Femininity

This week in class we discussed femininity, and woman's roles in society. For example, we read an article that discussed what happened to men in a small town when their wives went on a women's march for a weekend leaving men, "to juggle schedules on their own."(Bondyjan). This was down to outline the importance of women in daily lives which related to our broader topic of women's roles in society. Women are important to society today, and have many more opportunities than in the past. Yet in the Marvel movie universe, women have only been seen as a love interests and side characters. Though many of them are really cool and strong, such as Black Widow, we have yet to see a strong female lead character. This may be a clue into how women are still perceived in society. Though we have come a long way, and recognize woman's value, simple things like this show how much farther we have to go as a society. Marvel has planned to release a Captain Marvel movie in the next year, who is a female. Whether this was done as a response to the criticism they received for not having a current female lead or not, it is definitely a step in the right direction. I hope society can one day officially advance past any prejudices.

The Failing American School System

By many standards, the American school system is failing. According to a study by professors from Stanford University, only 6 percent of students in America are in advanced math, while over 20 percent of students in countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea are in advanced math. So, why is that the American system is failing compared to other countries, and how can it improve? Well, I believe the problem lies within the restrictions put forth by the NCLB, or No Child Left Behind. The NCLB states that all students must be proficient in math and reading by 2014, regardless of students with special needs, students who speak English as a second language, and students with less societal advantages. This is a problem because many schools are focusing in specifically teaching math and reading, instead of other important subjects like history, science, the arts, geography, and even recess. Children in the American school system are being deprived of very important subjects, all because of the restrictions made by the NCLB. Not to mention, schools that fail to meet the proficiency rate, are at risk for closing, or becoming a charter school. Without these restrictions in place, teachers would be able to teach students all the valuable subjects,without fear of losing the school.

Standarized Testing

This week in class, we furthered our discussion on the American school system, specifically standardized testing. The discussion is lead by the question of, "Who does the American school system serve?" In an article by Lori Higgins, it is revealed that Michigan government will be closing school that are underperforming on standardized tests, specifically, "in the bottom 5% academically,"(Higgins 1). I believe that this will benefit both student and government respectively. According to the article, "Schools wouldn't close if there are no high-performing options for the kids who are displaced."(Higgins 1). This means, that students will not be deprived of an education. On the contrary, they will be transferring to a high-performing school, which will give them an opportunity to learn at a better school. Closing schools also benefits  government because the money that went to that school, can be used somewhere else. Not to mention, the poor scores of the closing schools will no longer bring down the state's education rates. The only downsides are the possible relocation for families and the difficult transitions for some children to a new school. Though they will be entering a higher-performing school, this transition can be detrimental to students who already struggle in school. This can be resolved if they are relocated with many of their peers. In conclusion, I believe it is a win-win situation to close schools, despite a couple downsides.

The American Education System

This week in class we studied the American Education System, by watching multiple videos on the subject. Each video described problems or flaw with the current system. For instance, one resource we used a poetry video titled, "I Just Sued the School System." This video related students to fish and it explained that one can not judge a fish one it's ability to climb a tree. This analogy is used to describe how the school system is made to test everyone in the same way, and this outdated system is not effective in determining each individual student's intelligence. This is because each student learns in their one unique way, and some students are adept to success in the current system, while others struggle because the school system is not tailored to them. Like most issues, this can be related to superheroes. Each superhero has their one unique abilities, just like students. One cannot expect Spider-Man to lift the same things as the Hulk, and one cannot expect the Hulk to swing from building to building with webs. In this way, the Finnish school system is more successful. According to a video we watched in class, each student has classes more tailored to them, and have, "equal opportunity," and the teaching profession is much more respected. These are the type of changes that  need to take place in the American school system, because the current system is not tailored to each specific student's ability to learn and be successful.

Bilingualism Vs. Monolingualism

This week in class we read an article called "In Plain English: Let's Make It Official," by Charles Krauthammer. Krauthammer talks about how his experiences growing up in Canada, and how the bilingualism of Canada has caused a political war. He believes that the United States should take advantage of the common language of English and make it the official language. He believes that monolingualism will bring, "a critically needed cohesion to a nation as diverse, multiracial and multiethnic as America." (Krauthammer 744). I believe that monolingualism is beneficial to this country, mainly because of the way it brings many people of different ethnicities together. This idea is similar to that of the division between DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Similar to the division of languages in Canada, many people are divided between these two comics. My belief of the issue is the same as my belief about the unity of language. I think that people should enjoy both of these comics respectively, to experience more great superhero stories, because both are very rich in lore. They should do this instead of only choosing to follow and enjoy one comic. Comics and language are both more successful when brought together, because they bring people with different walks of life together in unity, which is the basis on which America is built on.

Comics and the English Language

Comic books were originally created to portray super humans in tights who save the world. Now, they are portrayed in large block buster movies, as not only super humans in tights, but as demi gods. This concept is due to the changing society since comics were first introduced. Technology has not only allowed for this change in portraying superheroes, but the general population would rather watch an action-packed film with their favorite superheroes than read a comic book about them. This noticeable change in how society views superheroes and how they are portrayed is similar to how the English language has changed to accommodate to changing society. The English language is based on the rules "Standard English" but as teacher Anne Curzan believes, "all speakers have the right to make informed decisions about when those rules are appropriate." (Curzan). This idea of English being flexible based on the choice of the speaker is exactly why the language has changed. As society develops, some tend to speak with more slang or colloquial terms, and others tend to change the established rules of grammar. The new environments that children are exposed to will cause them to adopt the language that is spoken there and as time goes by and society changes, the environments and education for children will change. English's flexibility will be the reason it continues to change with times, and so will superheroes.