Interesting Quote: “… his voice would rise in paranoid accusations, and occasionally he would lose control and shake or smack us. I hadn’t been there two months when one of his brisk, face-turning slaps had my glasses sliding down the aisle.”

This quote spoke out the most to me because it all depends on the educational system that schools use and the teachers. Yes, a teacher has a big influence when it comes to learning, it all depends on the skills that they use. In the beginning of Rose’s text, he states how there would be some teacher who would physically hit their students and of course that affected the student’s mindset of wanting to learn. If we were in Rose’s shoes, I believe that we wouldn’t have gone back either, we wouldn’t want to deal with that every single day. We want a teacher who cares for our wellbeing, understands what every student goes through, comforts, and supports them.

  • Consider what the 2 texts have in common with each other. What are some important ideas from each text, and what do you think about them? How does each author illustrate their main points?

Both texts show that wherever you go, whether it’s a new school, job, apartment, there will always be something or someone that goes against your beliefs. For example, in Mike Rose’s text, he goes in depth about the experiences in a student’s everyday life. Rose gives an overview of what he went through in school from being in the vocational track to switching to College Prep. With his father dying, anyone would’ve given up, but he fought through all that emotional pain to reach the minimum goal of being average.  Of course, Rose did cross paths with Jack MacFarland, which was a turning point for him. MacFarland’s lectures were a way to establish connections with the real world. It was because of MacFarland that led Rose to make him do things in the world. He states, “it allowed me to act as though I were living beyond the limiting boundaries of South Vermont.” On the other hand, Jamila Lyiscott described herself as someone who is articulate. She states that she decides to treat her three languages equally, because she is articulate. Every language has their own principles. You can’t judge someone based on the way they talk and say that they are “uneducated”. We all can agree upon the fact that we have different ways of speaking to our families, friends, strangers, teachers, and kids. We are all articulate.