Jean Anyon Essay Responce

Andrew Hamer

English 1100_35

September 23, 2015

Prof. Young

Jean Anyon Essay

Even though Jean Anyon’s essay on social class and education was written in the nineteen seventies I still believe that it holds merit in many parts of the country today. She stated that children in high class or rich areas are being trained and prepared for high paying jobs and further education while the middle and lower classes are being prepared for blue collar jobs and trade skill jobs. I myself grew up in a town where her point can be seen pretty clearly. In my hometown of Jefferson there are many schools, we have basic kindergarten, elementary schools, and middle schools but once the younger people of town get out of the middle school they have the opportunity to go to one of three high school options.

For the people willing to pay for their education they can go to Pope John a school known in Jefferson for its wonderful education that is payed for by the children’s parents, who normally have very well paying jobs such as being a doctor, a lawyer, or a large business owner of some sort. Pope John is considered to be the upper class school for the people of Jefferson and the surrounding towns and the people who go their normally end up in similar well paying jobs like their parents. This proves Ms. Anyon’s point on the upper class schools in this country and she even proved that the middle class schools are still the same.

The school I went to is considered the middle class school of my home as it was the town’s public school and like Jean Anyon stated the people in this school were the children of government workers and blue collar workers. Also again how Jean Anyon made clear the children in the middle class schools normally ended up in similar if not the same jobs as their parents, i.e. my mother works for the government,  my father works for transit and is a Naval Officer in the reserves, and I plan on going into law enforcement. So again my home town proved that the middle class school system is still the same as it was when she wrote her essay.

Even the lower class is still the same forty years ago. While the people in the lower class part 

of town still went to the public high school they were normally the ones who went to Votech. a 

technical school for people who want to know how to do a trade school and who normally don’t go to 

college. These people who went to Votech. unfortunately do fit into Jean Anyon’s description of the 

lower class when it came to schools. For the most part they did come from single parent families and 

their parents had a very minimal education. So in total I do agree that the school systems in this 

country still reflect her ideals to this day.

Resolution on Student's Right to Their Own Language

Andrew Hamer

English 1100_35

September 16, 2015

Prof. Young

Students’ Right to their own Language

“Language scholars long ago denied that the myth of a standard American dialect has any validity.” This quote from the first page of the Conference on College Composition and Communication’s Students’ Right to Their Own Language says it all. Trying to fit all of the people in this country into a common way of speaking is impossible. There are so many different ways to portray a language especially in America. With all of the different dialects spoken throughout the U.S., and because of all of the different forms of slang and different ways people speak it seems unreasonable to me that students should not be able to write in a form of language that fits with who they are. For almost every writing assignment that I have had throughout my years of going to school I have been told to make my writing original and to make my writing true to who I am. If I am not able to write in my own language how am I supposed to make my writing true to me and original, that is why students having the right to their own language in an academic setting is important. Teachers and Professors are always telling students to do their work to the best of their ability, but in order to do that we need to be able to think and write in a way that makes sense to us. I’m not saying that students should be allowed to curse and insult people in what they write but as far as using slang or certain terminology so that the student can understand and feel better about the work that they did then having the right to write in a way that they understand sounds pretty good.

Identity Essay

Andrew Hamer

English 1100_35

September 2nd, 2015

Prof. Young

Identity of me

Identity, identity can mean a lot of things depending on how you think of it. It can simply mean your name if you want to break this down to its simplest point, it can mean who you are to others, or who you are to yourself. According to our class, identity is the uniqueness of a person. It is their religion, culture, traditions, gender, race, and how we see ourselves as well as others perceive us. I can definitely agree to this definition because many if not all of those examples can be different when comparing any two people. Much like how Gloria Anzaldua said in How to Tame a Wild Tongue “I am my language.”, I can agree and say that I am my traditions, I am my religion, and I am my culture. Each of these different ways of looking at identity change for everyone, but I believe that they are just as important to all of us. Identity is one of the most important things to me because when it comes down to it your identity isn't just who you are, it's what you are and what you want to be.

Obviously my name is Andrew so I’ve covered my identity at the simplest point possible, but who I am to others and to myself is something that is a lot harder to explain. I honestly don’t know what everyone thinks of me and who they identify me as. The few things I’ve been told about how others identify me is that I’m a nice guy, I am very dependable, and that my friends trust me. I don’t know if they were telling me the truth or not but I’d like to believe that my friends were being honest. If that is really how others identify me then I am pretty good with that. The fact that people identify me as someone that they trust and can depend on makes me feel amazing, and makes my identity that much more important to me. Especially since those are some of the traits that I identify myself with most of the time.