Jonathan Kozol Quotes

Jane Owusu
October 27, 2015
ENGW 1100
Jonathan Kozol 3 Quotes

• "If people in New York woke up one day and learned that we were gone, that we had simply died or left for someone else, how would you feel?"
• "It stands today as one of the nation's most visible and problematic symbols of an expectation rapidly receding and a legacy substantially betrayed".
• "The air was stifling in so many rooms and the children had no place for recess because there was no outdoor playground and no indoor gym".

Social Class in Schools

Jane Owusu
September 24, 2015
ENGW 1100 3J
Prof. Young

Social Class in Schools

School during the 1980s in my opinion is different than schools now. I consider myself to be in the middle class because my parents are in  middle class. My mom works as a nurse aide and my dad was a truck driver. My school experience was normal. Teachers encouraged us to do our best and ask questions if we have any. They also encouraged us to do our homework and told us doing homework means getting good grades. Teachers would give the students  a lesson and at the end give homework to go over what students learned in class and then the next day ask students for questions about the homework. I attended a public school where all the students are treated equally regardless of social class. Jean Anyon states “In social studies the daily work is to read the assigned pages in the textbook and to answer the teacher’s questions” (Anyon 5).  Although social studies teachers assign pages in the textbook they also have a PowerPoint and review the required materials needed for the test. Teachers actually give an effort to help the students get good grades. Jean Anyon’s research is not relevant now because she wrote about schools during the 1980s and schools have evolved since then. A high class is person can go to a middle class school. There are also the ivy league schools which based on Jean Anyon’s article is an Afluent Professional School. Middle class people go to these ivy league schools all the time. All students should have the same quality to education. If there is such a thing as social class in schools nowadays it needs to stop. Everyone is the same, students should not be held back from receiving the type of education they need just because they are from a different social class. It is not fair working class students receive less quality teaching. Teachers should want to be able to help a student to the best of his or her ability. The working class is no different than the middle class or the high class. In my opinion we all people and we all deserve good education.

Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

Jane Owusu
September 18, 2015
Engw 1100 3J
Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

"The fifth grade in the district were to study United States History"(Anyon 4).
Explanation: American history is usually taught in the tenth and eleventh grade. Schools were given hard courses during fifth grade

"In the middle class school, work is getting the right answer" (Anyon 4)
Explanation: I consider myself to be in the middle class and agree that school work means getting the right answer for a good grade

"In social studies the daily work is to read the assigned pages in the textbook and to answer the teacher's question. The questions are almost always designed to check on whether the students have read the assignment and understood it" (Anyon 5).
Explanation: In high school social studies was the exact same way described in this quote. Teachers normally had powerpoints but if you want to do good on a test your best option was to read the chapeter.

Student's Rights to Their Own Language

Jane Owusu
English 1100 3J
September 11, 2015
Opinion
Student's Rights to Their Own Language

If you were told to write about anything but then you were given restrictions on what you can't include in your paper. Would you want to continue writing? No one likes to be told what to do. Whether be it chores, homework or even writing a paper.The article states "A nation proud of its diverse heritage and its cultural and racial variety will preserve its heritage and dialect". Students embrace their style and pride in it so they should be able to use it. Students do not like to be restricted in writing because it takes the fun out of it. It is already terrible that students do not like to write, but if they are to write about any subject, it should be in their own language so they could have fun with it. If you are not a writer then writing can be pretty boring but if you are able to put your own style into it and make it your own, I got to admit that is pretty fun. Students should be able to express themselves how they want to, but of course there are always boundaries in writing. If it comes to a point where there are negative, insulting, inappropriate words in the writing then that is taking fun too far. Writing should not be complicated as long as you can mold it into your own. Therefore students should have the right their own language.

Identity

Jane Owusu
9/3/15
Prof. Young
Engw 1100

Identity to Me

In class we discussed about identity and how it is the distinct characteristics that define you as a unique individual as well as from the perception of other people. Identity to me is who I am as a person. The are many things that describe me, my race, language, origin, and culture. Those are the most specific traits I think define me as a person. I like to call myself African even though I was born in America because both my parents came from Ghana. I speak Twi fluently and speak it with my parents and other Ghanaian friends. One of the distinct characteristics that define me as a person is my accent. I lived in Ghana for eight years and talked like most Ghanaians. I am proud to be a Ghanaian and I do not tend to get rid of my accent so when I did come to the United States the teachers here put me in a different English class. Anzaldua states in her essay that " I and all Chicano students were required to take two speech classes. Their purpose: to get rid of our accents"(Anzaldua 250). I was able to relate to that because I went through something similar although they weren't speech classes. Apart from race, culture, language, origin and culture there are other things that show who I am as a unique individual, like the kind of job I have, my personality, my social class, how I dress up and many more. All these go to show who I truly am as an individual and I'm proud to be the person that I am now.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue Quotes

Jane Owusu
August 31, 2015
Prof. Young
Engw 1100 3J
How to Tame a Wild Tongue Quotes

"I and all Chicano students were required to take two speech classes. Their purpose: to get rid of our accents"

"A language which they can connect their identity to, one capable of communicating the realities and values true to themselves"

"I'd rattle off something in Spanish, unintentionally embarrassing them. Often it is only with another Chicana tejana that I can talk freely"


Anzaldua, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue". Teaching Developmental Writing. Ed. Susan Naomi Bernstein. Fourth ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. 245-255. Print.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

Jane Owusu
August 31, 2015
Prof. Young
Engw 1100 3J
Reading Response Questions to How to Tame a Wild Tongue

1. The Dentist is looking for a way to control her tongue, and through out the story Anzaldua talks about controlling the way she speaks and how there are many different types of Spanish she could speak and also how she should be entitled to speak what she wants, when she wants,

2. Anzaldua use of Spanish changed through out the story. She knew different types of Spanish and used them for different people. It did not make sense just because she mixed all of them together but it did show her purpose which was show the complexity in her language.

3. Academic English can be defined as Spanish because it teaches the basics in English and Chicano Spanish can be described as nonstandard because it is a slang and picks up certain things from all types of Spanish languages.

4. Speaking and Writing English is one thing most people know how to do. If there's a language whereby someone doesn't understand you can always turn to English and expect that the person knows the language. I think it is necessary to speak and write English because it is a common language known by the whole world.

5. English I think is different in every state, each state has their own twist and slang to English. An example could be the use of English in New Jersey and the use of English in New York. New York tends to add an "r" at the end of a lot of words. For example New Jersey would just say "data", while New York would say "datar'

6. Yes I do use secret language to communicate with some of my friends. If I know someone is from the same country as I am I would immediately say something in our language which is Twi.

7. When I'm with my American friends, parents and professors I speak normal English  but when I'm with my Ghanaian friends I sometimes speak pidgin and sometimes speak with a Jersey slang or sometimes just normal English

8. "I am my language" means I am different, I speak differently from everyone else and I am from a different country. This statement shows how a person is unique and different based on the language they speak or where they came from.

9. The introduction and the conclusion connect because in the beginning the Anzaldua mentioned how her tongue is stubborn and strong and pushes back the drills, the long thin needles. In the conclusion she inferred back to the introduction and mentioned how stubborn, persevering and impenetrable as stone her mouth can be.

10. Yes the language you speak can be a part of your identity because it differentiates you from everyone else.

11. Identity is very important me because it shows who I am. It is what makes me unique. Anzaldua believes it's important to have identity because she says "I am my language. Until I take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself".

Autobiography

Jane Owusu
English 1100
8/26/15
Prof. Young

Autobiography

My name is Jane Owusu, my family calls me Adjoa because I was born on Monday and I have other relatives that call me baby Jane because I am my mother's last child. I like to read drama and romance books on my free time, I also like to hang out with friends and sleep on my free time. I am very passionate about sleeping and I don't joke with it. I like to listen to R&B most of the time, I also like old school music, which is not typical for a young girl like me to listen to. I love artist like Brian McKnight, Mariah Carey, Usher, Nina Simone, the list goes on. I also listen to hip hop and reggae. I spend a good amount of time on socail amount. I would spend at least 3 hours on social media for the day. I am not an active person, therefore I do not play any sport but I do like to watch soccer with my family. My favorite soccer match is the World Cup. I just get excited when my country plays in the World Cup. I like to read but I do not like to write. In high school writing in a literacy class was so different compared to writing in a history class. I do not like the fact that I have to think before writing. When I write I let the words flow that's why I do not like writing for an English class. In high school my English teacher would have us write a draft and give us chances to edit it and she would edit it herself before allowing us to write a final piece. Everyday we were thought something different to help us improve our writing skills, for example grammar, and literary devices.. As I move on to college it is very important for me to learn how to use better vocabulary. I would rate myself a C in writing because when I write I do not write like a college student.