Month: October 2016

Essay Question

October 19, 2016 / / 3 Comments

Essay Question: Summaries Cedric’s perception of the challenges he faces at MIT compared to Ballou High School

There are many differences between how Ron Suskind presents the difficulties of Cedric’s education in part one and part two of his articles by using various language techniques. The author uses these language devices to add extra effect and to make the reader engage with the theme of the difficulty of Cedric’s education. Cedric faces many obstacles when getting an education in Ballou High and MIT such as receiving abuse from other students, struggling with the work at MIT and violence was all around him. Throughout the article Suskind used various language devices that suggest that it was difficult for Cedric to get an education. I will be referring to different quotes throughout the essay and will be comparing them.

One of the main language techniques that the writer uses is metaphor. This is used in the quote ‘The arduous Odyssey’. The author uses this quote to represent Cedric’s journey and how he faces difficulties on an individual level. This quote refers to an ancient Greek myth about how Odysseus went on a long tough journey to finally get where he wanted to be. It compares how Odysseus had to battle monsters in his journey just like how Cedric has to battle other students to keep his education going.  This is relevant to Cedric because he wants to leave Ballou High and get to MIT but to do this he has to work hard in a school where failure is nearly guaranteed. The word arduous means a long and rough journey which is exactly what Cedric experienced in Ballou High to get to MIT such as bullying and violence. He also has to work extra by himself outside school to get a decent education which is like a trial therefore emphasizing the journey part of the quote which was a tough journey with hard trials along the way.

Another quote that the author uses although this time is in part two is ‘But where i start from is far behind where some other kids are, I have to run twice the distance to catch up’. This is because Cedric went to Ballou High which didn’t educate their students as well as other schools so already Cedric is at a distinct disadvantage to other students, who went to high schools that actually gave their students a proper education. The author compares this quote to a race, a race where he is behind by a considerable amount. This gap could symbolize the difference in knowledge between him and the other students, however this quote has an alternative meaning which expresses the fact that him being a minority drags him down and puts him behind. This also shows that even though he does extra work at home he is still far behind other students which makes him realise that even though he was the best at his high school, there are still many challenges that he has to face. Even at the program he has to do double the work than everyone else to even keep up. These two quotes show that Cedric faces difficulties both ways, in the first quote it shows Cedric’s struggles on an individual level in comparison to the second quote shows how he is struggling to keep up with the others. These quotes show how life in both schools are different but similar at the same because even though at Ballou High he was the most gifted student he still faced difficulties. He still faced many difficulties at MIT even though he was one of the students that was struggling to keep up. The first quote is optimistic about Cedrics chance to do well unlike the second quote which which is more negative about Cedrics chances to do well. Another difference between theses two quotes is that the second quote is stated by Cedric himself whereas the first quote was put in by the narrator, to show us that Cedric is noticing the struggle without the author stating it for us.

A different quote that the author uses which involves figurative language is ‘Being a minority and a hard achiever means you have to carry extra baggage about who you are and where you belong, that puts them at risk’. This is a metaphor because It suggests  that as a minority it will be hard to get into a white university such as MIT. His high school Ballou High was highly populated by blacks in a poor area so the fact that he’s trying to get into a ‘white’ university it’s like him going on a journey to MIT. On the journey he takes an airplane, this airplane is mainly boarded by white people who have easy access to board the plane. On the other hand the minority students who have worked hard to even get a ticket to go to MIT. The quote suggests  that being a minority is like you’re not considered part of the society which even though getting to MIT is hard being a minority makes it that extra bit harder. The extra baggage of this quote represents the fact that wherever he goes he will always carry the burden of being black and poor in a ‘White man’s world’.

An additional quote that the author has chosen with figurative language is ‘Failure is persuasive even seductive.” This quote is  used by the author to implement the fact that Cedric’s education is difficult. He shows off failure as if it is a human. This is showing that failure rate at Cedric’s high school is high. When you persuade someone it is more than likely that they are not willing to do it, so by saying this it is indicating that the students do have high ambitions but failure is persuading them to do badly. Also when you seduce someone or someone is seducing you it is exciting so when the quote refers to failure as seductive it is saying that is exciting to fail. So by using this quote he shows that failure at Ballou high is very common, however as we know this quote does not include Cedric. Unlike the first two quotes these quotes are different as the first one is showing that all minorities have an overall harder time to prove yourself in the world which differs to the second quote, because it is talking about how Cedric’s high school was so bad that it attracts failure.

In conclusion Ron Suskind uses these quotes and many more to explain Cedric’s journey and how his education differs from one place to another. The quote that I thought really captured Cedric’s journey was “The Arduous Odyssey.” This is because of how accurate it is to Cedric’s journey. The quote is comparing Odysseus as he faced many hardships to get to the place he wanted to be, to Cedric as he face many problems to get to where he wanted to be. These problems include violence as he was bullied for being better than the other kids and actually trying, but also the sheer fact that his school Ballou High did not get their students pretty much any education. Which shows why Cedric felt like he was behind at MIT even though he was working hard at home. This is why I think that the quote ‘The Arduous Odyssey,’ best describes Cedric’s journey from MIT to Ballou high.

 

Stem Cell Research

October 17, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Stem cells can help enhance a persons life which is why there are many people who think that it is good to research about stem cells to help provide a longer life span. People may disagree with me because there are many ethnical reasons why people think that experimenting with stem cells are bad. This includes Catholics who think that experiment with stem cells is like intefering from a human being being born. Which is like killing a human being without even being born. This is because they believe (very religious catholics) that they can not wear protection while having sexual reproduction which means that every time they do it they make a baby. So if you reserach with stem cells its like taking a life away.

London 2011 Riots – Rioters POV vs Mine

January 21, 2016 / / 0 Comments

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/11/london-rioters-2011-anger-inequality-distrust-police

This article portrays the opinion of a rioter. The riots kicked off because a group of friends were angry because of the unjust murder of their friend, a friend who was killed by a police officer for no given reason. They had the right to stand and protest but what was not right in my eyes was how they damaged peoples property to get their message across. Many youths and adults across London started rioting, it is perfectly natural to feel rage because of injustice, but there are better ways to express that anger. “I learned that only through constructive political action can we achieve the promise of a better future in which we are able to clothe, feed, and house our families in” this sends a very good message that things can be succeeded through legal terms and through doing things right, not by galloping around like lunatics theiving and vandalising.

Power can only be levelled with power, not by running around stealing and scarring the streets. Many of the younger generations started rioting with the excuse “the police abuse the power they have on us” this might have been true but to have thousands of youths looting and thieving this cannot be the response. I agree with the fact that youths felt like protesting, but why i do not agree with is how the thought they would get their message across, there were also a group of people that lototed for the fun of it and to get free things, many of them were caught but many got away with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of merchandise, merchandise that had nothing to do with protests.

Things to a turn for the worst when businesses were being set on fire and being burnt after being open for many years, this is just a stupidity in my eyes, businesses that possibly took years to develop were being thrown into the dust because of youth that do not know what boundaries are, this was unfair on the owners as they had to pay the price for what the government had supposedly done to the youths. In the article it says that a girl of about 13/14 years of age stole just a pint of milk, her reason was the government did not help her homeless family and they had no money for food. I partially agree with what she did as she was trying to find an alternative way to feed her family, but I also disagree with her actions as she was putting herself in danger, dangers such as fires, rocks being thrown and police plastic bullets. She was not doing it to cause havoc, she was doing it for her families well being which is understandable.

The writer (rioter) states he had been rioting because of the depression he was going through at the time, as well as living on the streets and having just recently lost his job, he then lead on to saying that he gave himself in for his actions, which were throwing a yogurt, throwing a shopping trolley and passing on stolen goods. It is understandable that the rioter was depressed and was going through a hard time in his life, but he could have found another alternative to make his situation better, such as, see a therapist, apply for a new job and many other things instead of following the crowd which lead him into becoming a criminal. I disagree with the decisions he made, even if they were not major they were still wrong and still made him a criminal. He did the right thing by giving himself in to the police, this shows that he recognized his mistakes and was ready to accept his punishment, which was 75 hours of community service.

He says that he served his community service in a church every Saturday, but even after his commmunity service hours were over he still continued helping out the church because he says that he wants to out himself in the same position as the people who cleaned up after the riots, this shows that he regrets his actions and if he didnt give back what he did when the riots happened, he is giving it back now but in a different way. He states that he now runs a youth club at the same church that helps teens that are in the position he was in during the riots to realise what the right and wrong decisions are and gives them ideas of other ways they can get there message across. I strongly agree with his choice of starting a youth club, he shows that he has learnt from his mistakes and has changed,  but also seeks to change the lives of the youths that are in the same situation he was in to create a better living environment.

Overall my opinion on this article is that people did not just do it to create havoc or to gets free goods like the media presented it, but that people are affected by the decisions of the government and they found that rioting was the only way they could get the message across, it also shows that people did feel remorse for what they did and they were willing to accept their punishments.