Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily and Other Stories. Random House Publishing Group, 2012. Available at: http://2015-2016-chs-english11.weebly.com/uploads/1/4/1/6/14165482/faulkner_william_-_a_rose_for_emily_-_online_text.pdf Accessed 14 May 2018.
William Faulkner’s story depicts gender related issues that women faced such as being in a male dominated society with a woman view as dependent on a man. The story depicts its main character Emily being a subject under her father who seems to control her life including the people her daughter associates with. He rejects all her mates and denies Emily freedom of association. The experiences that the female character goes through in the hands of male characters in her life portrays the masculine nature of the society that is still evident even in present day.
The story employs the use of symbolism to communicate its intended message, this is evident in the title of the story. Faulkner’s story uses the “Rose” as presented in the story’s tittle as a symbolism of the tragedy in the story. Many of the times we receive roses is in cases where sympathy or concern is required such as during birthdays and anniversaries. In relation to this story the author uses a rose to symbolize the tragedy that was going to befall Emily later in the story. Emily’s entire life is a tragedy by itself.
I believe this story is appropriate for the inclusion in an English 101 class since it incorporates essential aspects necessary for developing the reader’s reading and comprehension skills. The use of symbolism to represent some form of meaning in the story exposes the reader to an in-depth thinking to try and unravel the meaning behind the symbols used hence developing his/her thinking and comprehension skills.
Topic 2. Education: Concepts and Effects
Holt, John. School is Bad for Children. Journal of Saturday Evening Post. February 8, 1969. Available at: http://www.rougeforum.org/newspaper/winter2003/HoltJohn1969.htm Accessed 14 May 2018.
John Holt’s essay highlights on the reasons why schooling could be deemed to be ruining the child instead of developing him/her. He argues that learning in children begins from the time they are born and argues against the notion that it is only the school that initiates learning in the child. The author attributes this turn of events to the nature of schooling in the United States being teacher centered rather that learner centered meaning that education in the country is more of teaching than learning.
According to the author schooling has renders the child helpless and more dependent than before joining school. In an environment that the child is expected to listen to the teacher and follow what he/she says, the children are left with no room to explore and learn by themselves. This according to the author limits the scope of education to only the teacher and the life of the child remains cornered within the premises of schooling.
This essay is appropriate for an English 101 reader in that it encourages learners to try and develop independent learning meaning that they should not depend on only the content provided by the teacher so as to learn but should engage in learning even outside the classroom setting since as Holt’s essay stipulates, learners are equipped with learning abilities even before schooling.
Topic 3. Going Local: Exploring and Writing about Your City
Segal, Uma A. A Framework for Immigration: Asians in the United States. Columbia UP, 2002. Available at: https://www.questia.com/library/99851429/a-framework-for-immigration-asians-in-the-united Accessed 14 May 2018.
This essay explores the Asian immigration into the city of San Diego. According to the author San Diego, a city in California harbors the largest population of Asian immigrants and specifically the Filipinos who claim about 4.6 percent of the entire united states foreign-born population which ranks them as the second largest group of Asians in the United State with an estimated population of about 3.4 million Filipino Americans.
The author of this source also explores the factors that attracted the immigrant population in San Diego to the city. One of the factor includes the fact that Filipino immigration into San Diego and the United States at large was influenced largely by their hope for a better life in the States and the desire for wealth, some wanted to replace what they perceived as unpleasant and boring lifestyle of the Philippines with the adventurous and wealthy lifestyle in United States.
An exploration of the reasons for the existence of a large immigrant population in the city of San Diego is important for readers in the English 101 class so as they are able to understand and appreciate students from who are immigrants which in turn promotes a conducive learning environment where there is a harmonious relationship between learners. In a society prone to racial discrimination, this source is appropriate in developing and understanding and appreciation of leaners with immigrant origins especially by native learners.
Topic 4. Technology: Changing Tools and Changing Minds
Pinker, Steven. "Mind over Mass Media”. Journal of New York Times. 2010, pp. 892-895. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/opinion/11Pinker.html Accessed 14 May 2018.
Steve Pinker in his article tries to dispute claims by critics of new media that the new forms of technology have caused moral panics and ruined consumer’s brain power and way of communication. The issues that the author identifies to be part of the challenges posed by the media include the fact that people tend to spend most of their time on media platforms, the addiction to the use of media, the effects of media on an individual’s thinking as well as the distraction that come with the use of media.
The author’s position is that though the new media has come with its fair share of challenges, there is more good than harm in mass media and instead of rebuking it for the little shortcomings that have come with its use, humans ought to find ways to solve the problems posed by social media and not just complain and do nothing about the matter. A good explanation that the author gives as an example of how technology is beneficial is the fact that the media has been proven to keep youths engaged and hence reducing the crime rates attributed to idleness significantly.
This source is effective for an English 101 class since the challenges associated with the use of the media are challenges that learners encounter almost on a day to day basis. In fact, there are the most affected group of individuals since their exposure to the use of technological gadgets is high at this error. There is therefore need to educate the readers about how to handle challenges such as addiction to social media and use of cell phones that has rendered them lazy and altered their thinking.
Topic 5. Human Rights: Struggles and Responses
JC Hathaway, The Rights of Refugees Under International Law. Cambridge University Press 2005. Available at:http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/34940/frontmatter/9780521834940_frontmatter.pdf Accessed 14 May 2018.
According to Hathaway “international refugee law is in crisis” which is blamed on the rise in cases of armed conflict and the abuse of human rights common theme in recent decades has been the prevalence of civil wars which has resulted in the rise in number of refugees being displaced from their home country causing them to seek refuge. This poses a challenge to the host countries that are mandated to host these refugees as it mounts an economic and political burden to them as they struggle to honour their humanitarian obligations in international law.
The proposals and recommendations to aid in achievement of these goals and objectives is that bodies such as the UNHCR tasked with handling refugee issues should ensure that countries strictly follow the international refugee laws and failure to which should be met by dire consequences. The commission should also ensure that consultations are made with the refugees to identify the problems that they face and whether their human rights are being violated by the host country the seek refuge in so as to ensure their needs are met.
I believe that Hathaway’s essay is applicable to an English 101 class as it offers the readers an overview of not only the rights of refuges but also overall human rights and how they ought to respond when their human rights as well as those of others are denied. The knowledge of human rights at this level is crucial in developing a whole-rounded leaner who understands the rights that he/she is entitled to as well as how to champion for this rights even in the classroom setting.
Topic 6. Writing: Common Concerns and Strategies.
Mauro, Mujica. Why The U.S Needs an Official Language. Journal of Fox News. 2012. Available at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/04/mauro-e-mujica-english-as-official-language-us.html Accessed 1 4 May 2018.
Mauro in his essay argues that there is need to restore the unifying role of English as a language of native roots in the United States. This according to his essay can be achieved only by making English united states’ official language. He goes ahead to stipulate that seeming it’s the United States only that has not yet recognized the need to have an official language and in this case English should be the language. The essay also provides examples of countries such as France and Germany who have made their languages, French and German respectively their official languages.
To achieve the goal of making English an official language therefore, the author of the essay advocates for need for immigrants to be assimilated to learn English despite claims that this seems to be racists according to critics. The author also argues that in order to manage the complexity of the English language the language professionals should ensure that the language is well-structured and with strict conformity with standard language rules and regulations.
This essay is suitable for an English 101 class as it develops the understanding of English as a language and its importance as a medium of instruction and communication. The listening, speaking, reading and writing skills of the reader can also be developed by reading this essay.
