Due to his background teachers regarded him as a hopeless cause because his difficulty in using Received Pronunciation which contrasts against Harrison's attitude towards language and that there is a variety of dialect within the English language which everyone uses to convey a conversation with one another. When Harrison was young he was overawed by his "posh" teacher who embarrassed him resulting in him feeling demeaned and docile. The first section is in the form of a memory emphasised through the embedded dialogue of the teacher showing how he is undermined as the teacher wants to make sure their "glorious heritage" is not "done to death" suggesting that teacher is aiming to undermine Harrison by discouraging him from reading the important roles. Similarly, in "Bringing Up", he emphasises his separation from his mother as she disgusted over him using taboo language. The use of embedded dialogue implies the different view on the Leeds accent emphasised in his mother being disgusted with him and believes he was not "brought up to write such mucky books!"
The following problems are the considerable of him. i) He adheres to his own belief and he would easily criticize or argue with others – this embarrasses the teachers and disturbs the lessons all the time as he would start arguing with the teachers or the classmates during the lessons when others are holding different thoughts/ideas. ii) He would stand extremely close to the people – it makes teachers and students feel very uncomfortable (especially females). iii) He exhibits poor ability to initiate conversations and does not understand jokes – this frustrates him and makes him very angry /emotional; and starts episodes of provoking other people. iv) His interest in electronic equipments and vehicles limit his conversion, like routes and model of buses and MTR in Hong Kong – it made his classmates and teachers in primary school had a poor impression of him, thought he is stubborn, annoying impolite, troublesome and uncooperative; but he does not learn from it; and keeps doing this to his ‘new friends’ in the secondary school.
In Dead Poets Society, Welton Academy strongly follows the empty vessel theory, where the school believed that teenagers cannot think for themselves until knowledge is poured into their brains by society. The boys were expected to follow the rules and let their lives be guided by the school motto or suffer the consequences of a bleak future. Neil Perry is an example of what could happen if you don’t conform. Neil became unhappy and dissatisfied with his father’s plan for his life and inevitably suicided in the end. This would not have happened if he abided by the rules.
Throughout the novel the character ‘Dorian Gray’ changes massively in his outlook upon like and towards the people around him. This change in character could cause dislike for the character however there are many examples where it would cause sympathy instead. We soon learn that before the novel began Dorian’s parents had both died; his father murdered and mother committed suicide. This turmoil in the early stages of life can provide reason for instability giving the reader an excuse for sympathy. This lack of a father figure to influence him positively through his life could also provide reasoning for his ease to be influenced by Lord Henry.
At first, Todd is being ruled by fear and is unable to let go and live his life freely because of the weight of expectation that has been placed upon him by his family. He is unable to properly absorb himself in school because of his fear of failure which overpowers him. In the scene where Mr Keating sets the class a poetry assignment he comments to Todd upon leaving the room “Mr Anderson, don’t think I don’t know that this assignment scares the hell out of you.” His pain is no longer invisible and it is then that Todd becomes aware of those that are responding to him in his world. The main turning point in Todd’s growth as a character is in the scene where he is to present his poem to the class. We see a nervous Todd who is barely audible as he admits that he has not written a poem.
The Wave prevented students from thinking and acting as individuals. This is evident in the novel when each student was expected to believe and value the same salutes and mottoes as part of the Wave. Not only were students expected to act and think alike; but the individuals who refused to believe in the Wave’s requirements were rejected by the group, resulting to isolation. As stated by Laurie, ‘The Wave has become an obsession... no one is thinking for themselves anymore,’ this quote represents the loss of individuality as students were brainwashed into thinking certain things regarding the Wave. Not only was the loss of individuality an effect of the Wave, but the way the students interacted with one another was also affected.
An example of the previously stated assertion is in the Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier case. A school principal censored a student newspaper by removing some of the articles prior to publication because he felt the some of the student’s body would feel uncomfortable and targeted by the topics. The students felt that the principal’s actions were unfair and violated their first amendment rights of freedom of speech and press. They took the case to court, and the decision was 5 to 3 with one jurier undecided in favor or the school district. This case shows how even though the students have freedom of speech and press if it will impact the audience or others negatively it isn’t allowed.
Claire Howells Major’s “Exam Scams” analyzes and is composed of urban legends. There are stories of unprepared students dealing with the professors, professors making inappropriate jokes at the students, and even a story of extremes a student went through because of the stressful work. For example, “This legend depicts a classroom in which the professor shows great disregard and disrespect for the students by disengaging to do for-profit work and leaving an impersonal medium to assume his role.” (Howell Major 241) Colleges know how to choose their professors and it will be very unlikely to find such a careless professor. Howell explains why each urban legend is beneficial to students but how can stories of such extremes help a first year college student? The answer is it doesn’t.
Malarkey Critical Evaluation Keith Gray’s emotional text ‘Malarkey’ is a text that not only deals with conflict but is also an emotional journey of the characters. The writer conveys the idea to the reader by characterisation and through the plot of the story. John Malarkey is in the wrong time, he has started at a new school, Brook High and the gang situated at Brook High ‘The Tailors’ take an instant disliking to him. They feel like he is a threat to them, they want him out of Brook High so they do there best to have Malarkey excluded from the school. They start off by stealing his bag and planting his maths teacher Mr Macallan’s wallet in it knowing he would get the blame because he couldn’t explain why it was there.
Suspension and Expulsion are not of use to improve our schools! Suspensions and expulsions are both disciplines that are given to students for their disruptive behaviors and actions. Even our own principal in our school disagrees; suspension and expulsion should be used. (Dale) Suspension and expulsion are not the solution to the problem because too much of these two can lead to dropout rates, it causes negative behavior to students, suspension and expulsion can stop future crimes and learn from their actions and students are not learning properly and not gaining any benefit from their education. Suspension and expulsion is not an effective tool and solution in our schools because it can lead to dropout rates and other violent crimes in the future.