"There are expensive children and there are cheap children,"
(Pg.45 Marina Warner)
Most would look at this quote and say, "How pretentious are you to classify children by how much money they are worth." However this quote is right in its meaning of saying that there are children raised in rich learning-environments and neighborhoods. Money allows one to get a better education however not all those that go to schools more fortunate then schools in poorer areas end up going farther then those apart of poorer neighborhoods. The values of the education are decided by the students that go there, if they don't use what's there then that's their prerogative. Money is the main cause of social class boundaries.
"Many people seem to be attracted to the argument that money may not mater much at all."
(Pg. 46 Jonathan Kozol)
The reason we have social classes are not just based around race. Social classes are created, mainly, due to money itself, the richer an area, the better the education shouldbe. However this doesn't solve the arguments for richer areas whose school systems are faulty at best. Money is the main cause of the social class boundaries.
"...we do not have the things you have. You have clean things. We do not have. You have a clean bathroom. We do not have that. You have Parks and we do not have Parks. You have all the thing and we do not have all the thing. Can you help us?"
(Pg. 44 Eight-year-old to Jonathan Kozol)
This is just unacceptable. An eight-year-old, shouldn't have to ask for this kind of help at this age or any age of person in school should not have to ask for help with things such as clean bathrooms and parks. The main reasoning behind why this eight-year-old doesn't have these "things" is because the area is most likely poor, and devoid of money to fix these problems. Money is the main cause of social class boundaries.
"This," he told me, pointing to the garbage bag, then gesturing around him at the other indications of decay and disrepair one sees in ghetto schools much like it elsewhere, "would not happen to white children." (Pg. 44 Kozol and an Elementary School Principle)
This quote struck me as something relating almost directly to our prompt as it shows a Elementary School Principal showing his discontent with the conditions of the school itself caused by an area of low social class that doesn't have the money to fix such things. Things like these should not be the regular for our elementary school students, but because of the social class of the area this is the norm. There isn't enough money to go around in the area for it to be fixed or for anyone to do anything about it. Money is the main cause of the social class boundaries.
Ethan Sousa-Gomes
ENGW 1100
September 22, 2016
Opinion: Students' Rights to their Own Language
The animated image shown above is my initial reaction towards this subject as both sides of the argument are viable however I will be siding with the argument "yes students should be allowed to use their own language." Although I believe it should be limited in some ways students should be able to freely express themselves. Whether it be by how they talk, dress (to a degree), and especially how they write. When students write in only the academic standard (assuming they don't talk academic standard 100% of the time) it makes them sound as if they are trying to be someone they are not, as if they have been replaced with this robot named Bob. Now there's absolutely nothing wrong with Bob as he (Yes he's a male robot.) hasn't done anything wrong but the student, in this case we'll name him Dylan, is not Bob therefore he shouldn't write exactly like him.
The man in the video above is a comedian by the name of George Carlin. He was known for his satiric comedy and how damned good it was. In my opinion he was one of the best comedians to ever live as he died back in June 22, 2008. This comedy act was based upon how our language continues to get "softer", by being changed from "harsher" words to more complicated words that increase the syllables. I want you to imagine this entire skit but instead of him cursing he would use nicer words, more academic English friendly words. His whole career as a comedian would've never gotten to where it was without his ability to speak his mind and come up with those acts. As students our writing is our comedy act. It is our duty to engage the reader with whatever we write and to make sure it sounds like us and not some other bloke.
The show above is from a book series named Game Of Thrones: A Song of Fire and Ice. The series was written by the magnificent George R.R. Martin who is also a lazy sack of s*** when it comes to releasing the books as readers, including myself, have been waiting for the next book since 2011 when the last one came out. Due to this many of us were forced to watch the show to see what happens next. The book most likely will be released by the time he dies which won't matter because the producers of the show were already told the entire rest of the plot line as well as the conclusion. Now that I've gotten past the boring information I thought you should know let's get on into my point. The reason I brought this show up is because George R.R. Martin does have amazing skills when it comes to writing. The books have so much detail and it includes subjects such as incest, rape, brothels, murder, heresy, and tons of backstabbing. Now all these topics alone are not the usual topics you would choose to right about if you are writing in academic English as it would be difficult to find the write words to use to create the same "impact" on the reader and it wouldn't give the reader the ability to see the difference between the different languages and races if they all spoke the same tongue.
If George Carlin and George R.R. Martin are allowed to express themselves and to show their individuality as human beings why aren't we, as students, allowed to do the same. We are human beings just the same and silencing our true way of speaking can only hither us in the short and long term.
Before you say "but you said that it should be in modera...", Yes I did. If we do not use our language in moderation you will only confuse and upset your readers while at the same time make yourself look stubborn as you refuse to be "normal." Language however is the way of communication so if you are to attempt to communicate try mixing both academic with your own, you might just find that combining both ends up being better then just using one or the other.
For a long time and even to this day I feel as if
I have at least two different sides of me. There's the side of me that always
acts laid-back and just seems like someone who
really doesn't care. You'd be around me and just feel as if you can just relax
because I won't get angry at anything that happens. Then there's the extremely
serious side of me which takes everything seriously and sometimes feels like
anything you say is aimed directly at me. These two sides of me are my public
and private self, and without both of these personalities I wouldn't be me. I can
switch these personalities like a flick of switch easily just changing from
great mood to foul. Of course this can be said about anyone, I mean if you were
to give a kid a piece of candy you'd make him happy, but if you smacked it out
of his hands right when he went to eat it you'd make him foul. So what makes
this identity so important to me? Well a large part of it has to do with my
past experiences. In the beginning of High School I gained a façade, a mask I
used to just get along with anyone, despite the fact that some of the people
bullied me back in Middle School, or even just ignored me all together. The
"unmasked" version of me could only be seen at home or just when I
was gaming with friends I'd never met face to face online. By using this façade or Public-Self I was able to actually make friends with people and although
this could have partially been due to the fact that I had hit my growth spurt and my
voice had gone from squeaky to deep it still helped. Online however I would
speak my mind and act more to the “nonstandard” side of things. I could be open
and enjoy talking about my hobby and no-one would berate me for it. When Gloria
Anzaldua says that “Wild tongues can’t be tamed, they can only be cut out”, I
grasp her meaning quickly because I myself would fake “cutting out my own
tongue” with my façade. The reasoning I would never speak about my hobby when using my Public-Self was so I wouldn’t feel hurt by others deconstructing the
feelings I had for it. I found the fact the Gloria was so willing to tell you “So,
if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language” was incredible in
the sense that she is tougher then I was because she told you her weakness
instead of hiding it. Back then, video games were all I had to learn to get rid
of my anti-socialism. My parents would see it as a 14-year-old just hiding in
his room playing video games instead of focusing on school work and making
friends but in reality I was just trying to talk to people and improve my Private-Self to bring some of it to my Public-Self. Gloria Anzaldua said “I am my language” which to me would be both my Public and Private-Self which eventually after Freshman and Sophomore year of High School meshed together to create my current public
self, but at the same time a new Private Self was created and I ended up
creating another different version of me for those that know me personally. I feel like sometimes my main personality is still the façade I had originally started out with but then I start talking about my hobby without even giving a second thought and I know that isn't the case. It truly does scare however sometimes because my Public and Private-Self tend to change too often and it can really hurt those around me when I change completely, as if they've lost the person they used to know.
I only really started thinking about identity when we recently discussed in class so I'd have to say my identity isn't too important to me right now, but It will probably become more important as time continues and as my identity refines itself. I believe this whole essay was to show how important her identity is to her especially when she says things like "I am my language" and "When the other races have given up their tongue, we've kept ours." These two lines alone shows how much her language means to her as a whole.
