Today the answer seems both more modest and more challenging: If we want to reduce poverty, we have to stop doing the things that make people poor and keep them that way. Stop underpaying people for the jobs they do. Stop treating working people as potential criminals and let them have the right to organize for better wages and working conditions. Stop the institutional harassment of those who turn to the government for help or find themselves destitute in the streets. Maybe, as so many Americans seem to believe today, we can't afford the kinds of public programs that would genuinely alleviate poverty-- though I would argue otherwise. But at least we should decide, as a bare minimum principle, to stop kicking people when they're down.
-p.238 from Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Today I realized a big problem in the Center for Global Studies: We are a school for global studies, yet we limit ourselves to only three languages and countries to focus on. I would expect a global school to have many more options. If we want to be called a global center and truly live up to the name then we need to add more languages and global courses. Imagine if we offered languages like German or Spanish while also offering courses like International Business. Then, if the student body agrees to this new curriculum, we could improve our international studies and prepare students for international relations-- Many wish to pursue this field. I think we can accomplish, if we all come together, an improved global curriculum that will steer students in the real global direction.
Exactly! I completely agree with what your saying. CGS would be much better if it offered languages from Europe and Spain along with the languages already taught. It would be more "global studies" that way. Great job!
ReplyDeleteFirstly, great job imitating the structure that Kincaid uses in her writing. The tone is obviously very different from Kincaid, which is impressive given how similar the technicalities of the writing are.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I absolutely agree with your points. It's great to learn language and culture from East Asia and the Middle East, of course, but that and a world literature class is sadly lacking in comparison to what a fully formed and developed "center for global studies" might be. (If the school were to be expanded that much, of course, it would probably need its own building and vastly more funding, which makes the idea sadly unlikely.)
Wow I have no idea why I've never thought of it like that, maybe because it is such a small school, but you're right it should be bigger like you said. I think you did a good job of imitating Ehrenreich, but you should watch repeating your self. I knows it's hard when limited to one subject and structure, I'm pretty sure I did that myself as well. Other then that I really liked your ideas and the paragraph as a whole. Nice job Reuben.
ReplyDeleteYou did a fantastic job on imitating the structure of Kincaids voice. And what I also noticed is that you really kept the same tone as her despite the different topic. Overall, great.
ReplyDelete