In Class:
Review HW: reading strategies, summarizing and responding, “reading like a writer” and identifying rhetorical choice
Homework Assignment (number your answers in the Comment below):
- Read JosĂ© Olivarez, “Maybe I Could Save Myself by Writing”, “Mexican American Disambiguation” , and  “Citizen Illegal” (2018)
- Watch 2019 LAF student video on Olivarez
- Read Unit 1 assignment and brainstorm (jot down some notes) about a possible topic
- Download and save to your computer class folder:Â Â Writing Process PPT
1. Write a 1-paragraph summary of one of Olivarez’s texts (your choice), using the Summary Powerpoint template as a model. Include a quote from the text that you feel represents an important idea. Can you make a connection between his idea and your own experience? Explain.
2. Essay 1 Scaffolding Continued: Use your brainstorming material to write a paragraph about an educational experience you have had in life, inside or outside of a school setting. Your paragraph should set the scene for the reader: when, where, and what, before describing the experience and what you learned in the process. This will ultimately be fleshed out to become your Unit 1 essay (see Major Assignments).
3. Scaffolding: In our next class we will work on transforming this paragraph into an Outline for your Unit 1 Education & Identity narrative. Start thinking about how you would like to tell your story. Where do you want to start, and where do you want to end? What are some important ideas and memories? What are some compelling details you can provide throughout the narrative, to support your ideas? What might your paragraph order be?  You could address these questions in a paragraph here, or copy and paste the outline in your Comment and fill in the information there.
1. JosĂ© Olivarez, Maybe I Could Save Myself By Writing (2018) the author is telling about his life where it was difficult for him to learn in school due to he was born in Mexico and didn’t understand English much at first which also made him think weather if it was the right decision for him to stay in the United States at first however, even though it was a complicated matter where he had lots of questioning himself he was able to find books to help him make sense for him to his questions. He wrote poems to confront the questions he had as a teen to show other teenagers that has a similar situation of what he experienced. He hoped that he can show other teenagers to share their stories with new poems. I can relate to his story because I have experienced a similar situation where when I first started school my parents told me that I had to switch a different public school when since I wasn’t able to speak English properly at first.
2. I have experienced similar to Jose Olivarez it all began when I was a very young age in Chinatown of in Manhattan, my parents told me that when I first spoke was I was 3 years old and I wasn’t speaking much English at first then so I had to switch a different school for my proper skill level and no one was able to help me for homework when I was a kid since my mom can speak some English but doesn’t understand some words. So I had to figure out myself how to do the homework so I would mostly have to stay in school for tutoring and extra time to study for myself to know more about English for my advantage.
3. I would like to start my story when I was around 5 years old I think is when I start having problems about in school since my English at first wasn’t perfect even though I was born in NYC, however everyone is different and since then I have to take this ESL (English second language) class and it was difficult even though I had to study hard to get pass it. So I tried to work as hard as I can even at times when my parents can’t help me I tried the best I can even at times I can be lazy and want to avoid it but asking myself again was it worth to avoiding homework and not doing the assignments can make me fall behind on grades. I wanted my story end by when I was able to fully speak English and understand most of the words. My important ideas and memories was the road I took from not able to speak English at first then learn how to overcome my struggles. I want to compel the details that I can provide is how I have changed throughout my life and turn it around to overcome my struggle. My paragraph might be is when I first didn’t understand how to speak English and worked my way up to understand more of my struggle.
Good work here, Justin. You understand Olivarez’s article “Maybe I Could Save Myself By Writing” well.
For your educational narrative, I’d suggest thinking about specific moments or experiences when English was a challenge. Really set the scene for the reader and include particular memories or interactions or thoughts you had. What are some major differences between Chinese and English? What do you think now, as a young adult, about being bilingual?
Excellent; we will speak further about this in class Wednesday.
In “Citizen illegal” by JosĂ© Olivarez, The author questions the citizenship of the first generation of immigrant parents with illegal immigrant status in the United states. How is this generation seen or perceived within society both in the country in which he was born and the country of his parent’s origins? The behavior he should adapt to be treated as a citizen while not being uprooted from his parents’ origins. How should He behave within the country in which he was born or how should he behave / adapt to the origins / roots of his parents ( Mexican) who are illegal?
The fact of being torn between being treated as a citizen without being discriminated against by his parents origins, and the fear of forgetting his roots while trying to be accepted.
The author states “If they have a baby and the baby looks white enough to pass (citizen). If the baby grows up singing Selena songs to his reflection (illegal).
If the baby hides from el cucuy and la migra (illegal).”
I identify with what the poet says because I come from parents of different origins. When I joined my father’s native country it was difficult for me to naturalize myself among them, especially since I did not know the language and children of my age made fun of the fact that I was born in a different country and was different from them by my origins.
When I was little I was often bullied by my classmates. Some of my classmates laughed at me and tried to intimidate me because I was a foreigner. When I started to understand the language, I started to defend myself. I had no strength and I didn’t even know how to fight but I was fighting with my mouth and my head. I don’t know if it was luck or if it was the fact that I was calculating the possibility of avoiding getting beaten but we never fought and if we did i knew deep down that they would not miss me. It was at the end of the class that we met at the back of the school to fight. I would always dodge or make excuses and we would reprogram and I acted like I forgot. But since my mouth does not pity my body, one day, because of my classmate’s provocation, I defended myself verbally to the point of promising to beat her very well. All those with whom I had an altercation sided with her so that at the end of the course we fought. That day there was no way to escape, I had to fight to preserve my dignity even though I knew she wasn’t going to miss me. Fortunately a teacher saw us, stopped us and summoned our parents. After explaining the reason, he lectured us and punished us. But since that day, I have been under the protection of the teacher against the students who tried to intimidate me and we finally became friends. I always stand for myself, I don’t cause trouble, I don’t intentionally put myself in trouble but I don’t let nobody intimidate no matter who the person in front of me is.
Naomi,
This is a smart, astute response to Olivarez’s work. You use a key word here– “torn” to depict his struggle.
Your description of the bullying you had to deal with is searing. I look forward to reading your essay; as a reader, I am wondering what you learned from this harrowing experience, and also, what you think might have motivated these children to act this way. What is it about difference that causes so much strife?
1) In “(citizen)(illegal)” by JosĂ© Olivarez, the author is describing his experience being Mexican in a classroom full of American citizens. He describes the challenges he faced and the judgment he received for being Mexican. He uses the words “illegal” and “citizen” because he is a citizen but his classmates call him illegal because he is Mexican. He details how his classmates were stereotyping him as illegal. One quote that proves this is, “If the baby (illegal) (citizen) grows up to speak broken Spanish (illegal) and perfect English (citizen).” This quote means that if he didn’t speak English as well as others he was judged for it, compared to if he did speak good English. Therefore, the author was judged and stereotyped for being Mexican-American.
2) My educational experience has not been that bad. I haven’t really experienced too much of this. I’ve always spoken good English and I have never really been bullied. But in Elementary school and middle school, there has been a few times where people tried to make fun of me for being African. They used to say all sorts of things but I never cared. I was never scared of anybody and I was always stronger than most of my peers. I did not tolerate it and got into fights. The reason I got into fights was not that I cared about what they were saying, but I did not want them getting comfortable trying to treat me the way they wanted to.
3) I would like to start my story from 3rd grade and end at 8th grade. Some ideas and memories will be from the fights, people involved, and the things said. The order will be from 3rd grade until 8th grade.
Ali,
Excellent points here about the stereotypes and prejudices that Olivarez faces.
Regarding your unit 1 essay, your description is really interesting, and relates to what we were talking about in class yesterday– the association between language and stereotypes/ hierarchies.
Keep in mind that the Unit 1 topic is completely up to you, and the story you tell does not have to involve school. If you do want to write about how kids were acting in elementary and middle school, and how you responded? What do you think you learned about yourself and others (and perhaps life) from having to deal with this?
1. JosĂ© Olivarez, “Maybe I Could Save Myself By Writing” (2018) the author is shared his experience growing up in America and how difficult it was for him to live in the united states. He was born in Mexico and didn’t understand English at all. The author felt like he doesn’t belong in the united states despite the language. He wanted to go back to Mexico and so he could find all the answers. His preschool rejected his application, Despite, he spoke Spanish and none of his teachers spoke well enough to help him attend school. When he went back to Mexico he felt out of place as he felt in anywhere else. “I tried to tell them I was Mexican, they were quick to correct me. No, no, no. You’re from the United States” All the kids were saying he doesn’t belong there he is from the United States. The author wanted to write a poem that answers the question he felt as a teen. Then he started to write poems to speak about his experience was as a teenager. However, I have experienced a similar situation. Some of these things happen to me. When I was 16years old I moved to the United States. After one month, I started to attend high school. On the first day of my school I was so nervous that I was about to cry; new school, new faces, new teachers. Everything was new for me. I wasn’t that good at English. So, I was so quiet. If you can’t speak their language, how are you going to make new friends? But 1-year pass, I talked to a lot of people and made new friends. But the main thing is when I talk to my friends and family in my hometown, they always say or call me like: “You’re an American boy now, hahaha”. There I start to think the same way as the author.
2. I always know that “Life is a learning experience but if you learn”. I had many positive and negative influences in my life that helped me to create my desire. However, At the end of high school, I have plans to go to college to study a career; I knew this was a great challenge for me. Yet from obtaining my goal on track. At first, it was difficult because it was a different world for me new friends, new faces, new research projects, and academic requirements.
Despite this, this is not the case. The biggest influence in my life was when I stopped playing video games and started to find a part-time job, although my father wasn’t able to work anymore due to a broken leg. But it was when I was progressing academically realized that I had it begin to fend for myself. I have two sisters who needed more support from my parents, so I decided to apply for a job. I knew it was not easy because finding a job was something really difficult and especially part-time job. I got my first job in the election as a volunteer. I remember my mom used to say, You should work, find a job, meeting new people bring new experiences. I realized it after getting a job.
I learned many things over time which is the most important to me, to value things as I had before but it is also when realizing what the world owes you a living but you have to work hard for it. One thing is clear that there are experiences that can make our lives changed completely. For nothing is failing in this life and everything you get with effort and dedication. Even though, Which to me are experiences that I had to learn to get ahead.
Redoham,
This is so interesting. You’re making strong connections with Olivarez’s work, which you understand well.
For your Unit 1 essay, I’d suggest diving into further detail regarding your job(s). What were the experiences you had that were particularly instructional?
1)José Olivarez, Maybe I Could Save Myself by Writing (2018)
The author is writing about his life in which it was difficult for him to learn in school due to being born in Mexico and unable to speak English fluently. “The preschool did not have anyone on staff who spoke Spanish well enough to help me attend classes”. The author tries to explain how he was struggling with communicating in English. When he went to the school, he was having some problems and could not explain his problems to his teacher. He was feeling in isolation from his classmates. I was having the same issues when I came to the United States, I was not speaking English well enough to communicate easily with my teachers and my classmates. When someone was speaking to me, I was not able to understand him or her. If I needed help with something I struggled with, I did not even know how to explain it to my teacher to help me. I did not have friends because it was extremely hard for me to completely understand everything they said. At one point, I was seriously thinking of going back to Egypt.
2) n 2017, I arrived in New York City. I started school after Christmas. First, I went to Khalil-Gibran High school. I went to this school when I was at 9th grade. It was like an Arabic-speaking school because it had so many students who speak Arabic as a native language. Some teachers and staff members used to speak Arabic as well. Therefore, if I need help, it was so easy to ask one of the Arabic speaking staff for it. One year later, I went to Harry S Truman High School to learn English faster because in the first school I was not speaking English that much. There were a lot of Yemeni students with whom I used to communicate in Arabic all the time. There were some classes that were easy because I took them in Egypt but there were other classes that were hard to understand. I was getting better at English and I became more able to ask the teachers about what I could not understand and they helped me. I made new friends at this school. Then, I moved to college from this school.
3) I would like to start my story from 9th grade when I first came to NYC where all the important events took place. I started having issues with the school and my life in NYC. I did not have the ability to communicate fluently in English. I did not even have any friends due to the language barrier. However, later on I became more able to adapt to the life in New York. Now, I am pursuing my dream of becoming a successful computer science engineer.
Diaa,
Good work understanding Olivarez’s struggle and how he feels caught between two cultures, belonging to neither.
For Unit 1, I’d suggest zooming in farther, in even more detail, to capture your story. What are some specific moments and experiences you remember? What are some differences between your educational experience in Egypt, and in NY? What do you think is your main idea? What did you learn through this process?
1) In Jose ” Maybe I Can Safe Myself By writing ” (2018), Olivarez reminisces about his adolescent life along with the hardships it came with and the encouragement it gave him. Growing up in the United States the author didn’t feel as if he was welcomed, not able to fluently speak english and being teased by the kids in his school because of it were factors that made living in America all the more difficult. He believed the solution to his problem would be found in Mexico but soon enough he realized he didn’t feel stable in either of the only two places he knew. Frustrated, Olivarez turns his liking of reading books and branches out to poetry, using it as a source of communication and guidance for those who are in his shoes seeking comfort. The author hoped to inspire the reader to write their very own poem ” Maybe I could write the stories I was craving to read. Maybe I could save myself by writing.” Jose Olivarez (2018).
Gleury,
Good start here. Let’s follow up with the Unit 1 topic proposal, but in the meantime, when we discuss summaries in class Wednesday I’d like to include yours. Your sentence structure is creative and inventive.
“Maybe I Could Save Myself By Writing ” By JosĂ© Olivarez talks about his experience being a child of immigrant parents in America. Even though he was born in Chicago, Illions when his family moved to Calumet City he felt like he didn’t belong; When he went to visit Mexico he also struggled with filling the void of belonging somewhere, where he would feel accepted. “…but when they asked me where I was from and I tried to tell them I was Mexican, they were quick to correct me. No, no, no. You’re from the United States.” This quote represents a similar life experience of mine and I’m sure many other kids of immigrant parents. Even though I was born in Jamaica, when I go back to visit many old friends and family members would say I’m “americanized” because I speak “proper english”, I never understood that because I also use Patwa when I’m speaking to them.When I’m in the states people say “ I’m so Jamaican”. I can resonate with what the author was going though struggling to find somewhere that he feels comfortable.
In March of 2014 I came to America at the age of 12. I was very excited because In my country kids would watch American movies and tv shows, and would want nothing more than to come visit or live In the United States. The kids and I thought I was lucky, in a way I was. I was going to get more opportunities and live the American dream right?. When I was on the airplane I was also accompanied with two siblings that were very excited as me to come and live the American dream. We were in a very similar situation. We were from Kingston, Jamaica. We were both coming to live in a single Father household. We were both going to start living our “American dream’’ In the state of New York city. Nevertheless my father refused to let me start school that March because many schools that he went to enroll me in wanted me to do my 6th grade year over again because I was coming from a third world country; according to my fathers beliefs. I was living with a cousin that was the same age as me at the time so when she went to school and I was at home for those 5-6 months she would always come and tell me how her day was. She would always tell me what to do and say when I attended school so I could make friends. She taught me how to say many words properly and how to better use technology. Overall I learned that many school staff In America need to stop making assumptions about kids that come from third world country school systems because everyone learns English at a different pace.
I would like to start my story describing my upbringing in Jamaica and how it made me who I am today. I would always be grateful for my struggles there because it made me very humble.
Patrice,
You make a deft connection between Olivarez’s article and your own story here, and you already in this post have the makings of your essay. The story you tell about the distance between beliefs about America and its reality is very poignant, and makes me think about the recent news coverage of US deportation of Haitian immigrants, who were treated extremely poorly. We have narratives about this country and about New York–the Frank Sinatra New York, New York romanticized song version of reality. What people actually experience here can be quite different from that.
You are on a very positive and powerful track with your essay, and I appreciate that you’re pushing back against the notion of what is considered “proper” or educated, and critiquing classist and racist notions about language and education. Language is never neutral, as you yourself are pointing out. It has history behind it– language has a lot to do with power. Who decides what is proper or broken? And what kind of hierarchy or power structure are these decisions trying to reinforce?
Check out Trinidadian-American poet, activist, educator Jamila Lyiscott– you may be a fan:
Thank you for the amazing feedback. I will look into the articles you linked below.
1)i read the book of the maybe i can save myself by writing as the author that told as he was writing the book and what happen as the author teenage time, he dont live poetry as he was told to us that he like to reading and how he teacher told he that we were empty bank account and it was teacher’s responsibility to deposit fact. and he take his poem to the young one’s for feedback and how he write the book as we can do the same thing.
2) as if you dont know that when i was young like 5 i was a bad kid in my family as there are one thing that happen to me in that year and totly change me in to a different people that when i walk over my school gate i saw a new car set that comes with all the engin that can be swap in any time that you want, i cound say that if any boy that likes car that see’s that in that age and time he can treally hold back and ask for that whole set. after i saw that when i take school bus home and i was in a mess of how to ask the family to accept it and buy that for me so i was try to seek a new way to gain that money. in one day before it was the time for me to get to the stop for the school bus i have see a jar that has few money that has been placing there for a few mouth that i have remember that before i know the set so i set a plan for that as in the moring i sneak in like sooo smooth and quite as no family member have hear me and i sneak out as fast as passible i was so excited to that set and you never know when it will be gone when i got down the bus i ran to the shop that was right next to the gate of my school and buy it……(i was playing it). when i got home i was super quite as i ran to my room and try to hide it from the family to be notice and you may know i got cought that i was the one take money so (chinese things happen…….) after that i learn that things that was not yours will never be yours you have to work for it.
3)my topic will be how my brother that come to america change me( it was not a huge change)
1.)Since as far as I can remember in elementary school I had always struggled academically. I had a hard time with adjusting to different schools and not having no family or outside support and it was very difficult for me through the years I attended school though I never got held back. I felt a connection when reading Oliver’s “Maybe I Could Save Myself By Writing”, In the first paragraph when Oliver stated “I Walked Around With My Head To The Ground. I Was Just Trying To Get Through Each Day”. I felt that deeply ,when I was in junior high school I realized how much I struggled with doing assignments because of my reading comprehension and focuses. As a teenager, it was tough for me I felt ashamed and didn’t feel smart like other students and it cause me to not really feel good about myself. Dealing with distractions of all sorts and lack of support was very hard for me to stay focused on school. Along with the other barriers I had going on in my life. Each day felt like a battle for me tryna cope with adhd and a lot of times I felt the same how the writer felt. I remember days like that and I for the past years I have used plenty of notebooks filled with writings about how I have felt and what I have gone through and I do agree writing makes you feel free. I understand how he felt and why he had a passion for poetry because I myself want to write a book in hopes of helping my younger generation as well.
2.)An educational experience that I had learn from was how to help me accomplish my goals. I learned through challenges I faced trying to obtain my GED and enroll in college which means a lot to me different mechanisms to help me push through and make it where I am today. When I got my ged in the mail I was very excited and relieved and couldn’t wait to start college. I learned that it will be a lot of obstacles to get through but if you dont give up and always believe there is another way to making it, you can achieve your goal. I had to go through a lot of schools over the years because of different lifestyle changes I faced but when I was situated, I hunted down a lot of good GED programs to help me obtain my high school equivalency. I found MEOC (Manhattan Educational Opportunity Center)and they prepared and supported me until graduation . I had no more time to waste I was was and still am very determined and all I been through has motivated because I made it this far. I am still thrilled in less than 2 years I obtained my High School Equivalency Diploma and got accepted into City-Tech, amongst other things, I’m very proud of where I’m at today in my journey to success and pursing my career in nursing.
3.I would like to write about the challenges I went through to make it to where I am today , the experiences I encountered and how I stayed determined to my start of a higher education. I want to start off to when I was a young teen where I struggled with reading comprehension and concentration.I want it to end with where I am today , im very proud , I want to keep going im very eager to learn and though I still have struggles today I want to share what I learned getting though that tough obstacle with getting my GED and enrolling into college. I want to go back to a time when I got very discouraged with tryna find a program to take the GED test after calling tons of school I found a program that supported me through getting my GED even through the pandemic I still passed my test. I was astonished I passed Math CUNYSTART program and was able to enroll into the classes I need for the fall semester and I want to express the pain I felt of how hard it was and how I cried and want to give up and explain how I was Able to keep going . I think readers would able to relate and also learn some of the ways I managed stress of getting through with little support and barriers in life.
1. In “Maybe I Could Save Myself By Writing” by Jose Olivarez the author tells us how difficult life was for him just because he was mexican and didnt speak english aswell as other. through all these hardships he did not know if he wanted to stay in america and had many questions. as he grew up and developed answers for these questions he wrote poems for teens who where in the same situation he was when he came to america and to help them understand how to overcome certain situations and difficulties in there lives that he endured because he was mexican. he wanted the teens to also do as he did and make poemns that where answering there questions and hopefully future questions. yes i can make a connection, lthough i spoke both languages very fluently as a kid being english and spanish since i am dominican, i cant say the same for my older brother who had troubles speaking english as he grew up although he developed it as he grew something like these poems wouldve helped make the transition easier for him.
2. when i was nearly 17 years old one of my friends had died in a terrible car accident, although i mourned him for days maybe even weeks i couldnt get over the fact that it was somehow my fault because i was always getting him out of trouble and still failed him. it bothers me till this day but i learned that i cant bear myself responsible for everything that goes on in someones life no.
3. id like to start my story when me and him first met and end it at my participation of his candle lighting. my ideas and memories will be about times i helped him out and times he confided in me, of course i will speak discreetly.