Michelle Rhee sees what the camera sees. She notices and acknowledges the current state of education systems in America and is actively advocating for education reform. In Davis Guggenheim's documentary, Waiting for Superman, the camera focuses on the emotions of a few students and their families to show the frustration and hardships they live through every single day. Geoffrey Canada represents one of many kids that grew up and are growing up in the ghetto that have high hopes of Superman sweeping down and rescuing them from the deepest depths. He shared a personal experience about if he had gone to one school, he would not be here today because the school was that bad. Rhee and Canada are credible sources for the documentary and they share, from some of their experiences, the struggles of parents trying and failing to get into great public schools. Also, the camera crew does a great job utilizing Pathos to resurface and emotional appeal multiple times throughout the documentary. David Guggenheim, the filmmaker of “Waiting for Superman”, brings in multiple people to interview. There were three interviewees that stood out to me: Michelle Rhee, an American educator and advocate for education reform; Geoffrey Canada, an American educator and social activist; and Howard Fuller, a former superintendent and advocate for education reform. These three individuals are all actively involved in the education system that we have today. We can rely on what they say because they are
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
Introduction: As a well accomplished writer, activist, and educator, Jonathan Kozol has devoted his life to the challenge of providing equal education to every child in our public schools.
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
“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.
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.
Zoe Blackburn Craig AP Lang 2 March, 2018 Waiting for Superman Film Review Waiting for Superman by Davis Guggenheim is a documentary released in 2010 that promotes the educational welfare of America’s children in public school systems that are severely broken in many ways. Just under two hours, Guggenheim relates many factual information and shines light on education. The film starts by introducing the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) act which progresses into describing the many faults of the educational system. Throughout the documentary, the film shows personal stories such as Daisy, Francisco, Geoffrey Canada, and Michelle Rhee.
The former DC school chancellor Michelle Rhee and the president of Harlem Children’s Zone, Geoffrey Canada are two leaders whose work stood in out in 2010 as an example of leadership that showed courage, tenacity, and dedication to the future of this country through the education of children. They were also featured in the documentary “Waiting for Superman” directed by David Guggenheim that showed a handful of diverse students undertaking an exhausting journey through public education, evaluating the drop-out rates, and academic disadvantages that they and students all across American are faced with and the contribution that leaders such as Michelle Rhee and Geoffrey Canada play a part in helping the education system prosper, and saving them from the failing statistics that continue to rise in public schools.
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.
The argument that has arisen due to the “St. Cloud Superman,” John Fillah, is quite unfortunate. Fillah was documented to have been wielding an offensive flag, but with only the intent of instilling patriotism and pride (Farhat). This flag toting may be considered hurtful, upsetting even, but that doesn’t mean that his right to free speech should be taken away. Free speech should protect the rights to someone displaying a flag, or any symbol that certain races, religions, genders, or people in general may find offensive. I will present the First Amendment, how Fillah’s intent should play into this, and how ignoring him may be the best course of action.
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
In Waiting for Superman, David Guggenheim’s documentary about America's school systems, he asks a multitude of very important questions that many people have been asking for a while now. Such as the question of if our teachers are essential to the well performance of a school, how can we, the everyday people, resolve poor performance within the school systems with an oftentimes uncritical view of teachers? In addition to that it raises the question on whether bad schools only exist in slums or other places as well. It also brings up the question can children excel in school if they are brought up in poverty.
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
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.
Waiting for "Superman" was filmed by Davis Guggenheim. It was released back in 2009. It talks about the education system in different neighborhoods around the United States of America. It also shows the corruption in the education system. This movie shows how the bad the public education is, and how many people are struggling on a daily basis to get a great education no matter the sacrifices.