Sinedu's Response To Harvard: Summary

Every higher institution of learning has their own set of myths and history. Some of them may be vaguely true and some may be highly influential. The history of the institution may have a negative effect on those who look to apply or be a part of the institution. The history of a place sets the epitome of future enrollees. Some of the ghosts that haunt any college may have an extremely negative impact on how they are viewed today. This negative perception of the university can lead to strong economic deficits. Throughout trying to combat negative concepts that are thrust upon an institution, they have resolved issues of ethics, violence and, to most importantly, boost cohesion and moral.

In this chapter, bell hooks describes her experience with class privilege in college. Her race and socioeconomic status made her stick out from her classmates, which made her a target for their stares and torments. Her financial situation also made it hard for her to get into a college that she felt comfortable at. Hooks’ struggles ultimately made college hard for her, and left her feeling bitter and troubled about her achievements.

Karen Ho, in “Biographies of Hegemony” explains how investment bankers, the high forces on Wall Street, influence undergraduates while negatively contributing to societal norms. In “The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan,” Ethan Watters illustrates and explains how the Western conception of an illness has been deliberately exported to Japan. In both of these texts, there is a clear overlap between the themes of cultural narratives and personal choices. Cultural narratives in a given society help shape the community and allow an individual to get a better understanding of the general principals and societal norms. For examples, narratives such as a culture of smartness in Ho’s essay and marking strategies in Watters’ essay, allow an

Leading a meaningful life meant breaking away from the fear of criticism or rejection; conforming to society limits Illgunas’ definition of life. Illgunas’ suburban upbringing makes the danger of social conformity clear to him. Surrendering to society would consequently cause him to completely lose himself. After graduating from high school, Illgunas and his classmates follow the conventional path towards a higher education. Illgunas explains, “My high school class and I moved like a school of fish: we graduates were capable of going off on our own, in whatever direction we chose, but something demanded we all swim as one…” (6-7). Parallel to the claim Illgunas makes, graduates that do not attend college are stigmatized. Society has created a paradigm: after graduating high school, students should attend a traditional four year university, and then enter the “career world.” In Illgunas’ perspective, people in

In his work entitled “The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts”, journalist and author Alfred Lubrano poses the question of how receiving education can lead to a harsh reality. Lubrano explains that as a child works toward a higher education, there are certain aspects of life they are forced to leave behind as they enter into a new existence. According to Lubrano’s statement, “At night, at home, the differences in the Columbia experiences my father and I were having was becoming more evident” (532). Additionally, Lubrano states, “We talked about general stuff, and I learned to self-censor. I’d seen how ideas could be upsetting, especially when wielded by a smarmy freshman who barely knew what he was talking about” (533). In answering this question, Lubrano must explore the types of conversations that occurred with other family members, the disconnection from his peers, and how segregating himself from his family

If Liz Murray's considerably difficult life was caused by an epidemic failure of standard institutions, then her amazing recovery is also caused by an institutional support system that she was able to take advantage of. The paradoxical nature of Murray's existence is detailed in sharp, vivid focus in her autobiographical accounting, Breaking Night. The author was able to surmount the failure of her family, of social institutions, and of the education system by resuming her faith, and her efforts, in education to eventually graduate from Harvard in a tradition of success that is as undeniably American as it is triumphant. However, it is highly interesting to note the role that institutions played in Murray's tale, which ends with a moral that suggests conventional American institutions are only as good as one decides to make them.

[Fridman contrasts the ideals of the nerd and of American culture by seeing how they stand up at one of the most prestigious academic institutions: Harvard.] Fridman proclaims that even at Harvard “there is a minority of undergraduates for whom pursuing knowledge is the top priority” (lines 15-17). Many Americans see Harvard as the college attended by the best of the brightest and would expect it to have a nerdy atmosphere, however this is not the case. It is a shocking revelation for Americans to learn how the anti-intellectual culture has seeped into every part of an American’s life: from kindergarten to college. Therefore, Fridman manipulates these perplexed and shocked emotions to prompt Americans to agree with him through his statement “enough is enough,” (line 29). Furthermore, he does this to demonstrate how Americans do not want to learn for the sake of learning and only desire to attend college so they can get a better job and make more money than valuing the education they are receiving.

Delpit further examines the university life of students in part four of the book. She concentrates on invisibility issues and dis-identification within the universities. This is an issue faced by many black students in campuses. She connects this issue of invisibility to the racism faced in institutions in the American society that undermines blacks. A vivid example is the disastrous effort to rescue people during Hurricane Katrina. Delpit uses this connection to black university students to support the fact that, the claims of invisibility and the mundane insults subjected to minorities lead to the differences in graduation numbers between the white and the black students.

Social status often establishes one 's credibility and integrity within a society. The power that social status has, encourages people to heavily focus on it. With this focus on social status ever pressing, one’s identity often gets intertwined with and reliant on their place in the hierarchy of society. People become fixated on one idea they have of a person in a certain social class, that anybody who breaks out of specific stereotypes may often cause anger amongst others. In the short story “Greenleaf” by Flannery O’Connor, the main character, Mrs. May, is obsessive about the way others perceive her and her place in society. Mr. May’s identity is so strictly tied to her desire to get to a higher social class and her notions how society

Growing up as a kid, Mengestu’s assimilation into American culture leads him to be isolated at home. This is made clear when he declares, “It's easy to see now how even as a family we were isolated from one another-my parents tied and lost to their past; my sister and I irrevocably assimilated” (76). In a household where the cultural difference between him and his parents is growing, the lack of a present Ethiopian culture affected his connection to his parents’ experience as Ethiopian immigrants. His belief that identity is inherited from a place of origin leads him to become aware of the differences at home. As a result, Mengestu seems to regret the

With her dedication, Junyi was able to become Claudia at the end of her transfer program. However, in retrospection, why did Junyi not succeed in becoming Claudia in her American high school A but succeed in high school B? Not only was her effort necessary in this transform, but the environment is also pivotal. At least in the second school, there were students interested in meeting Junyi the half way and providing social support to get her involved in the community. In her first community, people were indifferent and unconcerned about who she was. Even Junyi paid a lot effort, she still felt isolated, isolated by the environment. A community that participates in her new identity and is willing to reach out to her makes a huge difference and

The discourse of “incest” is considered almost universally as taboo and so is the study of the phenomena of sexual relations between closely related individuals in its diverse manifestations. Literary texts at length have tried to explore incest as social and psychological deviance but the discussion moves to the margins of the narrative into unspoken or rather “unspeakable” territory. The mainstream discourse prevents the writers from representing and speaking about the theme of incest explicitly. It remains restricted to a marginal space and can be understood only through a deep exploration of the individual characters and the narrative style of the text.

Higher Learning is a book made into a film which carries deep social and cultural issues that has plagued America since the time of its establishment. In this book, the author John Singleton sheds light on the never ending issues of education, racist, sexual abuse; social class, gender, and sexual orientation are faced head on. As a collection of freshman college students from all different walks of life they all come as one at Columbus University having to clash with stereotypes and prejudice in a new atmosphere. For illustration in the book, a ordinary white teenager from Idaho has a culture shock at his new school joins a Nazi bunch of criminals because they are the first friends he made,

Man is a product of the culture in which he is born and brought up. For the same reason, no one can negate the influence of the society in forming one’s personality. I am well aware of the fact that my views, thoughts, and attitude have been shaped by the society I live in; hence, any attempt to sketch my personal experiences would be incomplete without referring to the part played by my surroundings. Throughout my life, I have paid utmost importance to initiating and maintaining interpersonal relationships with others. I had to face varied situations out there, both joyous and depressing. However, each instance was a great lesson for me to learn several things about my practical life – I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I say that I have learned more outside the four walls of my classroom than within them. My autobiography is closely associated with my social connections including my experiences with my family, educational institution, and the larger society I reside within.

Then the time finally came for her to leave England, she made the decision to continue with her education at Yale law school. This move to a different culture and away from Jones was one that sent her spiraling. The voices, evil thoughts, and hallucinations became worse than ever before. Once she arrived at Yale trouble was already knocking at her doorstep, it was there that she had her first psychotic break in front of other people. She began too say wild things while studying with two of her classmates in the library, “let’s all go out on the roof. It’s OK. It’s safe.” (136) This behavior was enough to scare her classmates out of associating with her.