When Abibatou Diallo Was First Starting School, Her Name

Immigrants, since the mass immigration in the 19th century, have been changing their names to sound more American. Most feel that if they add an American name they will be more successful. Firoozeh Dumas’s excerpt “The ‘F Word’” was taken from Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America, published in 2003. Dumas tells her story about what growing up with an Iranian name feels like. She came to America, at the age of seven, knowing that challenges would arise, but what she did not know was someone would change her name into a complete insult and judge her because of it. Hoping she would make it through these obstacles she stepped blindly into the United States. Dumas tells her story by writing with a precise style of writing; using irony, metaphors, and excellent word choice, making it easy to understand her arguments.

Her life changed so rapidly, going from outgoing to a shut-in, laughed at due to her iniquities. Not wanted to deal with the frustrations of public school, she decided to go to Lexington School for the Deaf. She exceled there (well rounded) and was valedictorian her last 2 years

In High school, she continued to excel where others fell short by focusing and exceeding in her academics, setting an example for others to follow and instilling confidence into others rather than letting them fall into peer pressure. With the help of her

In chapter 19 the author mentions Anne Fox Elementary School, a school in Chicago that goes from having a very poor academic performance in the entire school district of 21 other schools to becoming the second highest academically performing school in just a matter of few years. Anne Fox Elementary School is a great example of the magic that can take place when adults really see the full potential in children and take responsibility in making sure that the children's needs are met in terms of academics. Anne Fox Elementary School shows what can really take place when adults truly believe the idea that every child can succeed. By looking at where they were going wrong and targeting those problem areas Anne Fox Elementary School, created a timely, and organized way to make sure the meet their goals. From changing the false belief of I can’t to I can the elementary school really turned

Firoozeh Dumas’s essay “The ‘F  Word” is not what audience think it would be about.  When the audience hears the someone mention the “F” word all sorts of ideas pop into their head. Yet, Dumas twists the meaning of her title into something the audience wouldn't think of when they hear it. In today's American Society people are judged by more than just the color of their skin, for instance in Dumas’s case it was by her name.  Society has an image of what everyone should be like from their looks to the name they go by.  In the article Dumas explains her experience as an immigrant from Iran to the US. Dumas shows how hard it is for someone to come to America and live with an unusual name. This is blatantly apparent  during her childhood because the children would make fun of her and the rest of her family’s name. To counter this, Firoozeh decided to add Julie as an American middle name so strangers would not feel so awkward around her. Julie became the author’s middle name which caused her to play a “double role” in her life. This was because her family knew her as Firoozeh and her friends and coworkers that knew her as Julie. Later, when she became a stay at home mom Dumas decided to be called by Firoozeh again. This return caused her some uncomfortable situations since the “double roles” collided. Dumas states, “make room in the spice cabinet.” because she  believes that Americans should be more opened minded to new pronunciations, sounds, and names.

In Firoozeh Dumas’s story, “The F Word” from Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America (2003), Dumas recalls her struggle of growing up in America with an Immigrant name. She begins her story by telling us the similar struggle her brother, cousin, and friends went through right along side of her. The kids at their school took their Iranian names, which had a special meaning in their country, and turned them into a cruel joke. She goes on to tell us that all the immigrants knew that moving to America would come with its own set of new challenges, but nobody expected to be the joke of the school because of their names. Her name, Firoozeh, which means “turquoise” in Persian, translated to “Unpronounceable” in America. At the age of twelve, Dumas was fed up of the laughing and name calling. She tried to simplify her life by adding an American middle name to her impossibly hard to pronounce Iranian name. Her decision for an American middle name grew intenser after kids began calling her “Ferocious” in fifth grade. That summer when she moved to Newport Beach, she declared to her family that she wanted to add an American middle name to her name. Immune from mockery, she asked for suggestions from her family members and she finally settled with the name “Julie” as her new American middle name. That afternoon, she introduced herself for the first time as Julie to a neighbor girl her age, who coincidentally was also named Julie. Her life in sixth grade became much simpler because people were actually remembering her name for a change. There were only two problems: people spoke poorly about immigrants in front of her because they didn’t see her as an immigrant with her American name and she no longer felt like herself.

Your Honor, Sir. Breana’s proudest moment as a person is when she obtained an honor roll certificate last year. She had a hard time with understanding the teacher, but she slowly and gradually grasped the concept. Her hard work paid off as she got all A’s and B’s. Breana’s strenuous time with her school’s curriculum made her feel very angered, but she pushed herself to the limits and ended up having the joy of spectacular

The experiences she’s had have had their effect on her attitude regarding school. She rejects the standards of the school system, believing it to be too limiting for children who may learn differently, and can disenfranchise youth that may not conform to the mold. She also shuns the practicality of what she has been learning, and its proposed “applicability” in the real world.

As a result, she lacked confidence in her education. She stated, “My early education did not partake of the abundant opportunities which the present day affords and which even our common schools now afford. I was never sent to any school; I was always sick.” Even though she did not attend a formal school it did not put her out of reach of a proper education (Peterson, 9).

Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill is a fantastically written fictional slave narrative. In the story, Aminata Diallo (the protagonist) is kidnapped from her home village of Bayo as a young girl. The story tells of the hardships Aminata faces throughout her journey of going from slave to free woman. Many characters are introduced throughout the story. Some characters were kind and helpful, such as Georgia and Captain John Clarkson. And other characters are not as kind, such as Mr.Appleby and Solomon Lindor. The character that showed the most potential is the protagonist, Aminata Diallo. This is due to Aminata’s many great attributes that make her exceedingly influential. In this essay, I will explain why the character I would like to be is Aminata Diallo.

In order to find his identity he went against his parent’s wishes in attending Columbia, but instead attending Yale. But before he set off for college he went through the legal process of changing his name. To his surprise it was a very mechanical task. His reasoning to the judge for the change “I hate the name Gogol, “he says I’ve always hated it.” “Very well”, the judge says stamping and signing the form, then returning it to the clerk. He is told the notice of the new name must be given to all other agencies, and that it’s his responsibility to notify the Registry of Motor Vehicles, banks, schools” (102). Although the moment in the courtroom was not as momentous as he had imagined, he stepped in there as Gogol Gangouli and left as Nikhil Gangouli in twenty minutes. A moment he waited eighteen years for finally arrived. Now that he is free of his parents and his old name, he can now be confident, especially with women in introducing himself without anticipating unwelcomed questions about his name.

Gifted students have a higher risk of dropping out of school due to a number of factors including a lack of challenge in academic areas, feeling disconnected to their fellow students and their teachers, potential drug and alcohol abuse and the lack of coping skills to deal with increased sensitivities. Additionally, gifted students are known to experience a lack of community or none acceptance at school, a high sensitivity not acknowledged in school, no help in learning coping skills for dealing with a major loss such as illness, death or changing schools, issues with authority but most importantly, they often do not have an advocate to help bring out meaningful change (Hansen and Torso, 2007). These factors have led to gifted students being underachievers, dropouts, or students who have developed an overall negative impression on school and learning in general.

In "And Still We Rise," Miles Corwin chronicles the daily struggle of gifted students in 1997’s South Central L.A. Even with abundant street temptations and challenging peer experiences, these students find refuge in a school system that affords them both happiness and hope. Everyday is a challenge, and yet, they continue to strive for success.

The topic of gifted and talented education is one that has always sparked debates among parents and teachers, and recent movements towards totally integrating classrooms have added to this debate. For many years now, "average" children, gifted and

In Aria the main character Rodriguez was a boy who moved to america with his family. He the third of four children, he was a child who went to a Roman Catholic School in Sacramento California. Since Rodriguez was an immigrant he was native to the english language. When the Nun introduced him to the class she had to say his name in a unusual way because she was couldn't pronounce his name fluently in the way you say it in spanish. This was the first time for Richard that he would hear his name be said in english. Richard was an immigrant, so he didn’t know english, and every time he heard a white person talk he would listen to them carefully and would listen to the sounds that came out of their mouth. When Richards family arrived to his new home he was surrounded by “gringos” as Richard would call the white people. Some families would unwelcome them by saying “ keep your brats away from our sidewalk!”. Family relatives would visit the house and Richard was able to hear