Gaokao Argument Essay

            In China, students have to take a test in their senior year of high school called the gaokao. The gaokao is the only thing that Chinese colleges look at when considering perspective students. If a student does not get into any colleges then they must become manual workers. College is their only chance to do anything else. The gaokao is unfair in many ways. It limits growth in creativity of students, it puts the students under extreme amounts of stress, and it is not an accurate portrayal of the student’s full intelligence.

            The gaokao stifles growth in creativity of Chinese students. Students spend 10^th and 11^th grade learning only what will be on the test. They then spend all of their senior year studying and memorizing that material. School is supposed to be a place to learn to think for yourself and be creative. Students in China are only learning how to take a test and memorize facts. In New York, students in elementary and middle school have to take a Math and English state exam, testing them on the Common Core. I am a middle school student in New York and in two days I will begin the English state exams. My scores will influence which high school I get into. These tests are a much less extreme version of the gaokao. Our teachers have to devote a very small part of the school year to studying for these tests. As we studied for the English state exam, our teacher constantly told us not to use the analyzing and deep thinking we had been learning all year, on the tests. She said, “The test makers don’t think you should know that yet. Make sure you do it in your school work and everywhere else, just not on the test.” The test makers in New York are stifling our creativity by setting such low standards. The test makers in China are stifling those students creativity by not even giving them a chance to go above their standards.

                        The gaokao is extremely stressful on Chinese students. If they do not get a high enough score on the test, they don’t get into college. Even one or two points on the test can change their whole life. There is too much riding on the gaokao. The students taking the gaokao are still teenagers, but yet there are forced to take one single test to determine their entire future. Teenage suicide rates have been known to rise around the time of the gaokao. If students would rather die than take this test; that should be a huge red flag that the gaokao is too stressful. In some Chinese schools, classes start around 6 a.m. and don’t end until around 10 p.m. High schools in New York City are also known for being stressful, but our classes usually start around 8 a.m. and end around 3 p.m. This is significantly shorter. Knowing the stress high school kids in NYC feel, I can only imagine how much worse it is for kids in China.

             The gaokao is an inaccurate portrayal of the student’s full intelligence. The test is only really testing them on how well they can learn and memorize something. While this can be important, it should not be the only thing colleges are have a bright future ahead of them. But, if they have trouble with their memory, read too slow or have horrible test anxiety they might fail the gaokao. Unless they have enough money to go to a private college or study abroad, they have no chance of going to college and having a better life. With a test score you can’t get a feel for a student’s personality, how they interact with others and how creative they are. Just because their score is good enough for that school, doesn’t mean it is a good match. A single number should not replace a person and their “intelligence.”

            The gaokao, the Chinese college entrance exam, is an extremely unjust way to select students. The test dictates what the students learn in high school so they have no chance to learn how to be creative. It also puts extreme amounts of stress and pressure on the students because it is their only chance to do something other than manual labor and the test doesn’t accurately show the student’s full intelligence, only how well they can memorize the subjects on the test. The gaokao is unfair and should not continue being given in China. 

Poetry Essay

Father and son relationships are often very complicated. Both “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke are poems about father and son relationships. In “Those Winter Sundays”, the father and son have a poor relationship; the father is extremely selfless but the son doesn’t appreciate him for it. In “My Papa’s Waltz”, the father and son have a very fun, playful relationship, but only when the father is drinking. Both poems show different types of father son relationships.

            In “The Winter Sundays”, the father sacrifices a lot for his son. But, the son doesn’t realize what his father is doing or appreciate him for it. The father would get up early every day to start a fire and warm up the house so his son didn’t have to get up in the cold. The son says, “No one ever thanked him.” The father’s sacrifices weren’t even acknowledged. In the poem it says, “Speaking indifferently to him,/ who had driven out the cold/ and polished my good shoes as well.” The son doesn’t treat his father any different then he’d treat anyone when he should be very kind and grateful towards his father. When the son is grown up and looking back on his childhood he says, “What did I know, what did I know/ of love’s austere and lonely offices?”  The author uses repetition to emphasize how the son didn’t understand what his father was doing for him. This makes the reader feel empathy for the father because he worked so hard and got nothing in return.

            In “My Papa’s Waltz”, the father drinks a lot and isn’t very reliable. The son says, “The whiskey on your breath/ could make a small boy dizzy.” This shows the father was drinking alcohol, at least enough to make him tipsy if not drunk. The son then goes on to say, “We romped until the pans/ slid from the kitchen shelf.” The father and son are playing around and making a mess. They are having fun but only because the father has been drinking. The son says while he and his father rough house, “My mother’s countenance/ could not unfrown itself.”  The mother is upset at the father and disapproves of how he is behaving around his son. As the father and son are dancing, the son says his father’s hand “Was battered on one knuckle.” This suggests that maybe the father got in a fight. The son goes even further to say that his father is missing steps and scraping his ear. The father is missing steps because he was drinking and then he is being careless with the safety of his son. The father is a lousy father but his son loves him because he plays and has fun with him once in a while. This makes the reader feel empathy for the son because his father is flaky, unreliable and a bad role model.

            Both “Those Winter Sundays” and “My Papa’s Waltz” show relationships between a father and son. In “Those Winter Sundays”, the father is a good father but his son doesn’t appreciate him. In “My Papa’s Waltz”, it is the opposite, the father is a bad father but he and son play and bond together. From these poems you can learn that no relationship is perfect. 

Night Essay

When going through hard times, some people reach to God for help, and some don’t. “Night” by Elie Wiesel is a non-fiction book about his own experiences in the Holocaust. The book starts in 1941 when Elie is about thirteen years old. He is living in Sighet, a small town in Transylvania. He is a devout Jew and takes religion very seriously. World War II is going on but no one thinks the German troops will ever reach them. But one day, they come. All the Jews in Sighet are forced onto a train with almost no food or water for several days. They are taken to a concentration camp where Elie and his father are separated from his mother and sisters. The reader infers that they are killed. Over the several years that Elie and father spend in concentration camps, Elie slowly loses his faith in God.

            In the beginning of the book, Elie is very interested in God and studying the Kabbalah. He is studying Judaism with Moishe the Beadle. Moishe devotes much of his time to his and Elie’s religious studying. One evening Moishe asks Elie why he prays. Elie is shocked by this question and doesn’t know how to respond. He thinks to himself “Why did I pray? Strange question. Why did I live? Why did I breathe?” (p. 4). Elie takes comfort in God and praying. To him, it is natural. He was only 13 years old at the time yet he “…studied the Talmud [by day] and by night I would run to weep over the destruction of the temple.” (p. 3). Even at such a young age he was very serious about his studies and his practice.

            When the German troops come and take all the Jews away, Elie is still practicing Judaism and believes God will save him and his people. But as Elie spends some time in concentration camps, you see him start to lose faith. As Elie and his father are entering their first concentration camp, the weak are being separated and thrown into a fire. As they are waiting to be looked over, Elie’s father starts to pray, saying, “May His [God’s] name be celebrated and sanctified…” (p. 33) Elie hears his father praying and says, “For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank him for?” (p. 33). This is the first time you see Elie start to separate from religion, questioning God and his motives. He no longer knows what to believe, his studying with Moishe or the unattended to pain and hurt in the eyes of his people.

            After spending a year or two in concentration camps, you see Elie give up on God and his religious beliefs. In the camps, he has been whipped, starved and treated as an object to be owned, not a person. One day, the prisoners, including Elie and His father, are called to roll call. They are forced to watch a young boy be hanged. In front of him, Elie hears someone ask, “‘For God’s sake, where is God?’” (p. 65). Elie responds to this man saying, “‘Where He is? This is where – hanging here from this gallows…’” (p. 65). This is the point in the book where you see Elie give up on God. At such a young age, only 15 years old, he has seen so much death and sorrow that he believes God, the immortal, must be dead, along with the rest of the Jews.

            Especially hard or troubling times in people lives can make them reach to or away from God. In Elie Wiesel’s case, in his non-fiction account of his own struggles in the Holocaust, it’s away. As Elie deals with being forced from his home and separation from his mother and sisters, he starts to lose belief in God and his own religion, one he practiced very strongly before. He rebels against God, at one point almost yelling at him for all the destruction he allowed to continue. When he loses religion, he loses an extremely important part of his life, and once his father dies, he has no one to turn to for comfort. The last line of the book is “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me.” (p. 115). With the lack of love or religion in his life, Elie doesn’t feel like a real person anymore.

Should Kids Play Competive/Contact Sports?

            Whether or not kids should play competitive or contact sports has been a recent topic for debate. Some argue the positive effects, and some argue the negative. Through research, I found there to be much more negative than positive effects. Sports put too much pressure on children to push themselves to their breaking point. Additionally, many children get horribly injured, in some cases even fatally. I believe kids should not play competitive or contact sports. There is too much pressure and not enough safety.

            Competitive sports put too much pressure on kids, pressure to be perfect, to keep going and to win. More often than not, kids are pressured to play even with injuries. Mark Hyman, author of “Until It Hurts: American’s Obsession with Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids”, says “Every year more than 3.5 million children under 15 require medical treatment for sports injuries, nearly half of which are the result of simple overuse.” Young athletes have too much pressure on them to “push through it”, but pushing through it can lead to worse injuries that could affect them for the rest of their lives. Whitney Phelps, older sister of Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps, was a top swimmer until she burnt out her body. She swam through pain in her back for years. At 14, she found out she had two bulging spinal discs, two stress fractures and a herniated disc. She pushed through because of her coach, her mother and her dreams of competition in the Olympics, but swimming through it is what kept her from accomplishing just that. Sports put too much pressure which can lead to injury and to early burn-out.

            Even without the stress, contact sports are very unsafe. In just 2013, 8 high school football players died, as a direct result of playing. Each year over 173,000 people under 20 are treated for injuries related to sports. Rough sports are much too dangerous for young children to be playing. Kids get injured when they are young, and it affects them for the rest of their lives. In “For Children in Sports, a Breaking Point”, Jane E. Brody writes, “… young athletes are more prone to certain injuries, especially stress fractures; tendinitis; a degenerative condition called osteochondrosis; and damage to the growth plates of bones that can stunt them for life.” Contact sports are not safe enough for young kids to be playing.

            While sports have many negative effects, some argue that they  are a great way to stay healthy and fit. Herschel Walker, former NFL star, says “…sports helped transform from him from an overweight kid with a speech impediment into one of the greatest athletes of his generation.” While this is true, you can still get severely injured at any time. Almost 40% of all sports related injuries treated in hospitals are from kids ages 5 -14. 62% of children’s sports injuries happen during practice.  Contact and competitive sports are too unpredictable, kids should not be allowed to play them.

            In conclusion, children should not play highly competitive or contact sports. While they may be a fun way to stay fit, they are too high-risk for young children with vulnerable bodies to be playing, and they put too much stress on kids to do well, added to stress they already have of getting good grades, getting into college and more. They should not be risking their lives for a game. 

“Building Bridges” by Andrea Pinkney

It is normal for parents or grandparents to have a difficult time letting go of their children. The short story “Building Bridges” by Andrea Pinkney shows this through the relationship of Bebe and her grandmother, Mama Lil. Bebe dreams of being an engineer, but Mama Lil refuses to let her work on a renovation project on the Brooklyn Bridge. Bebe knows the project is an amazing opportunity and it would help secure her future career, but Mama Lil puts foot down. Andrea Pinkney shows us through the relationship of Mama Lil and Bebe that you have to sacrifice things for those you love.

In the beginning of the story, Mama Lil refuses to let Bebe do the bridge project.  When Bebe first approaches Mama Lil about the project, Mama Lil says, “… I ain’t never heard of no girls be doing that.” (p. 17).  This leads the reader to infer that Mama Lil is very old fashioned in the sense that she believes gender dictates your job possibilities.  She believes engineering, or “engine-ing” as she calls it, is not the work of a young women; young women shouldn’t be doing “grit-work” like that, she says. But that’s not all Mama Lil has to say about Bebe’s wishes to be a part of the renovation project. Mama Lil says, “… Colored women trying to cross the white man’s line is asking for trouble.”(p.21). From this the reader can infer that Mama Lil believes from her own experiences that race also dictates the type of job you can get. Mama Lil believes that Bebe - as a young black female - should be working at Rimley’s Beauty Salon, she even gets Bebe a job application.

Later in the story, Mama Lil admits why she really didn’t want Bebe to do the project. Mama Lil says to Bebe, “Your dreams are the kind that’ll take you away from here,” (p. 29). Mama Lil had refused to let Bebe participate in the renovation project because she knew that a career in engineering would carry Bebe away from her, and this project was Bebe’s stepping stone. Mama Lil had already lost Bebe’s parents to a fire, and she was afraid of losing Bebe too. “Her eyes were filled with sad acknowledgement,” (p. 30) thinks Bebe after she tells Mama Lil that she is doing the project, no matter what. Mama Lil finally starts to make herself admit that Bebe needs to live her own life. She begins to come to terms with the fact that Bebe has her own dreams, and deserves to accomplish them.

In the end of the story, Mama Lil finally lets Bebe participate in the project. The morning of the project, Bebe wakes up, goes into the kitchen and tells Mama Lil she needs the permission paper because she is going to the project whether she likes it or not. Mama Lil hands Bebe the unsigned permission slip. “I been up most the night, Bebe – thinking, praying, and trying my best to read that confounded permission paper….Will you help me read the permission paper, Bebe?” (p. 34). She says. Mama Lil can’t read or write very well so she is giving up her pride by asking Bebe for help. This shows how much Mama Lil cares about Bebe and how much she is willing to give up for her. Just as Bebe is leaving, Mama Lil says, “Bebe, that bridge is lucky to have you.” (p. 34). Mama Lil realizes that she should be proud of Bebe. Just because Bebe is going to have a real career, doesn’t mean Mama Lil is losing her permanently.

It is very common for parents or guardians to have a hard time saying goodbye to their kids. Through Mama Lil and Bebe’s relationship, Pinkney shows how difficult this period of time in a families’ life can be. She shows us that sometimes what you want isn’t what they need and you have to make sacrifices for your loved ones. Mama Lil wants Bebe to stay with her and work at Rimley’s but Mama Lil realizes Bebe is going places and she needs to follow her own dreams.  

My Name

My name is a pale pink. Simple, sophisticated. I could pass for pale pink. I feel more like a deep, royal blue. Loud while still being quiet. I come across sort of shy, the type of girl who does all her homework on Friday afternoon.

             I’m not.

             I’m loud, I’m gross, I’m a little bit crazy and I procrastinate until the very last second.

             In French it means petite. I’m anything but. When I was born, I was a whopping 10 lbs and 3 oz. Now, 12 years old, I’m 5"7', towering over all my friends. I get it from my mom’s side. Both my mom and my aunt are 5’10”. But grandfather brings home the gold with 6 feet and 6 inches. Not that my dad’s side doesn’t deserve any credit. Neither he nor his parents are very tall, but his brother – my uncle – is certainly up there.

             My parents chose my name for its sweet, soft sound. Like a ballerina barely touching the floor as she leaps across the stage. Charlotte. Beautiful in every language.

             It feels very 19^th century Europe. Ball gowns and powdered faces, rich young girls with big blond curls. Sweet little voices singing out ballads in all the romance languages. I’m a brunette, living in the 21^st century, who wears jeans and t-shirts and can’t sing for her life.

             But, despite everything I just said, I love my name and wouldn’t change it for the world. Just like everyone else, I’ve gone and made it my own.

Summer Reading Book Response

Warning! Spoilers!

Over the summer I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Set in the early 20th century, the story focuses on a young girl living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The girl, Francie, lives in extreme poverty. Her father worked as a singing waiter in bars and her mother as a janitress. The story follows Francie and her younger brother Neely through their adolescence. Over the course of the novel, Francie changes quite a bit.

As a child, Francie had a huge imagination. She dreamt of faraway places, with children just like her living there. Not only did she dream about places faraway, but she dreamt about Manhattan, just across the river. She dreamt about going across the bridge everyday for work, and being a part of this new and exciting world. But when Francie's father dies from alcohol induced pneumonia, she has to delay high school and start working. She works as a newspaper clipper, reading newspapers all day. Having to take the train into Manhattan every morning, she realizes it's not all that's cracked up to be. When she imagined riding the train over the bridge she imagined "crossing it would make her feel like a gossamer-winged fairy flying through the air." But in reality, it felt no different. Francie says, "New York was disappointing. The buildings were higher and the crowds thicker; otherwise it was little different from Brooklyn." Francie then decided she had seen it all; that every where had a piece of Brooklyn in it so where ever she went there would be nothing new and she would be disappointed.

When Francie was young, she loved to write. But all of her writing was for school, so she wrote what her teachers wanted to read. She wrote beautiful stories, funny stories, heroic stories, happy stories, and, of course, she received all A's. By the eight grade she began to write stories of the things around her. She wrote stories of poverty, alcoholism, death, and sexual assault. Her teacher tells Francie that her stories are horrible and she should burn them. Francie goes home and does just that, but instead she burns all of the pieces she got an A on. Francie decides she will write the truth, not some version of the truth her teachers want to hear. This symbolizes her breaking away from the structure of school and becoming more independent, her learning how to put her needs and wants first. Francie never does go to high school. But she takes summer school classes at a local college and steals her brother's geometry textbook to study it. She essentially teaches herself high school and she manages to pass the regents tests and go on to college.

Through the book Francie changes and matures. As she gets older, Francie becomes jaded about new experiences. But in spite of her jaded attitude, Francie still goes away for college. Francie also learns how to become more independent and do what she wants to do.  Overall, Francie changes for the better.