Equal Opportunity in Education Essay Example for Free

Equal Opportunity in Education Essay The whole object of education isto develop the mind. (Sherwood Anderson) The United States of America has developed a system to educate its youth by a publicly funded system. It is the law and born civil right of each citizen to attend some form of education by a particular age. The public school system is set in place for those who choose not to send their offspring to private, religious, or charter schools. This is the present incarnation of the public school system. It is said to be equal in all manner throughout the country. That has not always been the case in this nation. That has brought forth numerous laws and enactments to grant those who find themselves on the lesser side of gaining knowledge more of an equal footing where education is concerned. In this land of opportunity, there is an expected level of availability that is expected. In a world of intense competition from within and outside of the country education one of the few ways of balancing the scales of the socially or monetarily disadvantaged is proportionate education. In this nation children have at one point or another in history been systematically held back for one reason or another. The reasons differ in the once beliefs that they were not able to learn or personal thought of not being worthy to be taught. In 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson granted the states the right to uphold the separate but equal doctrine that ruled the land. This was a great lost to all those that held a hope those later generations would do better than those who came before. Education began to become more balanced when separate but equal was pushed aside by the landmark case of Brown vs. The Board of Education. In 1954 The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Henry Billings Brown. This would begin the integration of public school which was the first step into equal opportunity for students nationwide. The Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 was the next big step creating a system that would seek a fair learning experience for all. Its basic notion is that state and local funds for schools should be equitable before federal Title I funds are added to schools with large concentrations of low-income students. (americanprogress.org) The Title I funding has a slight problem in its workings that has been a detriment to the children who attend these schools. The amount of money allocated to the schools is based on the salaries of the teachers. That is a problem for schools with a high turnover ratio. Schools that have moderately younger staff that is relatively new to the task of educating young minds make less than the veterans of the better school districts. This translates into less money per teacher and that equals less money for the school and the children. It is unfortunate that less money ultimately means less of educational opportunities. The fact is that children in low income areas do not receive a fair share of money. The student need is not met by the standards laid out by the government. Money is the root of a proper education in this high end technological world. Without proper funds the simplest of supplies cannot be purchased. Computers, books, calculators, or simple printer ink is not available on a scale that is considered suitable. The eventual sharing of materials is a detriment to the students who are not allowed to have their own because of lack of equipment ready for use. The civil rights case would eventually open the door for other minorities. One that would take advantage of the Brown ruling was those with disabilities. In Brown the Court declared that it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. (web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu.) They would use this to rally their forces and demand equal opportunities for cognitively i mpaired children. Mills vs. the Board of Education of the District of Columbia and the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children vs. Pennsylvania were two cases that brought the plight of these students to the light of day. The law would be changed to give them the rights that they so richly deserved. The newest in leveling the field of education has come through the No Child Left Behind Act which was signed into being by former President George W. Bush in 2002. These reforms express my deep belief in our public schools and their mission to build the mind and character of every child, from every background, in every part of America. (George W. Bush, 2001) No Child Left Behind puts an emphasis on improving the quality of public education. It calls for increased accountability, more choices for parents and students, putting reading first, and a higher emphasis on standardized testing. However the standardized testing is one of the biggest problems of the act. The majority of teachers has a problem with the testing and calls it bias. They also put forth that the testing takes away from the true teaching of knowledge, rather they now teach to test. This makes the education of the nation less than competitive with other countries. To combat these problems in our ever changing world we must go back to the beginning. In that thought process society must rethink its past transgressions. The country must avoid the same mistakes of the past. Politicians are not the ones who should make the decisions to lead the future of United States of America. Educators should be in charge of educating the youth. Those who have spent their lives gaining knowledge to teach the children of their world should be tasked with the job of finding a way to educate equally. This task should be given to those who best fit the job description. The assignment should be outsourced if it is needed. Other countries excel in education and this nation could learn from those who educate on higher levels. Educating the masses on a more equal platform will only add to greatness. Reference Quotes on Education (n.d.) Retrieved May 20, 2011, from http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/eduquote.htm Ensuring Equal Opportunity in Public Education (n.d.) Retrieved May 20, 2011, from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/06/comparability.html Plessy v. Ferguson (n.d.) Retrieved May 20, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessy_v._Ferguson OVERVIEW Executive Summary (n.d.) Retrieved May 21, 2011, from http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/execsumm.html The Need for Equal Opportunity and a Right to Quality Education (n.d.) Retrieved May 21, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/detail? Equal Opportunity (n.d.) Retrieved May 21, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer An American perspective on equal educational opportunities (2002) Retrieved May 21, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?

Vonneguts Cats Cradle :: Vonnegut Cats Cradle Essays

Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle Vonnegut deals a lot with fantasy in his book, Cat's Cradle. From the beginning, he talks about the religion that he follows: Bokonism. This is not a real religion, however he has rules, songs, scriptures, and opinions of a person that practices this fantasy religion. Within his description of this religion however is black humor as well. I think that by him making up this whole religion and an entire island of people who follow it, is in a way mocking today's religion and the way that people are dedicated to their beliefs. This Bokonism is basically telling the religious believer that everything that they read or hear is a lie, and that they need to think for themselves. I think one of the greatest parts that shows black humor is on page 77, where Bokonon (like Adam) arrives on land, completely naked, and has a revelation. "A fish pitched up By the angry sea, I gasped on land, And I became me." Also I found it very interesting how it was illegal to practice Bokonism, yet everyone on the island, including Papa practices it. It's almost as if Vonnegut is trying to tell us how other religions are. . . and if any religion is a true and honest religion. I think that Vonnegut also deals a lot with surrealism. I just really thought it was funny how everything in his life sort of just fit together, like it was meant to happen. Like the Bokonon worshipers, they believed that everyone fit in a karass and all followed a similar life plan, rotated in, out, and around each other. For example, I thought that it was so interesting how everyone fit together. Jonah went on a plan to find Frank Hoenikker, and who does he sit next to, but the senator, who is reading a book, written by the man who owns the hotel where Jonah stays, was in love with the woman who Jonah is in love with, who is marrying Frank.

A Doll’s House †Henrik Ibsen Essay

Henrik Ibsen’s in one of his most revolutionary plays, A Doll’s House, filled his set and narrative with symbols that emphasised the idea that above everything, one must be an individual. Doors, macaroons and the tarantella are all symbols that are used by Ibsen to convey to the audience that the life of Nora and Torvald isn’t what it seems to the naked eye. The doors in the ‘doll’s house’ set, are emphasised, to symbolise the separate ‘world’s ‘ Nora and Torvald live in; the illusive macaroons symbolise the control Torvald has over his wife and the wild tarantella dance is symbolic of Nora’s desire to escape from her restricted and heavily defined existence. Doors in A Doll’s House are not just a wooden blocks that can be used as a thoroughfare between rooms; they are used to distinguish between the two different spheres, Nora’s sphere and Torvald’s sphere. All throughout the play, Nora never enters her husband’s ‘world’. Guests for Torvald were instructed to ‘not come in here (Nora’s living room)’, and they went on into Torvald’s study. As Krogstad ‘slammed’ the door on the way out of his house, Nora’s world was smashed into a million shards of tiny fragile pieces. The character of Nora is sent into a spiral of depression, anxiety and out-right craziness that turned a seemingly normal dance into a 19th century movement of oppressed emotions. The macaroons that Nora possesses in the beginning of the play are more than just a common snack. Nora has the macaroons in the early stages of the play, with Torvald around. They give the audience the knowledge of Nora’s child-like behaviour and emotions. All through ‘A Doll’s House’, Torvald treats Nora like an ‘inexperienced child’, and the macaroons are one of many indications of this. She offers it to guests as they enter her ‘world’, but not to her husband, in which she hides them from him. The child-like behaviour is also witnessed in the scene where Nora is playing with her children, calling them ‘little dolls’ and playing with them like they are her friends and she’s not their mother. This child-like behaviour was encouraged by Torvald, by simple nicknames, such as ‘skylark’ and ‘mockingbird’, to make Nora be more immature towards Torvald and keeping her youthfulness that he li ked so much. The infamous dance, the tarantella, was an expression of the oppressed society that woman had to go through in the 19th century. The tarantella was used to convey emotions that woman couldn’t express in normal, everyday life. They used raw energy to express that raw emotion. In ‘A Doll’s House’, Nora uses, just as other woman have, to express and release the oppressed emotion that was given by Torvald towards her. In the scene where Nora is dancing for Torvald as practice of the dance and Dr. Rank comes in, Torvald keeps telling Nora to ‘stop it’ and ‘do it as I said’. Nora is completely oblivious to Torvald and keeps on dancing in her own style. Dr. Rank comes in and takes over Torvalds role as piano player to fuel the flame that Nora was burning. The dance becomes more and more wild as the scene progresses, until the music stops and Nora is just ‘still’. The oppressive moment of woman in the 19th century created this dance. ‘A Doll’s House’ uses this symbols of child-like behaviour, different worlds and an oppressed dance to show the audience that the world of the 19th century wasn’t a blissful place where men and woman were equal in everything they had rights to, like they do now. Torvald showed that he was a man of conformity and tried his best to bend his family into the social norms of the time. Torvald never let Nora have her way and treated her like a child, making her regress into one and even making her be his child. She was scared to wrong by her husband, even hiding a simple sweet from him so he wouldn’t find out that she was eating it. By the end of ‘A Doll’s House’ , Nora grows up. After the problems arisen by Krogstad, she learns that her husband isn’t her saviour anymore and she doesn’t love him. The party ended when Torvald wanted to leave. Nora got home and changed out of her formal attire, and into outdoor wear, making Torvald wonder, ‘Why are you dressed like that?’ The taking off of her formal clothes gives the impression that Nora is now taking off her old life, her oppressed life, and starting afresh. After an emotional discussion with Torvald, she ends up leaving him and the children. Walking out of her house, through the door, again is symbolising the end of something. This time it’s Nora’s life with Torvald. As the door closes, this time it’s Torvald who breaks down, mirroring Nora’s emotions when Krogstad leaves the  letter in the letter box. Symbolisation is a major part in any play, even more so in ‘A Doll’s House’. The emotion scenes with Nora, Torvald, Dr. Rank and even Krogstad wouldn’t be the same without objects such as the doors or macaroons, or the two different spheres dividing Nora’s world and Torvalds. The dance itself plays a vital role of showing emotion without the notice of Nora’s own husband. Without such devices, ‘A Doll’s House’ wouldn’t be the same revolutionary play that we see today; it would just be mere words on a page. Bibliography: ‘A Doll’s House’ Henrik Ibsen

How to Write a Great Process Essay

How-to essays, also known as process essays, are much like recipes: They provide instruction for carrying out a procedure or task. You can write a how-to essay about any procedure that you find interesting as long as your topic fits the teachers assignment. Start by Brainstorming The first step in writing your how-to essay is brainstorming. Here are tips to help you: Draw a line down the middle of a sheet of paper to make two columns. Label one column materials and the other column steps.Write down every item and every step you can think of that will be needed to carry out your task. Dont worry about trying to keep things in order yet. Just empty your head.Number your steps on your brainstorming page. Just jot a number beside each item/step. You may need to erase and scribble a few times to get the order right. Its not a neat process. Create an Outline First, determine the format required for your essay; ask your teacher if you are unsure. Your essay could contain a numbered list (like the one in the previous section), or it could be written as a standard narrative essay. If you are instructed to write a step-by-step without using numbers, your essay should contain all the elements of any other essay assignment, including an: Introductory paragraph: the section that identifies the  topic, arouses interest, and prepares the audience or readers for the development of the thesisBody: the part of an essay that develops the main ideaConclusion: the sentences  or paragraphs that bring the essay to a logical end Regardless of the essay format—whether your teacher allows for numbered paragraphs or sections or simply wants you to craft a narrative report—your outline should center on these three areas. Creating the Essay Your introduction will explain why your topic is important or relevant. For example, your paper about How to Wash a Dog would explain that dog hygiene is important for your pets good health. Your first body paragraph should contain a list of necessary materials. For example: The equipment you will need depends somewhat on the size of your dog. At the very minimum, you will need dog shampoo, a large towel, and a container large enough to hold your dog. And, of course, you will need a dog.The next paragraphs should contain instructions for following steps in your process, as enumerated in your outline.Your summary, or conclusion, explains how your task or process should turn out if it is done correctly. It may also be appropriate to restate the importance of your topic. Topics to Write About You may believe that you are not expert enough to write a process essay. This is not so. There are many processes that you go through every day that you can write about, including: How to make a perfect paper airplaneHow to dye your hairHow to wear makeupHow to survive a weekend with your familyHow to play basketballHow to play (a popular video game) The goal in this type of assignment is to show that you can write a well-organized essay and clearly explain to the reader how to do what you are instructing.