Author: Emely (Page 2 of 5)

1. “The researcher (…) takes an active role in seeking. Seeking is not limited to locating what exists, but also extends to creating new data or information in service of answering a question or solving a problem.” I thought this was interesting because it gives us a whole new meaning on what it is to research or look for data. The definition of Research is “the study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.” However in this quote, the author is telling us that a true researcher seeking is not limited to what you can look up in books or the internet, but it’s also coming to your own conclusion and interpretations on what you find when you seek. 
2. “Such a task eliminates the writer’s voice from the conversation—as they are not required to participate in the discussion of the subject at hand, but simply to report what others have said about it.” When I think of research I think of information I can use for backing up well formulated opinions or facts. It is so refreshing to hear that in a research paper, you can also have a voice. It makes researching more intriguing and fun to write. It’s not only agreeing with the data but it is also formulating your own opinion. I think this is the point of this passage. To show students a correct and even easier way to write essays or to research for your papers.
3. “Nonetheless, this claim becomes the thesis statement of the paper and is to be the foundation of the work that follows. Teaching students the purpose of doing research is supporting an idea or belief one already holds is not teaching students about research.” I feel like in a way, this will eventually lead to more students becoming interested in their work or in English as a whole. It’s not just completing an assignment anymore or writing and researching just to get a good grade.
4. “Students need to be taught not to look for answers, but to look for problems that need solving and for questions that need to be answered.” This doesn’t even sound like research, or at least what my teachers have taught me that research is. I’m not sure if “Research” and “seeking” are interchangeable or if they are both used for different purposes. I do believe that the author goes into detail on when you can use either but I’d have to try this out for myself. I worry that my opinions are too dull to be written about as solutions to problems. 

Annotations:

“The purpose of education is  (…) To ask questions of the universe, and then learn to live with those questions, is the way he achieves his own identity. But no society is really anxious to have that kind of person around. What societies really, ideally, want is a citizenry which will simply obey the rules of society.” Baldwin is specifically relating to American society and how identity is inherited, specifically the identity of those filled with malice to a certain race or ethnic group.  In the beginning of his speech he mentions Khrushchev, a soviet union leader, to show that we are not as far from dictatorship as we think we are. All men are not created equal. 

“He pledges allegiance to that flag which guarantees “liberty and justice for all.” He is part of a country in which anyone can become president, and so forth. But on the other hand he is also assured by his country and his countrymen that he has never contributed anything to civilization – that his past is nothing more than a record of humiliations gladly endured.” I just found it interesting what saluting the flag means to some people, especially people of color. On one hand we have those who proudly recite their allegiance and hold their hand to their hearts without hesitation, knowing this country has filled them with nothing but privilege and liberty. On the other hand, there are those who pledge their allegiance to a country filled with disdain for their people, filled with unjust actions, erased histories, and a future of oppression. 

“What is upsetting the country is a sense of its own identity. If, for example, one managed to change the curriculum in all the schools so that Negroes learned more about themselves and their real contributions to this culture, you would be liberating not only Negroes, you’d be liberating white people who know nothing about their own history.” This is a win-win situation. Not only are you educating African Americans of their TRUE history, but you’re freeing others of their ignorance towards the truth about what their ancestors have done to get the liberty they so freely enjoy. 

“I would teach him that if he intends to get to be a man, he must at once decide that his is stronger than this conspiracy and they he must never make his peace with it.” I agree with Baldwin in this sentence. A teacher’s job should not only be to educate, but to see your students and make them feel heard.  A teacher should prepare their students for what awaits them after education, what awaits them in the “real world”

Response to Baldwin:

I like to believe that Baldwin is hopeful in these paragraphs. He is making it known that there is light after a tunnel, or that there is more than what meets the eye. There can be an opportunity to succeed, whether it’s in this country or not. The world is so vast that one should not let themselves become discouraged by their current situation. I also believe that he is speaking about America’s history.  It’s terrifying, to say the least, but if you change the lens in which you’re viewing it, you will also note that it can be beautiful and eye opening. Everyone should be able to have the opportunity to form their own opinions on the country they were born into, but they should also know its full, in depth, history before drawing conclusions. When Baldwin states “that he has the right and the necessity to examine everything” I believe he is promoting the questioning of authority. Not becoming robots, shadows of people, or hidden in the identity society wants you to have. The world is much larger than you see.

I believe that I have the necessity to learn more about the truth of American history and the education system should have the obligation to teach it. I wish I was taught this instead of finding it on my own because you can’t always trust the internet or social media. I wish this subject was put in our basic education instead of the brief preview of history we’re taught with Americans being the “heroes” or “victims.” Baldwin stated “What is upsetting the country is a sense of its own identity. If, for example, one managed to change the curriculum in all the schools so that Negroes learned more about themselves and their real contributions to this culture, you would be liberating not only Negroes, you’d be liberating white people who know nothing about their own history.” In just telling the truth, we could save ourselves from a lot of troubles and misconceptions on people of color or how America was truly founded. 

Every time I got detention, I was put in the same crowded classroom that smelled of plastic burning on a super-hot radiator and reeked of my own guilt, regret and shame but mostly that plastic smell. I remember it so vividly that now every time the heat comes on in my apartment or in a classroom, I feel like a reprimand is right around the corner. I was in detention for a lot of my middle school years. To me, doing something I knew I was going to get in trouble for later was like me enjoying plugging my fingers into the electrical sockets even though I knew I was going to get shocked. I knew the bad consequences of my actions but that never stopped me. Just sweaty hands waiting to get electrocuted. But getting in trouble wasn’t worth the aftershock, until I was in the 7th grade. 7th grade is where I actually gained something from detention. I had a teacher that, to my benefit, had the same beliefs on the students in detention as I did. I believe that all crimes are crimes of passion. You don’t do something wrong without a reason or a motive. Mr. Molinari believed in this too. He knew I wasn’t just a helpless bad kid. He saw that there was a motive to my “badness”. But at the time I never understood why he took pity on me or why he treated me with such kindness. Why did he take me in instead of letting me sit in a quiet room, replaying my mistakes in my head until I promised too never do it again. I now like to believe that he saw my potential. He knew about my interest in social studies before I did. He knew that I could be a much better student than I was then. His kindness changed my attitude towards school and made me value the education I was receiving. 

Instead of my well-deserved detention, he would take me to his drafty classroom with those warm yellow long overhead lights and openly defy child labor laws by making me file all of his students paperwork. Only way he’d get me to cooperate was if he played Pandora’s “Disney Station” and bought me a slice of pizza. A pizza with a stench so strong, it masked the smell of those plastic burning radiators. This went on for most of winter. We would sing along to The Little Mermaid, or change our voices for each of the townspeople in Beauty in the Beasts’ “Belle” while munching on delicious pizza. I realized that as I tried to hit Ariel’s high notes, I also began to simultaneously read his social studies essays that I was just supposed to be organizing. I found myself grading them in my head, trying to think of ways I could explain the prompt better or what words I would’ve added or taken out. I started to like detention, or at least the detention that involved Mr.Molinari and his essays. I realized that every time I removed and reinstalled the sloppy staples from his paperwork, and read the Times New Roman written essays, I was inching closer to discovering that I had a passion for social studies and a possible interest in teaching.

The beginning of spring is where I had my big epiphany moment, which I like to give credit to Mr. Molinari for. Detention was always at 3pm after school- prime time for kids to play tag. Molinari’s room was on the 6th floor and filled with tall windows that overlooked our school’s playground. I could hear the laughter of kids whose essay I was probably grading, running around and enjoying the cold but soft spring wind and I noticed that I didn’t feel an ounce of envy. Even though I was sitting in a cramped desk with my 6’2 teacher, having to tuck my feet under my chair so I wouldn’t kick him, I knew I would rather be here than anywhere else.  I loved listening to Mr. Molinari speak about the reason why thought the cold war was still considered to be going on, and hear him speak about why he loved what he was doing even though he had to drive and take an hour-long train ride to get to school. His passion was slowly rubbing off on me. I don’t think I was copying him; I just think I finally found someone I could look up to. Someone I hoped to be like. I wasn’t helping to grade his work for the chance at some smelly pizza, I was grading it because it made the adrenaline rush of getting in trouble suddenly feel like an itch I had satisfyingly already scratched.  I didn’t want to be like those kids I watched from the 6th floor, I wanted to be someone who could relate to Mr. Molinari. 

So, I turned away from the distracting windows and turned my attention to the empty desk behind me, neatly organized in strategically placed rows. I dreamed of the day I would be standing in front of those desk, teaching a subject I was so passionate about that I wouldn’t even mind the lingering smell Mr.Molinari’s pizza always left. I was thankful for the detention that Mr. Molinari introduced me to. It helped me realize that my days of sticking my fingers into electrical sockets were behind me and I could finally focus on something more fulfilling: the hope that one day I too would be teaching social studies. I thank Mr.Molinari for showing me a different side to the education system, a side that I one day would like to be a part of.