Day: March 28, 2021

Week 8

Valeria Cortez

-“One of the paradoxes of education was that precisely at the point when you begin to develop a conscience, you must find yourself at war with your society. It is your responsibility to change society if you think of yourself as an educated person.” (Baldwin 1)

I think that Badwin tried to express how education holds a power in ourselves, in our education process, we start to realize things by yourself and that things can start to feel and see different. Even though society educates you, people have a conscience and know what is right and what is wrong, what is fair and what is unfair.

Being an immigrant that came to the US as a teenage, when I came I already had my own criteria towards things in life, for me entering a  public school was a huge shock, I had never seen multiple cultures and races interact with each other, but even though there were many cultures I never got to experience any kind of unfairness towards people in my school, on the contrary, I got to experience a huge amount of inclusiveness, people from different cultures, religions, races and people that didn{t speak any english were always understanded and taken care if they ere struggling with anything.

 

-Baldwin writes specifically about ¨Black american¨ and I think that the experiences that Baldwin describes are no different from other marginalized people or groups. In general every marginalized group goes through the same experiences. Members of the minorities start noticing how their life is different from the others at a very young age, they see it as the world they would never be part of. Society has always been like this, people from a certain race, religion, skin color or from low resources have to go through exclusion their whole life.

 

-Baldwin uses ethos, logos, and pathos to appeal different rhetorical situations. Baldwin establishes pathos by appealing to the emotion of the audience, as he describes how African-Americans are deprived from the same freedom and recognition that “well meaning white liberals” are granted. An example of pathos can be found in paragraph 3 “Any Negro who is born in this country and undergoes the American educational system runs the risk of becoming schizophrenic.” By this Baldwin is trying to express how African Americans have been forced to live in the shadows of society all throughout all American history, watching white people prosper, while African American’s contribution to civilization is ignored, and their liberty and justice is denied. Baldwin continues to appeal to pathos throughout the text as he describes how the educational system fails to include African American children as American history is taught, making them feel neglected and excluded from society.

 

-For my own personal experience, in my 5 years studying here in the US, I have had multiple wonderful educators and have always been flexible and understanding, everytime I had any issue they always tried to empathize with me. The most remarkable ones are the two of my AP Spanish teachers I had and my 12th grade graphic design teacher. They all had similar personalities, since they new how it is to be in my situation they were always counseling me and trying to make sure I was doing good with everything. They had a huge impact in my school experience because they made me feel at home and taken care of, even though I did struggle with some things, thanks to them I was able to overcome everything thanks to them.

 

Week 9: Community-Based Discourse

Shah Ahmed

 Colson Whitehead and John Lewis bring about the ever-changing community of New York City. Both authors have seen the community change in different views. The one world they used to know as the norm perishes in the new world that takes its place. Colson Whitehead’s journey was based on what he witnessed and not what he hears from others. Whitehead said “ I’ve been to Canal Street, and the only time I ever saw a river flow through it was during the last water-main explosion. Never listen to what people tell you about old New York because if you didn’t witness it, it is not a part of your New York and might as well be Jersey.” Whitehead elaborates you don’t know New York unless you experience it for yourself, not what others think. There were places Whitehead wished he could see or still have but the community will always change. The world he knows will forever live in his memories and explore the new changes over time. While for John Lewis change in the community is the growth from the hardship of African Americans in the past to the modern fights for Black Lives Matter. Lewis wrote, “Though I was surrounded by two loving parents, plenty of brothers, sisters, and cousins, their love could not protect me from the unholy oppression waiting just outside that family circle. Unchecked, unrestrained violence and government-sanctioned terror had the power to turn a simple stroll to the store for some Skittles or an innocent morning jog down a lonesome country road into a nightmare.” Lewis talks about the beauty of his community as well as the hardships they must face of the outside world. He grew up in that environment and the BLM movement is a spark of hope for the future of his community.

The message portrayed in both pieces is the community will face changes and hardship whether it’s for good or bad. Us community members of any community must live with those memories of things that are lost and know the hardships that we go through come with better results in time.

I feel closer with Whitehead’s piece as I grew up seeing my world change constantly and I had to accept the faith. I hold those memories and the experience as I live every new day. Everything will change but it’s more important how I cherish and grow to the new changes.