Powered by Publics LSU Part of National Effort to Increase College Access and Completion - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1104 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/08/08 Category Music Essay Level High school Tags: Hip Hop Essay Did you like this example? During the Fall of 2018, the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU) announced its Powered by Publics initiative, the largest concerted effort to increase college access in history. The initiative has three goals: (1) award hundreds of thousands more degrees by 2025; (2) eliminate the achievement gap for low-income, minority, and first-generation students, while maintaining or expanding access to higher education for these students; (3) share key data within the clusters and promulgate proven practices across the entire public higher education sector. As of December 2018, 130 institutions have joined the initiative. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Powered by Publics: LSU Part of National Effort to Increase College Access and Completion" essay for you Create order The coalition of intuitions plans to find evidence-based strategies and new solutions to achieve equity in college access. Powered by Publics is an institutional response to the 21st century college access movement, which traces its roots to the student organizing of the 60s and 70s. Months before the APLUs announcement, the National Association for College Admission Counseling released a study on Test-Optional Policies (TOPs), admissions policies that dont require standardized tests (SAT or ACT). They found that TOPs increased enrollment of students of color and students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. Their findings are not surprising, studies have shown that the SAT and ACT have large, racial performance gaps (Freedle, 2003) (Santelices Wilson, 2010) (Rattani, 2016) (Johnson, 2003), positioning them as barriers to college for Black and Latino students. Since 2004, over 1,000 accredited colleges and universities across the country have adopted TOPs, a trend that more will follow. With the movement toward college access, the enrollment of Black college students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds is expected to increase in the next 10 years. While administrations pursue new ways to prioritize diversity and accessibility, so must academic departments and programs. English composition, a course required for all students despite their program of study, is arguably the most important and most in need of change. Lynn Bloom has argued that composition is not only about English instruction, it is about initiating students into proper citizenship. It serves as students first introduction to academic discourse and has the potential to shape their relationship with it moving forward. Composition is a gatekeeper to college access in this way and needs to change with the changing student body. There is no shortage of literature about diversifying college composition, however, composition courses continue to be taught in ways that are hostile to the success of Black students. There are two ways that college composition negatively impacts Black students: the normalizing of white, middle class values and the denial of Black Vernacular English (BVE) in the classroom. To address these issues, I propose that English departments incorporate Hip Hop educational research into their curriculum. Hip Hop pedagogies provide the perfect nexus of culturally relevant linguistic and rhetorical study. According to Emery Petchauer, there are three kinds of Hip Hop educational research: (a) hip-hop-based education†¢studies that use hip-hop, especially rap songs and lyrics, as curricular and pedagogical resources; (b) hip-hop, meaning(s), and identities†¢studies that focus on how students mobilize these texts and how they intersect with identities; and (c) hip-hop aesthetic forms†¢studies that conceptualize the ways of doing or habits of mind produced by hip-hop practices. Applied to practice, these Hip Hop pedagogies will scaffold analytical skills, affirm th e academic validity of BVE, and sharpen critical literacies through comparative cultural study. The Composition Classroom as a Site for Assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process that minority students undergo as they adapt the culture, language, and norms of higher education, a culture that is exclusively middle-class and white. The process is not linear, nor is it absolute, but it is required in some aspect for success within the university structure. Non-white and/or lower-class students must learn to speak and write in Sanctioned American English (SAE) (Elbow, 2010) and conduct themselves according to middle-class propriety. Students who do not conform have difficulty navigating the academy, receive poor grades, or in the worst cases, drop-out. Black undergraduates, who have the lowest retention and graduation rate with the highest drop-out rate, face significant damage to their mental health due to the pressures of assimilation (McGee Stovall, 2015). The primary site for assimilation in the college and university structure is the English composition classroom, where students are first taught to divorce their academic identities from their native culture. According to Lynn Bloom, freshman composition is a middle-class enterprise where students are initiated as good citizens of the university, and essentially, the middle-class. After completing the course, students are expected to effectively participate in the dominant discourse of the middle-class. This expectation is shaped by higher educations promise of class mobility and is the unspoken reason the course is required as an entry-point. Students are indoctrinated and disinfected by the value systems upheld by middle-class teachers in middle-class institutions. Values like respectability, propriety, order, and self-reliance pervade the classroom and hurt lower-class students who have different value systems. Adding a critical race lens to Blooms class lens positions Black students as experiencing a compounded clash of value systems in the composition classroom. Due to the history of slavery and racist social policies in the U.S., race is strongly correlated with class status. The mi ddle-class is historically and majority white and the lower-class is Black and Latinx (Gans, 2005). Therefore, freshman composition is not only a middle-class enterprise, but a white enterprise. The dominant narrative is that all students, regardless of race, enter higher education with the goal of upward mobility. If this is true, why would upholding middle-class, white values of communication and expecting students to assimilate be problematic if it allows them the mobility that they seek? It is problematic because the dominant narrative of class mobility is not the only narrative, nor does it account for the complexity of the race-class matrix. Not all students of color enter higher education with the goal of a middle-class life, a point that Carmen Kynard illustrates in her book Vernacular Insurrections. Her composition colleagues belief that Black students wanted the same liberal arts education as everyone else (2) was vastly different than what her inner-city, high school students expected from college. They imagined college as a liberatory tool that could provide them with the knowledge they needed to better their communities and increase access to higher education fo r students like themselves, a sentiment I heard echoed by many Black students when I was an undergraduate. I found that even students outside of the social sciences and humanities, students who were pursuing paths in engineering, computer science, or health wanted to connect their work to the communities they came from by reducing racial disparities. Goals like these require fluid communication skills, not the strict adherence to white, middle-classed language taught in college composition, language inaccessible to the people they want to help.

The Ultimately Successful The Houthi Movement - 1496 Words

Ultimately successful the Houthi movement was able to get a greater role in the Yemeni government, and even more local autonomy. This agreement helped stave of a full-fledged civil war, but at the same time it reduced the governments ability to conduct any real political or economic reforms. Despite this new agreement President Hadi was ever more determined to ensure no one faction gained too much power within the new federal system. Thus he put forth his chief of staff, Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak, as candidate for Prime Minister in an attempt to help establish his system. The Houthi leadership ultimately did not approve of the appointment, due to Mubarak’s close relationships with President Hadi, so in January of this year Mubarak was abducted at gunpoint. With President Hadi choice no longer an option, the Houthi Leadership wanted one of there own to be come the Prime Minister. Later that month, after the Houthis rejected a power sharing deal a few months prior, and many events causing undue pressure on President Hadi and his cabinet, decided to resign their offices. In a manor of day the Houthi rebels stormed and took over the presidential palace and forced Hadi and his Prime Minister, Khaled Bahah, to officially send resignation letter to the parliament, which promptly declined their resignations; but nonetheless the Houthi rebels forced them out of office and dissolved the cabinet. The Houthi rebels put both Hadi and Bahah under strict house arrest. Hadi later escaped to

The Pursuit of Self-Identification Free Essays

In the novel The Jade Peony, author, Wayson Choy, intelligently writes about two siblings who struggle in the pursuit of self-identification. Their struggles vary as they do not share the same problems during this tough period of their lives. This leads to the debate, whose childhood experiences will affect them more as an adult? Although Jook-Liang had to go through the tough situation of always being under prioritized and always being undermined, her childhood troubles and experiences could never truly be compared with the experiences of Jung Sum. We will write a custom essay sample on The Pursuit of Self-Identification or any similar topic only for you Order Now To put it bluntly, Jung Sum’s childhood experiences will affect him more as an adult than Jook-Liang’s experiences would. The reason for this is because, firstly, Jung Sum, as a child, was never truly showered with love, neither was Jook-Liang, but she did not have to suffer the pain of losing her birth parents as Jung Sum did. Also, Jung Sum had to experience the pain of losing a treasured person or pet multiple times, and while Jook-Liang did lose a person close to her heart, she only experienced it once. Finally, as both Jook-Liang and Jung Sum struggled with identification, Jung Sum was met with problems while identifying his sexual identity, which was not accepted by any society at that period of time. On the other hand Jook-Liang was only required to identify culturally which would cause problems but eventually allow gain acceptance into at least one society. To start with, Jung Sum never had the privilege of being showered with love during his childhood and even though Jook-Liang was greatly oppressed and unfairly treated by people around her, such as Poh-Poh, she would still ocassionally be loved by those surrounding people. This is evident when Poh-Poh helped Jook-Liang to tie her shoelaces while she was getting ready to dance for Wong Suk (Choy 30). As for Jung Sum, although he was only a child, his birth father would violently abuse him and his mother when he was drunk. The quote â€Å"I waited for Daddy to get up from the kitchen floor, half-drunk, waited for him to beat me with his belt. † (Choy 96) clearly shows that Jung Sum had to face the unlucky circumstances of child abuse, something Jook-Liang had the privilege of avoiding as her family never resorted to physical abuse. It would be a scarring memory to be violently abused by ones’ own father as a child, a memory that could be carried for a lifetime. This may affect Jung Sum in his latter years as he may recall the abuse of his father and feel dysfunctional. These unresolved issues could cause a severe case of depression in his life. Furthermore, as Jung Sum was adopted into a new family, he immediately felt like an outsider. â€Å"He thought I was too weak to be his brother, a real brother,† (Choy 93) shows that Jung Sum clearly felt marginalized by his new older brother, Kiam. To be adopted into a family full of new and unfamiliar faces and be rebuked immediately by his own â€Å"brother† was a tough situation to be in, especially after losing both his parents. Jook-Liang did not have to go through the process of being adopted into a new family or having to lose her family members prematurely while Jung Sum did. This could possibly go on to affect Jung Sum and make him feel as though he had no one to rely on but himself, possibly causing him to have a lack of trust for other people in the future. Additionally, his childhood experiences may lead him to develop into an adult influenced by those experiences. These unresolved child issues could dwell within him and could cause him to either be more aggressive or more reserved as an adult. He may recall those experiences when dealing with his own children in the future and could possibly treat them the same way his own father treated him or otherwise, might not even attempt to have a close relationship with them. As Jook-Liang did not undergo any extreme circumstances of child abuse, she would probably be less affected as an adult when compared to Jung Sum. Therefore, Jung Sum has a relatively greater impact on his future life from his adolescent experiences as his experiences produces permanent scars where the problem was not greatly alleviated afterwards. Another problem faced by both of the siblings was with different aspects of identification. Jook-Liang had to struggle with cultural identification while Jung Sum faced problems with sexual identification. Homosexuality is an unaccepted identification which will not be tolerated by any society back in the 1930s, while switching cultural identities will still allow the person to gain acceptance in at least one society. His sexual identity was first suggested in the novel by Poh-Poh as he says that â€Å"Jung Sum is the moon† (Choy 88). Jung Sum then figures out his own sexual identity as it was Frank Yuen that he desired most at that moment during Frank Yuen’s farewell instead of courage (Choy 138) and that â€Å"Frank Yuen is the Sun† (Choy 132) while he is the moon. Having to figure out his own sexual identity at such a young age without any guidance was a hard chore as back then love relationships were known to be present only between females and males. In addition, love between the same gender was not only unaccepted in the society, it was greatly rejected. As a result, Jung Sum had to keep his love for the same gender a secret. The inability to reveal his sexual identification would cause him to have the lack of freedom in the pursuit of a preferred life partner. This could affect his happiness as a whole as he is unable to share life experiences in the love aspect of his life as others normally do because of the inability to express his love for his preferred partner. On the other hand, even though Jook-Liang struggled with her cultural identity, no matter which culture she decides to identify with, she would be still accepted, eventually. Jook-Liang’s desire to assimilate into another culture is evidently shown as she looks up to Shirley Temple, an American dancer and actress. Wanting to assimilate into the western culture, she even hoped to see her own reflection in the mirror possessing a westerner’s features, specifically, Shirley Temple’s features (Choy 41). Her struggle comes in as Poh-Poh constantly reminds her of her cultural roots and where she belongs. In the novel, Poh-poh repeatedly tells Jook-Liang that she is not from Canada†¦ and that she is from China (Choy 34). In comparison of their situation as they struggle to identify themselves in the different aspect, Jung Sum is clearly portrayed to have a harder time even in the future. Not being able to be what he really is, his future would be oppressed as he suppresses himself, such that his secret would not be revealed. To put on a mask his entire life and never reveal his sexuality will take a toll on his adult life and he could never truly bring himself to enjoy his life as a whole. Jook-Liang’s preference of either culture will still allow her to be accepted and although she may not gain the acceptance of one society, she will still gain the acceptance of another, allowing her to lead a normal life. Thirdly, both parties went through the turmoil of losing their loved ones, but Jung Sum had to experience losing many loved ones, losing his mother to violence Frank Yuen to the marines and even his pet turtle, Lao Kwei, to Dai Kew. On the other hand, Jook-Liang only had to experience losing her loved one, Wong Suk, as she never saw him again after he left to go back to China (Choy 71). From when Jung Sum was just a kid, life was tough for him as his father would often abuse him and his mother when he was drunk. His mother was the only one who would protect him from harm from his drunk father as Jung Sum would always be waiting for her to â€Å"tell him to stop†¦[and] twist against the falling belt and take the blows† (Choy 96). Having such a rough childhood is scarring enough for Jung Sum and yet, he lost his mother at that young age. He went through various foster homes and eventually ended up with the Chen family where he finally found a place called home. In the Chen family, the life for him from the beginning was not exactly hard, as Father and stepmother treated him relatively well. However, he still took time to adapt and at his time with the Chen family, he discovered Lao Kwei and was ecstatic that he could finally own something, having something that he felt that truly belonged to him. Not long after, he lost his beloved turtle as his family decided that it would be okay for Dai Kew to claim back his turtle as he required it for his own personal purposes (Choy 85). Next, when he came to realize that he had a strong attraction to Frank Yuen, it was not long after that he Frank Yuen left him too. As Frank Yuen left to Seattle to join the marines, he left Vancouver and was not expected to return for the next few years (Choy 134). It is evident that Jung Sum had to experience more pain and suffering than Jook-Liang as he had to repeatedly lose loved ones to different circumstances while Jook-Liang only had to go through that process once. This could cause Jung Sum to gain an insecure mentality that will cause him to always expect the least out of something, possibly causing him to lose hope in many things in the future. Although Jook-Liang may feel sad and depressed about the departure of Wong Suk, she would not have to endure the pain of losing another loved one anytime soon. Coming to a conclusion, both Jook-Liang and Jung Sum had to undergo many challenges and experiences as a child which could affect them as adults. Although Jook-Liang did experience tough trials during her childhood, Jung Sum was a victim of severe turmoil as a child and therefore, his experiences will affect him more as an adult. As a child, Jung Sum never had the opportunity of being showered with love by his own family as Jook-Liang did. Other than that, he also had to experience the pain of losing a loved one or a treasured pet a few times while Jook-Liang only experienced it once. Lastly, his homosexuality was adamantly not accepted by any society in the world at that moment in time while Jook-Liang had to only face the troubles of cultural identification, which still allowed her to be accepted by at least one type of society. All in all, Jung Sum had a tougher childhood experience than Jook-Liang and that would affect his adult life greatly in the future. How to cite The Pursuit of Self-Identification, Papers

Great Expectations Vs. Oliver Twist Essay Example For Students

Great Expectations Vs. Oliver Twist Essay During his lifetime, Charles Dickens is known to have written severalbooks. Although each book is different, they also share many similarities. Two of his books, Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, are representativesof the many kinds of differences and similarities found within his work. Perhaps the reason why these two novels share some of the samequalities is because they both reflect painful experiences which occurredin Dickens past. During his childhood, Charles Dickens suffered much abusefrom his parents.1 This abuse is often expressed in his novels. Pip, inGreat Expectations, talked often about the abuse he received at the handsof his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery. On one occasion he remarked, I soon foundmyself getting heavily bumped from behind in the nape of the neck and thesmall of the back, and having my face ignominously shoved against the wall,because I did not answer those questions at sufficient length.2While at the orphanage, Oliver from Oliver Twist also experienced agreat amount of abuse. For example, while suffering from starvation andmalnutrition for a long period of time, Oliver was chosen by the other boysat the orphanage to request more gruel at dinner one night. After makingthis simple request, the master (at the orphanage) aimed a blow atOlivers h ead with the ladle; pinioned him in his arms; and shrieked aloudfor the beadle.3The whole beginning of Oliver Twists story was created from memorieswhich related to Charles Dickens childhood in a blacking factory ( whichwas overshadowed by the Marshalsea Prison ).4 While working in the blackingfactory, Dickens suffered tremendous humiliation. This humiliation isgreatly expressed through Olivers adventures at the orphanage before he issent away. Throughout his lifetime, Dickens appeared to have acquired a fondnessfor the bleak, the sordid, and the austere.5 Most of Oliver Twist, forexample, takes place in Londons lowest slums.6 The city is described as amaze which involves a mystery of darkness, anonymity, and peril.7 Many ofthe settings, such as the pickpockets hideout, the surrounding streets,and the bars, are also described as dark, gloomy, and bland.8 Meanwhile, inGreat Expectations, Miss Havishams house is often made to sounddepressing, old, and lonely. Many of the objects within the house had notbeen touched or moved in many years. Cobwebs were clearly visible as wellas an abundance of dust, and even the wedding dress which Miss Havishamconstantly wore had turned yellow with age.9However, similarities are not just found in the settings. The novelstwo main characters, Pip and Oliver, are also similar in many ways. Bothyoung boys were orphaned practically from birth; but where Pip is sent tolive with and be abused by his sister, Oliver is sent to live in anorphanage. Pip is a very curious young boy. He is a child of intense andyearning fancy.10 Yet, Oliver is well spoken. Even while his life was indanger while in the hands of Fagin and Bill Sikes, two connivingpickpockets, he refused to participate in the stealing which he so greatlyopposed. All Oliver really longed for was to escape from harsh livingconditions and evil surroundings which he had grown up in.11 However, nomatter how tempting the evil may have been, Oliver stood by his beliefs. Therefore, he can be referred to as ideal and incorruptible innocence.12It is Olivers self-generated and self-sustained love, conferred it wouldseem from Heaven alone, that preserves him from disaster and death.13Unfortunately, many critics have found it hard to believe that a boysuch as Oliver Twist could remain so innocent, pure, and well spoken giventhe long period of time in which he was surrounded by evil andinjustices.14Pip, on the other hand, is a dreamer. His imagination is alwayshelping him to create situations to cover up for his hard times. Forexample, when questioned about his first visit to Miss Havishams house, hemade up along elaborate story to make up for the terrible time he had inreality. Instead of telling how he played cards all day while beingridiculed and criticized by Estella and Miss Havisham, he claimed that theyplayed with flags and swords all day after having wine and cake on goldplates.15 However, one special quality possessed by Pip that is rarely seenin a novels hero is that he wrongs others instead of being hurt himselfall of the time.16Another similarity between Oliver and Pip is that they both have hadinteractions with convicts. Fagin the head of a group of young thieves,spends most of his time trying to demoralize and corrupt Oliver andprevent him from ever coming into his inheritance.17 To Oliver, he is seenas an escape from all previous misery. He also helps Oliver to ease anyfears about starvation and loneliness.18Just as Fagin is Olivers means of escape, Magwitch, an escapedconvict, is Pips. However, as Fagin provides Oliver with an escape frommisery, Magwitch tries to provide Pip with an escape from poverty bybecoming his anonymous benefactor. Creative Writing: The Person Behind The Mask EssayBIBLIOGRAPHYCarey, John. Here Comes Dickens The Imagination of aNovelist. New York: Schocken Books, 1974. Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. New York: TheHeritage Club, 1939. Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. New York: Dodd, Mead, andCompany, 1949. Johnson, Edgar. Charles Dickens His Tragedy and Triumph. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1952. Kincaid, James R. Dickens and the Rhetoric of Laughter. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971. Marcus, Steven. Dickens: From Pickwick to Dombey. GreatBritain: Basic Books, 1965. Slater, Michael, ed. Dickens 1970. New York: Stein and DayPublishers, 1970. Slater, Michael. Dickens and Women. California: StanfordUniversity Press, 1983. Stewart, Garrett. Dickens and the Trials of Imagination. Massachusettes: Harvard University Press, 1974. Welsh, Alexander. The City of Dickens. Oxford: ClaredonPress, 1971. Wilkie, Katherine E. Charles Dickens, The Inimitable Boz. New York: Abelard Schuman, 1970. FOOTNOTES1 Steven Marcus, Dickens: From Pickwick to Dombey (GreatBritain: Basic Books, 1965) 82. 2 Charles Dickens, Great Expectations (New York: The HeritageClub, 1939) 69. 3 Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist (New York: Dodd, Mead, andCompany, 1949) 16-17. 4 Katharine E. Wilkie, Charles Dickens, The Inimitable Boz(New York: Abelard Schuman, 1970) 77-78. 5 Marcus 71. 6 Wilkie 77. 7 Marcus 256. 8 Edgar Johnson, Charles Dickens His Tragedy and Triumph(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1952) 273. 9 Dickens, Expectations 62. 10 Garrett Stewart, Dickens and the Trials of Imagination(Massachusettes: Harvard University Press, 1974) 187. 11 Marcus 74. 12 Marcus 80. 13 Marcus 83. 14 John Carey, Here Comes Dickens The Imagination of aNovelist (New York: Schocken Books, 1974) 149. 15 Dickens, Expectations 71-72. 16 Alexander Welsh, The City of Dickens (Oxford: ClaredonPress, 1971) 107-108. 17 Marcus 75. 18 James R. Kincaid, Dickens and the Rhetoric of Laughter(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971) 72. 19 Kincaid 51. 20 Kincaid 51. 21 Kincaid 53. 22 Kincaid 72. 23 Wilkie 78. 24 Welsh 82. 25 Marcus 55.