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.

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