Compare and Contrast “University” and “Warren Pryor”
Liam Wong, Kevin Chiu, Dennis Wong
Block D. Ms. Fuller Dec. 4th
Why is education important to society? Would one be able to read without a successful teacher teaching one how to read? Education is a key that holds the ability to open many doors - doors which open into vast rooms of knowledge, love, experience, discovery, and dreams. Education is an essential to human living and a fulfilling life, but what happens when the path one takes is not the choice that one personally wants? In “University”, written by Leona Gom, and “Warren Pryor”, written by Alden Nowlan, the poems present both negative and positive effects of education on society.
The good intentions of the parents
…show more content…
Secondly, the characters possess different views regarding the effects of education. In “University”, the protagonist believes that he has become more educated compared to his parents, while in “Warren Pryor”, the protagonist feels as if education has degraded him. Warren Pryor describes himself as a “young bear inside his teller’s cage”. His job as a bank teller restricts him from what he really wishes to do; he wants to assist his parents on the farm. In contrast, the protagonist of “University” feels that “the day [he] left, [he] began to believe it. [His] knowledge fits [his] hands like a manicure too expensive to soil with the fact of these farms”. The protagonist describes how farm life is now inferior to his educated mind. However, education also affects the parents of the protagonists. When the parents of Warren witnessed him in his new job, “they blushed with pride. They marveled... He was saved from their thistle-strewn farm and its red dirt”. Warren’s parents were completely overwhelmed with joy at their son’s success in life, but were unaware of the fact that Warren was actually unsatisfied with his current lifestyle. The parents are not as concerned if Warren becomes distant from them due to the sacrifices that they have made to give Warren education. In contrast, the protagonist’s parents in “University” are aware that their child
Primary education, Supplemental tutoring, summer camps, secondary education, family activities, higher education, first full-time job, subsequent employment, present employment with the age of the person, present residence, second residences"(pp.336-340). He lets you look into the life of different people, some from upper-class families and some from lower class families. The reader can see for themselves that the way they are brought up, whether it is from and upper-class family or lower-class family, it affects them. It
John Spayde’s article What Does it Mean to Be Educated (June 1998) offers insight into the world of philosophical questions and studies of our educational system. Spayde shares and responds to the opinions of different novelists, journalists, professors, and colleges that have taken a stance on what it means to be educated. His article briefly covers topics such as; educational decisions, financial division, entitlement, humanities, and technology. Spayde also discusses the importance of being connected and learning from a real-life experience. Spayde believes that having a connection to the world around you allows you to use any experience as a learning mechanism to further your education.
Daniel. C Warren Pryor & The Bicycle Comparison Essay The Bicycle and Warren Pryor are two topics that have a lot in common, and a lot in contrast. These two topics have main characters that follow career paths, in the process having their parents sacrifice for their education. Hannah and Warren also sacrifice their own selves for their parents, Hannah not riding a bicycle, and Warren having to do a job that he doesn’t like.
It has been argued that University culture and education is slowly moving toward a schooling designed to please students that have little fire and passion, rather than “an educational institution designed for instruction and examination of students” as Oxford Dictionary defines it. Mark Edmundson 's "On the Uses of a Liberal Education" explains how university education is becoming ineffective due to the University’s “ever more devot[ion] to consumption and entertainment” (40) in American culture as well as the focus on pleasing privileged students who have inevitably been devoured by the same sense of commercialized consumption. Likewise, Sherman Alexie affirms the idea that university education is marketed toward the “elite” groups of students who are able to shop for and afford college in his story, “Saint Junior”. Alexie accomplishes this through his contrasting characters: Roman Fury, a member of the Spokane Tribe of Indians and valedictorian of Wellpinit High, and Alex Webber, a wealthy, white legacy, who doesn’t necessarily have the grades universities are looking for, but has no problem getting in anyway. While Edmundson and Alexie approach the conflict through different forms of writing, both authors argue that by way of commercialized American culture, universities have isolated students of various ethnicities and cultural backgrounds by gearing a college education in favor of students with a privileged status. Both Edmundson and Alexie argue this point, finding
Through the course of history within society, education has been the basis of all the knowledge we contan. Education and knowledge can be essential to our daily routines wherever we may be. We can use education in favor of many reasons such as political views, jobs, among society. According to Martin Luther King Jr, education’s purpose is to give discerning to one. To “distinguish truth from lies”. However, in MLK’s eyes it goes the other way around. Education has been lead to a path in which it is being used for the convenience of prejudices and the advantages of the superiority.
The instructor had the right to correct the misunderstanding of Richard, on the other hand, her choice of words and tone of voice was unforgivable. The overwhelming emotion to buy himself a daddy by quintupling his original amount caused him a grave mistake followed by a lesson he did not expect to learn at that moment. Her patience came to a halt when he offered a donation from his “daddy”. She then proceeded by slapping him with the cold truth by saying, “We are collecting this money for you and your kind, Richard Gregory. If your daddy can give fifteen dollars you have no business being on relief”, she then added, “We know you don’t have a daddy”. In that instance he became the center of attention. Helene quickly turned to see him with a teary eyes that showed sympathy towards him. There was much shame in the room, his eyes were full of tears which caused him to run away. From his perspective, it was as if everyone in the world witnessed his shame. His fellow classmates just felt sorry for him, but said nothing when the instructor lashed out at him. Now he understood that society was cruel to him by hosting their events such as the Worthy Boys Annual Christmas Dinner. It was if ignorance was a blessing rather than the harsh reality of his status. The jacket he received from welfare singled him out from the crowd not to mention it
Humanity often takes for granted the education we receive and don’t realize its effects on us. We fail to see that proper education reduces one’s gullibility, as those who receive training in critical thinking are less easily manipulated. In the novella Animal Farm by George Orwell, fascist rulers take advantage of the illiterate animals on the Manor Farm because they were oblivious to what was happening to them. Meanwhile, in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, citizens of a dystopian society have their access to education withheld from them, leaving them unable to think for themselves or properly assess their lives. In both works of literature, the author sees the importance of education being that illiteracy will leave one vulnerable to being manipulated due to their inability to thoroughly interpret and analyze situations with proper insight. In other words, being apathetic towards one’s education will only set them up for doom.
Nobody, like my grandmother was advocate for higher education. She always say in her little accent “Gyal, there ain’t nothing like dem books!” The public education availability in the United States, in my family eyes was a way to achieve your goals in life. But, my parents were very transparent of how hard it would be for someone with color of my skin. As a little girl, my family tried in any way they could to shelter us from all the prejudices of the world. They taught me to set my limits beyond the moon, surpass the sun, because there was no abolishment in learning, in accumulating as much knowledge as one can get. But, they also instilled that whatever I wanted in life I would have to earn it and it wasn 't going to be easy; I would have to fight the battle, and rise above the standards that were branded upon me.
I am currently looking for colleges that I would be interested in attending that meet my criteria. After researching many colleges and universities I have decided on the University of Montevallo and Troy University.
In addition, Keohane stressed the importance of contributing to the society that a person lives in. Despite the known virtues of solitary, being socially active is imperative in propelling and advancing societies. One must strike a balance between the two or otherwise, he or she will fall into the trap of passiveness or shallowness. By the end of the article, the author invokes Virgina wolf’s thoughts on education to inspire future generation to work harder and believe in themselves. As Wolf explained, women in modern days are fortunate to have right to education and innovation. A couple hundred years ago, it was impossible for women to flourish in academia due to the systematic injustice practiced against them on social and political levels. The author concludes her article by stressing the importance of liberal art degrees. Keohane argues that a liberal art education furnishes your mind with a wealth of information and critical thinking abilities, which will inevitably help you in any society you live
The whole theory of modern education is completely unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper class and probably lead to acts of violence,” (pg. 333, The Complete Plays, Poems,
Being the only female of all her children's father always believed his destiny was marry and form their own family, but he was wrong in his ideas, as she fifth grade while studying I inform you that their goals were to attend college and graduate, whom the father
In the narrative called ‘Scholarship Boy’, by Richard Rodriguez. One can say that the biggest turning point is when Mr. Rodriguez himself realizes, at the age of thirty. The biggest attribute to his success and determination is schooling as a young boy. This is when Mr. Rodriguez had to live two separate lives. One as a young boy eager and willing to learn and develop, and another as a son and sibling to his family. At the age of thirty he finally is able to come to terms with this fact and be able to talk about in public and not have to keep it bottled up any longer. During this time in his life he is writing his dissertation and finds a written piece by Richard Hoggarts called, ‘The Scholarship Boy’. At this point in his life he sees that he is not alone with his life struggles. This was figuratively like lifting weights off of Mr. Rodriguez’s shoulders, you can see how while telling this part of the story stress is taken off of him. It is interesting to see that during the entire narrative Mr. Rodriguez seems unappreciative and ungrateful for the life his parents had given him. He is obviously resentful to the idea that his parents didn’t appreciate or value the idea of education, or at the very least learning the primary language of a country they moved to. Nothing in the story states that they were ignorant parents and didn’t know how to do simple math, the struggle that kept his parents from being able to give Mr. Rodriguez the attention and affection but most of all
The notion that education has a transformative power is one that is universal (Ranson, 1994: 3). It is a notion that is embedded in our collective consciousness; from the American Dream articulated by Presidents (Obama, 2005: 136), to being cherished as a means of social mobility in the slums of India (Goswami & Manna, 2013: 19). From being an idea that seeks to revolutionise the favelas of Brazil (Freire, 1974), to being a part of the ethos of the oldest public schools in England (Cowley, 2013). This idea, that education has transformative power, transcends traditional political divisions, and exists
Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Parents, nowadays, pressure children to study hard and be the top of their class. Many believe that having a good education will make the child learn more which will make them successful in the future. The story The Rejection exaggerates the ideal that, “Education of a child will determine the success in the future.” In this story, it shows what world we live in today, which is a fast-paced world. From writing in stones, to writing with paper and pen, and to typing everything in the computer, many things have drastically change from the very start of how education was.