Abstract

My thesis going to be on why children have struggle with language in school and how educators are trying to help them. I came across this topic when I was reading Lisa Delpit's "Skills and Other Dilemmas of a Progressive Black Educator" compared to when I previously read Min-Zhan Lu's, "From Silence To Words: Writing as Struggle". I decided to do this topic because when comparing the two I thought Lu as a child learned Chinese and Standard English eventhough she rarely spoke it while in Delpit's the black kids were having trouble writing and reading in Standard English even though they had to speak it almost all the time.

Abstract

As a main argument for this paper, I would like to talk about the issues of education in today’s society. I will use the stories “From Silence to Words: Writing as a Struggle” by Min-Zhan Lu and “Skills and other Dilemmas of a Progressive black Educator”. In Lu’s story she grows up and attends school during the communist revolution in china, but under Lu’s household she gets taught a western education by her parents. Her western education almost turns out bad for her because the government bans English from the country and becomes enemies with England and the U.S. In Delpit’s story she struggles with her teaching style because when she’s teaches in an open classroom her black students don’t do well while her white students excel. In her traditional setting her black students do decent but her white students still excel. I will also talk about how the similarities and differences between Lu’s and Delpit’s pieces and any way I can relate the two pieces to each other.

Abstract

I would have to say my argument is basically to stress that society and other factors in your life effect your education and your way of thinking. I will point out Lu's gov't situation as a main force as well as Jordan's issue wiht the death of Willie Jordans brother and it's impact. The argument of these things is very important because ifr not for these events then it is a completely different situation with a completely different outcome.

an abstract or something like it...

i'm not very good at writing abstracts so any advice would be appreciated!

this paper will address the topic of interest, dialects within in the English language, by using arguments from essays by June Jordan and Lisa Delpit, as well as examples from Black and Redneck English. the arguments will be delievered point by point, followed by a summary of the points given and a generalized conclusion that encompasses the two standpoints given. the questions raised by the authors of the essays, as well as myself, are the following: should other dialects of English be taught and why and how this should be approached, what impact would this have on the students and our culture as a whole, and is this debasing Standard English?

Abstract

My paper is about the very idea of culture and how Raymond Williams and Stuart and Elizabeth Ewen define the culture we live in today. Raymond Williams used his personal story to try and give a sense of what culture is which gave me the idea of using "In the shadow of the Image" to try and compare the authors ideas of culture. The authors are both correct because Williams lays down the aspects of a single culture while the Ewens try and give ideas about popular culture and the effects of commercial images. Raymond Williams does not use any ideas of popular culture in his story, his story was about defining the culture he lived in and how eventually over time the new ideas around his culture affected his community and made for change. I feel between the two stories that in the end I will be able to develop my idea of culture as I know from living and dealing with commercial images.

Abstract.

I think that my thesis for this paper would be focused on the fact that sometimes people need to accomadate there literacy skills to anothers in different social situations. The two stories i'm basing my paper around is Min-Zha Lu's " From silence to words: Writing as stuggles" and Gloria Anzalua's piece " How to tame a wild tounge". I"m compairing the fact that both auothers needed to adapt to different situations and how they use different languages in those situations. In Gloria's piece she tells us how difficult it was to adapt to using different forms of her chicano spanish language. In Lu's piece she disscusses how she tried to deal with all the simialar words in english and chineese. She also shows us how hard it was to go back and forth. Although these works are simialr they also have thier differences. Although Lu had to speak three languages she really only had to speak one, her family is the one who made her speak english. Gloria on the other hand had to learn different languages or dialects to make it through different situations in her story.


Hope this is right...wasn't in class last wednesday!

Abstract

My paper is based on individuality. I believe that Jordan and Delpit show strength in what they believe in. Both authors tried to pursue something they felt strongly about. Jordan and Delpit were treated like they had no place in the world for what they wanted the most. All they wanted was to succeed, for others and themselves. The world can sometimes be opened or closed more so to a certain group of people than another. I feel that they should be recognized for their great efforts. I think this argument is significant because its based around morals and common sense.

Abstract

Did we even get into a discussion of how to write abstracts last Wednesday?

My main arguement of my paper was that anyone can be literate and get over obstacles that come in the way of being literate. I realize it's not much of an arguement but still, I tried using Rose and Lu's essays to point out how the people in there stories were literate, because literate, became better at literacy even though they may have had trouble along the way. I guess my arguement is significant because I don't believe most people have a reason for being illiterate when they've been given the opportunity to go to public school. At least in America, nearly everyone is given the opportunity. These people got through there difficulties.

Abstract

I am thinking that a thesis for this paper would focus on the language barriers that one my face which leads to motivate one to either go back to school or to further their education past the normal requirement. I will be focusing on two litterary pieces, Mike Rose "Crossing Boundaries" and Min Zhan-Lu "From Silence to Words: Writing As Struggle" to help prove my argument. Mike Rose, talks about adults who are returning to school after being out in the society. These adults have realized that life without literacy is hard and that they can acheive much more with a better education. His students are extemely motivated and are willing to come back to school to learn the basics of the American language. Min Zahn-Lu talks about her own struggles with language and how by knowing two languages between two spilt cultures is difficult and confusing. She descirbes being consistently frustrated while trying to decide which language she should be using at what time. Both authors are discussing barriers but Rose is referring to the lack of knowledge towards literacy among adults and Lu is discussing how too much language can be just as confusing.

Abstract

It is my intent with this essay to demonstrate the influence of external social pressures on literacy. By paralleling Min-Zhan Lu’s “From Silence to Words: Writing as a Struggle” with Stuart and Elizabeth Ewens’ “In the Shadow of the Image” I will elaborate on the impact of continuous exposure to propaganda and peer pressure have not only on a person’s literacy, but also a person’s own identity. Lu’s essay illustrates her internal struggle with literacy and identity while trying to please both her Western cultured family and Chinese communist society. Her difficulty trying to decide her position on various issues under the constant bombarding ideas from her family and her school is similar to the struggle the typical consumers face in the Ewens’ article. The idea that these pressures from our environment can become ingrained into our subconscious is a very applicable concept to everyday life that deserves to be examined more thoroughly.

Abstract

Ok i'm never good at writing abstracts but here goes nothing:

In my paper I am going to talk about "Note-passing" and "In the shadow of the image". My thesis is going to show that whether its one perticular group of a school or a entire society of a school, similarities and differences will always arise causing the stress in any teenagers life. Both Finders and Ewens stories can relate to the lives of teenagers. Differences that they both have are Finders only decides to talk about one group of girls in a typical school, Ewens story of images can relate to teenagers but on a larger scale. Similar elements that they both have that can be brought up are how teenage lives can be affected by both note-passing and by the advertisment in todays society.

Hope i did this right

In my paper, I am going to dissect "The Shadow of the Image," and "Notepassing:Struggles for Status," by Stuart and Elizabeth Ewens and Margaret Finders. The thesis or argument of my paper will focus on how both these writers unique writing styles demonstrate how society today, especially cultured is highly influenced by language. Moreover, language today has changed in the last decade among adolescents and adults throughout the world. To add a creative twist to my paper, I decided to provide readers with concrete images and examples of how the Ewens and Margaret Finders describe literacy today. Furthermore, like the Ewens, I will wrote short paragraphs depicting stories of colorful images such as "The morning sun shines on the red-tan forehead of Billy O-Conner," (Ewens, 182) Also, I created a "note" of how teenagers express themselves today in their own language, such as Margaret Finders discussed in her essay, "yo! what's up?" (Finders, 131). Lastly, examples such as these, and explanations of these authors stories will tie into the core of my paper and how images and language effect society and culture as a whole today.

Abstract

My main argument for this paper is going to be that there should not be standards of languages in any society. The two articles I will be using for this show examples in which two different scinarios brought up problems of using different languages. The two articles are June Jordan's "Nobody Mean More to Me than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan" and Min-Zhan Lu's "From Silence to Words: Writing as a struggle." In Jordan's text, she explains how her class used black English. Her students were reading a story in black english called "The Color Purple." While they were reading this, Willie Jordan, a student in the class, his brother was killed by the Brooklyn police. June Jordan thought it was appropriate that they write a letter to the police station using Black english. Through it all, the community, overall, rejected the use of the language and the reasons that were presented in the letter. In Lu's article, she tells about herself and how she went through some hard times as a youth using two languages. She lived in China and was taught to only use Chinese in school. Her parents then taught her the "western language," or simply English. SHe had a hard time not using English once and awhile in school and was punished for it. Lu did not see why this was happening and felt that it was okay for her to be using it. Lu later on became an English teacher. There is not a real big significance surrounding my argument, other than the fact that there should be no language barriers or standards in any society.

Abstract

Through the course of our readings assigned in this class we are presented with two separate but similar programs. Both are based in the same geographical region and both focus on furthering the education of people in their region. However one concentrates on its attempt to further the literacy of the adult population in the area and the other is associated with those still in school: "kindergarten through university". One excerpt that we read for class suggested that one of these programs, The Bay Area Writing Project, has a controversial background, while the other, the Bay Area Literacy Program doesn't seem to cause any suspition . That is why I'd like to discuss these two programs. Specifically I'd like to determine the root of the controversy behind the Bay Area Writing Project, and determine why the other program doesn't is not affected in the same way. In the process of working this out, I'd like to cite similarities and differences between these two, as well as any connections that can be found linking them together.

abstract

Disclamier : I'm going to take a shot at this abstract. It may be a little bit unorginized so read carefully.

As a thesis for this paper, I would like to focus on the motivations and assumptions of schooling in today's society. I will be focusing on two litterary pieces, Mike Rose "Crossing Boundaries" and Min Zhan-Lu "From Silance to Words: Writing As Struggle" to help me illistrate my point. Mike Rose, talks about the assumptions lower class citizens put on the effects of education, and how those effects motivate them to go back to school to earn their High School diploma. Even though, these adult students know how to read, write and pay bill's they still feel as if they need to complete what they believe to be "standard education" in order to have a better life, or a higher paying job. On the other hand, Min Zhan-Lu talks about education as more of a 'handiecap' to her writing and schooling. In Min Zhan-Lu's household, she was taught "western" education because her parents thought it would be more of asset rather then an problem. Unfortunatly, because 'western' education was band in her school and newly reformed china, her prior education served to harm her more then it did to help her. Through this essay, I will expand on how roles of socity play a part in education, and how education in certain forms can be both helpful and harmful.

The two texts that I choose for my paper are Mike Rose's Crossing Boundaries and June Jordan's Nobody Mean More to Me Then You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan. I wrote about how Jordan and Rose were both professors. In Rose’s piece “Crossing Boundaries” Rose was teaching adults who came back to school because for many different reasons they were unable to get schooling as children. June Jordan was teaching students, who had difficult situations to deal with, but was also going to school at the same time. Mike Rose in his article was talking about the effects of lower class citizens with poor or no education. Yes these people know how to do every day stuff but they feel it’s important for them to become educated even if they are older, they feel they need it for the rest of there life that they have ahead of them. June Jordan's text has to do with education and people facing problems now, and using there education to deal with the problems they’re facing. In Jordan's text they are writting a letter after Willie Jordan's brother was killed. They are writing the letter in the language, Black English which they were taught in school. My arguments are significant because both of these teachers were teaching students that were dealing with some sort of problem. Some of the problems the students faced were not as severe as other but they all impacted there lives and these teachers had to help the students get around them and also learn. These teachers did not avoid the problems they worked through them with the students while using what they had been teaching in the class room.

Abstract

I had a hard time pertaining arguments for both stories so I have two. My arguments towards the two stories are teachers don’t take into account the different ways to teach multiethnic students who are lacking specific skills and are dealing with everyday life in their societies. In Lisa Delpits story Skills and dilemmas of a Progressive black educator" she starts out with leaving her classroom open for all students to learn not realizing it takes more work and broader teaching lessons for these students to comprehend. In June Jordan’s story "Nobody means more to me than you and the life of Willie Jordan" She shows students proper ways to speak and write, but doesn't realize how societies are effecting these kids until Willie's brother is killed. The significance towards my first argument is Delpit would have done a better job with her early teaching job if she could have realized some students just need more work done with them, and Jordan should have realized being school smart doesn’t mean anything when your not smart in the real world.

Initial thoughts

My Initial thoughts toward the proper were seemingly good, but seemingly bad at the same time. I thought this paper shouldn't be to hard to put together, until I actually sat down and tried to brainstorm and right it. I guess I just have the hardest time understanding how to explain the story's in a symathetic way. I'm trying to read the story's thoroughly and understand them as best as I can. I also have a hard time thinking about what issues to write about, i'm still in the process.

ABSTRACT

I expressed the differences and similarties of culture discussed in the two texts "Culture is Ordinary" by Raymond Williams and "In the Shadow of the Image" by Stuart and Elizabeth Ewen. I argued that they both resemble some of the same ideas on culture as well as differences. Culture is made up of changes, and society makes up our changes is a similarity they expressed. Everyday, everything we do makes up our culture. They both backed up their ideas by explaining descriptions of events in everyday life. As well as similarties there there were also difference between the texts. Stuart and Elizabeth expressed in "The Shadow of the Image" that culture is being made up of mass-medie and commercial images, that they beleive culture is going to be taken over by a consumer society. Raymond Williams in "Culture is Ordinary" just expressed the idea of culture being ordinary and that society influences and makes up different cultures. The signifigance of my argument is to show that culture can be many different things, many things can make up what a culture is. People have different opinons on culture because our society makes up the definition of culture.

Abstract~

My main argument/thesis is that every student needs special help to learn. A teacher can not just always be correcting the student, instead they need to help by showing interaction with the student. In Rose's piece- this occurs when Rose is trying to help Millie. Rose finds that once he actually shows Millie to mark up her test and to interact herself with the problem she begins to understand. This is important because it shows the interaction. In Delpit's piece- this occurs when Delpit is trying to use the open classroom effect. Delpit learns that she can not have the student just do their own thing, instead the student needs to have the teacher there showing and guiding them through interaction. This helps the black students do better. The significance of my argument is that in both texts Rose and Delpit try to help many ways but do not figure it out until they both use interaction with their students.