Comment on all these questions. Remember to give reasons based on the book!! In your answers pay particular attention to the Chapters and pages suggested in each question, if any.
1. The USA is often reffered to as a "melting pot", where can you see it in the book. Give examples.
2. From the book, do you think there is racism in the American society and American schools? Give examples from the book.
3. American society is often considered as an example for mobility as it is supposed to give opportunities for people willing to go up the "social ladder". Examples of self-made men: Bill Gates, Onasis. From the book, do you think there are real opportunities in the USA for poor, underpriviledged people? Give examples and justify your answer.
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8 comments:
1.- Examples:
- Chapter 10, page 37 (Cubans, Spanish-Speaking, Puerto Ricans).
- Chapter 11, page 39 (Jewish, Chinase, Puerto Ricans, Donimicans, Italians...).
- Chapter 12 page 55 (Ben Chan was Chinese).
- Chapter 19, page 64 (Bob was Jewish).
- Chapter 19 page 66 ( Ken was Corean)
.....
2.- Yes, of course.
I think there are different kids of races and eachone is considerate in a different way.
For Example:
-Chapter 9 page 30:
Freddie Bell: "...It´s not easy when you are black in this society."
- Chapter 10 page 39:
Cubanas and Puerto Ricans: ".. Cubans were better than Puerto Ricans..".
- Chapter 12 page 42 : "... people (white people) take things all the time, but the police don´t stop them..".
.....
3.- I think so:
I think you must be clever, skilful and persevering.
One example the own teacher Frank McCourt.
In Chapter 9 (Barbara Sadlar)
Frank said her "I´d gone to collage and become teacher whithout any high School education.
In the school when she was studing didn´t thought the same but I agree whith Frank.
2-I think so. For example, among the Hispanics, the Cubans feel superior. At the same time, Americans look down on Cubans and will not talk to them.
We also find the case of F.B., a very good student who admitted that it is not easy to be black in the American society.
3-The book presents the case of a poor Irishman, the protagonist.
Many foreigners go there because, even though they must work long hours and are underpaid, can make a better living than back in their countries of origin.
1-We can answer this question with my last answers. Yes, EE UU is considered a land of opportunities and, therefore, many people from different countries go there to work and earn money. Consequently, EE UU is a “melting pot” because there are a lot of different cultures there. Examples:
-Chapter 11, page 39: Puerto Ricans, Chinase, Jewish…
-Chapter 12: Ben, the Chinese boy
-Chapter 19: the Corean boy, Ken
…
P.D.: Pilar, I'm not going to go to class until february because I have to study very much to my exams! I would be grateful if you send me an e-mail when you know the day that I have to register in "Libre" (cuando salgan las fechas de matrícula para ir por Libre).
Happy new year!
SOCIETY IN THE USA
1.Chapter 9 page 29: “There was a class of thirty-three firefighters, all white, mostly Irish. Almost everyone else was black or Hispanic”
Chapter 9 page 31: “Some of you come from Haiti or Cuba”
Chapter 11 pages 39 and 40: “ There are students from all kinds of backgrounds in this school: Jewish, Chinese, Puerto Rican, Greek, Dominican, Russian, Italian”
As we can see with the above chapters the USA is a real “melting pot” where all kind of people are mixed in the same country, living , working or studying together.
2. Yes, there are some sentences of the book where you can feel, see or hear words or situations that shows you there is racism in the American society and American schools.
-On page 30: Freddie Bell a student says: “It´s not easy when you´re black in this society.
On page 37: There is another way to see the racism, the social class difference between Cubans and other Spanish-speaking groups. “They were thirteen Cubans in the class. They believed they were better than the other Spanish-speaking.”
-On page 38: Hector, the Cuban boy seems to demonstrate us some kind of racism against Irish people when he said “ I don´t want an Irish teacher. They drink, they hit people for no reason” but maybe it is just a personal resentment.
-On page 43: When the classroom went out to see a movie, the students were waiting the train a man said: “Why don´t they go back where they belong? They don´t know how to behave like humans”. This man was talking about black students.
-On page 47: It is talking about Serena a girl who has to live with his grandmother in Georgia, the South of the USA, where white people are mean to black people. It demonstrates it that there are still feelings of superiority between black and white people.
3. On Page 55. Ben is a Chinese student with a poor background family. He beat fourteen thousand kids to be at Stuyvesant High School. His whole family is proud of him. Well this is an example as another one, but where you can really see the opportunities that the USA brings to poor people is with Frank McCourt, the author, all the book shows you how is possible the American dream for people willing to go up the “social ladder”. He worked hard to be a teacher and without know it, he became a well-known writer.
No problem, Pablo. I´ll keep you all informed. Mind you, things are going quite slow this year with all the changes.
Happy New Year for you too!
Hi Inma:
I don´t quite get what you mean by:
"In Chapter 9 (Barbara Sadlar)
Frank said her "I´d gone to collage and become teacher whithout any high School education.
In the school when she was studing didn´t thought the same but I agree whith Frank."
Could you explain it futher?
Thank you,
Pilar
P.S. Mind silly spelling mistakes!
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