Blog #3
Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog!! I have read further into The Shame of the Nation and I have been able to find the overall argument that is most prevalent in this book. I interpret Kozols thoughts as him trying to say that children of different races, ethnicities, or areas are at a far more disadvantage and face greater problems in the education system rather than children that are white.
I see this as a common theme throughout the book because there is a main topic of how children in areas with less money or more diversity are seen as different or are discriminated due to their color. This started with the heart wrenching stories of how children in these types of schools don't think they are of any worth. Like I mentioned in an early blog post there was many thought from children in these areas that are similar to the one of this little girls. "I asked her if she truly thought America did not have room for her or other children of her race. 'Think of it this way,' said a sixteen-year-old girl sitting beside her. 'If people in New York work up one day and learned that we were gone, that we had simply died or left for somewhere else, how would they feel?' 'How do you think they'd feel?' I asked. 'I think they'd be relieved,' this very solemn girl replied." (Kozol 29). Now Kozol uses this as an emotional appeal but it also helps get his argument across that these kids in systems like these aren't cared about and are discriminated against.
The next time we see this as a prevalent issue is on page 139 when it states that children who attend selective elementary schools usually go on to one of the selective high schools of New York. This directly ties to a passage that states that most children/families in these black areas think that their child will go to college and their teachers doubt this and said only a fraction of that population would end up going to college. This book really shows how different it is in these areas and how hard it is for students in these areas to make it in to the world when they are set up to fail.
Kozol explains his thoughts and makes a cohesive theme of how he believes that children in these type of areas and school systems are still discriminated against and have a far more disadvantage than children in other areas. I have not personal thought about how children in schools of predominantly children of color feel but I can see how children feel that they are kept away from the world and have less worth than children. No child should ever be discriminated against, felt like they are locked away, or held back due to their color of their skin. Kozol is doing a very nice job of educating me and having me think of other situations in different areas, I am eager to continue my reading in The Shame of the Nation.
I see this as a common theme throughout the book because there is a main topic of how children in areas with less money or more diversity are seen as different or are discriminated due to their color. This started with the heart wrenching stories of how children in these types of schools don't think they are of any worth. Like I mentioned in an early blog post there was many thought from children in these areas that are similar to the one of this little girls. "I asked her if she truly thought America did not have room for her or other children of her race. 'Think of it this way,' said a sixteen-year-old girl sitting beside her. 'If people in New York work up one day and learned that we were gone, that we had simply died or left for somewhere else, how would they feel?' 'How do you think they'd feel?' I asked. 'I think they'd be relieved,' this very solemn girl replied." (Kozol 29). Now Kozol uses this as an emotional appeal but it also helps get his argument across that these kids in systems like these aren't cared about and are discriminated against.
The next time we see this as a prevalent issue is on page 139 when it states that children who attend selective elementary schools usually go on to one of the selective high schools of New York. This directly ties to a passage that states that most children/families in these black areas think that their child will go to college and their teachers doubt this and said only a fraction of that population would end up going to college. This book really shows how different it is in these areas and how hard it is for students in these areas to make it in to the world when they are set up to fail.
Kozol explains his thoughts and makes a cohesive theme of how he believes that children in these type of areas and school systems are still discriminated against and have a far more disadvantage than children in other areas. I have not personal thought about how children in schools of predominantly children of color feel but I can see how children feel that they are kept away from the world and have less worth than children. No child should ever be discriminated against, felt like they are locked away, or held back due to their color of their skin. Kozol is doing a very nice job of educating me and having me think of other situations in different areas, I am eager to continue my reading in The Shame of the Nation.
Hi Lauren!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job analyzing Kozol's rhetoric in relation to his overall argument. I completely agree with you that no child should be raised to feel like they are worthless. I read in Sophia's blog that when people are constantly made to feel as though they are inferior to others, they will naturally start to consider themselves lesser than others as time goes by, and will eventually just accept that as their role in the world. After reading your blog, I started to see the connection between children who are in lesser-quality schools and how they grow up to feel inferior to others. This pattern needs to be stopped. I did have one question, though- is your book strictly examining education in New York? Both of your examples mentioned New York, but I wasn't sure if that was the main focus.
How do you think that Kozol is most effectively developing this argument about the effects of the segregation of students in low-performing schools? What strategies do you see him as using to make his points? What parts are most powerful in convincing you?
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren! This was a great post! This book sounds really interesting, and I love how it incorporates real stories and people. That definitely adds to the emotional appeals of any book, and this book certainly sounds like it utilizes a lot of these appeals. It's heartbreaking how these children are, as you wrote, set up to fail, by an education system, something that is supposed to set up all children for success. Like you mentioned in your post, it's hard for us to truly relate to these kids, because our situation is so different, but we can still see what they are going through, which is shocking to us, as students in what is essentially an entirely different world. In the book that I'm reading, I noticed that the author has spent a lot of the book building up ethos, which then makes her argument more compelling, and allows her to be more direct with it. Have you noticed Kozol doing that in this book, or does he rely more on pathos, like you mentioned?
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