Research Paper

 

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Nicole Willis

Mrs. Robinson

English 3

18 December 2007

Degrading Grades

You are one out of 6,605,008,900 people; your grade point average is 3.4. You love to lie in the grass and feel the sun warming your body; you plan on applying to North Carolina State University, Chapel Hill, and Appalachian. You are the person with your face submerged in your favorite suspense novel on the beach; you made an 88 on your last History test. You are the person who contemplates your life, future, success, and your grades. I am the person asking many questions. Looking at my report card, I begin to wonder why this slip of number-filled paper is so important in my life and the lives of those around me. I question this inane paper filled with grades-those tiny figures that squeeze the life out of life. In a survey I conducted consisting of 57 high school students at Croatan chosen at random, 52 of them said they valued their grades. What do these numbers, which we are so fond of illustrate? Will they tell me about myself, my future, or my success? Will they answer the questions which interest me most? I wonder, will they guide me when I am performing surgery, when I am dancing on a stage, when I am waitressing, when I am raising my children, or when I am teaching a class? I have found through years of test upon test and quiz after quiz that these stressed grades do not promote positive aid in life; instead, they cause numerous negative effects. Standardized testing is the culprit further administrating these stressed grades—which in turn are amounting to devastating results. Grades infringe on students’ individual talents and encourage a delusive idea of success. “They create unfair situations for minorities and undermined what is cherished in education and in life” (Hirsch 177).

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The emphasis on grades and accountability leads straight to standardized testing. After the 1950s America began to open its eyes. We looked around and noticed the advancements of the countries surrounding us: such as the successful Sputnik created by the Soviets in 1957. American egos would dominate values as we began to take into account our educational system. In order to be successful in a world of competition we would need to enforce an educational standard. Standardized testing was at first evident in grades 3 and up; it was used as a tool aiding in retention and selection of students. The demand for testing skyrocketed in 1965 when the federal government perused its first elementary-secondary education initiative. Testing would now begin as early as kindergarten; this measurement developed new uses. Objective tests would not only portray a student’s success but, teachers’ and schools’ success. Now the pressure of learning the test was pushed upon our educational system. The advancements in education we thought were being made were actually grave mistakes, that our youth and future youth would have to endure the consequences of. The execution of this benchmark system would not end in the sixties. In 2001 President George W. Bush enacted the No Child Left Behind Act. This act focused on achieving excellence through high standards and accountability. Like the preceding backwards steps towards improvement, this act would also strive to improve math and science skills: thus ignoring the arts. Accountability and excellence would necessitate certain destructive learning techniques: memorization and cramming. The unique individuals molded by the once desired education, would be shoved aside to make way for the new and improved uniform products of our “educational factories” (Hirsch 177).

Most obviously observed in present society are the individual characteristics being stripped from the individual. Ruthless grades and tests help execute this horrible act. Such tests are imperfect standards which strive to measure unique individuals with diverse interests

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and dreams. Today, when walking through the threshold of a school building, exasperated students are expected to leave their desires in the dust . Upon entering the classroom they prepare for a day of cramming expendable information, in a desperate attempt to obtain the glorified A grade. In schools today there is no time for individual questions of interest, because students and teachers must prepare themselves for the upcoming exams—exams which will determine their extremely important grade. Ironically, desperate students must conform to a culture, where tests scores are emphasized more than education itself: in order to be seen as a successful individual in a stack of college resumes. Often people visualize grades as motives for working hard in school. This can be seen as a common misconception; we are all born with different drives and attractions; therefore, grades will not serve their purpose as incentives. Students learn what people think they should know not what the student desires to know. Publishers of these tests are constantly relaying to students that they must take certain courses and pass in order to advance in the realm of education. The boundary of education is so narrow because of the explicitness of excellence. This limited pathway towards excellence eliminates the individuals who do not want to utilize a technique of simply memorizing information quickly and successfully. This dimension of success fails to include the individuals who strive to learn and understand for reasons other than grades. It seems that the years most devoted to learning are the years in which students will only temporarily memorize and soon forget.

Unique talents are not recognized in a society of uniform eminence. Certain capabilities are seen as unimportant in a world focused on standards: sadly, the diverse are becoming a dying breed. Talents involving the arts are perceived as extraneous, useless wastes of precious time. This is obvious through our extreme use of tests in math, and basic language Arts. It is therefore impossible for these unique gifts to fit the admired standard. However,

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those inept of conforming, supposedly succeed, and success they accomplish. Those mis fortunate beings succeed in surrendering their curiosity and creativeness to the scrounging hands of tests and grades. In a new light, those lucky, yet few who preserve their diversity and cherish their creativeness, dig deep into their minds: unlocking doors leading to advancements in more areas than just one. The followers of mundane standards will go on to achieve the uniform perception of success. You must be wondering why society is as it is; the answer is spelled out clearly for all to comprehend: grades. This achievement can be seen as passing all classes with outstanding performance—all As—and then moving onto a higher education, which would in most cases be college. These successful students—accustomed to following uniform direction—will then choose a career. Their career pathways will not be based on individual desire; instead career choices will be determined by the logical desire of standard success. Good grades seem to amount to the fallacious ideas of success. Success is placed on a pedestal and worshiped by many conformists. The importance of accomplishment is taught at the earliest of ages. The simplest success can be seen as, coloring inside the lines. Then, complexity is sparked with the strive for perfection. So there you have it, success is perfection and perfection—as students tend to discover—will drive you mad. The stress of grades, tests, perfection, and success drain the sparkle of hope out of many discouraged students’ eyes. This continuously diminishing hope causes many of the problems we face today. Problems arise from the cruel emphasis of grades. Students tend to give up and drop out: “in 1993, approximately 381,000 high school students dropped out of school in America” (Hollinger). This is a great tragedy because this is evidence that students lose sight of the honest joy of learning. They are forced to forget the days of learning for mere pleasure. Learning becomes a fast pace rush leading to more dead ends.

This fast-pace educating technique often leaves behind minorities of diverse income, status,

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and culture; in many cases it even tragically dismantles culture. Tests, as I have mentioned before, are uniform. They are but pieces fitting to an unfair puzzle. Tests are suited for one culture; they do not satisfy the many diverse cultures found in America. Those unique minorities inhabiting this country often find their native culture disappearing. The source of this problem is not unknown: it is derived by the public school systems. Not enough time is devoted to those individuals lacking in finances for an education. Numerous graphs show that money is an important factor in education. Wealthy districts will provide students with operating facilities and much needed technology. While at the same time districts suffocated by poverty will be unable to obtain operating facilities, technology, or even an advanced school faculty able to ensure a valuable education. Many people don’t recognize that local property tax is a large contributer to public schools. With this said, we should realize that areas with lower property tax—such as the inner city and rural areas—will not benefit from the same education as those living in wealthy, upper class areas. You can easily see how grades and testing add to the issues faced by students chained to their unfortunate and unfair poverty. Minorities are frequently labeled and discriminated against in the educating world. They are easily and often swept under a mat of stereotypes and soon overlooked and forgotten. Often handicapped with issues of a new language and a dissimilar environment, Hispanics and other immigrants have serious difficulty with America’s culture of tests and grades. Many studies show that minorities score lower than whites on standardized tests. This problem is unmistakably due to historic tragedies such as slavery of African Americans and Native Americans. The catastrophes of the past have paralyzed generations of minorities. This technique of standardized tests used in handling diversity can be seen as a vicious cycle affecting not only the students, but the students’ future children and grandchildren. In these disastrous cases grades and test scores are obviously the wrong

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issues being surfaced. We should be more focused on eliminating these inhibiting attributes of our educational society.

Table 1

The effect of Verbal SAT scores on family income in 1995 for Asians, Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks conferred by La Griffe du Lion

 

These numerous problems should be addressed until the issues are handled to complete satisfaction of the people suffering them. One solution to these problems is quite simple. The answer is diversity and the acceptance of diversity. The more willing we are to accept the fact that not all students will have the same goals, values, dreams, and perceptions of success; the more students we will see live happy and truly successful lives. We need to eliminate some required courses and introduce a wider range of classes. Replenishing the arts will most importantly encourage and motivate students to learn. Students will enjoy learning because they will be nourishing their curiosities with what they desire to learn instead of what

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someone demands they be taught. Developing a more diverse secular perception of success will encourage and promote a range of forgotten careers and spark new interests. These outcomes will in turn serve as an advantage to our nation. Public schools should be treated with equal finances allowing the most attainable education for all. Most importantly we must eliminate standard tests and diminish the emphasis of grades in a person’s life. When we achieve this, we will relieve students of stress and unneeded pressure. They will be set free of worries which chain them to a stagnant and mundane lifestyle. Individual talents and their importance, will be restored. An outcome of diverse learning techniques and a fair learning environment with equal opportunities for minorities will finally heal our public schools. Diverse social values and goals can at last be restored with these important aspects in mind.

With this compelling restoration my ordinary, cyclic day will maybe one day be transformed. Hopefully it will go something like the following. My lunch period is here, snatching up my lunch bag, I rush to the cafeteria. My mind does not seem to stray from the

class I just left, Acrobatics. Sweating and starving, I sit down, ready to inhale my scrumptious meal when I overhear my friends. A wave of joy has swallowed them whole. They are no longer the students obsessing over their grades. Enjoying school day to day, they have become enthralled with their Photography classes, Dance classes, Music classes, and even their old History classes. They are subdued not only by the interest they have for these subjects, but by the now present abandonment of old tests and past grades. Relieved by the diversity of the abundance of courses offered: they are captivated by the freedom they now have to choose the classes they crave to participate in. They have left the part of them in the past that once cared more about the test than the information. The number in red ink, on the pages of their work has disappeared. It was evident once, more than ever, that we went to school to earn a grade opposed to an education. We became consumed with meaningless

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integers. It is obvious that we once learned what people thought we should know and not what we desired to know. The population at last has realized that standardized tests are aimed at standard students. I did not know of any standard students and I don’t know of any to this day. We are individuals, we are students, willing to learn and willing to participate; we have names, and not one of us answers to Standard.

Analytical Essay on A Farewell to Arms

 

Nicole Willis Willis 1

Mrs. Robinson

AP English Three

15 November 2007

Agnosticism In the Hands of Hemingway:

A Literary Analysis of Religion in Ernest Hemingway’s, A Farewell to Arms

“She said she had no religion and the woman drew a line in the space after that word.”(313), Hemingway notes the protagonist’s thoughts in the novel A Farewell to Arms. Hemingway’s depiction of what would appear to be a lack of faith, is undeniably an illustration of agnosticism. It would seem as if Hemingway’s emphasis was on the dismissal and repudiation of religion, however upon further analyzation a sense of skepticism becomes more evident. The causes of such apprehension aids in the realization of the accentuated diffidence of spirituality represented in the novel. Besides the ostensible causes of doubt among the characters, it is apparent that they yearn for a taste of religion. This desire confirms their distrust not their rejection of faith. The final lines of the story elucidate this seemingly difficult understanding of the role of religion in A Farewell to Arms, while at the same time bringing this romantic love story to a tragic end.

War is an obvious source leading to agnosticism among the plebeians of the portrayed gruesome setting. Soldiers exposed to disease and anxiety, struggle for what might as well be their final breathe. The narrow vision of war forces such dark sentiments of inevitable death upon the characters. Soldiers submerge into the depths of remorseless war, beleaguered by this continual nightmare. The unpleasant obstacles and events in the characters’ lives cause them to doubt such ineffective ideas of a religious lifestyle. These ideas are inefficacious because a cry to God seems to only results in humiliation. This humiliation is inspired by the

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fact that their desperate supplications can evidently not be heard. Surrounding themselves with war is one of the primary causes to their doubtful perception of spirituality.

Another explanation to the characters’ skeptical outlook is clear in their effort to substitute faith with other guilty pleasures. The characters turn to alcohol and love as means of overcoming fear. The soldiers spend countless nights in cheap brothels drinking endless amounts of vermouth, and nurses struggle to occupy themselves through delusions of true love and devotion towards their duties of nursing. In this quote Henry, the protagonist, avoids the negativity of the war with the numbing effects of alcohol, “They left me alone and I lay in bed and read the papers awhile, the news from the front, and the list of dead officers with their decorations and then reached down and brought up a bottle of Cinzano and held it straight up on my stomach…”(87). Besides avoiding the war, Fredrick Henry escapes an opportunity to apply religion to his life to help ease the pain he obtains through thoughts of the war.

Even though the characters utilize these amenities often, they still hold interest and curiosity for the unknown elements of a religious doctrine. As Henry discusses faith with Count Greffi, a significantly aged man, a desire for religion is mention, “‘I expected to become more devout as I grow older but somehow I haven’t,’ he said. ‘It is a great pity.’”(261). As you can see here, accompanying the thought of death is the idea of religion. The characters yearn for some form of spirituality in hope for a life after death, or even an avoidance of ending their life. This assurance of departure from the world, pulls the characters closer to a religious threshold.

A sense of faith may be appear to be rejected throughout this novel but in contrast it is truly sought after. It is merely avoided, until certain events hastily beg for its mercy. An example of this merciless aspect of faith can clearly be seen throughout the main characters’

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eyes. Even when they think they have finally escaped the wretched hands of death, they are reminded of its inevitability. Henry and Catherine, two lovers who broke away from the enveloping war, were victims who could not escape deaths reach. They had managed to escape the tragedies of war but not the tragedies of life itself. As the story comes to a close Catherine is found struggling to give birth to their child. In this attempt Catherine is tragically taken from her lover’s arms, and her and their little boy are seized by death’s cruel hands. Henry is left pleading, “‘Don’t let her die. Oh, God, please don’t let her die. I’ll do anything for you if you won’t let her die. Please, please, please, dear God, don’t let her die.’”(330). This is powerful evidence of the fact that religion was not abandoned completely but doubted until its emergence during desperate times.

The characters in this tale can in no way disacknowledge the superiority of spiritual beliefs; however they can avoid it with reasons known to them. Rejection of such beliefs is not possible because along with war there is death and along with death lies religion. These three aspects of life: war, death, and religion, are all undeniably connected together. One cannot be without the other; and the characters realized this. Therefore they did not reject faith but doubted its many envied miracles.

Comparison Essay on The Crucible

 

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Nicole Willis

Mrs. Robinson

AP English Three

21 September 2007

The Lies Felt by Many: A Compare and Contrast Essay

After reading The Crucible, you realize how harsh the Salem Witch Trials actually were. You would not imagine the terrible events that occurred in The Crucible to ever compare to something as “innocent” as high school life, but strangely you will find that it does. The lies told in both high school and in The Crucible are focused on very opposite ideas and thoughts; however, the immoral motives for the lies and rumors are almost identical.

Many lies are told everyday in high school; most of these lies are malice rumors. These similar malice rumors were also common in The Crucible. As congruent as the lies are, both the lies told in The Crucible and in high school are focused on different ideas, thoughts, and events. The differences among the lies are evident in the events that take place in the play and in the every day life of high school. The accusations made in The Crucible were absorbed with Puritan religion, heaven, and hell. Abigail and her friends lied and accused innocent women of being witches and worshiping and communicating with the devil. These accusations were very serious and threatened these womens’ lives to the point of execution. Lies told and accusations made in high school are quite different from The Crucible. In high school lies are consumed by popularity. The lust for popularity among high school girls provokes deceiving lies, rumors, and accusations. For example, girls will make up stories about themselves or others to portray a certain popular image of themselves. In Salem, lies existed of supernatural events and dealt with a world viewed only in dreams and by imagination. This is not the case in high school. Expressing ideas of imagination, dreams, and

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a supernatural world is not as common in high school. Such things as the supernatural world are not as popular a topic as it was in Salem. Facts and believable events take place of the imagination and dreams of high school students today.

The way the lies are told in Salem are strikingly different than the way they are spread in high school. Lies were boldly expressed by Abigail and her friends during the Witch Trials. Abigail directly expresses to the court that she did not commit adultery with Proctor when she in fact had. Exaggeration is the significant factor to telling lies and spreading rumors in high school. A girl could have just innocently kissed some guy at a party and then as the story travels from one person to the next, it concludes with, “She slept with two guys in one night! “. You can picture how discrete a rumor or lie is in high school. It is not bluntly told but it travels from one person to the next; with each person adding on their own erroneous details.

Many significant similarities are shared between The Crucible and the confusing world of high school. Even though the lies deal with contrary ideas the incentive for the lies themselves are harmonious. In The Crucible, Abigail and her friends are spotted dancing and conjuring spirits in the forest; this act is shameful in the community. Since they have been discovered they hurry away to construct awful lies to redeem themselves from this horrible sin which they committed. Similar situations exist among high school girls. A teenage girl’s parents could discover her drinking at a party and she could somehow create a lie, which could most likely hurt others, to slither her way out of trouble’s reach. Often lies are told to hurt innocent people; this tragedy occurred all throughout The Crucible. Abigail, being the “lump of vanity”(page ) that she is, constitutes a plan to rid the world of Elizabeth Proctor; whom she greatly envies. Abigail denounces Elizabeth of witchery. This spiteful lie sends Elizabeth straight to jail to await her tragic execution. Complementary events take place in high school. Girls in high school will spread abhorrent rumors about girls to hurt them

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purposefully. They will accuse them of shameful acts and force embarrassing assumptions into their reputations. Reputations are a crucial part of high school and an atrocious one can ruin your high school experience.

Spreading lies can immorally extract negative attention from the liar. This was a common motive for the young girls in Salem and is also true for young girls in high school today. For example, Mary Warren incriminates John Proctor to save herself from the unfavorable attention she conceives from Abigail and the other young girls. This same act is common among high school girls everywhere. When a girl has made a fool of herself she will be quick to point out an embarrassing mistake another girl has made or they’ve “imagined” she has made. Not only did the young, conniving girls lie, but the adults also provoked hateful rumors just to selfishly acquire what they wanted. Mr. Putnam, imputes Mr. Nurses wife of witchery just so he can lay his wretched hands on land that does not rightfully belong to him. Girls in high school will also often create depraved lies to contract what they so parsimoniously want. For instance, a girl may lie about a boy’s girlfriend because she wants him for herself. Lies, rumors, and accusations are revealed all over the world, since the beginning of time. The motives for all these shameful stories have not been altered, but the ridiculous content of these lies will continue to change with the sands of time.

Descriptive Essay

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Nicole Willis

Ms. Robinson

AP English Three

8 October 2007

The Reflections of Strong Bonds Among Us: A Descriptive Essay of Nature

A very special day has been placed upon me. A day when all four of us are together. The night before spent among metal, lights, and the ringing sound of festival music and screaming children. The overwhelming lively night full of energy , fun, and excitement disintegrates out of memory with the new peaceful thoughts of the wet, humid ocean air that still lies branded by the sun in my skin.

The morning sun had just begun to show its bright yellow face when I, exhausted from the night before, lay snug in bed, with dreams of hopeful expectations of the very special day I was soon to open my eyes to. The bright lights peering out from the window illuminated the room and revealed the population of unsettled dirt and dust in the air. Hustling to quickly breathe in the plans set for this day, I rush to the prologue of our day, located on the dock. The tight pull of the leash in my hand sends my paces straight onto the releaving destination. Finally, all four of us had made it to the saviour of our peaceful journey. The weathered boat strolled along the cold, dark mirror of blue liquid until it finally escaped the marina and then began to run and skip across the open sound. The smells of furnishings had escaped my mind and were thankfully replaced by this welcoming scent of morning air and salty spray. This scent flowed throughout my body, dictating my taste and sight. Soon my mouth was overflowing with this delightful taste of bright morning air and tangy, exciting salt from the ocean spray. My face sparkled and gleamed with happiness from the jovial journey across the calm ocean world. The shock of the waves caused me to bounce upon the bow, with each

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bounce awakening my forgotten senses. Across the sound I gaze at the world we had left behind. No tears are shed at this sight.

We journey far out reaching our first patch of land where we discover the golden, gleaming shellfish. We toss one after another into our satisfied buckets. The excitement of our discoveries embodies our minds and our spirits; the day has only just begun. Soon we quench our thirst of these coveted mussels and we point our wet, sun bathed bodies in a new direction. We arrive upon this remembered land filled with story-telling trees and busy grains of sand. The juice of my mango drips from my satisfied lips and splashes upon the lively mirror beneath the boat. My toes kiss the mirror and taste its cool wet flavor. The sun begins to rise high in the sky I can feel its intense arms reaching out from heaven warming every inch of my body, kissing my cheeks, and blinding my eyes with its beauty. Forbidden to see the beauty of the laughing sun, my gaze is turned to the white light that dances across the crumpled mirror of black and blue hues.

I am drunk with peacefulness that has been scorched and singed into my body. The sun is glad it has successfully cast a spell upon its thankful victim. The gentle wind lays me down upon my cozy spot on the bow and I fall into a deep sleep. The clinking of the boat against the water is the only sound that could have possibly awoken me form this sluggish state of mind.

We sadly say goodbye to the crashing waves of the beach and the lively grains of sand. We make our way out into the epilogue of our day where we find ourselves drifting among others in the vast ocean. Large waves of shattered pieces of the mirror remind me of where we are. Our tiny raft could have easily been swallowed up if it were not for the ocean’s conscience. The popping sound of the bluefish scattered among these shards of glass turn each of our heads in their direction. Our yearning for the fresh taste of their bodies causes us

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to quickly and chaotically cast out into this wave infested water. These flirtatious fish evoke laughter and hurriedness from us. Our desire for these shiny, slimy creatures is overturned with the desire of secludedness on the vast broken mirror. With only one slimy prize in hand we head out far away from the other chaotic rafts that surround us. Our tiny ship surfs across the overwhelming waves and for a second you could imagine yourself on a huge swing set in the sky. This roller coaster came to a halt as soon as we found ourselves alone.

We float a top the waves and place our alluring devices in the water with hope of yet another slimy prize. A screaming of fishing line sends us all wide-eyed and excited to the bow of the boat. A tough and exhausting fight is fought with the sight of this lost prize. We had captured a shark. He was beautiful. I am amazed by the sight of him. His gray, sand paper body gleams like sterling sliver and his sad eyes call to me. Yet I am taken a back by fear at the sight of him. Granted, he probably feels more fear the I. I gaze at him only for an instant for he soon has to be released back into his mysterious, underwater world of beauty. With a slash of his tale he darts down below us. My body trembles with excitement and is soon calmed by the tired, setting sun. The prizes all seem to have escaped us and now our focus is turned to the tragedy of the escaping sun. Its embellished pinks, blues, and yellows separate throughout the soft billowy clouds and rays of exhausted sunshine fight to reflect off the shards of glass floating among this salty, blue liquid. The sun sinks down out of sight and with it sinks happiness, peace,and beauty. With the parting of all those we hold dear; the perpetuating sound of the ocean water splashing against our boat, our sun kissed faces, our salty lips, our sandy toes, and our peaceful minds will never let us forget this moment, this day. As we head back to reality and that world we so readily left behind we begin to realize the discrete bonds we have made with each other. We each took a piece of that radiant speculum and we each left our reflection betwixt the shards of glass. We now realize with the aid of that

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nostalgic place that these bonds will continue to grow as we journey and as we discover.