The Difference between Claiming and Receiving an Education

I still consider myself a feminist after this course. I believe that there is the need to establish, define, and achieve political, economic, and social rights for all not just

Rich is the author of an essay called “Claiming an Education” where she uses the words “claiming” and “receiving” very carefully. In the essay she talks about the difference between claiming an education and receiving an education. She states “You cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education; you will do much better to think of yourselves as able to claim one. One of the dictionary definitions of the verb “to claim” is to take as the rightful owner; to assert in the fade of

In Adrienne Rich's "Claiming an Education," she encourages women to "claim" their education, rather than "receive" it. She is referring to the fact that some women feel the need to be granted permission by others, rather than getting up and doing what is best for them. She also inspires the students to take personal responsibility and earn the education they are entitled to, rather than taking the easy route to obtain their degrees. In order to earn the education we deserve, we must become active participants in that education. Students must demand to be taken seriously, make our education a top priority, and take classes that challenge us as individuals.

Bruenig made a credible argument through pathos with Free College being unfair by giving rich student and their parents a better advantage in finance than a poor family. From rhetor point of view, the appeal to his audience with the unfair justice toward low-income student face having free college doesn’t make it fair between the rich and the poor, Bruenig brought in facts to catch the reader's attention by illustrating, how rich students have a bigger advantage than the poor students. Rhetor emphasized, “But even reasonably accounting for those kinds of responses, the primary result of such increased student benefit generosity would be to fill the pockets of richer students and their families(3).” Rhetor illustrated, with college and the

According to the first chapter Untangling the “F” –word in Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives by Gywn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Ray, women’s studies programs were birthed from the idea of feminism. The course began to pop up at different universities across the United States in the 1970’s; the course allows an in depth study of women in social and cultural aspects. Women’s studies courses attempt to explain the experiences and significance of women, which in turn sheds a new light onto the lives of many men and women. Today, the course informs and challenges many men and women to critically think not only in the course but also for the rest of their lives. Feminism can sometimes be misinterpreted, and the ideals of feminism are frequently

I am a feminist. I believe in the equal rights and treatment of men, women, First Nations, blacks, whites, Asian, etc. Considering the fact that I support equal ideas in my free time, I believe that this is an amazing class.

During these last thirteen weeks, I have discovered a lot about myself, not only as a student, but as a feminist. Before taking this class, I knew that I wanted to be a feminist. I believed that women should stand up and exercise their rights to be equal to men on every level. Be that as it may, I lacked the education required to develop my own sense of feminism--my feminist manifesto, if you will. When approaching the topic of feminism, every person needs to ask themselves a list of questions: Who am I? Who do I want to be? What has influenced me as a person? How can I help? These are the beckoning questions we, as developing and purposeful human beings, ask ourselves every day, and these are the questions that will lead each and every person

The difference between the terms "claim" and "receive" are that one means we are gaining and taking pride in what we gain; the other meaning that we are subjected to what we are receiving, with us having no choice in the matter. We aren't subjected to our education here at Ilisagvik. We chose to attend classes to gain the necessary knowledge to make it farther in life. We are here because we want to be, not because we are

Education being extremely important is drilled into your head as a teenager. Rich wrote in his essay, “The first thing I want to say to you who are students, is that you cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education; you will do much better to think of being here to claim one (608).” Rich is saying claiming an education is taking what you deserve and what’s rightfully yours. Claiming an education is doing it for yourself, as for receiving an education is doing it “just because”. He is saying education cannot be something you just “accept” and get it just to have it; it is something you must take because it is critical, especially for women. To me, claiming is going after what you want. You have to be active not passive to claim an

As a woman going into a field that for decades was predominately middle aged white men, I have to claim that "Claiming an Education" was not at all directed only towards women but to those who say they have achieved to never claim their active role in this constantly changing environment. I am a double major in Communication Studies and Multimedia Journalism, to learn the skills to become whatever I choose to be with my degree; but thats only if I can replace passive tense with an active grammatical structure in my life. Adrienne Rich wants to challenge the reader's and those around them to see through the barriers, and to claim a new era like the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Claiming is an education that means I need to be an active participant

I wouldn’t say that any of my previous perspectives on politics, subjectivity, race, gender, identity, etc., have significantly changed as a result of taking this course. However, there is something to be said about understanding my own values and stances in more analytical depth and being better able to critically examine what I believe and why. In this sense, this class for me had not so much been my ‘radical awakening experience’ as much as it had been my ‘providing a historical backdrop to my already deeply felt convictions experience.’ Because I had already come into this class with thoughtfully formulated opinions about the nature of civilization, humanity’s relationship with the Earth and with each other, and from what sources our culture

I love the freedom of choice and acceptance. I am also very glad I chose to take the Gender in America class. Though I initially signed up for the class to fulfill my general education requirement, it has fulfilled much more in regards to my viewpoints on the role of women. I have always been an inner feminist and this class has allowed her to come out. Before she was oppressed by the patriarchal figures that previously dominated my life, but now my college freedom and acceptance from the area I live in has allowed me to embrace my own opinion. I realized I am not like many of the people I used to associate with in my hometown. We have very different values in regards to political view points. I believe in equality for everyone no matter your sex or sexual orientation, while to many of my friends’ back home, this concept is hard to grasp. I also think that women should not have to rely on or please men to succeed in life. My prior experiences have led me to think this way because I have always felt I can be an independent successful woman. I am lucky to live in Philadelphia, a city that is so welcoming to all people. After almost being abducted, I knew internally that I was a feminist, but taking this class has allowed me to further explore the ways that feminism takes form and I know which ones I know associate best with, so that I can further help push for change for women in the world and

In Adrienne Rich’s speech, Claiming an Education, a statement was made that broadened my views of being a student in a university: “you cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education: you will do much better to think of being here to claim one” (paragraph 2). To furthermore explain this statement, students (especially women) should not attend school to just “receive” what is offered, but to rightfully take what is yours; which would be the degree.

I learned so much this past semester, whether it be knowledge about feminism or about myself as a person. I for sure walked away this semester feeling confident in myself as a feminist. I am proud to be one, not only for the rights of women but for myself. Sometimes I have people question what exactly being a feminist is, whether it come up in small talk or opinion based conversations. To me, being a feminist is not a way of thinking, it is a life style. That sounds very cliché, but it is true.

When I first entered this class, I thought I had a pretty good idea about what feminism and gender women’s studies were. I had already been a self-declared intersectional feminist for a number of years and came into the class to help build upon the knowledge that I already had and help strengthen and deepen my personal definition of feminism. After only the first few classes, though, I realized that what I knew was only the tip of iceberg. I quickly realized that there were all of these systems of violence against different groups of marginalized peoples that were deeper and more complex than I could have imagined based on the level of knowledge I came into the class with. Every week I found that my definition was being broadened and the way I viewed “mainstream feminism” was being challenged. As a whole, I can confidently say that I have gotten a lot more from this class than I had originally expected.