Thesis : I Had A Hard Time Picking

In the mid 1800s, the question of whether slavery was ethical or not was a particularly contentious matter. Slaves struggled to withstand the harsh treatments from their master’s, along with getting an education, until 1865 when the Thirteenth Amendment formally abolished slavery. Although slavery was no longer tolerated, the racial bigotry did not end. Fast forward to the 1950s, and racial inequality is still prevalent in society. Segregation existed in almost every aspect of life ranging from miniscule topics such as where one can sit on the bus, to more serious topics such as quality of education one child receives. This discrimination was fought through protests in the civil rights movement throughout the 1950s and 1960s. As an American high school student in a country still plagued with racial discrimination today, it is imperative to remember the true value of a quality education. While James Baldwin’s “A Talk to Teachers” and Frederick Douglass’s “Learning to Read and Write” both emphasize the need for racial equality in education, Baldwin’s forceful and angry tone ultimately make his speech the more rhetorically effective of the two.

I was born and raised in a small distant Himalayan country in a refugee camp. Expectations were really high. My moderately educated parents, who had been living without hope for almost two decades, thought that education was our only hope. So, every day was a new challenge for me to do well and learn something new. I was always emphasized of the significance of education in every walk of my life. It was the part of the dinner table talk. I had learned nothing but how education was important. I was determined and did well in my studies. However, the discourses that I had learned at home and my community differed to a great extent when we moved to the United States. I had developed a different identity kit, that separated me from the rest of the students who thought the completely other way around. I was always taught that education was the only and most important thing but as I looked at my high school classmates, it was just a part; while it still remained as the only important thing as my parents had emphasized onto me. Also, I found it quite challenging to think and respond similar and acquire the same discourse. The most challenging part was to learn, interpret and speak in English. Accordingly, as Williams mentioned I could clearly see the conflict between the academic discourse that was being taught in the classroom and

John Spayde’s article What Does it Mean to Be Educated (June 1998) offers insight into the world of philosophical questions and studies of our educational system. Spayde shares and responds to the opinions of different novelists, journalists, professors, and colleges that have taken a stance on what it means to be educated. His article briefly covers topics such as; educational decisions, financial division, entitlement, humanities, and technology. Spayde also discusses the importance of being connected and learning from a real-life experience. Spayde believes that having a connection to the world around you allows you to use any experience as a learning mechanism to further your education.

For my Argumentative Essay “Modern Day Re-Segregation in Today’s Schools”, I will be addressing Professor Kelly Bradford and my fellow students of Ivy Tech online English Composition 111-54H. As I chose Martin Luther King’s “Letter from A Birmingham Jail” as my core reading topic, I have gained an interest in not only the fight for civil rights that Mr. King lead in the 1950’s but have gotten interested in how there is still a large gap in equality in education due to the current situation of not only educational segregation but social and economic segregation. Through my research I have discovered that not only segregation in the schools is on the rise, but that socioeconomic segregation exists and is fueling the decrease in academic success by impoverished students. Through my writing I want to demonstrate that the socioeconomic isolation and segregation not only affects those that are directly bound by it, but that it affects every American in some form or other. I am submitting my writing as a formal academic manuscript.

America’s education system is one of the most respectable, reputable and sought after commodities in our society, but it is also the most overcrowded, discriminatory, and controversial system ever established. Most people yearn for a higher education because it 's what 's expected in this society in order to get ahead. It means a better job, more money, power, prestige and a sense of entitlement. But this system has let down the children that are supposed to benefit from it. Education discriminates against minorities, and poorer class students are not expected nor encouraged to attain a higher education. The education system is set up to ensure that every child get a basic

For generations African Americans have been disadvantaged in America and effects of these injustices have made a lasting impression. Education is one of the leading problems in the black community. Though there have many reforms in education over the years, racial injustices still exist because no attention in placed on how legislature affects people of color. I was raised in a middle-class family of educators. My entire life I’ve been told to “stay in school, get an education, and work hard so that you can beat the system.” Recognizing the structural forces in my life has helped me understand my place in society. Being able to “understand everyday life, not through personal circumstances but through the broader historical forces that

Today, education enables us to enlarge our knowledge and open doors for opportunities to the path of having a good future. In the five readings, each written by a different author, there was a lesson learned and something to take away from each one. Reading through the passages by Mann, Moore, Malcolm X, Gatto, Rose, and Anyon, each author contributed his or her point of view on general public education. This topic can be very argumentative depending on the quality of education people receive. Education today is the single most important mean for individuals to achieve their personal goals in the workforce.

Education is a wonderful asset to anyone. With a good one the sky is the limit, and without one opportunity may never come knocking. In today’s society, so much emphasis is put on education. How many times have we heard the saying “if you get a good education, you’ll get a good job and make a lot of money”? Even today, my parents remind me of how much a college degree would add to my marketability. But when does it become too much? Is it possible that one could overlook the more important values in life in search to become a “learned man”? In Richard Rodriguez’s story Challenging The Traditional Classroom he examines his life as a student, and the affects his learning has towards his attitude about family and heritage.

Professor X who is a part-time adjunct instructor of English in a community college wrote this journal to discuss a very controversial issue: Is that important or necessary for everyone to continue a high level education in college? The ideal of equal opportunity gives the access for all the students to pursue the college education in the United States. However, due to the lack of knowledge or skills, some of the students are not qualify to pass the college education somehow. For many of the students, “college was not a goal they spent years preparing for, but a place they landed in.” Professor X mentioned that some of his students are not interested in the writing class, and they took this class

Michelle Obama’s “Bowie State University Commencement Speech” and Mike Rose’s “Blue-Collar Brilliance” both address the similar theme of a higher education. Obama motivates her audience by connecting to the fight for education by African Americans and the drive required to complete a higher education throughout history. Obama’s central argument is to inspire the graduates, such as previous generations have done, to encourage future generations to care about their education, continue on with higher learning, and also to get them back on track if they begin to stray. Obama cites multiple statistics such as ones that declared educated African Americans actually live longer and make more money than those without a degree or who have dropped out of high school. On the other hand, Rose addresses the common held belief that work requiring less schooling also requires less intelligence. Rose provided two stories; one about his mother Rosie, and one about her brother Joe, neither of whom finished high school. Rose declares that their lack of institutionalized education did not mean they were not educated in other ways. In their lines of work, one at a factory and one at a restaurant, required a combined demand of both body and mind. The primary thesis Rose is trying to point out is that our society today devalues everyday learning and we offer limited educational opportunities that cause us to reinforce cultural divides. My feelings on the issue of higher education are mixed. While I

The tone of the author in the text was critical, intimate, and sincere. I also feel this statement is true because the difference in social class environment sometimes hold big impacts on the way we think, feel, and act. It all takes place because of the separation between social class in America which is a very controversial topic. Education is based off the social class the child’s parent fall within. The bigger the household income is the better education your child could receive because of the stereotypes Americans live by.

What is learned in school, be it public or private, determines, for the most part, what position an individual will find themselves in - in the future. In “White Privilege and Male Privilege,” Peggy McIntosh, an author known for doing something that is rarely done in the white community--speaking of her race--makes references to education, to her privileged education, to support her argument on white and male privilege. Sometimes I wonder what society would look like without education; would there be any norms, or rules? Education is so deeply instituted into most Americans' lives that those questions will probably never be answered. One thing is certain; some people are able to get

Education has unequivocally remained one of the most important and ever-changing aspects of society. With the advent of new decades and time periods, educating our youth has remained one of the most important tasks to undertake. The changing needs of students and the modernisation of classic teaching methods have caused quite a shift in terms of pedagogy. Throughout the civil rights movement, especially, there was much conversation about education in terms of how black youth were taught and about equality in terms of tutelage. The civil rights movement evoked a glut of strong feelings concerning the flawed and contradictory educational system in America. During the whole of the 20th century (and late 19th century), it seems, a lot was written about in regards to how the youth-black youth especially-were being educated; many called upon the idea that blacks and whites weren’t being educated the same and that there was a significant imbalance in terms of equality. One of the most important citations in the matter of education is one by Jacob Bronowski, “It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it.” The redolent outlook this quote brings to education rings true to this time period of the 20th century in which education was being drastically changed and reworked.

While it is not until his final chapter “Young People: Improving the Odds” that we read Edelman’s thoughts on American education at length, I argue that the theme of education is one that motivates Edelman’s writing.

Education is something often seen as an equalizer in the face of social injustice. The concept of using school and information to put different people on a level playing field is a noble but misguided attempt at social equality. Education undoubtedly affects the position of people in society positively, while creating an outlet to educate the ignorant, it becomes problematic when education is not an equal opportunity for everyone. In Adrienne Rich’s essay, “Taking Women Students Seriously”, she speaks of the inequality mainly affecting women while subtly hinting at the inequality present in education in regards to race and class. Gender, race and class are three characteristics that work together to create either a positive or negative profile for one’s education.