After watching both “Waiting for Superman” at home and “Race to Nowhere” in class, a lot of conclusions can be made from both incredibly made documentaries. Both films offered their audience the opportunity to be informed about the problems and issues in contemporary American education, both clearly with two completely different points of view. “Waiting for Superman” and “Race to Nowhere” were both created in 2010, and here and now in 2015, major issues in the United States surrounding education include curriculum, funding, and control. In regards to both films, “Waiting for Superman” includes the issue of how much the education in America has declined in regards to public schools and “Race to Nowhere” is about the everyday stress factor of students that are in school. Both documentaries were completely different with the issues they chose to address in the films, but both also brought about the right message when it comes to an end.
Starting with “Race to Nowhere”, I personally sympathized with this story of students who are so stressed when it comes to schoolwork. My high school did not supply us with much homework as this story describes, however I was always stressed about assignments so I physically cannot even imagine being that surrounded by homework. I would come home every day from school and go right to doing my homework. My mom made sure that her, my brother and myself ate dinner together and talked about our day, no matter if we were still doing homework or not.
Firefighters, Police officers, and soldiers are all of our heroes today, but the heroes that children are lacking in today’s society are teachers. In the documentary Waiting for Superman, it does a great job of showing many of the flaws in today’s education system. In Waiting for Superman, The music and audio features provide a humorous tone and also, at times, a more serious tone. Ethos is established throughout the Waiting for Superman documentary by having experienced teachers and presidents of well known educational companies give their thought on what needs to happen with the schooling system in the United States. The experts in this topic talked about how many of the public schools in the United States are considered to be dropout factories, which is where more than forty percent of the enrolled students drop out. This means more kids sitting on the street with no jobs or education. Furthermore, crime rates will go up, as well as the poverty level because the children can not get a well paying job. It is made known in Waiting for Superman, that the good schools are very expensive and only have limited spots available. To get into these schools, there are often raffles in which you enter for a chance to get in. This method is unfair because there is no guarantee you will get chosen, therefore you may end up getting a worse education than what you know you can receive.
In 2010, Davis Guggenheim released one of the years most talked about documentaries, Waiting for Superman. His film was an eye opening, to many, look at the failings of the U.S. school system. The film follows five students across the U.S., who range in grade level from kindergarten to eighth grade, as they try and escape the public school system through a lottery for a chance admission to a charter school. Guggenheim lays the blame for the failing public education system at the feet of the various teachers unions, and makes a plea for the public in general to get involved in reforming the system. By analyzing Waiting for Superman through a sociological perspective, issues of inequality will be explained using the theoretical approach
An individual and the community they live in are both factors that impact individual's education. Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie is an essay published in the Los Angeles Times that describes the impact that reading had on his life and it shows that individuality triumphs community towards the goal to an education. He Named Me Malala is a movie dedicated to Malala Yousafzai's pursuit towards an education and it displays that an individual is responsible for their quest for an education. Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol is a book that discusses the disparities in education between schools of different classes and races, the book showcases that individuals are solely responsible for their pursuit in an education. Individuals are the benefactors
The documentary presents intrinsic issues facing the child age demographic. The title of the documentary is ‘waiting for superman.’ The title in itself speaks of a sense of hope in an abstract idea that is simply imaginary in nature. The term superman is, in this context, used to describe the education system. The title of the documentary describes the high sense of hope with which children go to school. This high sense of hope is motivated by the ignorance that they harbor as to the actual dynamics of the public school system. The premise should be that no child is left behind. This is with reference to learning in the school system. This theoretical analogy is, however, very far from the actual truth on the ground. The situation is that a lot of children are left behind. An argument can be made from the documentary that all of the children in the public school
Over the last few years public school systems have been slowly decreasing in their effectiveness, causing there to be many students, especially those whose families are struggling financially, to be left behind; while others, who have the ability to enter charter schools, are receiving a better education and are succeeding. The documentary Waiting for Superman, directed by David Guggenheim, is focused on this disheartening truth about the American Education System. Through the use of rhetorical strategies such as pathos, logos, and music, it attracts the audience to the plot and leaves them with an unsettling feeling about schooling that will hopefully cause them to want to take
“One of the saddest days of my life was when my mother told me Superman didn’t exist... I was crying because there was no one coming with enough power to save us.” Just as many children look up to fictional characters such as Superman, parents rich or poor, look up to our school system to educate their children. However, too many of these parents are beginning to realize that proper education, like Superman, is nonexistent. In Waiting for “Superman,” Davis Guggenheim addresses the teachers union about the failing public school system in America. Through the use of ethos, anecdotes, statistics and visual and audio elements, Guggenheim attacks a problem too precious to let slip through our fingers.
Among all of the information on the United States education system, one documentary rises to a status above most others: Waiting for Superman. Released in 2010, the documentary is still relevant, and perhaps the most well-known work on the topic of education in the States. Not only does Waiting for Superman provide information and an argument for change, but its renown is proof that Waiting for Superman uses highly effective persuasive techniques and rhetorical strategies to deliver information and to push its argument for change.
Educational systems in America are impaired, and the very educators that are meant to teach are the one’s pulling it down. That is the apparent message that Davis Guggenheim attempts to convey in his documentary “Waiting for Superman”. He uses many strategies to get his message across. Some of these include cartoons, children, and those reformers that are attempting to pull the system out of the ditch that it has found its way into. He makes his point very well, and uses facts and figures correctly. He does leave out some of the opinions of the opposing views, but it does not take away from his point that the educational system in America is in need of repair.
The educational problem presented on the documentary “Waiting for Superman” shows how the educative public system is in the United States. In our state, it is a right to have an education and the government provides it. The way our state works when it comes to public school has stopped parent’s from looking into others schools to get their kids into, and this
When the word school is mentioned, often, we first think about students and teachers. These two groups roughly describe the educational system. This assignment will focus on teachers as stakeholders in public school districts.
The documentary Waiting for “Superman”, directed by Davis Guggenheim, utilizes pathos to keep the viewers engaged which causes the film to be effective. Following five children through their struggle of being accepted into a charter school is a use of pathos. The director does this in a few different ways. Three of these are by interviewing the parents, interviewing the children, and having the narrator tell stories about the children. The movie’s main point seems to be that the director wants people to be aware of how difficult it is to get into charter schools, but also be aware of how much some kids need it.
Waiting for “Superman”, a documentary by Davis Guggenheim glorifies Charter Schools and labels them the solution for many of the problems faced by inner city education. Given the idea that public schools have inadequate teachers and that Too many of our inner city students are not thriving in school, this film seems to have all the answers and explanations of how to fix it.
Waiting for Superman lists those impacted by the public school system and attempts to break down the system responsible, namely poor structures, government officials and as ultimately the all mighty dollar, both spent and made. Who are the stakeholders? Children, whose futures are at risk; parents and caretakers because today’s family makeup is varied,
Within the documentary Waiting for Superman, David Guggenheim (the director) explores the world of education and the real life ‘struggle’ for the best education for five different children. Of course this piece offers opinions from different sources within the school system, yet it seems as if all the stances taken are very biased in saying how the problems in education only arise from bad teachers and the teacher unions. However, ironically enough, it seems as if “we never hear the voice of a single teacher… teachers are never given the opportunity to offer their views on ‘the problem’ or ‘the answer’” (Waiting for 'Superman' 2) which is quite unfortunate since both arguments are not offered. By excluding the group that influenced
Batman: The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan is non-stop action thriller that continually did the unexpected. The film is based off of the original Batman comic book but additionally changes the perception of the everyday world as good to naturally bad. Throughout the movie, Batman stands for honesty and goodness while the Joker is a symbolism of chaos and evil. Both sides are forced to make quick-witted decisions in order to stop the opposing vigilante from doing his desired work. The citizens of Gotham are put in the heart of this circumstance and feel obligated to go against their values to stop the chaos. Numerous people habitually pursue their dreams and values but often become blinded from their