Full Class Workshop Draft Reviews

Derek Swanson had an overall great story. I felt that I can relate to his family's struggle of how to support themselves financially during the Great Recession of 2008. He can use some development in his introduction when he mentions America does not have a great history. I love how he gives an overview of American history by talking about the Civil War and the Roaring Twenties leading to the recession before starting his narrative. I would have liked to see some more detail in his narrative such as what job did his dad have before the recession and to explain how he felt when he found out that his family was given the ultimatum to catch up on the mortgage or move out. He also mentions "there are certain lessons that only a father can teach his son" which can use some more development as he mentions he was taught to be the man, but what specifically did his dad teach him in order to be strong? One thing I noticed is that sometimes he says "dad" in places where it sounds like it should be "my dad". Having "Dad" is acceptable, but it has to be capitalized since it replaces the dad's name (Ex: after that, Dad/[his name]....). There were a few grammatical errors, but they were not distracting. Overall, his paper is in the later stages of writing an essay that can use more development in general and it answers the essay question of what being an American means to him. Keep up the great work, Derek!

Kerschner also did a great job explaining how come the first word that comes into mind when hearing America is freedom. I love how he introduces the thought of how people have different perspectives on what the United States is as a country since this is exactly what we are exploring when writing this essay. One thing that stood out to me was how he uses Albert Einstein's quote and incorporates it into his narrative on how America represents that quote and how he wants to act upon that in his teaching career, but I would have liked to see him expand on it. Giving an example of how if someone was forced into a job that is difficult for them, they might feel put down. Something that I found very unique was that he presented a counterargument when mentioning freedom of education, even though it is mandatory by law to go to school until you're 16. He mentions how people may have this thought, but he explains why he is right since education ultimately gives you a greater opportunity to get a better job. I would have liked to see this counterargument further developed by further explaining the importance of having a basic education. Maybe a historical example of how poor people stayed poor because they could not afford education or maybe even enslaved African Americans who struggled to gain their right to vote since they could not read. Overall, his paper does a nice job answering what America means to him, but just needs some development.

Hirsch Summary and Provenzo

In the preface of his book, Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, E.D. Hirsch talks about various theories about education and how those theories no longer fit with today’s society. Hirsch opens his preface explaining how cultural education is important in order to be successful. According to Hirsch, the educational system has failed to help expand cultural literature due to the corrupt curriculums based on faulty educational theories. Hirsch takes a pause to mention how his ideas have been endorsed and to explain to readers a concept in which liberals are fighting against. Liberals believe Hirsch is trying to force kids to read certain books. But, that is not the case. Hirsch believes that cultural literacy can be represented by a descriptive list of information that should be passed onto children. Further on, Hirsch explains Rousseau’s Educational Theory about not forcing adult ideas onto kids until they are naturally ready. Another philosopher, John Dewey, also affects modern American educational theory. According to Hirsch, he states that Dewey trusted kids way to learn on their own way too much believing that children only need the general experiences to obtain efficient skills. Later on, Hirsch talks about Plato who believed specific content is the most important part of education. Hirsch praises Plato for acknowledging so, but Plato assumed philosophy would be the best way to pass on cultural literacy. Hirsch disagrees with Rousseau and Dewey about adult culture being “unnatural” for kids since it is important for them to learn early on. Hirsch talks about the anthropological view which stresses about the importance of effective communication with others in the community which begins with the sharing of that specific information to kids.

What motivates Provenzo as a writer?
He is a professor who believes education is a phenomena as opposed to Hirsch who believes there needs to be a new national curriculum

What does he want readers to think about?
Hirsch's idea of a different curriculum being possible to establish and if it is logical

Who is Provenzo's main audeince?
People interested in Hirsch's idea

What is Provenzo's main point?
Hirsch saying there is no national curriculum is not meant to say there is none, but to establish one that reflects what he believes about culture and ideology

Blog Work 3

I found Crevocoeur’s opening line to Letters From an American Farmer very interesting. He starts off saying, “I wish I could be acquainted with the feelings and thoughts which must agitate the heart and present themselves to the mind of an enlightened Englishman, when he first lands on this continent” which made me at first unsure about his feelings about America (pg 58). When first looking at it, I thought he was not satisfied with his life in America given that in his biography it said he returned to France where he stayed for the rest of his life. But, has I continued reading, Crevocoeur seems to be praising the new land for have creating their own identities as Americans and that the rich live not too far from the poor. Life in the American colonies was then said to be a modern society due to the coming together of people from different countries and different social status and also the lack of aristocracy.

Another point I would like to mention is that on page 61, to me it felt as if there was a change in subject. Recently he mentioned how he has great respect “for the accuracy and wisdom with which they have settled their territory…” (pg 60). But on the next page, Crevocoeur in a way bashes Britain that it does not take care of their citizens. There are citizens that are left starving, whose farms become unsuccessful to harvest, jailed and punished, frowned upon by the rich. I understand that these citizens who were poorly treated in Britain may have gotten motivation to sail to The Colonies because of it, but I just do not understand how this idea flows with the previous statement.

Crevocoeur also mentions the Latin phrase Ubi panis ibi patria which is what emigrants would say. I could not understand what this phrase means. I wish it were explained by either Crevocoeur himself or maybe even Diane Ravitch could have explained this phrase in the introductory paragraph before the Letter. After looking it up on Google, I was able to learn that it means “Where there is bread, there is my country” which now makes sense.

Blog Work 2

I never read the Declaration of Independence in my elementary classes, therefore I went into reading the Declaration of Independence with an open mind. I knew that the main purpose of the document was to stand up to King George III exclaiming that the colonists no longer want to be under British control, instead they want to be considered as “Free and Independent States”. What I did not know is that this document was edited many MANY times before the final draft came. Also, I found it surprising that the Declaration of Independence is basically a document thats calls out on King George III a tyrant for the list of reasons that are mentioned such as imposing taxes, no protection if there were to be an invasion, cutting off trade from all other countries. The other readings seem to be important to America’s history because they lay down the foundations of this country. They mention what the colonists had planned for this country such as having a government that will be controlled by the governed and officials not having a greater power over the people. This is still true today since U.S. citizens can talk to their representatives to impeach leaders if they seem to not be doing what the people expected for them to do to make life enjoyable and safe.

My favorite reading so far in American Reader would have to be The Slave Appeal by John Dickenson. Before the actual text, it was mentioned that 9-12 million of Africans were forced to leave their families under brutal conditions to go to the Americas. I learned about the Slave Trade in my U.S. History course in high school, but that number just seems significant. I also found it interesting that it was mentioned that even during the colonial era, not every colony or settler approved of slavery. Some white colonists actually cared for these African Americans being forced into physical labor. Dickenson did a great job explaining how they were deprived of anything positive. The thoughts of marriage or having children was not common for them. Even if they did have kids, they were usually taken away from them and sold off to be slaves elsewhere.

• American flag
• National anthem
• Baseball
• Citizens
• Voting
• Democracy
• President
• Idk
• Idk
• Idk
• Idk
• Government
• Race issues
• Blanking
• Blanking blanking blanking
• Red
• White
• Blue
• Washingtom
• Abraham lincoln
• American revolutin
• Colonies
• Boston tea party
• Sugar tax
• Ummmmmmmmmmmm
• Civil war
• Slavery
• Trade
• Constitution
• Bill of rights
• Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
• Im blanking out
• Education
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of press
• Freedom of religion
• Gun control laws
• World wars
• Blank blank blank blank blanak blank blank blank
• Native americans
• Madison
• Franklin
• Monroe
• Quincy adams
• Jeffersom
• Taft
• Woodrow wilson
• Fdr
• Kennedy
• Bush
• Obama
• Trump
• Immigrants
• American dream
• Diversity
• DACA
• Idk idk idk idk idk idk idk idk  idk i dk i dkidk idk idk idk
• English language
• Ummmmmmm im hungry
• Fast food restaurants
• Mcdonalds
• Burgers
• Fries
• Sundaes
• Coffee
• Starbucks
• Barbeque
• Fourth of july
• Hot dogs
• Grilling
• Fireworks
• Loud
• Colorful
• Idk idk idk idk idk idk idk idk i dk idk ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
• Im really stuck now
• I do not know
• Okay were done now

Blog Work 1

Valuing complexity may help to further investigate what is being taught in the classroom. When presented information that sparks interests in class, one can look further into it by reading about it in the textbook. Getting that information can inspire one to come up with other insightful questions which others can answer and it can lead to the expansion of learning. By understanding a topic’s complexity, one can learn and understand the subject in a greater way. Valuing complexity as a citizen can helpful when deciding which candidate to vote for. When a question is stated about a certain issue, for example what the candidate would do to help global warming, one can look at how each candidate would handle the issue and learn more about global warming and can decide which candidate best suits one’s beliefs. Not only does complexity help decide which candidate to vote for, but it also expands our knowledge about the issue at hand.

Binary thinking is when a person only considers two options or explanations for a certain situation. A simple situation that I have been a part of that is considered binary thinking is deciding if I want pizza or burgers for dinner. That kind of thinking shows that there are only two options; nothing else can be considered. No pasta or soup or noodles for dinner. I could have thought what I wanted to eat for dinner, opening up many other options besides pizza or burgers. Another example of binary thinking can occur when deciding to wear either a red or blue sweater. No other sweaters are considered or even the possibility of not wearing a sweater because it may be too warm out.

Who are you as a writer?

Writing has not been a simple task for me throughout my life. When writing essays I always struggled to expand my thoughts about a topic. I am able to connect my sources to my essay but never really been able to go in depth in explaining the source and being specific about how it relates to the essay I am writing. This not only has been a problem for me in writing but also when communicating with others. I have the ideas in my brain but do not know how to get the right words out in order for someone to completely understand my thoughts. I have been trying my best to explain myself more in essays , but it has not been easy. Recently in College Writing 1, I have begun to get the hang of further explaining and adding my own meaning to what my source is saying and really trying to show ways as in how the source fits perfectly in showing my thesis.

Not only do I struggle to explain further in essays, but also free writing such as this is not easy for me. I have to always pause to think about what i am going to write or else i would end up repeating myself or just sitting and writing a bunch of nonsense. I feel that my mind just randomly blanks out when im trying to free write. I know i should just be writing what is on my mind but usually when im writing, all i think about is really how much this stinks and i would rather be laying in bed watching Netflix. I am also a bit of a perfectionist so the idea of ignoring all the grammar or punctuation errors really bothers me during free writing.

What does it mean to be a citizen of this country?

Being a citizen of the United States means that not only do you permanently live here, but you also take actions to improve the country. You participate in elections, not just presidential and help out in the community. You want the best for the United States. Being a citizen here means that you are proud of where you live and that you are willing to fight for America. Being a citizen means that you help out economically by going to work and pay taxes to help improve the state and ultimately the country. Being a citizen means taking small steps to help everyone who lives around you eventually create a change that will benefit the country. Citizens will stand up for their leaders since the citizens are the ones that ultimately have the voice of deciding who their leader is. Citizens do not hurt each other when there is a disagreement on what is best for us. They sit down and come up with different solutions and determine what is ultimately the best option. Citizens in general are people who give themselves into a country and do whatever it is to improve life in this country. They do not just sit around and wait for something to happen. They are  active and are the reason there is change. Citizens work for themselves and for their community. They improve life by first making a change in their own lives. Being a citizen in this country requires to be open to helping the general public even if it is just a small act of kindness. That small act of kindness may be indeed small at first, but it can lead to others following that act and creating a positive trend to eventually make this place a great place to live.