I know, this ones really oddly specific but considering that school takes, like, a decade of your life and everyone goes through it, it makes sense that there is a lot of work written about it.
The conventions of this genre is that these narratives are written from a student’s point of view and about their experiences under and around educational institutions (it is a narrative after all). And the system and authority are usually criticized. And a common grievance is that the system is inconsiderate of the fact that everyone is different and that they are pushing everyone to be the same. Which is to say that everything is standardized and that the school treats you as an inconvenience if you fall outside of the conveyor belt and tries to standardize you anyways. As school is also a part of society, societal issues are also involved. A common one is that most writing and history is written from a single perspective which is specifically, the white people of America. But, I’ve only observed three works in this genre so take this as much as I have looked into this genre.
Now, I might need to write my own soon for this class. To get started, I’ll probably have to dig through my memories and thoughts of school. Thankfully I don’t have to be too specific about it all and make up dialogue for everyone involved to make readers more engaged. I have some ideas of what to write but I’m worried that it was all in my head. I remember feeling lost as to what I am but I tried my best not to pay any attention to people who asked. I can also write about how I don’t remember anything about school because I couldn’t care.
Like Olivarez, I know my memory cannot be trusted. So I might write like him and Goodwin and not like what Barry did because I am not confident enough to point to a single point in time and point to that one person and say that they were wrong.
Ok, so here’s an experience that has lived in my head — rent free– until now. After an IEP meeting which I was there but not present for, my mom told me that someone has approached her and asked her why she didn’t do the tiger mom thing that Asian moms do and why I’m not, uh, academically inclined. I might develop this further but I haven’t found my point in all of this yet.
Wow. That Tiger Mom thing is really compelling. No wonder it’s been living in your head. That’s absolutely a good place to start. You might want to look at the Tiger Mom essay (which is somewhere…), gather other experiences like that, or whatever. But the only way to write this is to just take that as your starting point, and just write! The essay will, I suspect, come together pretty well. Nice idea.
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Tiger-Mom-P3JWDJS8C3DW#:~:text=In%20the%20essay%2C%20%E2%80%9CThe%20Roar%20of%20the%20Tiger,in%20her%20own%20insight%20of%20Chinese%20mothers%20trying
is this one the tiger mom essay? I think that my mom was actually a tiger mom but was just too busy and exhausted from work to be as involved as they usually are so all I got was the high expectations part. She stopped after she heard something on the news that shook her though and now she’s more like a western parent. I feel like I should say that to add more context but I’m not sure if that’s not just fluff.