Analysis Of Seventh Grade By Gary Soto

In Randol Contreras’s The Stickup Kids, Contreras explores the South Bronx through the lens of a sociologist. He describes the lives of the stickup kids such as Gus, Pablo, and other teenagers living in the South Bronx. Contreras uses the research method of ethnography to provide a sociological analysis of the drug trade and business in the South Bronx. His research shows how social factors impact the lives of these stickup kids to become active in the drug trade. Through his field notes and interviews with the stickup kids, Contreras examines in depth of how social factors such as, socialization, social class, the thrill of crime, deviance, and culture affect the individual.

In his article “Against School”, John Taylor Gatto criticizes America’s system of schooling children, arguing that the whole system is bad and unfixable. In the majority of the essay Gatto relies on personal anecdotes, historical examples that do not correspond with modern day society, and bold unsubstantiated claims. Due to this, instead of convincing parents to take their children out of school and rethink our societies schooling structure, he just leaves the reader confused over what the problems he’s criticizing truly are.

Lovely short story “The Osage Orange Tree” had been written by the addressed author William Stafford. Throughout this short story, two main protagonist include of a young female high school student named Evangeline, and a young male high school student which who narrates this beloved story. In this short story, there are many major key events that happen, even some that lead to the conclusions of different themes. Evangeline shows affection by buying newspapers just to see the narrator, she acts clingy around the narrator, and lastly the tree which symbolizes protection, is the protection for her and the boy from everyone else. Which with these examples the theme can be seen as, eagerness for friendship can lead to many crazy but

“Looking for Work”, by Gary Soto, is about a little Mexican boy who wants his family to mimic the families that he sees in reality and also the families that he sees on the television. He also wants to begin working at a very early age. He would go house-to-house on his block and ask for duties the owners if there was anything that he could do to earn some money. The little boy wanted his family to dress up wherever they went because he wanted him and his family to feel approved by the other higher-class families. The author describes there family as a middle-class family, but apparently the little boy was watched too much television and wants his family to improve their living habits.

Author Gary Soto describes his experience with a day-old green guacamole jacket in “The Jacket.” In this autobiographical incident, his family is poor and his mom is forced to get him a ugly green jacket. Although Gary had gotten a jacket, he is disgusted by its color. However, he is forced to wear it because it is extremely cold. This is similar to how I am forced to wear a particular shirt and short or pant called uniform at school. The material is constantly itching my skin. Gary Soto’s jacket is similar to how I am required to wear uniform, but it contains some distinct differences.

In the story “Seventh Grade,” I found that there was a lot of similaries and differences between my first day and Victors first day.

Angela McEwan-Alvarado was born in Los Angeles and has lived in many locations in the United States, as well as Mexico and Central America. She obtained her master’s degree at UC Irvine and since then has worked as an editor of educative materials and a translator. The story “Oranges” was the result of an exercise for a writer’s workshop in which the author managed to mix images and experiences accumulated throughout her life.

As in all stories and articles of literature, the short stories “Seventh Grade” and “The Melting Pot”, written by Gary Soto and Anna Quindlen have a conflict. A conflict is a problem between anything or anyone. There are multiple types of conflicts. In these stories particularly, there are internal and external conflicts. An internal conflict in presented in “Seventh Grade”. An internal conflict is a problem between a person and him/herself. An external conflict is a conflict between someone and an outside force. This aspect is shown in “The Melting Pot” several times. All stories have a conflict, but do these conflicts all have winners?

Mandatory, enforced schooling is common all over the world, and is generally seen as a public good, and a privilege of first world countries. However, author and teacher John Gatto argues that mandatory schooling destroys your ability to be free thinkers and therefore should not exist, in his piece “Against School”. Despite his effective use of ethos, Gatto’s argument fails to be convincing due to logical fallacies, and a lack of evidence or first hand experience.

Throughout the autobiographical narrative written by Gary Soto, many different literary elements are used to recreate the experience of his guilty six-year old self. Different elements such as contrast, repetition, pacing, diction, and imagery. Soto narrates this story as a young boy at a time when he seems to be young and foolish, Soto foolmaking mistakes, but at the same time hoping to learn from them. Soto uses each of these devices to convey different occurrences in the narrative.

Let’s do away with the school system. In “Against school, John Taylor Gatto says, “They said the work was stupid, that it made no sense, that they already knew it. They said that they wanted to be doing something real, not just sitting around” (Gatto 608). Gatto uses his article “Against School” to talk about how the school system is not necessary. He uses certain rhetorical strategies and personal experiences to do so. In “Against School”, John Taylor Gatto uses his personal experience in his thirty years of working in the school system and some rhetorical strategies to convince people who have children in the public-school system that kids do not need to be put in the system to have an education.

In the narrative called ‘Scholarship Boy’, by Richard Rodriguez. One can say that the biggest turning point is when Mr. Rodriguez himself realizes, at the age of thirty. The biggest attribute to his success and determination is schooling as a young boy. This is when Mr. Rodriguez had to live two separate lives. One as a young boy eager and willing to learn and develop, and another as a son and sibling to his family. At the age of thirty he finally is able to come to terms with this fact and be able to talk about in public and not have to keep it bottled up any longer. During this time in his life he is writing his dissertation and finds a written piece by Richard Hoggarts called, ‘The Scholarship Boy’. At this point in his life he sees that he is not alone with his life struggles. This was figuratively like lifting weights off of Mr. Rodriguez’s shoulders, you can see how while telling this part of the story stress is taken off of him. It is interesting to see that during the entire narrative Mr. Rodriguez seems unappreciative and ungrateful for the life his parents had given him. He is obviously resentful to the idea that his parents didn’t appreciate or value the idea of education, or at the very least learning the primary language of a country they moved to. Nothing in the story states that they were ignorant parents and didn’t know how to do simple math, the struggle that kept his parents from being able to give Mr. Rodriguez the attention and affection but most of all

The essay ‘Against the school’ by John Taylor Gatto draws our attention on to all the cons of attending twelve years of high-school. Gatto has experience in teaching profession for twenty-six years in schools of Manhattan, he shares from his experience that he majored in boredom and could see that everywhere around him. He also points out the initial reason why schools came into existence and what the purpose it fulfils now. He also educates us on the fact that all the great discoverers never attended school and were self-educated.The main idea Gatto addresses in his article are that public schooling is doing the youth an injustice.He implies that the purpose of schooling, now is to turn children into good employes and someone who follows orders.

Henry Luong Professor Lassiter English 101 15 January 2015 To Compare and To Contrast The two stories, “The Back of the Bus” by Mary Mebane and “Like Mexicans” by Gary Soto, are alike. In the story, “The Back of the Bus,” Mary describes a time when she was younger; she lived in a time when there was legal segregation and racism was at a peak. She also talks about an experience she had on a bus; a black man refuse to give up his seat and the bus driver threatens to take him to the police.

Education is always a controversial topic. Especially that topic is about high school to educate. Rebecca solnit emphasizes that high school has a inaccurate system to educate, it identity students that who they are in the rest of life, people should escape from it. Also high school like a jail, you have to conform or take the punishment.However, I disagree with her, because I believe high school is an important part of life, and high school direct ways for students to be successful.