McKenzie Glasgow Infographic

Critical Response Proposal

I am choosing to write my critical response paper on standardized testing.  As a high school senior, standardized testing is extremely important at this point in my life.  Test scores have the power to determine a lot for my future.  Also, standardized testing is a hot topic in politics today.  With the appointment of a new secretary of education, Betsy Devos, the controversy of standardized testing has increased.

As a student, I have the opportunity to hear the opinions of many of my peers.  Most of them hate standardized testing.  They think that it is unfair because they are often unprepared.  They feel that each teacher presents information differently.  Therefore, it is not fair that everyone has to take the same test no matter what teacher they had.

The next point of view comes from teachers.  In most standardized test, teachers do not have access to the test before it is given to their students.  They are often left in the dark, so they have to try their best to predict what information is on the test.

Colleges are the last group stakeholders.  When considering the admission of students, they often look at the ACT and SAT.  Although standardized testing is used when getting into college, these types of tests are not implemented often once the student has made it to college.

For my research, I plan to look at interviews from Betsy Devos.  I also plan on watching her debates on the subject.  I will also look at data charts and graphs to back up the three different stakeholders.  I will also use online articles.

Is standardized testing beneficial?

What elements make up a standardized test?

How could standardized testing be reformed?

How much weight is given to standardized testing by admissions of colleges?

How do students with different backgrounds but similar intellectual levels score on test?

How does a standardized test score effect the future success a student?

How has the emphasis of standardized testing evolved over the years?

Pop Culture Style Analysis Reflection

Reflection on My Pop Culture Analysis Essay

I choose write my Pop Culture Style Analysis on Mean Girls.  I chose this movie because it references a lot of societal issues.  Some of these issues include cliques, homosexuality, and teenage morals.  Most importantly it shows how parental influence affects children.  In my essay, I took a deeper look into this subject.  My goal was to determine how much a parent affects their children.  I also wanted to find out which parenting style was most effective.

Through this essay, I improved my research skills.  I conducted most of my research through the USC Upstate Databases.  Since I attended the USC Upstate library session in February, I was positive that all of the information that I received was credible and reliable.  I also took the CRAP test in preparation for starting my analysis.  I learned that the time in which the article was written is extremely important.  Previously, I rarely looked at the currency.  I just looked at the relevancy and author.

In my Pop Culture Style Analysis essay, I got the opportunity to look deeper into one of my favorite movies.  I analyzed the lessons that Tiny Fey was trying to teach her audience.  She was cautioning parents about their behavior toward their children.  If they want to raise good children, they need to be authoritative.  Observing these lessons made me appreciate Mean Girls even more.

Lastly, I learned about Toulmin’s model.  It is an effective method for writing a persuasive argument.  Toulmin’s model consist of a claim, warrant, data, and a rebuttal.  By using this method, my writing process became much easier.  I was able to organize my information more efficently.  I also used the model as a checklist when taking a final look at my paper before submission.  I will continue to use Toulmin’s model for future essays because it is simple and effective.

I like that the Pop Culture Style Analysis let me choose a topic that I was interested in.  I learned a lot through this paper, and I will continue to build upon this new knowledge.

Pop Culture Analysis First Blog

Mean Girls is a classic teen comedy film.  The screenplay was written by Tina Fey.  Her inspiration was the novel Queen Bees and Wannabes, written by Rosalind Wiseman.  The main character of the movie is named Cady Heron.  In the beginning of the movie, she is an innocent girl from Africa.  During her high school years, her family decides to move to the United States.  She begins to attend North Shore High school and is struck with culture shock.  She is forced to adapt to her new lifestyle as quickly as possible.  The most popular group in in the school is nicknamed the Plastics.  They take Cady under their wing.  Then, the ring leader of the group betrays Cady.  Cady makes it her goal to get revenge on her.

Tiny Fey’s purpose for writing Mean Girls was to show viewers how much a person can change depending on their surroundings.  Her audience is teenagers and parents.

In this paper, I will analyze the transformation of Cady.  I will also look at the difference between Cady’s parents and Regina’s parents, and the effects they had on their children.  To conduct my research, I will use the USC upstate library data bases.  I will try to find information about modern teenagers and compare it to the ones in the movie.

I choose to do my pop culture analysis on Mean Girls, because it is one of my favorite movies.  It also references many social issues in society.  Some of these issues include girl on girl crime and the morality of teenagers.

My claim for this assignment will be that Mean Girls accurately depicts teenage life.  My data is that in most high schools, there is a group of popular kids who practically run the school.  There are also multiple cliques that are defined by the similar interest of the people.  My warrant is that recent studies have shown the usual tendencies of high school students.  Most of them show that teenagers in Mean Girls and teenagers in real life are not that different.  Teenagers are easily influenced and guidance is essential to their development.  Some people could say that the movie is just a work of fiction and does not represent modern life at all.  While this could be partially true, it is difficult for a writer to write about something that they do not know about.  There had to be some background information for this movie to be made.

Summary and Analysis Self Reflection

Writing a summary and analysis paper, was a new experience for me. In previous classes, most of my teachers expected me to retell the events of a text and give my opinion on it. They never really asked me to analyze the author’s techniques.  Through my summary and analysis paper on In Defense of a Liberal Education, I was able to look deeply at the author’s techniques.  I had to ask myself if the author did a good job conveying his message to the readers or not.  Did Zakaria motivate his readers to want to preserve the liberal arts? I looked for clues from chapter three of his text which is entitled “Learning to Think,” (Zakaria 72).  I analyzed his structure, diction, anecdotes, imagery, symbolism, and research to make my decision on whether Zakaria accomplished his goal.  After days of analyzing, I concluded that he did make an effective argument. His use of many different techniques helped to make a clear message for the reader.  His text was persuasive and effective. 

Once I decided that Zakaria accomplished his goal of motivating his readers, I began writing my paper. My teacher informed me that the essay should be about ten percent summary and ninety percent analysis.  Therefore, my first paragraph was a brief summary of In Defense of a Liberal Education.  My second paragraph was a summary of chapter three of the text.  Then, I began my analysis.  In the next three and a half pages, I talked about why I thought that Zakaria made an effective argument. I included direct quotes to back up my statements.  I included the quote, “I realized that coming from India, I was pretty good at taking test and regurgitating things I had memorized; I was not so good at expressing my own ideas” (Zakaria 73).  From this quote, I was able to make the connection between a liberal arts education and a skills based education.

Zakaria’s text accomplished the goal of trying to convince readers to preserve the liberal arts.  His stance on education was evident throughout the entire book.  His message was effective and persuasive.

Questions For Close Reading

When I read the third chapter of In Defense of a Liberal Education, I first noticed the passion in Zakaria’s tone.  Next, I noticed the organization and structure of the chapter.  Zakaria states the three main achievements of a liberal education.  In the next few paragraphs, he breaks down each achievement.  He uses heavy detail to show the reader the importance of each skill.  These two noticings complement each other because Zakaria showed his passion through the way he tried to help the reader understand his message.  He used a special style of organization to ensure that the reader was well informed.

Zakaria uses the words “central virtue,” (72) to describe the importance of liberal education teaching a student how to write.  By using these descriptive words, Zakaria is able to help the reader understand that writing is the most valuable skill a student can learn.

When Zakaria talks about the three main achievements of a liberal education, I think of a three layered pyramid.  I imagine learning to think is at the top because it is the most important in the author’s eyes.  Speaking is in the middle and learning is at the bottom.  I find the way that he organized his points extremely interesting.

Near the middle of the chapter, the Zakaria’s tone switches.  He is still passionate, but he goes from expressive to informative.  Zakaria starts to reference modern day experts and moguls to boost his credibility.  He uses the words of Steve Jobs when he writes, “It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our hearts sing” (82).  Steve Jobs is explaining that there needs to be many different types of education.  Zakaria agrees with this point.  By adding the words of Jobs, Zakaria is showing the reader that many people have the same ideas that he has.

Zakaria writes, “The value added is in the brand- how it is imagined, presented, sold, and sustained” (83).  He is trying to tell the reader that an item is only as valuable as the story behind it.  This is a great point.  Something is only sellable if a person talks highly about it or has an interesting meaning behind it.

Chapter Three Summary and Analysis of In Defense

Chapter Three Summary and Analysis

In chapter three of In Defense of a Liberal Education, Zakaria talks about the main three things that a liberal education helps a student achieve.  At the beginning of the chapter, Zakaria writes, “the central virtue of a liberal education is that it teaches you how to write, and writing makes you think” (73).  He tells the reader that liberal education teaches a student how to write.  He believes that in order to write, you must think first.  Therefore, if liberal education teaches a student how to write, it also teaches them how to think.  Next, Zakaria says that liberal education teaches a student how to speak.  He notes that if a student understands their own mind, they can use “articulate communication,” (Zakaria 75) to express their thoughts.  Liberal education teaches a student to speak by helping them effectively express their thoughts.  Lastly, Zakaria believes that a liberal education teaches a student how to learn.  Zakaria writes, “the understanding of how to acquire knowledge on my own” (78).  He is talking about his own experiences with understanding how to learn.  He believes that a liberal education forces a student to learn how their brain works.  Therefore, they are able to understand which type of learning is best for them.

Near the middle of the chapter, the tone of the text switches.  Zakaria starts off by expressing the reasons why a liberal education is important, and what it helps a student to achieve.  Then, he switches to a more informative tone.  He starts to use opinions from prestigious psychologists to back up his argument.  Zakaria uses views from Howard Gardner when he says, “there are at least eight kinds of intelligence” (79).  This relates to Zakaria’s point about learning.  Gardener acknowledges the many different types of learning.  A student chooses a method of learning that is most effective for them.

This chapter relates to Zakaria’s argument as a whole because he talks about the main achievements of a liberal education.  He believes that this type of education teaches a student how to think, speak, and learn.  Zakaria believes that these skills are three of the most important things for a student to learn.  His goal is to preserve the liberal arts.  He gives good stable points as to why people should work to save it.  He also uses opinions from experts in order to boost his credibility.