2/25/13 Workshop Reflection

            Each member of my group was very helpful in helping me expand my thought process on my paper.  Specifically, Brian helped me realize that when I got to the end of my paper, I started summarizing more than arguing. He also told me that I should work some questions into my paper. I did not add what questions I had or were left with after reading the articles. Dominica noticed that I seemed to summarize and then quote the author, and it would flow better if I could quote the author while I was summarizing. Rachel reminded me that the titles of the articles needed to be in quotation marks, and that I needed a title. Also, she told me that even though I tried to hide it, I did in fact have an introduction.  She suggested trying to move away from that style of writing. Overall, my group said I did very well with the organization of my paper and with the closing of my paper.

                The most helpful advice I received was to try to stay away from summarizing the articles. My main focus on this paper was not to summarize, and I think as I was trying to find arguments to prove my points, I ended up summarizing more than I should toward the end. I could go back and review my paper and try to focus more on what the author says specifically.

                I do not think any piece of advice I received would be considered “least helpful”. Everything each of my group members pointed out was, in fact, something I needed to improve on. I think maybe the fact that I need a title and did not put the names  of the articles in quotation marks are not the top of my priority list, but they are important in the future of my paper.

                To revise my paper, I will start from the beginning. I will add a title, and then move to the start of my paper. I subconsciously tried to work in an introduction, and I will work through that and find ways to eliminate it. I was thinking I would try not to “introduce” my paper as much as just start writing. I will then move through my specific arguments and try to summarize less and quote the authors more. I will find the spots where I start rambling and work to improve them. I will also include the questions that came into my head before I inquired the arguments I had to prove my thesis.  I will then focus on the last paragraph that seems to need more attention. I will take out the part where I kept summarizing and work to improve adding what the author states. I will then go through my paper and put all of the titles of the articles in quotations and proofread again to make sure I made quality improvements.

Exploratory Essay

                Throughout the semester thus far, many concepts pertaining to school have sparked my interest.  One idea that has been consistent through the readings is the correlation between social class and level of education and how students behaved in school.  Many arguments and studies have been conducted to prove this issue. The majority of these articles focus on the working class and their specific educational practices.  In Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work, the author Jean Anyon visits a working class school to observe the level of education these students were receiving. Anyon speaks in particular about the role of the teacher in the students’ learning.  The teachers were not put into place to drive the students to expand their knowledge past simple ideas. Instead, they taught a particular set of rules to solve problems and were set to memorize those rules instead of looking further into the concepts. The author argues that the teachers talk down to the students and do not allow them to be creative because of their low social status (Anyon). Similarly, in On the Uses of Liberal Education, the author states that the working class has been cheated in their education. He says, “Rich people learn the humanities, and the poor do not. The humanities are the foundation for getting along in the world, for thinking, for learning to reflect on the world instead of reacting to whatever force is turned against you (Shorris).” The author has the same argument as Anyon in Social Class and The Hidden Curriculum of Work: that the working class is not taught the basic ideas for life like the upper class. Anyon states, “The environment in working class schools is mechanical, involving rote behavior and very little decision making or choice.” Moreover, both authors believe that the poor are taught a basic process of how to learn, but not how to think for themselves enough to make it in the world (Anyon).

            In On the Uses of Liberal Education, the author explains some of the working class students that he encountered, some of which included people who have been in jail, were homeless, or were pregnant (Shorris).  In the article Women without Class, Julie Bettie describes her encounter with the same types of behavior in younger females.  Due to some of the teaching practices of working class schools previously mentioned from Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work, the students were not prepared for further education after high school.  This pushed some of the younger girls into premature adulthood, Bettie argues.  She explains that “girls who do not have college and career to look forward to as signs of adulthood, motherhood and the responsibility that comes along with it can be employed to gain respect, marking adult status (Bettie).”  Both Bettie and Shorris are arguing that because of the education practices found in working class schools, students are not invested in their future enough to make proper long term decisions.

            In Women without Class, Bettie also studies students who were raised in middle class schools. These girls were college bound and had very clear plans of how they were going to get into college. They kept a planner of important events to make sure they stayed on track. She found that this is due to their different educational experiences (Bettie). In Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum, Anyon also found a significant change in the education presented to middle class schools. The students he studied were allowed to make decisions and were given choices. They were given the freedom to think for themselves and figure out why they are given certain assignments. Their schoolwork focused on the expansion of ideas instead of following steps to get a solution. For example, the students were able to find their own steps and explain how they would work. This learning process prepared them for a higher education necessary for success in today’s advanced job market, unlike lower class schools (Anyon).

            These articles also mention the specific way that the rich are taught.  In Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum, the author visits an executive elite school.  In this school, work is “developing one’s analytical intellectual powers.”  They are given problems and are expected to reason through them.  The thought processes developed by these students result in rules that fit together in systems, and then applying the rules into solving a problem.  The way they are taught prepares them for life full of achieving goals and excelling in their intellectual abilities.  The students are allowed to challenge the answers to certain questions if they do not agree. Unlike the lower class schools, they did not analyze questions by whether they were right or wrong.  They focused more on if they agreed or disagreed with the answer given.  Moreover, the students were taught valuable skills in order to succeed in higher education (Anyon). Similarly, as mentioned earlier, in On the Uses of Liberal Education, the author states that the rich are taught about the humanities in school, as the poor are not.  He explains that “rich people learn the humanities in private schools and expensive universities, and that is one of the ways in which they learn of the political life.”  The poor are cheated in their education because they are taught this way. The author takes this way of teaching and brings it to a poor environment in attempts to give the students a better life.   He tells them that unlike the rich, they will not simply be given this opportunity; they will have to work for it. They will have to participate because “they want a particular kind of life and a richness of mind and spirit.” After the course is completed, a majority of the students who came from poor backgrounds go on to attend four year universities and receive scholarships, bridging the gap between their upbringings and their futures    (Shorris).

Really Responding to Other Students Reading Response

           This article focuses on teaching students how to properly peer review their classmates’ papers. The author first explained that it takes time and effort to revise a paper. They compare it to being a nice roommate helping a friend, but not limiting yourself to only that quality. To properly critique, you must be willing to tell the person more than just what they want to hear. Sometimes this requires you to point out areas that they may need improvement in. It then states that it is best to give samples on how to improve their writing. Do not tell them what to write, just guide them along the way. You also need to edit the paper according to which draft it is. If it is the first draft, do not focus as much on grammar and punctuation, but more on the focus and purpose of the paper. It explains to place comments on the margin of the paper, but be sure to be clear about what you are addressing. I also states not to sound like a teacher or a critic. You should sound as you normally would when talking with a friend. Try to be supportive and helpful in your comments. It would be best to write your comments out in full statements. The writer needs to know why you feel the way you do, and what needs to be improved. This is hard to understand when you give comments with only two or three words. You should always be willing to praise the writer, but also to point out weak places in their writing. Tell the writer what you like and do not like, tell them what works and what does not. Also consider who the writer is when commenting. If the writer is shy and timid, encourage them to let down walls in their writing and expand themselves. The article then shows an example of a student Jeremy, revising a paper written my Todd. Jeremy’s comments are solid. They are thoughtful, respectful, and he takes the writer seriously. He helped Todd see what he can work on and how he can improve his choices as a writer.

                I do not believe the author is trying to argue as much as he is trying to inform. The author is taking revision step by step and answering every question you may have about responding to other student’s writing. With this being said, I believe the author approached this topic in a successful way. They provided a clear understanding of how to start, how much to put, where to write, and how to critique or praise. A student who is uncertain of how to approach a paper they have been asked to review may read this article and know exactly how to view the writing as a whole.

                I personally believe this article is one I found to be very helpful. I know for this course we will be required to peer edit many of each others writings. I have never fully gotten the chance to edit someone’s paper, so I definitely needed some guidance on how to approach this task. After reading this article I feel like I know how to get started and what to say when it comes to helping someone with their writing skills. Altogether, I believe the author did a great job explaining this process and making it easy to understand, leaving no question unanswered.  

                The golden line I chose from this article was “You’re not the writer; you are a reader. One of many. This paper is not yours; it’s the writers. She writes. You read”. I think this statement is very important when it comes to responding to other students. One must realize that they cannot write the paper for this person, and that they are not ultimately who is in charge of the writing. You are there to tell the writer what you get from the paper, or why you were confused. You are there to help encourage instead of taking control and changing it yourself.

On the Uses of a Liberal Education Reading Response

This article discusses the comparison from the way the poor is taught, and the way the rich is taught.  It states that many circumstances such as hunger, violence, and abuse, can overcome the poor and set them back. It them defines “politics” as the activity with other people at every level, from the family to the neighborhood to the community and city. This was the basis around the author’s theory. He took a group of people who were labeled “poor” and explained this theory to them. He told them that they had been cheated when it came to education, that the rich were taught humanities and they were not. He then explained the purpose of his project, the Clemente Course. He explained to them that it would be rough, and they would have to do it because they wanted a better life, and to learn what they deserve to learn.  The author was writing a book, and this was the test of his theory of the humanities. Fifty people showed up at the Clemente Center for personal interviews, however, some were too rich, too young, and even some could not read. He was able to learn about each student’s life, and the unfortunate circumstances they were currently living in. Some of the situations were pretty heartbreaking, but I believe that the author knew that he could give these people a better life. After the few days dedicated to interviews, he slowly began to create a class. He had no certainty of who would make it through the year, he took in homeless, pregnant, and abused. H wondered how the course would affect each of them. They had an intense orientation, leaving the author worried of how many students would return to the first class. Surprisingly, double what he had expected showed up. He then went into detail about a few students, and how they were interacting with the new experience. Each student was pushing themselves to learn and grow in different classes. They were grasping concepts and analyzing readings. They were learning about the humanities. They understood the work of Socrates and Aristotle. The author’s goal had been accomplished. Upon graduation, ten of the sixteen graduates were attending universities; four of them had received scholarships to a college who accepted the credit of the Clemente Course, and the others were attending community college or working full time.

                This whole article is documentation of an argument between how different classes of people are taught. I feel as if the author was trying to make a point about how different the rich were being treated in school.  They were taught about the humanities because they had grown up in very comfortable lives. The author wanted to prove that by teaching the same material to the poor, they would be successful. However, he made them work for their achievements. They recognized that they had been chested because of their circumstances, and worked hard for their right to education. His argument was proven to be true after studying the students after they left the Clemente Course. The majority of them took the experience and used it to further their education

                I do agree with the author’s argument. I believe that the poor are cheated on their education, and not given the same opportunities as the rich. The poor are taught to be prepared for college or universities. This is what the author proved throughout the article. Everyone can make a better life for themselves if they really try, such as these sixteen graduates did. They did not let their past stop them from the amazing opportunity the author was giving them.

                The golden line I chose from the article was where the author stated “Will the humanities make you rich? Yes. Absolutely. But not in terms of money. In terms of life”. This statement really stuck out to me because it was the base logic of the whole experiment. He was more focused on bettering these people’s lives, not making them rich. He was teaching them things that would greatly increase their success in the future. It was important for them to know that knowing the humanities was not what was making the rich, rich. In fact, not many of them knew at all. The few who did chose to live better and enjoy life more. I think that was the purpose of the Clemente Course.

Is college for everyone?

In Monday's class we discussed the assigned reading sections of "Women without Class" and started talking about the article, "In the Basement of the Ivory Tower". This article was about an older woman who decided to go back to college. She had a very hard time adapting to the technology and the level of writing. Afterwards we were asked the question, "Should everyone go to college?". I answered no. I believe that college is not for everyone. I do think that everyone should have the opportunity to attend college, but it should be a personal choice. In certain situations, the student may not be properly prepared for the higher level education. I know of many kids I went to school with who did not give their full potential in high school. I know from experience that even though I did try my hardest for the past few years, I still find myself struggling in college. Also, the student may have a plan for a career straight out of high school. My friend Elliott got a job the summer after graduation doing blueprinting. He makes more money than I can even imagine at this point in my life, and he feels that college is just not for him right now. His idea is that if later in life if he decided to go back to get a degree, at least he will have the money to pay for it.
In the next part of our discussion, we focused on the process of getting into college, and the issues that arose in that process. I feel like these days society is making it mandatory for everyone to get a college degree. Not only that, but job requirement are now mostly a Master's Degree. We also talked about majors that have an "upper division". Being a nursing major, this hits home. Basically I take classes for two years, and then I apply for upper division. I will be competing against a ridiculous amount of students for fifty open slots. As stressful as that sounds, it definitely pushes me to try harder in my classes. Also, I have to have a backup plan because I do not want to be here wasting my money for more and more semesters until I get admitted. Along with getting into college, there is always the worry of how you are going to pay for it. I do not like the idea of the FASFA at all. From personal experience, I do not think it is fair at all.  There are so many ways that a person can find ways around it. Whether their parents are "divorced" but still live together, or they have parents with their own businesses. I also do not think they should look at your earnings for the past year alone. My dad was laid off for four years, and did not find a job until my senior year. They took this information and concluded that my family made too much money, but did not consider the debt we were in due to my dad losing his job. Needless to say, I will be paying back loans for a while.  Another way to pay for college is scholarships. They are either merit-based or need-based. With the merit-based, they do not look at your income, they look at your performance through school. For need-based, your parents have to make below a certain amount for you to qualify. In class, we argued the pros and cons of each type. Altogether, I believe that it is good that the government is willing to help pay for education, but I do not believe that everyone is getting what they deserve.

Women without Class Reading Response

                This reading follows high school girls in many ways. It was based off working-class teenagers, and their views.  It describes their feelings toward males, and also the unequal treatment of genders. It then goes into detail about the relationship between females across different ethnicity, and the correlation of teen pregnancy and social class.  It starts out introducing the “men are dogs” attitude among adolescent girls.  They do not believe that males could be depended on to support them or any children they may have. Their culture was not about boys, but more about participating in rituals of traditional femininity as a way to bond friendship.  I was also stated that teachers treated girls less harshly than they did boys. Girls of all races and social class knew that they could break the same rules as the boys did, but it would result in less punishment. They could get out of gym class by faking cramps, or bring their male teacher cake to prevent getting counted tardy. After getting evidence, it was found that physical fights were more prominent among females than males.  These fights were not, as believed, about boys. The fights revolved around racial groups between the girls.  Derogatory comments were often made from one racial group to another, causing a “girl fight” to happen. Girls in these working class schools often felt that adulthood was their only option after graduating.  Most of the girls studied were already sexually active, leading to the high rates of teen pregnancy. The girls felt that boys could be sexually active with many partners, and no one would think anything of it. However, a girl who engaged in the same activity was considered a slut.  They made it clear that their sexual activities were not always involved around romance. Abortions were fairly common among White teenage girls, and practically nonexistent among Mexican-American girls. They believed that if it happened, God meant for it to happen. Also, it was shown that some girls just wanted to be parents. They felt that an adult status came along with it. The teachers seemed to be concerned because teen pregnancy was being celebrated among the girls in the classroom, and they would even bring the babies to class. This is how the correlation between teen pregnancy with race and class. Most of these young mothers were Mexican-Americans and working class. They do not want to rely on male support in any way. They want and need to be able to support themselves and their children.

                I feel that the author argued his point very well.  He did not just have an opinion and stick with it; he took action to do research.  He found not only one or two examples, but found many that support his argument.  He took considerable time to sit down with the girls and try to understand why they feel the way they do.  The link between class and certain morals became present.  I was left with questions about teenage girls other than the ones who were studied.  I did not grow up in a working class school, so I would not know if it was the same way for every area.  It would show more persistent research is he traveled to other areas with different ethnic groups.

                I do agree with the author, after reading all of the information he found out. I see how differently these girls grew up from the way I did.  I did not have to go through half the stuff they did, and I believe that is why their morals are so different.  I see how their class dictates how they think they should live their lives. For example, some of the girls knew that college was not an option for them, so they had no problem being a teenage mother. In fact, it was celebrated among them. These girls felt like being a teenage mother made them an adult. These girls were a majority Mexican-American working class student.  So this is a prime example of how their class correlates with the choices they make.

                A line in the article that really stuck out to me was “expressions of sexuality, and by extension motherhood, operated as a sign of adult status and served to reject teachers’ and parents’ methods of keeping them childlike”. I chose this line because I think this is a view of many girls, not only at this particular school.  The girls who tend to become teenage mothers, are the ones who are trying to rebel from their parents. I think this mindset is not so good to have, considering that these girls tend to raise the children on their own because they do not depend on the fathers for support. I never really saw this way of thinking when it came to teenage pregnancy. It’s good to inform society that it is not always an accident.