In Obituary written by Lois-Ann Yamanaka, Lovey's english teacher Mr. Harvey critizes all of his students for the way the speak. He tells them, "No one will want to give you a job. You sound uneducated. You will be looked down upon. You're speaking a low-class form of good Standard English. Continue, and you'll go nowhere in life" (10). Mr Harvey does have a point and I completely agree with him. I had a hard time reading this essay. However, just because what he says may be true doesn't mean that he had to act they way that he did towards them. It's okay to give it to them straight and tell them what the world wants from them, but to make them feel ashamed of themselves is another thing.
His responce to Lovey when she was practicing her english was, "OH REALLY? Not the way you talk. You see, that was terrible. All of you were terrible [...] And do you know what they worst part is, class? We're not going to have to work on your useage, but your pronunciations and inflicts too. Jee-zus Christ! For the life of me, it'll take us a goddamn lifetime" (13). That is not an acceptable way to speak to anyone and even more unaceptable when trying to teach someone. When something is hard for a person most people want encouragment, not to be told that they can't do it. Also a teacher just shouldn't be speaking with this kind of language to his students. They are there to learn and make mistakes. We learn more from our mistakes then we do from our sucesses. So to be discouraged and ashamed to make a mistake or have a hard time with something doesn't help anyone.
sara,
ReplyDeleteMr. Harvey is harsh! I'm still learning english up to now there are words that I don't know what they mean or how to pronounce them. None of my teachers has put me down for it, but what they've done is help me improve in many ways. I think that Mr. Harvey meant to say what he said about the way they speak but he also should have thought of a a way to help them so that they could be prepared for life.
xochilt =)
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that the way Mr Harvey spoke to his students was completely unacceptable. He was rude and a total jerk. But I also understand that there are always two sides to a story. This tells me that there is a reason why Mr Harvey acts this way. Did he have a bad life growing up? Was he treated the same way by his teachers? Is there something traumatic going on in his life, that he has to take it out on his students that way? Is it fixable? I'm not making excuses for him to behave this way, but there is a reason for everything.
Thank you, Carrie