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Your job is to write about how I have developed as a writer, I have work completed that you can read and quote it.
Teacher Rubric-
WRT 105: Cumulative Portfolio Assignment D. Smyth
Your last major assignment for WRT 105 is to complete a portfolio that analytically
reflects your progress in this course. You will want to do a good job on this task because
you will want to take it with you to college to demonstrate that you’ve accomplished
college level work, as you pursue credit for the course. In addition, it counts as 20% of
the course grade. Your reflection should fall between 3-4 pages and must follow usual
format.
Your portfolio will consist of a neatly arranged collection containing:
A cover page/table of contents that lists each item in the portfolio in the order it
appears.
A detailed, Reflexive Essay discussing your progress as a writer, thinker, student,
and person. This should also address each part of the portfolio, discussing what
the various assignments show about your progress and efforts.
It is necessary to cite your own papers in order to precisely analyze how your
writing and thinking have evolved over time.
The major papers you did for this course (Jumpstart, Analysis, Argument),
including and peer sheets, drafts WITH teacher comments, and rubrics.
Additional assignments: starting with summer assignment through now,
including dialogic journals, reading notes, class notes, free writes, invention
portfolio cover pages, etc.
No need to include hard copies of your research materials.
Anything else you feel would be revealing or helpful.
Alon Suberi Dr. Smyth
Assignment 1
Every person has different vocabulary. In “Rewriting” by Chris Harris he states, “to understand a text you need…to take the ideas and phrasings of the author and turn them into your own.” Learning to rephrase sentences into your own words will help you achieve a better understanding of the text. As well as to get the reader to question why the author decided to phrase it in the way that he did.
Assignment 2
One technique was questioning what stands out to you. For example, if you see repetition in the text, you should question why this is so important, and sometimes even, why it was said a specific number of times. The final technique is for the writer, and it is a 3 step process. Firstly you must communicate with the reader and get them on the same page as you are. The second step is to maintain focus on your message. And the third is to simply present the point with writing skill such as vocabulary and sentence structure One of the techniques discussed in chapter one was withholding your judgement (until the end of the text). If you add your opinions into the piece you will have trouble’s getting the true meaning because it was clouded by your meaning. This is something I struggle with but try to do every time I read a text because I have the tendency to believe that my views are the most accurate.
Assignment 3
The difference between reading a text and watching a film is very far from one another. In writing, a person must imagine a scene, the setting, and even the physical characteristics of the characters. However, in a video, everything is visually scene so there is no argument as to exactly how the film played out. I personally prefer films because when not having to focus on the setting of a place or scene, I can focus on the speech between characters to better understand their relationship.
Assignment 4
One of Ahmed’s claims are that a stranger equals threat. This is simply paranoia at its finest. Strangers (most of the time) are average people and asking them for the time is not a life or death situation. I have many times asked for someone to use their phone and most of the time they are hesitant, meaning they are scared that I will steal it. They are just as afraid as everyone else is so clearly there is not much danger in strangers. This does not mean trust them whole-heartedly. It just means that you do not need to avoid them at all costs. Another claim Ahmed makes is that he does not believe someone you do not recognize may not be a stranger. Google defines stranger as, “A person whom one does not know or whom they are not familiar with”. I just cannot agree with something that is supposed to enlighten me, yet it goes against the direct definition of the word he is trying to define.
Assignment 5
“Arts of the Contact Zone” talked about how the Spanish had taken over the Incan empire and had either excommunicated, or killed most of the population. We see a group of people with more money and power get rid of a group of people who they believed to be lesser than they are. This is similar to Mitchell’s argument where they general public almost want to get rid of the homeless in their area because they visually have a negative effect on their community.
Assignment 6
One connection between the texts is that Ahmed started with an almost personal account of encountering a stranger. Although the other 2 texts did not start in that exact personal text way, they still described a specific situation. Another connection is that whole meaning of something that the average reader understands is changed. Ahmed changes the definition of a stranger. And of course all 3 of them had relevant evidence to prove their message.
Assingment 7
For my essay I plan on talking about how my college public affairs class is a contact zone. This class usually gets heated due to differences in political views, and in a way many people are redefined as to who they are because of their political stance.
Assignment 8
Chapter 2 of Writing Analytically discussed how the average reader tends to generalize the message of a text before they finish it. This leads to the reader’s understanding of the text to be morphed because they believed it was a cliché text that has the same meaning as many others. Many times, this leads to a lack of general knowledge because they had thought they knew what the message of a text was, but it might have been something completely different.
Assignment 9
(PRATT) I use this term (contact zone) to refer to social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other.
PARAPHRASE 1- The definition of this phrase relates to place where people debate with one another
PARAPHRASE 2- The meaning of a contact zone is where groups of individuals try to make their point heard over the other.
PARAPHRASE 3- The words “contact zone” is defined as a geographical location that brings persons to claim the validity of their argument.
Assignment 10
June Jordan was a heavily decorated poet, teacher, and activist for both the women community and the African- American community. She is also well-known for her texts, describing the difficulty of translating literacies, especially from one language to another because sometimes there is not a direct translation for a phrase or word. She also explains that some literacies that seem like slang actually have a specific structure to it and it not as laid back as it may seem to outsiders.
Assignment 11
Almost all people are literate in more than 1 way. Unless this person is cocooned by the same group of people, they most likely have experienced a need to change literacies. A great example is the one listed on the website of NPR. When you are at work you tend to speak to people more grammatically correct because it is appropriate for that specific environment. However, when with another person or group of people, you may tend to be a little looser with your grammar because it is more fitting at that time. This is a change of literacy and changes are, most people have had to change their literacy at one point or another.
I have had to change literacies many times in my life in order to stay relevant to my environment. When I had lived in Brooklyn, I had adapted to the way people spoke to one another, a more laid back, grammatically incorrect way of speaking. However, when returning to Long Island and Hewlett High School, I had readapted to the more correct way of speaking. I speak grammatically correct because if I decide to speak with the literacy I do in Brooklyn, I may come off as unintelligent, or even rude. I visit Brooklyn often and still have to constantly change between those two specific literacies.
Assignment 12
After just reading the title, I had already understood that the grammar in the essay would not necessarily agree with the Standard English rules for grammar. I had assumed this is one of the reasons this text became so famous. I was beginning to lose interest until I had reached the part about Willie Jordan. He had a very specific history that made the article much more interesting to read. The article, overall, enlightens the reader and tells them that the Standard way of speaking English is not the only right way to speak. In fact, there are guidelines as to how to speak in the way that she did in her essay.
Her essay generally speaks to as many groups of society as possible. People who are well educated can catch on to the rules of the grammar and other, more urban readers, can understand it because it is in their everyday language. Although I did not really enjoy the essay, I thought her decision to write in this dialect was very clever and unique.
Assignment 13
Boyd discusses how teens on the internet may have a different persona than what they do in the real world. This is due to the fact that teens create an online identity for themselves with their audience in mind already. Their online name, comments, and activity are all selected to please the audience they intent to contact with. Boyd also talks about how their online profiles are like a combination of all the characteristics of the teen in real life. On one profile, they may be a gamer and on the other, they may be a political activist. All of the profiles have some correlation with who they are in the real world.
Assignment 14
This I believe is a website where people can share their core values that help them get through every day through writing and other methods of communication. It was founded in 2004 and is based on a 1950s radio station that read out loud essays from famous people. The website is not specific about who can write on their website but from my research it seems like almost anyone can write an essay there.
Assignment 15
I do not read blogs as I see them as a waste of time, but if I had to choose 3 that I would have to read they would be: 1. Health Blog- they will help motivate people to stay healthy and slim 2. Sports blog- have like-minded people read about sports they enjoy watching and playing. 3- blog that reviews products- will give an in depth review about a product that will either motivate or refrain people from buying it.
Assignment 16
One point in chapter 4 that humored me and enlightened me was the so what questioning method. After reading a certain amount, you need to stop and ask “so what?” this will help the reader understand what is the meaning of the text. The author also discussed the differences between implications and hidden meanings. When a reader has a trigger in their brain that reminds them of something, chances are, the author intended for you to think that way. You must question why they triggered this thought into your brain and why it relates to the text. The hidden meaning of a text are things that are a litter harder to find, but the author really wants you to scour the text to find them as they aid to the pieces meaning. The author then goes on to discuss “interpretive context” you interpretation of the text may be different from the original author’s intentions. You must decide if your interpretation of the text is accurate, or if the intention of the author might be something else.
Assignment 17
After reading the text, I do believe that everything has meaning. If something does not have meaning, then why is it in the place that it is in in the first place? They say that a first impression takes seven seconds to be determined, and if something as trivial as you shirt triggers their first impression, then clearly even that had meaning for that specific amount of time.
Assignment 18
“The Banking Concept of Education” loosely depicts the environment of a school. A teacher must teach, yes, but a teacher must also sometimes be corrected by the students. Freire was way too specific as to how a school works and therefore I only partially can agree with him. Authorities of the school are not gods, they way he makes them sound to be. They are just authorities, and for the benefit of the student, the student listens because chances are it is better for them to do so.
Assignment 19
Plato’s, “The Allegory of the Cave” raises a question that many are afraid to know the answer to. Is there something in this world we do not know of or cannot see? Are we part of something much bigger than we are, such as a simulation? If so, is it better to not know we are part of some type of simulation and go on with our lives as we do now?
Assignment 20
In Araby a boy goes to Araby at the will of a girl he seems to like. At first he does not understand what is the purpose of going. The description of the setting was also very eerie and melancholy which made it seem like the boy was missing some type of purpose. After reaching Araby the boy is enlightened and understands the purpose of going to Araby. He then finally understands his purpose of going to the market.
Alon Suberi
Dr.Smyth
Cultural Resistance Mini Dialogue
Symere Woods (or Lil Uzi Vert) a very well-known modern day rapper and O’Shea Jackson (Ice Cube), American rapper infamously remembered as the star rapper for NWA and Da Lench Mob, meet to discuss the influence artists had on people and how rap today impacts peoples live in the modern world.
O’Shea Jackson: I feel like as a rapper, I spoke for a culture that was left unheard. The masses of America tried to ignore black communities, even though people who were raised in those communities were dominating radio billboards in attempt to be heard. The general trend today seems to lean toward artists who talk about taking dangerous drugs and driving sports cars while the main purpose of rap and hip-hop was to tell people that African Americans were being discriminated against and still are being discriminated against. Because the voice of activists in the rapper’s industry had started to fade away and modern rap took its place, others have protested and created movements in order to fill the void that was created with the disappearing of political rappers from the billboards.
Alon Suberi: I agree that modern rap has changed the general subjects discussed in rap, however this is because Gangster Rap was directly targeted to the African American people who were sick of the modern day social class system and wanted equality while today’s artists behave as if the fight for equality has been won. In order to keep the movement for equality going groups that are willing to protest for equality (such as Black Lives Matter) have been created as well as Colin Kaepernick’s controversial kneeling during the national anthem because he does not believe the anthem stands for all people of America.
Symere Woods: Clearly the black grammar laws and culture is often frowned upon by other cultures but artists should not always publish music that divides a nation. Violent lyrics in rap music in the 90s caused people to riot and caused many deaths. Why should people return to listening to a style of music that could put their friends and family at risk as opposed to listening to modern music which does not stir as much conflict?
Alon Suberi: Because rap still has a very strong influence on society. Much of rap used to be about marijuana until laws and bills were passed to allow its use in many states. And now the hip-hop culture has taken a turn for the worst where it mostly discusses the use of very addictive drugs and living a high-end lifestyle. As a result America has had the largest Heroin crisis in years as well as an opioid addiction crisis as well.
O’Shea Jackson: Modern day rappers do not realize that they have the power to determine what is considered socially acceptable and what is not. If an artist says do drugs many of the listeners will go out to do drugs because they now want to because the rapper claimed it is socially acceptable. That is just unacceptable because many of these rappers act as a role model for success yet their impact on society is very negative to their mainly young audience.
Symere Woods: The overall message modern hip-hop sends out today does not involve fighting for equality because once other groups took the reins to battle for equality (such as Black Lives Matter) hip-hop could focus on other messages rather than to constantly pressure people with politics and what you believe the social construct should be. The youth of America responded very positively to the music’s meaning because the message was no longer specific to only the African-American culture but also to many other cultures.
Alon Suberi: Hip-hops original purpose was to tell everyone that black people are just like everyone else but are discriminated against because of their color. They are stuck in schools that are not good enough to give them a promising future in education or vocation and bullied by police for their race. Now that hip-hop’s core message has been morphed into something else have you not in a way taken the spotlight from a matter that still bothers the public today?
Symere Woods: I believe some artists (such as Deandre Cortez Way or Soulja) already made way for other cultures to enjoy hip-hop rather than isolate it only to one group of people. If anything new hip hop did not steal the message of old hip hop, it just refined its original meaning to fit all the cultures that listen to hip-hop nowadays. There are also subcultures in hip-hop where rappers discuss their political believes.
O’Shea Jackson: Yes but rather than to tell people about unimportant things and bringing more of an audience you should attract your audience to the social issues our country most of all faces. Racism is still a worldwide issue and is very much so in America so using your publicity for the equality for blacks could be so much more beneficial to the social system and perhaps one day remove the modern caste system in our society.
Alon Suberi
Dr. Smyth
Period 10
Hip Hop/Rap; More than Cultural Resistance, but a Way of Life
At first, Hip Hop’s original purpose was simple, culturally resist all the pressures of life and dance while listening to music. The lyrics from what is classified as the first hip-hop song (The Sugarhill Gang- Rapper’s Delight, 1979) mostly discussed“moving to the beat”, and was recorded in one take according to the artists, something that would come off as a very odd subject to one who has only started to listening to hip hop recently. Social Rap from its origins, that which has characterized rap – and hip hop culture of which it is part – is its condition of marginality, as it arises from an oppressed and segregated social segment that carries strong social stigmata. Therefore, as being embedded within an unequal socio-political framework and fighting against injustices created by that system, rap is a form of resistance. Shortly after the hip-hop genre was established, the icons of cultural resistance had appeared. This subgenre of rap is commonly referred to as “Gangsta Rap” and culturally resisted a multitude of social aspects that people were just beginning to get used to such as the modern social caste system, where majority of African-Americans do not receive the same opportunities that many others do due to nationwide racism. When the term cultural resistance is brought up in today’s world, people usually discuss acts of protest, or violence, or groups who are willing to change social constructs despite the reaction the general public may have. Most interest groups (like Black Lives Matter) were empowered by the movement in the 90s. If the Los Angeles riots started to reform the Black underclass status, then why can’t groups protest and reach the same goal in a more modern/civilized world 30 years later?
What many people do not understand today about modern rap is that artists explain a lifestyle of drugs and guns because they have lived that way growing up and were continuously exposed to that type of environment. The artists feel that because they have been exposed to so much success, they must “credit their sources” and give a shout-out to friends and family who have not made it as far as they have. This does not necessarily mean that these rappers abuse these drugs today. In fact, many rappers admit they used to take drugs but have discontinued their usage or went to rehabilitation since their upgrade in lifestyle such as, Eminem, Flavor Flav, and Gucci Mane. What modern day Hip-Hop offers is a false sense of cultural resistance as opposed to the cultural resistance of 30 years ago, which fought against inequality, and is still being fought for by many today.
The most predominant rap group that slingshotted millions in America to culturally resist the unfair treatment of Black was NWA, a group of 4 African-Americans who did not sugarcoat any of the issues that they had faced at the time. However, rappers of the time refuse to call this genre of hip-hop Gangsta Rap. in fact, from the point of view of these artists this is not Gangsta Rap, but rather Reality Rap, as this is not just a way to express what they think, but what they genuinely face. Dr. Dre, the producer of NWA was interviewed in 1993 and he states, “If I’m promoting violence, they’re promoting it just as much as I am by focusing on it in the article. That really bugs me out — you know, if it weren’t going on, I couldn’t talk about it. And who came up with that term gangsta rap anyway?” As one of the icons of Rap in the 90s, he clearly is insulted by referring to his art as the acts of a “Gangsta”. This music was a way to respond to the acts of violence police would commit in order to stop a criminal who did not understand that the music is supposed to prevent people from behaving in such a matter. According to statistics, crime rate increased in Compton, where majority of Reality Rappers originated. In the 1980s, when hip-hop was born, the total amount of violent crimes that year was 2,194, what seems to be a remarkably large number for one year. When the subgenre of Reality Rap was established, that number had jumped by nearly 1,000 crimes, with a total amount of violent crimes totalling 3,143. This may now seem like the music at the time triggered violent crimes, and that may be true. However, if people had referred to them as realists rather than rappers, is it possible that that dynamic would have changed?
The song most notoriously known for triggering the listeners of rap was a single called “F— tha Police”. The name itself can trigger a lot of controversy, however, it is the first amendment of this nation to speak freely without consequence. In the 1989 Detroit concert performed by NWA this right was challenged. In the Detroit Press, a local newspaper in close proximity to where the incident occurred, the night started and ended as followed, “the rappers are warned before taking the stage at Joe Louis Arena not to perform the controversial anthem, “F— tha Police.” One very stern officer says, “Just watch yourself.” The group makes a stand for free speech and starts performing the song anyway. Then Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and the other members are chased out of the arena by the cops and thrown into a police van”. In our slightly more evolved society today, we know that the police have no right to arrest people who are using their words, a right given from the same people who culturally resisted being dominated by a country from across the world and used violence in order to break free from Colonial control.
Rappers and Hip Hop stars in the past decade have seem to evolve into lifestyle ambassadors. Increased influence over adolescence, especially over lower income communities where youth look up to the music stars living “the life”. Subsequently every teenager wants to be high off of something and straddle around in expensive designer clothing, like Future, 2 Chainz etc…) “Codeine”, Promethazine, Lean, these party drugs are becoming ever so popular in our society. If you look back 20 years or so ago, and asked kids in middle or high school what they wanted to be, you’d probably hear “doctor, lawyer, astronaut”. Today you’d probably get more rambunctious answers. In a time period where everyone dyes their hair ecstatic colors and where everyone is on SoundCloud, in an attempt to be heard and maybe make it as a rapper, it may seem ludicrous and superficial, but there’s more to it than that. It’s a lifestyle under Hip Hop that is a manifestation of today’s type of cultural resistance.
AlonSuberi Dr.Smyth
Period 10
Reality; Truth or Perspective?
How can a person determine that the reality they experience is the same reality as the neighbor next-door? To clarify, let’s make the assumption that in some other place in the universe, there is a planet where people are all born color blind. Grass is red, fire is green, and to them this seems completely natural. If one of these people are to come to Earth, they will argue with everyone that the grass of the front lawn is red and ponder as to how these people be can be so certain that grass is green when to him is appears red. No one can prove to this person that the grass is truthfully green nor can this person prove the opposite because of one simple fact, you cannot define a color without using the actual color that it seems to be. Or does this only hold true in our reality? To us defining a color is impossible without using an object that has that specific pigment, but what if in another reality one can define a color with words or some other form of communication? Reality at this point in time, seems to be impossible to define without using what is generally considered to be reality by that person, just defining what a color is, remains nonviable. Actuality is almost an opinion people form as they experience life for themselves, which is further proven by Morpheus when he gives Neo a reality ultimatum and tells him, “You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.” Morpheus makes it very clear that the truth is only what one believes it to be, just like one could believe chocolate is the best flavor of ice cream or dogs are superior to cats. Most importantly, this raises an essential question, is reality just a set of facts and ideas that people tend to follow? Or, is it just a matter of belief?
Plato makes a great argument as to how reality differs from person to person in “The Allegory of the Cave”. In Socrates’ conversation with Glaucon, Socrates asks (paragraph 22), “He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of the sun by day? This rhetorical question supports the idea that in Plato’s text, there are 3 different realties all in very close proximities. First, is the most palpable, the men imprisoned in a cave and can see nothing but obscurities and a dim fire that helps project them. In their opinion shadows and their fellow inmates around them are all that is real. The next, is the truth that the general public believe reality to be. The third and final reality in this circumstance, is the man who is let free from the cave, who can point out starts at night to the public that they cannot see simply because the man is has been accustom to low lighting for such an extensive period of time. His whole perception of the truth differs from the average person as he is blinded by the sun, yet has enhanced vision in the night. It may seem obvious to an ordinary person that the newly released prisoner would prefer to exist outside of the cave, however, this may not seem as clear at second glance. This inmate received food and water all at the expense of someone else and they did not have to worry about conforming to their society because their society was so small that the reality they believed in were all very similar. Now that he has been exposed to another world, he must find an alternative way to feed and clothe himself. He must conform to a new reality that is far different from the one he is used to. The life in the cave may have suited him better, and for that specific reason he may want to believe that his relinquishment was a nightmare and that soon he will wake up in the reality that he believes to be the truth. Cypher, for example, seemed to much rather have stayed in The Matrix because the reality he had known was difficult for him to cope with and he would have rather stayed in the cave, like in the hypothetical circumstance of the man who had difficulty feeding himself outside of his dimmed world. In attempt to return to The Matrix system Cypher has a conversation with Agent Smith and tells him [Referring to the conditions he will want when he returns to The Matrix], “I don’t want to remember nothing, nothing, you understand? And I want to be rich, you know, someone important, like an actor.” In Cypher’s opinion, an extravagant life is a great escape from the horrifying reality outside of The Matrix. He would rather change trade his reality for one that will make his life easier. Agent Smith believes the reality he is trapped in is a dreadful, rotten place to be. When attempting to break Morpheus’ mind to acquire the key codes to Zion he states, “I’m going to be honest with you. I hate this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality, whatever you want to call it. I can’t stand it any longer. It’s the smell, if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink, and every time I do I fear that I have somehow been infected by it. It’s repulsive, isn’t it? I must get out of here. I must get free, and this mind is the key, my key!” Agent Smith clearly cannot stand living inside The Matrix and because he knows there is a reality other than his own, he is determined to be there, almost as if his reality is based on where he would rather be. This proves reality is simply not things as one see’s them, because people seem to have the tendency to see things differently as the cave prisoner does from the rest of society. Very clearly, reality is based on a matter of opinion, and there are many conflicting positions as to what their reality is simply because it suits them more comfortably.
Since reality has been established to have absolutely no meaning, how does one cope with their reality in life recognizing the fact that actuality is simply based on opinion and convenience? Pratt’s “Art of the Contact Zone” gives some guidance as to how cope with people’s alternate views on reality and how that guides people to find what their true reality is. Pratt describes what the ultimate method for people to become knowledgeable is, and it is much simpler than one would think. Pratt claims (paragraph 36-37), “The very nature of the course [referring to her son’s course] put ideas and identities on the line. All the students in the class had the experience, for example, of hearing their culture discussed and objectified in ways that horrified them; all the students saw their roots traced back to legacies of both glory and shame; all the students experienced face-to-face the ignorance and incomprehension, and occasionally the hostility, of others. In the absence of community values and the hope of synthesis, it was easy to forget the positives; the fact, for instance, that kinds of marginalization once taken for granted were gone. Virtually every student was having the experience of seeing the world described with him or her in it. Along with rage, incomprehension, and pain there were exhilarating moments of wonder and revelation, mutual understanding, and new wisdom– the joys of the contact zone. The sufferings and revelations were, at different moments to be sure, experienced by every student. No one was excluded, and no one was safe. The fact that no one was safe made all of us involved in the course appreciate the importance of what we came to call “safe houses.” We used the term to refer to social and intellectual spaces where groups can constitute themselves as horizontal, homogeneous, sovereign communities with high degrees of trust, shared understandings, temporary protection from legacies of oppression. This is why, as we realized, multicultural curricula should not seek to replace ethnic or women’s studies, for example. Where there are legacies of subordination, groups need places for healing and mutual recognition, safe houses in which to construct shared understandings, knowledges, claims on the world that they can then bring into the contact zone.” Pratt is telling the reader that the best way to learn is by questioning every little detail a person believes in, even if it offends them, because once you have full vision of what each person’s view of reality is, one can create their own opinion (reality). Learning by this method also is a great way to change literacies when needed and conform to society in order to avoid becoming an outcast of a specific society, for example a book club, or to people one is trying to impress. With this method, one can change realities more authentically to make life easier for them learn much faster as opposed to the conventional learning environment, which is leaning towards the Freire’s “The Banking Concept of Education” where (paragraph 2), “The teacher talks about reality as if it were motionless, static, compartmentalized, and predictable. Or else he expounds on a topic completely alien to the existential experience of the students. His task is to fill the students with the contents of his narration- contents which are detached from reality, disconnected from the totality endangered them and could give them significance. Words are emptied into the concreteness and become a hollow, alienated, and alienating verbosity.” If education wants students to develop their own opinion, would it not be obvious that a student must see all views of the subject rather than to tint views with an unbiased assessment, and question it over and over in order to find clarity, or perhaps a fault in the ideology? Forming one’s reality is very important but it cannot be accomplished properly if scholars cannot see all views.
In today’s world, it is unacceptable to challenge a person, or the values that they stand for because every issue has become too sensitive. The general public is too worried about who is offending their personal views or their reality rather than embrace questioning and criticism in order to better understand what they stand for as well as what other people believe. By questioning what a person believes in with critical thinking, people will learn that many aspects of their reality may need to be rebuffed or perhaps dropped altogether. Because these people are too focus on staying in groups where everyone has the same views, people become stuck in their own reality. June Jordan, for example, helped translate many texts into different languages and expresses the difficulty of translating entire texts into different languages. She was praised for her work that is still studied until this day. Imagine if the whole planet decided to step out of their cocoon just to experience the life of someone else. People will receive a new understanding as to what their reality is and what they can take from other people’s opinions in order to better their life. Every person should consider what reality they are in and if they enjoy it or if they would rather change realities in order to better their well-being. Finally, it may be concluded that reality is a simple a matter of opinion and perspective rather than a set of laid out rules someone has set out because after all, that is their reality and not someone else’s.
References
Freire, Paolo. “The “Banking” Concept of Education.” (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
Plato. “The Allegory of the Cave.” N.p., n.d. Web.
Pratt, Mary L. “Arts of the Contact Zone.” (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
The Matrix. Dir. Lily Wachkowski and Lana Wachkowski. Perf. Keanu Reeves. N.p., n.d. Web.
