Toulmin Teacher Argument

How can we raise the status of teachers in the United States? In this article Zeke Vanderhoek states that we need to pay them more, give them "autonomy," and "encourage professional growth." I completely agree with his philosophy. We need to raise the quality of teachers in order to raise their status, and if we do these three things for the teachers we could end up with a much better education system. Teachers do not feel like they are important. Sure, they are teaching the young minds of America, but how much of that do they have input on? Teachers do not have the freedom to be able to teach the way they want to. In schools today, teachers are given clear goals, strict curriculum, minimum freedom, and in turn, they are not teaching to the best of their abilities. Most teachers know their students: what they want, what they feel, how they learn. The people picking the curriculum do not know anything about this generation of kids. They should not be the only people that pick the material that kids learn; the teachers should be able to have a say in the matter, too. Vanderhoek also proposed that teachers should "observe and learn from talented peers in other classrooms." At school there are some teachers that are wonderful: they teach the material, they keep the kids interested, they motivate the kids, but there are other teachers that haven't got a clue about how to actually "teach." Those are the teachers that would exceptionally benefit from observing other teachers. By seeing how the good teachers interact with kids, the other teachers would learn what works for kids, what needs to be changed in their lessons, and how to better future lessons. Vanderhoek also stated that teachers should be paid more. In the world that we live in today money is extremely important. More money would make the teachers have more motivation. At school teachers are always complaining about the small amount of money they make, but if this was increased they would have less to complain about. Some may say that if teachers were given more freedom that they would not teach what students need to learn. But if they are still given "clear goals" about what needs to be taught this would not be the case. They would simply have more freedom so that they could choose the way that they teach their given material. This proposal will increase the quality of current teachers. If the quality of current teachers is increased, then the quality of students is increased. If the quality of students is increased, then the quality of future teachers is increased. If the quality of future teachers is increased, then the status of teachers in the United States rises.

"The Great Gatsby" Essay

Fitzgerald's reflective hopelessness expresses that the world, now cluttered and gloomy, has lost its opportunity to get to the promising future. No matter how hard we try, we cannot make the future what we want it to be, we have already passed the best times.

The diction used in the passage shows polar opposites. The new world is "inessential," "dark," "obscure." The old "island" was "flowered," a "green breast" with "enchanted" opportunities. It was full of beautiful nature, hopeful dreams, wonderful possibilities. But in the new world nothing seems possible: everything is very gloomy, brooding, negative. There used to be such a beautiful place, but it is gone now. It has been replaced with the "inessential" things of the new world.

In the last two paragraphs Fitzgerald uses syntax and metaphor to pin down his point: we are trying so hard to get to the future, but we keep getting pushed back. We won't make it. We are "boats against the current;" no matter how hard we try we just keep losing ground. We can't seem to go forward. Right before he uses this metaphor he uses really powerful syntax. Right in the middle of a very positive, powerful, pleasing sentence, he stops. He doesn't even finish his thought. The beginning of the sentence expresses the positive attitude that we have to have to try to make it to the future, but the abrupt stop shows his pessimistic attitude towards the future. The hyphenated stop proves that he thinks we will never make it to a good, happy future; we have already passed the best of times.

We are trying to get the best out of the future, but according to the passage Fitzgerald believes that the best time was the past, and the future is impossible to achieve. He has no hope for us to have a good future, because the past was such a wonderful place. But we continue to try to achieve our dream, even if it is long gone.

Is Property Bad?

I qualify Forster's point of view in My Wood. He states that property "makes [him] feel heavy," and a "restlessness comes over him" when he owns property. He makes it seem like property does that to everyone, no matter what. I agree that property can make people feel "heavy," but I don't necessarily think that it has to have that effect on people. I don't think it is bad to own property if it is not lauded like it is a god. Some people treat their property better than they treat other people; that is not right, but if property is merely property I don't see anything wrong with it.

3rd Nine Weeks Book List

I read 3 books, the equivalent of 6 books.

• Tess of the d'Urbervilles (p. 384...3 books)
• Change of Heart (p. 447...2 books)
• Private (p. 227...1 book)

I really enjoyed Private by Kate Brian. The book is about Reed Brennen, a smart, poor girl that gets the chance of a lifetime: to get away from her mom and go to a prestigious private school. She immediately realizes that she does not belong; she is an outsider. When she discovers the Billings Girls she is enthralled. She desperately wants to be in this clique, but even though they look perfect, they really have dark secrets. I enjoyed this book because it is the typical teenage girl book part of the time, but other times it is a mystery.

Prisoners of Consumerism

"In a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves: the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy." -Ivan Illich (1926-2002)

Consumerism is taking over our lives. Everyone is either always buying needless things or wants, but cannot afford, these needless things. The quote above, by Ivan Illich, proves that point. He says that everyone is either a "prisoner of addiction" or a "prisoner of envy." This means that some people are addicted to buying; they always need to buy more. The other half wants what the wealthy have, but cannot seem to afford it. Based on all of the information we have read on this topic, consumerism is a bad thing. People become too greedy and obsessive with buying all the time that they are "slaves" to the society. No good comes out of a consumer society.

Making Memories

The article that we read mentioned that many advertisers were trying to promote items that create memories. This advertisement is promoting family game night. The advertisers are saying that by buying clue, and other board games like it, many memories will be made. This commercial shows a picture perfect family, and makes the viewer think that they are this close because they bought this game and started a game night. The parents, kids, and even teenagers are excited about "Wednesday." Will most families really have a game night every week like this family does? Probably not. If other families are anything like mine they will do a game night for about two or three weeks, and after that everyone will be too busy. But, the commercial is hopeful and makes it seem like family game nights can make everyone's life better, and that is exactly what people want to see during a recession.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent?

This thINK post contains spoilers for The Tenth Circle.

People are wrongly convicted all the time for major crimes they did not commit. Innocent people are forced to live many years in prison because of people not telling the truth. How is that fair?

In The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult many big crimes have been committed but no one knows what really happened or who committed the crimes because everyone is lying. Trixie accuses her ex-boyfriend, Jason, of rape. When she is questioned she does not want to look like a slut so she lies about half of her story. Jason keeps saying that he did not rape her: that it was consensual. No one knows who to believe. Then, more evidence is found that reveals that a date rape drug was used, but Jason swears up and down that he did not give her the drug. Soon Jason is found dead at the bottom of a bridge. Was it suicide or murder? And if it was murder, who was the murderer? The whole book is one big case of "he said, she said," and many of the things said are lies.

After reading this book I wondered if this happened in the real world. According to this website innocent people are convicted all the time. This article explains that the main cause of wrongful convictions are eyewitness accounts. Why are eyewitness accounts considered reliable? An individual's memory can be changed easily by a number of factors. People can be persuaded into believing something really happened when really they do not remember. Why are we so quick to throw someone in prison if we do not have the proper evidence?

If so many innocent people are put into prison, then why is our legal system based on the ideal "innocent until proven guilty?" In these cases it seems more like guilty until proven innocent.