After you've finished your homework reading, answer the following questions:
1) What might "Para Teresa" be saying about education in America? What questions about education might it be raising?
2) What are two things that stood out to you the most about "Learning to Read"?
Due: Before our next class meeting
Length: one well-developed paragraph per answer
Reminders: Bring in your 5-6 potential research questions (on family or education in America) on Wed. We will be working on them in class. Also, although you're not writing a blog response on LOP this time, do expect quiz questions on it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1) "Para Teresa" is saying the girl's education, from her point of view, is only being motivated by her family. The grandparents, mom, dad, and even she are pushing her. She has to do better than they did to try to prove she was "not only equal but superior to them." She's not a teacher's pet but Teresa doesn't understand yet. I think questions about education raising might be if children will be put down in schools for trying, if they only have support from their family will they do well? If the only goal in latino families is to be superior to the last generation.
ReplyDelete2) One of the two things that stood out to me was the fact that Malcom X learned how to read, write skillfully, and gain a vast amount of knowledge in prison for only seven years. I was very proud and happy that he accomplished the ability to understand efficiently. However, the other thing that stood out to me was the fact that he took all the knowledge he had, the only books he read in prison, and based his whole opinion on the evil of whites. It seemed such a waste to have such great wisdom, but use it in such a racist way. He felt to blind when he went to school about the history of black people. And when he finally does obtain the history of black people, he reads a totally biast, racist author. True, horrible things have happened to their race, but he didn't go to all the places in the world where there actually are white, "humble, and Christ-like" Christians.
1. In "Para Teresa", the author says that she did not try to excel in school in order to be a teachers pet, but for her family and herself. This says that education in America is believed among people, whether minority groups or any others, to be an opportunity to succeed rather than simply a requirement. The author also brings about questions of whether minority groups look at education differently than non-minority groups.
ReplyDelete2. What stood out to me the most in "Learning to Read" would have to be when the subject of genetics was brought up. Malcom says that "sarting with a white man, you never could produce a black man," implying that the first man on earth was black. My whole life, I've been taught different. Also, he says "How is the black man going to get 'civil rights' before he first wins his human rights?." This impressed me a lot and I'd have to completely agree.
I think that "Para Teresa" is saying that education can provide one with opportunity if one allows it. The speaker in this poem takes advantage of her education to prove herself and be an example for her people. She said, "My contest was to prove beyond any doubt that we were not only equal but superior to them." Teresa on the other hand chose to be arrogant and defiant. She rebelled against the education system where as the speaker chose to submit. The questions being raised are about different views of education and whether or not it is fair for everybody.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that stood out to me was Malcom X's method for learning how to read. He said he copied the pages in the dictionary and then read the words back to himself over and over. I assume he must have been a very patient and determined man. The second thing that stood out to me was what appeared to be an extreme hatred for white people. He said, "If I weren't out here every day battling the white man, I could spend the rest of my life reading." I do realize that he does have good reason to have such feelings toward the people who commited the horrible unimaginable crimes. However, not all white people were "piratical opportunists who used Faustian machinations."
1. In "Para Teresa" the author explains how she got an education and was considered a "teacher's pet" by her peers. She also says how she not only got an education for herself but for her family. Because she got an education and was focused on school her peers made fun of her and treated her like she was a trader from her race. I believe that this brings on the question about education that if you get an education will you be made fun of by your peers?
ReplyDelete2. One thing that sttod out to me in "Learning to Read" was Malcolm's ambition and motivation to teach himself how to read and to understand exactly what he was reading. Even thought he was in prison he made good use of his time there by educating himself. What also stood out to me is the knowledge he shared in this article about black history. He gained all of this knowledge from reading. Me being bi-racial this article inspired me to get more invloved into reading and to learn about my roots and where I come from.
1) I think what "Para Teresa" could be saying about education is that people have different opinions on it. In the poem the author says that she isn't trying to be a teachers pet, but that she does well for her family and for herself. Teresa, the person whom the poem is written to, sees education differently. In the poem she is portrayed more as defiant and rebellious. In addition, I also think the poem could be saying that just because a person is a certain race or nationality, it doesn't mean they have to do what others of their same nationality are doing. This can raise questions as to why some people, Teresa for example, expect people to act the same way they do just because they are of the same ethnicity.
ReplyDelete2) One of the things that stood out to me the most in "Learning to Read" was that Malcom X copied an entire dictionary so he could learn the meaning of all the words. He did this so he would be able to not only read, but understand what he was reading. Another thing that really stood out to me was when he stated, "prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college." This really stood out to me because instead of him talking about prison in a negative way, he speaks of it as being an advantage for him.
1)The poem "Para Teresa" might be saying that education in America can be affected because of different nationalities,but if your race is being put down in any way you should further your education to prove you are worthy to learn and become better than anyone who says otherwise. The narrator pushes herself for her family and herself and not purposely to become the teachers pet, shes there to make something of herself and pay back her family whose helped her. Questions that may be raised up would be; Will education be taught differently to students with different backgrounds?? Will it affect a students wanting to further their education?
ReplyDelete2)Two things that stood out for me about "Learning to Read" would be firstly is how Malcolm could be so set on re-writing and reading the dictionary and that he observed so much knowledge stating "the dictionary is like a little encyclopedia" and it led him to read other more books about America's historical events. Secondly is that while reading this I have learned a lot of things I didn't know about so it was cool to be able to acknowledge these events that hes sharing and to see what he saw.
1. In "Para Teresa" this short poem is telling me that even though people make fun of you for being the smartest of your race, you shouldn’t let that get to you, you should be proud of yourself and not care what other people think. I got the feeling that maybe Teresa and the group of girls were jealous because they were not as smart as the narrator. It makes me mad that they had to push her and corner her just because she was smart. A big question that came to my mind is, why would you bully someone of your race? Should you not be happy because they are part of your race and they are smart? Shouldn’t it make you proud that someone from your race is smart and why would you want to dumb down someone from your own race?
ReplyDelete2. In the short story “learning to Read”, one thing that really stood out to me is that Malcolm X took the time to study in jail. I would of thought that he would not want to and also I thought that people in jail are just bad people. This somewhat opened my eyes because now I know that there can be some people that want to change their lives even thought they are in jail. Another thing that caught my attention is that he took the time to copy the dictionary. He said on page 211 that he was so fascinated by the first page that he copied the next one. This is very interesting that he studied and he wanted to make a difference in his life.
I think "Para Teresa" might be saying that education in America doesn't give the same opportunities to students of different race, you can be academically successful but still be looked down on as inferior. The question that this might raise about education is that, are you deprived of your educational goals just because of your nationality?
ReplyDeleteIn Learning to Read the fact that Malcolm X wrote down every page in the dictionary is amazing. And the teaching of Mr. Muhammad about how the white man was created is most revealing. Starting with a black man it can bring a white man but if you start with a white man you could never produce a black man because the white chromosome is recessive. So it claims that black people were in this univerese first.
1) What "Para Teresa" is saying about education is that education should be something that matters and shouldn't be taken for granted. Being educated is not the same for everyone. Everyone has different views and not everyone wants it. In America minorities always do have less opportunities, when one does decide to educate themselves, it is rare for others in their race to see.
ReplyDelete2) The two things that stood out to me the most in "Learning to Read" are that he taught himself to read in prison and that he didn't know about the way slaves were treated. He didn't understand what he read and became dedicated to learning. He copied the words out of the dictionary for days and memorized them. He wanted to further his education since he didn't recieve one as a child. He didn't know anything about his history because he wasn't taught it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1) I believe that in the poem "Para Teresa" there is a very clear message about education. I believe the message says that one is not assigned to be a good or bad student according race/people, but according to his or her own choices. And that ones family is a main contributor to how one view education. A person who has a family that values school will probably excel in school unlike a person whos family and friends that do not support education. A question that this poem might be asking, Is the high drop out rate among students have a connection to how their parents view education or the way one was brought up.
ReplyDelete2)In the short story "Learning to read" I though it was a good story to help reinforce the poem i read earlier in that its doesn't matter what skin color one has or if they are a criminal one may still be able to educate oneself. What really stuck out to me was the view point he took when talking about white people, its was very interesting. And that because he was angered by not being able to write and read well he actually took that to motivate himself into being a educated person, I believe that is what more people should be doing in our world today. But what i really don't get is how come people who are in prison are just sitting around and given time to read, they should be doing back breaking work, or fixing the streets or maybe even just picking up trash and other services that could help our state with its budge problems.
1) In "Para Teresa" the author explains that she is not excelling in school to please her teacher, but instead she is doing it for her family, and for herself. I think that what she is saying about education is that race plays a role in what is expected of you, and your motivation determines how well you do in your education.
ReplyDelete2) The first thing that stuck out to me while reading "Learning to Read" is that Malcolm taught himself new words, and expanded his vocabulary by copying the pages from a dictionary while in prison. Although this would be a great way to expose yourself to new words, it sounds terrifically excruciating, but Malcolm actually enjoyed it. The second thing that stuck out to me was when Malcolm is talking about the book he read by Gregor Mendel that was about how the white man had been created. He goes on to shortly explain that if you started with a black man, a white man could be produced. But starting with a white man, you could never produce a black man. Just thought that was interesting information.
(Para Teresa) might be saying that everyone sees education differently. She talks about the way she sees education. She writes the poem dedicating it to her friend. Now she sees how differently she used to look at education back when she was young. She now understands why her friend would ask the way she would.
ReplyDeleteWho motivates you to go to school?
That many people don't take reading seriously. People that know how to read take advantage of it. They don't realize how much knowledge it is.
1)The poem "Para Teresa" is saying that educatoin is not valued the same by everyone. People from different ethnicity or "razas" may see eduacation as a danger to their culture. Someone being educated may cause someone to forget their culture and where they came from. In the poem the narrator realizes the "Truth". The truth being that she was able to do good in school regardless of her ethnicity or race. That she could prove that not only was she not inferior but that she was superior. A question that is being raised is, does someone's race or ethnicity impact the success in their education?
ReplyDelete2)There were so many things that stood out to me from "Learning to Read",but the two that stood out the most are his interest in reading during prison and the knowledge he gained from that reading. it really interested me how he educated himself. he taught himself how to read and write. He got to the point where he had read and writen every word in the dictionary. that dictionary opened the door to many other things. The second thing that interested me was the history of African Americans that he mentions and how it is not recognized as much as it should be. Everything that he mentions makes me want to educate myself more and do some research of my own.
1) "Para Teresa" is trying to express her view on education by saying that it doesnt matter what others think of your education satus if your on the top as long as your doing it for the right reason. To be conceded is to negate the effect of pride in ones self and the family that he/she is representing. A question that the poem is trying to bring up might be why can a child brought up the same as another stand up amongst the rest and get the better education while the other follows the rest in forgetting about the education and instead following the gang life.
ReplyDelete2) Learing to read is a strong stand on Malcom X and his view on education and what it can do to poses ones life. What was strongly stated was that in a world like today, an education is accessable no matter what, it just takes the push of one to make it come true. Another statement that was a strong one was that a man with no strong education can become one of the most powerful that the world has held if the midn is set on it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn "Para Teresa" the author wants American education for children to have to be changed by their parents. She couldn’t do anything that she wanted during elementary, but her friend was different from her. She had to follow what her family wanted. This is what the author wants to say to now education. The problem that she had is that she didn’t know why she had to study and for who she had to be educated. Most parents want their children get great scores, and their interest is which universities or what background their children have to have. I think the questions that might be rising are if parents educate their children what they want without children’s opinion, if children have their own plan for their future.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that stood out to me was the power that can change the situation to positive way wherever he was. Although he was in prison, he thanked for fifty five minutes when he could read books that made him be able to see his new life. It was amazing to me because I always complain about the time that is not enough to do homework and take rest. Another thing that really stood out to me was infinite desire of his education. It makes me embarrassed. He overcame his obstacle that he couldn’t read English well. I am also struggling with English as an international student, but I think I am not studying hard like he did. In the part that he copied dictionary, I got impressed. Now I have more time to study than him, but my effort is less than him. I have to reflect on myself.
"Para Teresa" shows that the level of education indicates a person's status. The speaker says that she tries in school to receive acknowledgement of her race from others. Education is seen as the key to success and those who are uneducated are "inferior."
ReplyDeleteThe two things that stood out to me in "Learning to Read" were, first, Malcom's tremendous gain in prison. He says that there are many distractions in an actual learning environment like colleges while in prison he was able to study for 15 hours. His determination is very inspiring to me because he started off having difficulty reading and writing but taught himself to be as knowledgable as a professor. The second thing that stood out to me was the history of the "white" man. It shows that violence is a consequence of knowledge because in history the "white" men were leading in social and technological advancement and they took advantage of the countries that were still developing.
1- I think Para Teresa really talks about how education is really important not just for the student but also to some families. To Inez’s family her education is their main concern because they didn’t really get the chance to reach their own potential so they may be living vicariously through her, and of course because they want her to have a better life than the one they have lead. Inez tells Teresa that she doesn’t agree with her that she must be defiant in school because she is being defiant by going to school and proving to everyone that she can be better than her family, and better than her teachers. I think the question it’s raising is what effects do different attitudes have on education, and what role does family play in shaping those attitudes? Inez’s family has clearly instilled in her a sense of just how education can be used as a means to elevate one’s self from a lower standing in life. Whatever Teresa’s parents are telling her, they don’t seem to be conveying a similar message.
ReplyDelete2- To me the most impressive thing that jumped out at me was how what started as a bit of envy of the knowledge of a fellow inmate ended up becoming an intense period of enlightenment for him. An amazing amount of dedication went into his efforts to learn to read; how he mentions that when the guards would call out “lights out” he would continue his reading by the dim illumination of a hallway light across from his cell. Another thing that struck me was his attitude toward people who attend college. His level of dedication was definitely much stronger than that of a college student since he had no real distractions in prison, but that he automatically assumed that all college students are just preoccupied with “panty raiding” and little else bothered me slightly.
The poem "Para Teresa" is trying to show that education is really important and no matter what people say you need do your best at school to have a better future. It should not matter what race you are. To Inez and her family education is to key to be successful in life. Inez's peers make fun of her for being smart and the teachers pet but what they didn't understand is that she only wanted to learn and become educated not only for her but for her family.
ReplyDeleteThe two things that stood to me the most in "Learning to Read" was Malcom's desire to learn when he starting reading books. The other thing is that even thought he was in a place where he's surrounded by negativity, he still found a way to make a positive out of his time in jail. He would read even after they turn off the lights and he became really good at it.
"Para Teresa" shows how some minorities believe education to be a form of submitting to the oppressive majority. It can seem as if the student who strives to succeed is merely trying to conform to the standards put forth by a group that does not understand or particularly care about another. However, it also explains that through education, any person regardless of nationality, race, or sex, can break the boundaries that have been put in place. Even though this poem was written decades ago, there is still a problem of how minorities view education, and it shows that a dialogue and paradigm shift needs to happen for any REAL change can come forth.
ReplyDeleteThere were several points in "Learning to Read" that jumped out at me. The first was how it showed that an inmate CAN become more than his crime. While Malcom's tenacity to educate himself is hardly the norm, it does foster the notion that perhaps our current system of incarceration is quite ineffective. I was also impressed over his drive to to learn. I don't think I could EVER push myself to read an entire dictuonary, let alone copy it down! Malcom X shows that in order for a person to really benefit from education, they must have drive and a desire to learn. With those two things, and the resources available, it's possible to be just as educated, if not more than a college grad.
"Para Teresa" points out that all cultures have different beliefs on education. In her case it seems like her own peers find it wrong that she excels in her studies. Her class mates have probably been raised to believe education isn't that important and when they were challenged by a fellow classmate they took it as a unsult to their culture. Is that really how education is suppose to be for everyone? People have a right to choose where they want to go in life and if that means going against what's expected of you then go for it. As long as you believe it's what is best.
ReplyDeleteIn "Learning to Read" I found it very interesting how the speaker didn't only refer to his race when it came to the struggles people have gone through over the years. He mentioned the blacks, chinese and indians who all went through slavery and waged bloody wars due to influences by the white races. Also the fact that this guy would copy entire pages of books and dictionaries. It takes a lot of determination to learn vocabulary and the fact that he'd first write and read so much was very impressive.
1) "para teresa" could potentially mean a lot of things however the one thought that stuck to my mind was that minorities value education more. im not trying to be racist or anything but in my experiences this has proven to be true. I believe hispanics have some sort of mechanism that motivates them to be successful. im a great example of this. i was doing bad in high school but my senior year i realized that education is my way out of all the poverty and suffering. so i got my mind set straight and made a record setting 140 credits in one school year. so i could be described as the author of "para teresa" in the way that i too want to prove everyone wrong that mexicans can also be someone.
ReplyDelete2) i would have never thought that the great malcolm x would've learned to read and better his penmenship through rewriting the dictionary. if you were to read one of his speeches you would think " man this guy must've written the dictionary". he knew how to write every word and how to correctly use it. another thing that stood out to me was the fact that an individual would be so highly motivated by someone whom is better than them. malcolm saw his inmate who was the "lead" debater and said i want to be like him so what does he do? he holds on to that goal and becomes n icon that will forever be remebered.