the book “The Scarlet Letter” we see many different symbols. The symbolism in this book is constant, and brings interesting and important twists to the plot. The characters journeys are enriched by these symbols. Hester Prynne, and all the other characters face the challenge of many complex emotions and are surrounded by symbols.

Scarlet Letter Synthesis Page

Here's another synthesis page on the Scarlet Letter

Scarlet Letter Synthesis Page

This is a synthesis page of the Scarlet Letter- the book I am currently reading in book club. 
Sorry if the writing is blurry, I took this picture in a hurry.

     

CENSORSHIP ARGUMENT ESSAY

Dear Ms. Berner,

Libraries across the country censor readers by banning books in fear of kids reading inappropriate content. So far over 11,000 books have been banned in many schools and libraries. I believe that banning books and censoring what kids can read is denying them of the right to an education, a place to expand their minds, and awareness on certain topics. We should not ban books at M.S. 51.

Censoring what kids and teens can read shelters them from learning about things that are going on in the world. Even if topics may be difficult or borderline, they still exist, and kids need to know about what’s happening in the world. Judy Blume a very popular young adult writer who has had some of her books banned, says that we should “Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won’t have as much censorship because we won’t have as much fear.” Judy Blume brings up the critical point that censorship is a result of fear. People are afraid for their kids to know about certain topics, and afraid that their kids will have to deal with difficult, and complex things that might not always have happy endings. Henry Louis Gates a professor at Harvard says that “Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” This quotation brings up the idea that if we censor writing we are censoring the mind, and committing an injustice to the art of the mind. It also shows censorship as committing an injustice to the art of the writing. When we censor what people can read, we are preventing them from getting a good reading experience, and we are sheltering them from issues that exist and that they may already see in the world.

Young Adult books can give kids and teens a place where they’re not alone and where they can stand up to issues in their own lives. Sherman Alexie a Young Adult author of a New York Times best selling and commonly banned book remembers how reading Young Adult books helped him through his extremely rough child and teenager hood. “I read books with monsters, and monstrous things, often with monstrous language because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life.” This is a really moving statement, and it really helps us to see how Young Adult books can save and rescue someone, and help them through the hardships in their lives. Mr. Alexie also says that he writes “to give them weapons in the form of words and ideas- that will help them fight their monsters.” He “writes in blood because he remembers what it felt like to bleed.” I think that this is one of the core purposes of Young Adult books. Teens no matter what background will have some struggle. The burden on teens will be greatly lessened if they feel that there are other people that understand the pain they are feeling, and are going through similar struggles. Young Adult books are essential because they give struggling teenagers a place where they can have less of a hardship.

Some say that Young Adult books should be banned because of inappropriate content. Meghan Cox Gurdon a parent, and writer for the Wall Street Journal feels that “If books show us the world, teen fiction can be like a hall of funhouse mirrors, constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrayals of what life is.” Ms. Gurdon also says that “Books focusing on pathologies help normalize them, and in the case of self harm, may even spread their plausibility and likelihood to young people who otherwise never have imagined such extreme measures.” While some may agree with this statement many believe that Young Adult literature has many benefits. Maureen Johnson of the Guardian wrote an article in response to Ms. Gurdon’s article which brings up some excellent points. Ms. Johnson replies to Ms. Gurdon by saying “The idea that darkness doesn’t belong in stories makes me wonder if the author if this article has read any Poe, Dickens, Shakespeare, Hemingway, Tolstoy… or almost any other author, ever.” This brings up a very critical point. The idea of dark subjects has always been in literature, even in texts such as the bible. In addition, Ms. Johnson continues to support Young Adult books when she says “The other night, after the Wall Street Journal Article [Ms. Gurdon’s article] was published, I suggested on Twitter that people share their stories of how YA has changed their lives by using the tag #YAsaves. Within hours there were over 15,000 responses. The topic itself became a worldwide trend.” This is really compelling and interesting. It shows that Young Adult literature has impacted many people and helped them through hard times. Despite what some may say, Young Adult books are important part of literature, and have helped, and brought joy to many people.

Censoring readers and banning books is taking away a huge outlet for teens. When teens read Young Adult books they are finding a community, strength, and they are arming themselves with weapons to fight the monsters that haunt them in their own life. So, with all due respect Ms. Berner, I would like you to think about what removing Young Adult books from our school would mean, and how it would affect the students. Oscar Wilde an Irish poet and writer in the 1800’s so nobly said “The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.” This statement truly reflects a big part of why books are banned. We cannot ban books out of fear of shaming our world, or fear of teens knowing about shameful things in our world. Books give people a safe space, and taking that space away will only cause more problems. Books are so important, they teach us, expand our minds, make us think, create communities, and do so much more. Banning Young Adult books will take those wonderful opportunities away. We should not ban Young Adult books in M.S.51.

Bibliography

Gurdon, Meghan Cox. "Darkness Too Visible." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 4 June 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2014

Johnson, Maureen. "Yes, Teen Fiction Can Be Dark - but It Shows Teenagers They Aren't Alone." The Guardian. N.p., 8 June 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

Alexie, Sherman. "Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood." Wall Street Journal. N.p., 9 June 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

"Censorship Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2015.