When | Why |
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Mar-10-21 | Intro to the Collection: James Baldwin |
Mar-10-21 | "Ocean" |
Mar-10-21 | "Ocean" (continued) |
Mar-10-21 | "Testing Doesn't Tell the Whole Story" |
Mar-10-21 | Poem |
Mar-10-21 | Poem |
Mar-10-21 | Poem |
Mar-10-21 | Poem |
Mar-10-21 | Poem |
Mar-10-21 | A Conversation with Quartez Harris |
Added March 10, 2021 at 10:30am
by Paul Hankins
Title: Intro to the Collection: James Baldwin
Added March 10, 2021 at 10:31am
by Paul Hankins
Title: "Ocean"
Added March 10, 2021 at 10:32am
by Paul Hankins
Title: "Ocean" (continued)
Added March 10, 2021 at 10:33am
by Paul Hankins
Title: "Testing Doesn't Tell the Whole Story"
Added March 10, 2021 at 10:34am
by Paul Hankins
Title: Poem
Added March 10, 2021 at 10:35am
by Paul Hankins
Title: Poem
Added March 10, 2021 at 10:35am
by Paul Hankins
Title: Poem
Added March 10, 2021 at 10:36am
by Paul Hankins
Title: Poem
Added March 10, 2021 at 10:36am
by Paul Hankins
Title: Poem
Added March 10, 2021 at 10:42am
by Paul Hankins
Title: A Conversation with Quartez Harris
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I thought that too! Butterflies have been seen as creativity and growth. Adding them to this cover, give the audience a preview to what they will be reading.
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The image on the cover page with the child and the butterfly wings can symbolize creativity and gives the audience something to make an inference to what they might be reading about.
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The cover is most of the time the selling point of a book. I agree with Carter I think this cover page could symbolize creativity.
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The butterfly wings does show a form of innocence among the children and does give the audience of this book a sneak peak in what they will be reading.
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I also thought of the butterfly wings symbolizing innocence, as well as inside of knowledge as what’s to come.
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The image presented on the front cover to me represents change and growth. In order to become a butterfly one must undergo the change from being a caterpillar and into the transformation of becoming a butterfly. As a caterpillar forms a cocoon and later comes out of that cocoon as a new person, this can symbolize the growth of a student. One experiences summer break and from summer break to the next year people change in many ways whether it be in their style, their hair, their attitude.
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A butterfly starts out as a caterpillar, and cocoons into a butterfly. This could represent the children growing in their creativity and blossoming into beautiful butterflies
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Colleen, I like how you described how a butterfly could represent children growing. We all started as babies, but we grew into who we are now. Just like how caterpillars grow up to be butterflies. We all grow up to being something beautiful and unique.
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I think Colleen explained the cover page really well. A butterfly can have many different meanings and one of those meanings is growth. This could relate to the child because they are growing in up and their minds are growing.
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After I have read through the entirety of what was published to this site of “We Made It To School” to me the title represents a parent helping their child to grow wings so they can one day fly on their own, meaning they will one day take their knowledge and experience the world for themselves, leaving the parent as an empty nester.
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This whole cover really draws you into the title. It looks as if the kids are running for school or maybe at each other. It really gives off a sense of freedom and playfulness as kids.
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It seems like the kids could possibly be having some sort of recess. where in one moment of the day they can release all of their pent up energy.
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The parent’s son in the story has a vast imagination and high hopes for the future. I can tell from this text," My son runs his hands across a puddle out our apartment, pretends it’s an ocean he can swim in."
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The butterflies on the children can symbolize what is to come within the book. The children could grow into themselves and have the same effect as a butterfly, to grow and fly away with life.
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I agree with this! Butterflies can be seen as growth and as you said, the children are growing into themselves like butterflies grow and fly away. The butterflies symbolize the growth that the child will go through.
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I agree it took him quite a while to figure out he was oppressed
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the image with the butterflies shows symbolism because caterpillars can turn into butterflies
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I also think that the butterfly wings symbolized maturity because caterpillars can turn into butterflies.
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Yea I think it showed a sign of maturity kind of like growing up into his own person
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The title implies the idea of facing but then overcoming struggles or difficulties.
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The title page is what can either get people to read the book or not want to.
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The wings could mean that they feel more free since they have made it to school. They don’t feel grounded down anymore, their parents might not have to watch them 24/7 everyday now.
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I wonder if making it to school was a struggle when first reading the cover page. Was it more of a huge step to make for them?
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Everything but “ALIVE” and the butterfly wings are in black-and-white. Perhaps there is a link between the butterfly wings and living. Butterfly wings could be there in contrast to angel wings. Whereas angel wings are associated with purity, an ending, butterfly wings imply room to grow and childhood innocence/curiosity.
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This title page is inviting and sets the tone of the story with few words. The artwork intrigues the audience and causes curiosity about the reading for the book.
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Hoy en día los recursos tecnológicos sin duda están revolucionando la función docente, desde paginas web como https://www.materialeducativo.mx/ así como blogs educativos y foros en general están facilitando la educacion a distancia, medios eficaces donde nos podemos poner en contacto con nuestros alumnos y padres de familia y de esta manera enriquecer el proceso educativo.
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somewhere
a butterfly settle
near a herd of boys
flowering
they draw closer
the butterfly
doesn’t flutter
they raise their hands
to prove they are unarmed
hundreds of mahogany-
colored butterflies
burst out of them like lightning
joining hands with fireworks
only god seems to notice the glitz
because in the beginning
he said let there be light
& a butterfly boy, as black as beginning
appeared in the flesh
Harris, Quartez. “Butterfly in the Flesh.” We Made It To School Alive. Twelve Literary Arts, 2020.
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You can see this picture as a visual representation of students learning and evolving within their time in the classroom. The wings may represent a student blossoming from a caterpillar into a butterfly ready to take flight.
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The butterflies seem to not be fully grown, so in order to be able to take flight they must grow some more. They can grow through learning.
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At first, I thought it was associated with childhood innocence but after seeing your comment I notice the dangers of that innocence. This includes: child death, kidnapping, hospital visits, and other scary situations that can takeaway that innocence.
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I noticed this too, Lindsay. I think including this idea of innocent children allows for the readers to engage with the book before they even read it. This creates a relationship with the author and the audience before dialogue even begins.
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I think the children wearing butterfly wings symbolizes how rare and beautiful their innocence is.
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This is a great thought that many people probably haven’t even thought about.
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alive needs to be big and bold to show emphasis
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rhetorical choice used by the author.
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the butterfly friends holding on to the kids shows the love and appreciation for the kids.
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It looks like the butterflies represent the kids. This could show love and imaginations that children may have.
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Quartez Harris is an educator and an author. He also lives in Cleveland Ohio with his son.
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Quartez Harris is the author of this poetry collection called “We Made it To School Alive.” This book was published by Twelve Arts Press.
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Quartez Harris wrote a book called “We Made it to School Alive” which focused on self-worth.
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The wings could symbolize the metamorphosis of leaving childhood to go into adulthood. It could also symbolize the fragility of childhood and innocence.
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These words mean something more than they ever would a year ago. It is as simple as that, we made it back to school. We did not know that we would be able to come back to school so soon last year, so these words are very symbolic.
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One thing we know, too, about butterflies is the desire of some to collect these. . .what must happen to the butterfly in order to be “collected” and added to a “specimen?”
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I agree school is degrading. we put so much effort in and we dont even know what we are going to get out of it in the end. It so stressful sometimes
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the title cannot be truly alive
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The author changes the color and makes the word alive bigger to emphasize the word and could be foreshadowing for the reader
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<the clothing situation not matter.
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The wings on the boys may symbolize the innocence in the children who may or may not be aware of mistreatment they are receiving.
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The children having butterfly wings in this cover here can tell the reader about a sense of freedom and the childlike wonder adults usually lose when they get older.
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Who is “we”? Harris’s fellow classmates? Siblings? Us?
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The wings on the children on the cover of the book can represent many things. Inferring from the wings and the title of the book, these kids do not have it easy, but they are innocent.
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In the cover photo, we also notice the children are not wearing shoes. Again, this could be a sign that these kids do not have it easy. The title and image play into this thinking.
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Quartez Harris is the author of the debut full-length poetry collection We Made It To School Alive, published by Twelve Arts Press.
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Neither children appear to be wearing shoes, perhaps they are too poor to afford shoes. The title “We made it to school alive” may be referencing to the struggles and possible dangers of being poor.
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Quartez Harris is an educator and author, his only poem/story so far is “We Made It To School Alive,” He currently lives in Cleveland Ohio with his son.
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The imagery along with the title makes the book look interesting and makes want to read it.
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It is interesting that the illustrator put butterflies on the children’s back and I am interested in finding out the meaning behind this
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The butterfly wings gives the boy a sense of creativity and innocence.
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The wings and the title can be tied in as if it was a long fly or trip to get through and to school.
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I think that makes a tremendous amount of sense. Some students might not get their wings until later, and then they come in beautifully. Other students might get their wings torn or clipped along the way. The flight is different for everyone, but it’s a flight nonetheless.
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The term for a book made up of poems is Anthology. An anthology can also be made up of songs, plays, and short stories.
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This image can tie into the title as well. He looks like he is running to towards “school.”
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In some cultures butterflies signify death. Could it be that this is used as a sort of false assurance to make the viewer think the children are alive?
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The butterfly normal symbolizes personal growth or just growth in general. Since the butterflies look like wings on the children they could possibly symbolize a sort way to keep the young children safe to school; like a guardian angel.
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Quartez Harris is a renowned poet and especially popular for his poetry book called We Made it to School Alive.
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The cover image can show the reader what the book is going to be about young African American kids living life and having fun.
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At one point, Black American children were not allowed to go to school, and were not given the freedom to play and have fun and do whatever. So to see a cover of these black children living freely is huge.
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The title “We Made it to School Alive” symbolizes many things. This title can create curiosity of the hardships they may have went through to get to school.
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The color orange found on the word “Alive” resembles the orange found on the butterflies. The butterflies can represent the aliveness which the children may have found while at school.
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This title interests me because the big focus on ALIVE makes me wonder if that was something difficult to do. It makes me wonder what these kids would be going through to make to where getting to school is a life threatening challenge.
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The Title makes it feel like they have to traverse obstacles just to get to school.
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Why do they have wings on what is the meaning of the wings?
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I was thinking the wings may have to show they blossomed from a caterpillar to a butterfly. It shows they have blossomed from a child into a kid that has made it to school.
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Why is it such a big deal to emphasize that they made it to school alive?
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who is we and why are they going to school?
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I think that the wings symbolize maturity/growing up since butterflies come after caterpillars.
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Above is a quote from an article describing the significance of the monarch butterfly after death
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The word “ALIVE” seems to resemble significance. If the title was, “We made it to school,” wouldn’t it seem off? The word “ALIVE” seems to bring the title together.
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I agree with what you’re saying here Katie. The “ALIVE” part of the title is very significant to the message the author is trying to get across.
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I think it is really interesting how the alive in the title is red and bigger than the other words. I wonder if the author has made it like this because there is a meaning behind it, or maybe he just wanted it to stand out more than the other words in the title.
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When I first looked at the cover I immediately looked at the Butterfly wings that stood out the most because everything else on the cover is black or white. I think that these wings could symbolize that in school you have the choice to take off on a journey of learning or just go through the motions of school and not get a lot out of it.
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This kid has monarch butterfly wings. The type of wings may be important here, but I think of metamorphosis when a butterfly is used in symbolism. Maybe the author is referring school as a cocoon to protect the students while they become adults?
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This quote seems to infer that we are unaware of our oppression until we are experiencing it first hand.
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Austin, I agree with how you responded to this quote. I think it was hard for him to really understand what has happening until it happened to him directly. People could think it’s normal, but when it happens to them, they will begin to understand.
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We do not know our oppression until we have it is what this quote sounds like to me.
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Austin, I think you did a great job of explaining what this quote meant. To be honest, when I first read it I was not completely aware about what it meant. Your explanation of the quote helped me see that it means that we do not know our oppression until it happens.
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Great job, Austin. We can be truly blind to what is happening to us. I also think the oppressor can be unaware until they get punished for their actions.
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I think that this quote is a perfect entry statement for the text that lies beyond this page. It connects to his son wanting to see the world, but him being afraid to show him because of the swamps and whales. I feel like this statement is the father showing that sometimes you have to let your children see the world for themselves no matter how hard it is, and that starts with going to school.
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Another suggestion here is that school may be the first place where oppression and exclusion are realized. . .and perhaps internalized.
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The idea of oppression has been present for thousands of years throughout the world. In todays world it has changed into racial slurs, exclusion, and even a social biased towards those of color. This quote explains that it starts in school, right once the innocence starts to fade.
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When kids are young, they are impressionable, easily impressed, and quick to trust. Baldwin’s teachers could have told him 2+2 equaled 5, not 4, and if he was young and naive enough, he could have believed them. What I’m trying to get at is that kids will trust what the adults in their life say to an extent. What his educators thought was normal became oppression as Baldwin gained the knowledge necessary to make that claim.
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Meredith has a point was he taught enough in school or was he not?
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I also feel like something might be happing inside the school that makes him feel oppressed.
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When you were a kid, you did not notice these small micro-aggressions that can create a much larger problem in the future. It is something that can be controlled by proper training and being self aware.
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The young boy may not realize he is oppressed until an action or specific words are spoken against him. This suggests that he is unknowing of the injustices that seem to rule our schools, or our country for that matter.
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The boy probably knows growing up he is different from others but in a school setting will discover or realize what that truly means for his life.
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Lucas has made a point since there are many reasons someone might be oppressed many of them not correlating to one another.
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school districts
struggle
with the same things:
how to teach a black child.
how to keep him alive
after dismissal
what role to play: teach or build a cemetary?
Harris, Quartez. “Ambivalence.” We Made It To School Alive." Twelve Arts Literary, 2020: 30.
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Though at times criticized for his pacifist stance, Baldwin remained an important figure in that struggle throughout the 1960s. James Baldwin had become one of the most important and vocal advocates for equality. He is perhaps best known for his books of essays, in particular Notes of a Native Son (1955), Nobody Knows My Name (1961), and The Fire Next Time (1963).
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Ethan comments about who the person is who said this particular quote
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Background knowledge is important for this cause It can tell where exactly James Baldwin’s head was or how he thought.
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James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and activist.
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James Baldwin wrote a lot on racial social issues. He was also well known for writing about how it was being a person of color in America.
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I do not understand why this is something that would ever be said to or about any child. “discovering the shape of his oppression” I think that this is nonsense, if this boy is raised and never taught about what the word oppression even means, he will never face it. I do not think any kid should be raised being taught that they are oppressed because they are not born oppressed. Lets assume he is taught this, then he will live his life believing this when it is not necessarily true. If this kid is never taught that he is oppressed he will never think in that point of view, he will never feel the need to feel less than anybody and will accomplish all of his hopes and dreams. If he is raised being told he is oppressed, then he may not, he may just grow up and think about how much less he is, when he is not. This is where culture plays a big role in how kids are raised, if you want your kid to be successful, raise them that way. Or you can feed them ideas like this and TEACH them that they are “looked down upon” and “oppressed” when in reality everyone can have the same opportunities in life if they just work for it.
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While I see your point Tavian, it is not all black and white.
If a child is not taught about oppression then they have no idea how to react to it if it happens. Children should be taught about this so if it is to be brought up children will know how to handle it. If they are not taught the meaning of oppression then they are not living an easier life. They are living a life of ignorance and will be faced with the harsh reality of life once they grow up. You can be oppressed if you do not know what oppression means, it is what you do with your knowledge that can help you over come your oppression.
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Without proper guidance on what oppression is and how to deal with it, it could really scar the kid. I feel like parents/guardians/teachers should teach kids about this instead of basically leaving them in the dark and letting them deal with something that’s hard to deal with.
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<starts at school. Yet it still hasn’t changed because people are blinded with their dream of something better.
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In this quote I think it conveys the idea of learning. While being oppressed is a negative thing, the significance of saying this is learned while a person is in school is that school is intended to be a place for learning. It does begin to question the environment of the school since the negative idea of oppression.
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Wonder if there’s a reason that the subject has been identified as a “he”
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What is “oppression” shaped like? Is it the same for everyone? Is it different?
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now that I think about it it makes sense that many people would experience racial discrimination as well as when they’re older.
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The author is speaking of his naiveness on the matter of oppression when he is younger. That comes in many different forms i.e. the “shapes”.
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