Thursday, October 31, 2013

Journal 7

In the novel, Ordinary Resurrections, Kozol incorporates his personal story throughout the novel. By doing this, it shows his personal experiences in life, both good and bad. Kozol often time relates to the hardships that many of the children face in their day to day lives. By him relating to the children, it shows how common these disadvantages really are. Also, this reveals Kozol's helpfulness to the children outside of Saint Ann's. After school hours he would go out of his way to get items for the children and even spend time with them.
I believe it was a strength of Kozol to write partly in first person. By writing in first person it shows to the reader his personal experiences with the children and it makes that hardships that the children face more meaningful.

In chapter 23, Saying Goodbye, the part that stood out to me the most was the amount of pay teachers receive by teaching at other schools. Kozol introduces us to Miss. Reistetter's who is leaving P.S. 65 to another school. "She'll end up with nearly $7,000 more. She has 28 children in her class here in the bronx. Next year she'll only have 22"(kozol 301). This part of the chapter was important to me because it made me wonder what incentive good teachers could have to stay at a school like P.S. 65. Without good teachers this will lead into poor teaching and a sub par education. Children who are born into less fortunate families are left with bad education simply because they weren't blessed to have parents with money to afford a better school.

The value of reading Ordinary Resurrections was it opened my eyes to the real world of children's lives and how harsh their living conditions truly are. It showed that there are children who actually experience horrific things at an age that people should experience their whole life. What influenced me the most in learning about the children of Mott Haven was it showed how easily children can be affected by there surroundings and how it can make something that they never wanted to become and  showed the importance for a strong role model in their lives.    




3 comments:

  1. i agree with your all the facts from 2nd paragraph which is chapter 23, you talkes about the fiance. i like your thoutghts for the innercity children.

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  2. I agree with your first paragraph. I think kozol personal life influences the children's lives..and that it relates with the hardship of the children.

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  3. I agree with how Kozols life opens up your eyes to seeing actually how hard the children's living conditions are.

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