Why kids need solitude

In Salon.com's article "Why kids need solitude", Diana Senechal expresses her opinion that students today need more time of solitude where we can think and create our own opinions and solutions. Honestly, the article was very intriguing in the question and answer question session with Alice Karekezi asking Diana Senechal the questions. She brings up so many valid points, in my opinion. For example, she discusses that group work and workshops are used too much by teachers and that many different approaches need to be used for different lessons. Senechal also says that an engaged class doesn't necessarily have students who can deal with questions that require reflection and thinking on the spot. Also, what I found interesting was that Senechal believes that curriculums have a higher priority over tests, but tests still have an important place. Tests can give a perspective when comparing different areas and provide a baseline of knowledge.  My favorite answer that Senechal gives is, "But if the emphasis is on the success and not on the thing being accomplished, the latter almost inevitably gets reduced," (Karekezi 1). She is right, just aiming for success is not enough, you have to aim for something to be accomplished and remember what it takes to get that thing accomplished.

The question and answer format of the article "Why kids need solitude" holds the audience's attention and gives them a direction for what is being talked about. The bolded questions allow the audience to know the next subject or topic going to be discussed, instead of getting lost in the flow of the article. When defining solitude, Senechal quotes both Epictetus (a Greek philosopher) and Quintilian to help her find her own definition of solitude. This technique proves to the audience that Senechal is a knowledgeable speaker on this subject and is able to reflect on past opinions to create her own. Another establishment of ethos for Diana Senechal is that Alice Karekezi provides the audience with background information on Senechal and how she is a teacher and author. With that knowledge, the audience can understand how Senechal is able to speak of such common situations in the classroom, with students, and in everyday life. Her use of scenarios really made me feel like Senechal understood those same situations. A technique that appealed not only to ethos, but pathos too. Overall, Karekezi's interview with Senechal is a very informative and relatable article with situations that many students can understand.

Source: Karekezi, Alice . "Why kids need solitude." Salon.com 28 Dec. 2011: n. pag. Salon.com. Web. 29 Dec. 2011

Bless Me, Ultima (Chpts 17-22)

Today I finished reading Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima and honestly, I thought it was a wonderful book, but the ending disappointed me. From Diecisiete to Diecinueve, Anaya formated those chapters as three important steps of Antonio's faith: catechism, Ash Wednesday which included his act of being a priest to the other children and his first confession, and Easter Sunday which included his first communion. These steps were important to Antonio attaining understanding with God and finally being able to have God within him, able to answer his numerous questions. However, just as God failed to fight evil from killing Lupito, helping his Uncle Lucas, and killing Narciso, God fails to answer Antonio's questions and remains silent. Even after Antonio has received his first holy communion, God is silent. When God doesn't answer Antonio, he begins to doubt his faith and if God is really everywhere. At the end of Diecisiete, Anaya writes I a really detailed comparison of eternity that Father Byrnes tells the children. The astonishment it gave the audience was overwhelming. The startling truth of what a day of eternity was made the comparison easy to understand, and gave the audience an image.

In the last couple of chapters, Anaya used a couple of rhetorical techniques to hint to his audience of a bad future coming. Anaya foreshadows Ultima's death through Antonio's dream. Another time myself personally could tell something bad was going to happen was when Antonio's uncle left him and Antonio was walking to his grandfather's house alone. You know when you begin reading a passage and just the way things are happening, you know something bad is going to happen? Well, I had that feeling as soon as Antonio's uncle sent him to walk alone.

Finally, one of the few things I disliked about Bless Me, Ultima was how Anaya ended it. After reading the end of Ultima's death, I was still left wondering about Antonio and his future. After his act of being the priest to the children, the audience can tell he won't be their priest along with his unanswered questions to God. Maybe that was Anaya's reason though. He makes his audience decide who Antonio will become.

The Seat Pleasant 59: Part Three

All I can say is wow. What a wonderful closing article to a great series by Paul Schwartzman. The final article of the series focuses on the 59 Dreamers today and who they have become. I really enjoyed how Schwartzman wrote about the influence the Dreamers program still had on each student mentioned, even if they didn't achieve their original goal or actually graduate from college. Some of the Dreamers didn't need a college degree to prove that they had achieved a state of ambition and purpose. Some want to ensure sending their children to college and make sure they don't regret missing out on the opportunity. The continued influence and help that Tracy Proctor continues to have on the Dreamers' lives as their mentor is amazing. With career advice to decision making, Proctor is still their "surrogate father". I think that even if only some of the students in the Dreamers programs succeeded in the initial role, the program still had a huge influence on the member's lives that continues today.

Schwartzman's technique throughout this series continues to be constant with the pathos appeal. However, this particular article was easier to follow with who was who since Schwartzman gave the accomplishment of each person and what they were like back in fifth grade. This technique allows the audience to make connections and revelations about the influence of the Dreamers program. The quotes from each Dreamer have a powerful affect on the audience and establish Schwartzman with ethos. He clearly did his research on this group of people and figured out where to contact them. Honestly, this series is probably some of the better articles I have read since I started this blog. Schwartzman's powerful message proves that the Dreamers can not be measured by their achievements, but how the program itself changed their life.

Source: Schwartzman, Paul. "The Legacy: For those promised college scholarships, the gift inspired pride and pain." The Washington Post 17 Dec. 2011, sec. Local: n. pag. The Washington Post. Web. 26 Dec. 2011.

The Haves' Children Are Healthier Than the Have Nots'

After reading this article, I realized that physical education and athletics are not a prominent issue in many communities that cannot afford them. With the lack of funds to barely cover food and if lucky, a home, physical activity is on the back burner. Therefore, children coming from those communities are not in physical shape and can be considered overweight. In this article, the author compares two different types of communities in California, Sycamore Valley and San Francisco's Mission district. The community in Sycamore Valley promote a high amount of physical activity with a physical education specialist to help prepare them for a state fitness test. They promote fun runs and fundraise to purchase new sports equipment, like basketball hoops. Children as young as six are learning push-ups and sit-ups from their physical education specialist. However, in San Francisco's Mission district, the exposure of poverty and violence takes its toll and the lack of funds doesn't provide the correct amount of physical activity for its students. It is a shame that such an important issue as children's physical activity can not take as much importance as it should in these areas.

Katharine Mieszkowski uses a comparison technique along with a logos appeal in her New York Times article "The Haves' Children Are Healthier Than the Have Nots'".  Mieszkowski's comparison is between the Sycamore Valley Elementary School and the Cesar Chavez Elementary School. She reports on the status of the physical education classes, who teaches them, the rate of success on the state fitness test, and the percentage of students able to receive a reduced price on school lunches. The topics she writes of were chosen wisely as they all contribute to the status of the school's fitness. With these topics, Mieszkowski also uses statistics and percentages to back up her point. Katharine Mieszkowski's purpose in writing this article is to compare the affluent with the non-affluent children's physical activity and prove that those children from affluent communities have a higher level of physical activity.

Source: Mieszkowski, Katharine . "The Haves' Children Are Healthier Than the Have Nots'." The New York Times 24 Dec. 2011, sec. United States: n. pag. The New York Times. Web. 25 Dec. 2011.

The Seat Pleasant 59: Part Two

After reading the first article by Paul Schwartzman about the 59 fifth graders from Seat Pleasant Elementary, I couldn't resist. I had to keep reading. Schwartzman has me hooked on this story of a philanthropic movement to help kids from a community achieve the unexpected. This part two of the story's trilogy focuses on the fifth graders as they moved through middle school, who made it through high school, and those who achieved the original goal of graduating college. I enjoyed reading about Darone Robinson, who was definitely Schwartzman's main focus of this article and how he had to move on from the death of his cousin, struggle to overcome problems in high school, fights, make it to college, and then walk across the stage with a diploma. After reading through a couple of the student's stories, I see how college is not always the dream for every kid in America, whether there is too much violence or not enough money. I can definitely say I have taken my plans to go to college for granted because I am very lucky that I will have the opportunity to attend a university and further my education. Not going to college was something I couldn't really understand, but Schwartzman helped me see the other side.

Once again Schwartzman's main appeal is pathos with his audience. The audience can't resist reading about this opportunity these kids were given and want to know the outcome. We root for them, and want them to overcome all odds. The emotional tone keeps the audience intrigued, however once again, Schwartzman throws around a couple of the kids names without giving a description that can help the audience remember which student is which and what Schwartzman has previously wrote about them. I guess this calls for efferent reading and multiple read throughs. The author's honesty is another technique that appeals to the audience. For example, Schwartzman writes, "it was clear that not everyone was going to make it to college" (Schwartzman 2). Some authors could've tried to butter up the situation and make it seem like all of the students' success came from this investment in their college education. But, not Schwartzman. He makes it clear to the audience the truth of what happened to the 59 fifth graders, even if they did not make it to college.

Source: Schwartzman, Paul . "The Reality: Daunting difficulties for the children promised college scholarships." The New York Times 17 Dec. 2011, sec. Local: n. pag. The New York Times. Web. 21 Dec. 2011. 

Bless Me, Ultima (Chpts 13-16)

After the question left at the end of Doce, la Ultima's fate is less safe with the death of Narciso. The irony surrounding that particular event really troubled me. First, Narciso's fight with Tenorio, and how the people from inside the bar only intervened to stop the fight, but they did not think to warn the Marez family about the trouble Tenorio might bring. Then, when Narciso approaches Andrew at Rosie's house, Andrew does not want to even go to his family's aid! He tells Narciso, "Oh, is that all. You had me worried for a moment, amigo," (Anaya 165) in response to the news about Tenorio. When Andrew says that, I knew he didn't care to even go home to protect his family and his life in Guadalupe was not going to be permanent. Another aspect of this journey home from the play involves Antonio. Seeing Andrew at Rosie's with a girl is not something that Antonio intended to realize. This makes him question how he has sinned since Andrew made a promise not to enter until Antonio's innocence was lost. Another part of Narciso's death that impacted Antonio was that he gave Narciso confession before he died. This action really makes me believe that Antonio's fate is more towards the role of a priest or a similar leadership, make-a-difference role. Anaya also writes a lot of Antonio questioning his beliefs and religion in this section, with regards to an all-forgiving god. When Anaya writes of Antonio's questioning and dream about this issue, it becomes somewhat hypocritical when Antonio does not wish for Tenorio to be forgiven, but the god is all-forgiving. Anaya is not only trying to convey to his audience that there can be no exceptions with gods, but also that forgiveness can be given to everyone. It is not always easy to give it to those whom you don't think deserve it, but forgiveness can be given to everyone. Anaya definitely cues the theme of forgiveness in Bless Me, Ultima through Antonio's dream.

One rhetorical technique that was particularly effective in this selection was when Anaya wrote about the boys taking all of the roles in the school play. If slowly read and with efferent reading, the audience can understand every little humorous detail of the play. Since I managed to read slow and catch all of the  names of which boy was doing what, I found the scene quite humorous. However, with the numerous different names thrown around and the humor with each name was only fully understood with recall. Other than the predictions written above, I predict that Jason will witness a murder or has already witnessed a murder because Anaya writes, "I even lost touch with Jason, which was too bad because I learned later that he would have understood," (Anaya 186). I look forward to completing the final chapters of Bless Me, Ultima.

The Seat Pleasant 59 Dreamers

Ever read a book or an article where afterwards you just think, "Someone did the right thing"?  Well, this article was definitely one of them. Back in 1988, Abe Pollin and Melvin Cohen were two very wealthy businessmen that established a $325,000 fund for 59 fifth graders to go to college. They wanted to help in this philanthropic movement to help these kids have a chance to go to college. The money was the equivalent of an in-state tuition to University of Maryland. Seat Pleasant Elementary was chosen by the Prince George's superintendent because they were "in dire need of help," (Schwartzman). The stories of some of the Seat Pleasant students described how there parents had the ambitions of their children going to college, but weren't sure how they were going to pay for it. I believe that the opportunity Pollin and Cohen gave to the fifth graders at Seat Pleasant was a really wonderful thing to do because they had the money to accomplish it and they found the means to.

The pathos appeal is Paul Schwartzman's strongest technique in his Washington Post article "The Promise: Two wealthy men set out to transform the lives of 59 fifth graders". The philanthropic action that Pollin and Cohen took to help those students of Seat Pleasant Elementary is a story that just warms any audience's hearts as they root for the best outcome of these students. That technique alone is Schwartzman's strongest aspect of the article. The diction is hopeful for success, however there are a lot of names used that can be mixed together by the audience. Schwartzman could have used some more description when he writes of each of the students and their parents. After reading the first article in the series of the Seat Pleasant 59, I look forward to continue reading about their journey of a free college tuition.

Source: Schwartzman, Paul. "The Promise: Two wealthy men set out to transform the lives of 59 fifth graders." The Washington Post 17 Dec. 2011, sec. Local: n. pag. The Washington Post. Web. 18 Dec. 2011.