"I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Read"

Francine Prose mentions why she does not agree with the curriculum of high school students. Prose justifies these theories based on personal experiences and also quotes from intellectuals. The SOAPST helps us distinguish what Prose is actually trying to tell the audience. It helps to break down the essay and have a better understanding on the key points rather than wasting time on unimportant points that is thought to be important. The subject of the essay is the concern of educational curriculum regarding the English subject. The occasion was on September 1999 in the Harper's Magazine. This magazine was a notable one at the time so Prose got many people to look into her views and having the building ethos in the beginning of her story just makes things more intriguing for the audience to continue reading so that they can understand the perspective of an intellectual. Although the essay was published in a magazine, the audience was targeting and directed to the English teachers, not just the magazine readers. The primary and intended audience were those teachers, but the magazine readers were also part of the audience. The purpose for publishing this essay was to inform and also to persuade. The speaker was non other than Francine Prose. The tone was critical, informative, persuasive, superior, and professional. By establishing this tone, Prose implements this professional authority that makes readers read more and want to completely comprehend what she is trying to get passed to them. Francine Prose's essay changed many perspectives on the high school curriculum.

Obviously Have Not Heard About Separation Between Church And State

"Someone Smashed The Disputed Oklahoma Ten Commandments Monument To Pieces"
By: Sean Murphy
Source: Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/24/ten-commandments-monument-smashed_n_6042612.html?ir=Politics

An individual crashed into the Ten Commandments Monument in Oklahoma too pieces. "The 6-foot-tall monument was erected in 2012 with the blessing of Oklahoma's conservative Legislature. The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma has been suing to have it removed, arguing that it violates the state constitution and could be seen as a state endorsement of a religion." A sedan was left behind after the crushing of the monument and it was being investigated for clues, so the suspect can be targeted in a faster process. Mike Ritze, a Republican state Representative said that this attack is being considered a hit on Oklahoma and not a religion issue even though the Ten Commandments are basically God's ten rules while living; because of this monument being build many other groups have gotten imaginative and proposed monuments of their own to be made, but in different states. "The monument's placement has led others to seek their own on the Capitol grounds, including a satanic group that earlier this year unveiled designs for a 7-foot-tall statue of Satan. Other requests have been made from a Hindu leader in Nevada and the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster."

Even people who believe in God should not have agreed to the making of this monument back in 2012. The making of this monument was bound to cause pandemonium because not all people believe in God, others have their own beliefs and viewpoints and that should have been taken under consideration before making this monument. The idea of having a separation of church and state is the exact opposite of what Oklahoma decided to do in 2012.

Schools Have Education Mixed Up With Memorization

Schools have it mixed up nowadays. The say they are providing education to the students but they are not. Schools are giving memorization lessons. Students are more interested in passing the test rather than fully comprehending the material. If the GPA was not as emphasized as it is, students would probably stop memorizing so much and realize that since grades are not the distinguishing factor for if a student is considered smart or not, which they are, they would learn the subject instead of find a way to get the material stuck in their head for a day, pass the test, then completely forget about what they even took the test on after a week. Another thing that schools are doing; they are sending us into the world blindly. They should focus more on teaching us material that will be useful throughout the students life, not something that will never be used like imaginary numbers, unless a student decides to major in mathematics. Schools have it all wrong. By indirectly telling students that grades define them and that is how universities will distinguish them is the reason why students memorize instead of getting educated. Some schools do not challenge the student the way they are supposed to be which leads the student to slack off and not care. Although schools are the opening pathway to a potentially lucrative and dreamlike future for the students, they are also responsible for putting a blindfold on the students entering the intrinsic depths of life.

Welcome... Or Not Yet At Least

"Catholic Bishops Scrap Welcome To Gays"

By: Vatican City(AP)

Source: Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/18/catholic-bishops-gays_n_6008300.html

On Saturday, catholic bishops in Vatican City decided to take away the welcome to gays. Many propositions other than welcoming homosexuals were declined also."Two other paragraphs concerning the other hot-button issue at the synod of bishops - whether divorced and civilly remarried Catholics can receive Communion - also failed to pass" (1). The paragraph concerning the homosexual individuals stated that respect and hospitality needs to be given to these people even though it defies the order of God, but the paragraph did not pass the two-thirds majority which was needed for it to pass. "Rather than considering gays as individuals who had gifts to offer the church, the revised paragraph referred to homosexuality as one of the problems Catholic families have to confront. It said "people with homosexual tendencies must be welcomed with respect and delicacy," but repeated church teaching that marriage is only between man and woman. The paragraph failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to pass." (1) The end result of all these votes showed that the church is spilt up into different viewpoints and perspectives. Some Catholic protesters who are pro-gay said that the outcome was disappointing. Although they were disappointed they looked at the bright side, which was the openness to even discuss the topic of welcoming homosexuals.

Many people would have thought the world was extremely far away from seeing a possible consideration from the Vatican City, that gays or homosexuals may be possibly welcomed. Although the proposal was denied because it did not meet the majority of votes which were needed, it shows that people have come a long way from being closed-minded to open-minded. If the Vatican City, the most religious place on this earth, gave some thought to welcome gays, there should not be any reason why anyone else would not. The Vatican City set a precedent on Saturday, a precedent that will sooner or later revolutionize the world and bring it one step closer to welcoming homosexuals in the holy city.

Community Service

Community service being a mandatory priority or being an optional extra curricular aspect in a students doings to be able to graduate has been argued for years and community service still remains to be a mandatory priority for the students who wish to make it to an exceptional university in order to succeed with excellence. Some of these documents suggest community service to be an action which is mandatory while other documents suggest community service to be an optional doing. Both documents provide logos and ethos, it just depends on what side the majority is on and that takes persuasion but mainly what the majority already thinks is the correct path to go with community service. As said in document number 2 community service is needed to stay mandatory for the survival of the community that we help. The Dalton School said, "We must each play a role in contributing to our communities so that these communities can continue to survive and prosper" (pg. 155). The Dalton School provided a useful fact because if thought about without the service and volunteering of students, not many people are going to volunteer out of having a good heart. The community needs to continue to grow and by the mandatory community service hours that have been implemented in a high school students life in order to graduate has been a great move toward the well being and health of the community. This way the community that the student chooses to help will be aided by other students as well and by students who will be coming in as the next freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and even seniors.  Community service should be a mandatory service to high school students so that the community will be given a chance to, like the Dalton School said, "survive and prosper" and that is how students gain experience and realize what they want to do and what type of individual they want to continue their life as.

Share The Attention!

"Yemen's Capital Fell To A Rebel Group And The World Hardly Noticed"

By: Eline Gordts

Source: Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/04/yemen_n_5923602.html

A Shiite rebel group has taken over Yemen, but nobody seemed to notice until they recently established an agreement brought by the UN which allows a new government to be formed without the constant killing and the non-stop fighting. Eline Gordts said,"Last week, a Shiite rebel group that had taken over swaths of Yemen, including its capital, signed a UN-brokered agreement with other political parties to form a new government and end the fighting that has claimed the lives of at least 300 people" (1). Disregarding the push for peace, Yemen is still appeared to have many political conflicts ahead. Houthi fighters attacked Yemen and in a couple days made the army of Yemen stand down while the Houthi fighters took control of the major governmental posts in the capitol of Sanaa. Background information about the Houthis would be, "The Houthis belong to Yemen's Zaydi minority, a Shia sect that controlled the country until 1962. The group started as a Zaydi revivalist movement in the '90s, with its power base in the northern Saada province, on the border with Saudi Arabia. It was named after its then-leader Hussein al-Houthi, but its members refer to themselves as Ansar Allah, which means "Partisans Of God"" (1). This is not something new. The Houthis have had six wars between the central government throughout the years 2004 and 2010. 

For starters, the world should have paid more attention the falling out of Yemen's central government. Knowing that nobody noticed while the rebel group that has been trying to get control of the country finally does, is scary because the world should be more aware and involved in the out going of country conflicts especially between rebel groups who have aspirations and to take over because they have the ambition and relentlessness to do so. Yemen and these other second or third world countries need more attention and the first world countries and the UN should provide them with it.