Kozol's Rhetoric: Pages 1-63
Welcome, readers!
This will be a blog about The Shame of the Nation, Jonathan Kozol’s commentary on the reappearance of apartheid schooling in America. In an attempt to enlighten his readers, Kozol — a teacher, a writer, and an activist — focuses on stories of segregation of black and hispanic children from their white counterparts in the American education system.
Although I have only read up to chapter three of this book, it is clear that Kozol uses his first hand experiences and related research to relay the truth. In fact, Kozol attempts to establish a sense of ethos by speaking to the reader directly about his own background in the “To the Reader” section and introduction.
The information that Kozol gives the reader in the introduction serves to make the reader trust his accounts. Although Kozol begins by stating his own credentials, “[attending] Harvard College” and “[spending] some years in France and England” (Kozol 1), these achievements were far less relevant to me than his 40 years of experience with apartheid in the education system.
As I read, I definitely find myself relying on my trust for Kozol. I have experienced first hand a school that is clearly over 90% caucasian. While this supports Kozol’s claim of resegregation, it also means that I have no personal knowledge of other schools.
Beyond establishing a sense of credibility, I found these experiences very persuasive due to their appeal to my own emotions, or pathos. I frequently found myself sharing Kozol’s indignation with the unfairness of educational shortcomings. Many of the anecdotes Kozol tells specifically deal with the appalling conditions of inner city public schools.
In my opinion, the start to chapter two is particularly strong. First off, the diction in the chapter header stood out to me. Upon reading the titular phrase “Hitting Them Hardest When They’re Small” I already felt an understanding of the deep meaning that this chapter was going to possess. Not only do the connotations of the words hitting and hardest help Kozol make the reader feel the ugliness of the situation, but they also stand out to the reader due to consonance. More importantly, the header also reminds the reader that this chapter will be about small children, whom we typically regarded as innocent and highly valued. The imagery and negativity associated with hitting a young child establishes to the reader that children are being hurt by apartheid even before the chapter begins.
The story chapter two begins with pulls at a sense of compassion within the reader. Kozol uses a quote to make the reader feel sympathy and sadness, rendering it effective. Kozol starts the chapter with a letter from an eight year old girl, Alliyah, who states, “You have all the thing and we do not have all the thing… Can you help us?” (Kozol 39).
Beyond establishing a sense of credibility, I found these experiences very persuasive due to their appeal to my own emotions, or pathos. I frequently found myself sharing Kozol’s indignation with the unfairness of educational shortcomings. Many of the anecdotes Kozol tells specifically deal with the appalling conditions of inner city public schools.
In my opinion, the start to chapter two is particularly strong. First off, the diction in the chapter header stood out to me. Upon reading the titular phrase “Hitting Them Hardest When They’re Small” I already felt an understanding of the deep meaning that this chapter was going to possess. Not only do the connotations of the words hitting and hardest help Kozol make the reader feel the ugliness of the situation, but they also stand out to the reader due to consonance. More importantly, the header also reminds the reader that this chapter will be about small children, whom we typically regarded as innocent and highly valued. The imagery and negativity associated with hitting a young child establishes to the reader that children are being hurt by apartheid even before the chapter begins.
The story chapter two begins with pulls at a sense of compassion within the reader. Kozol uses a quote to make the reader feel sympathy and sadness, rendering it effective. Kozol starts the chapter with a letter from an eight year old girl, Alliyah, who states, “You have all the thing and we do not have all the thing… Can you help us?” (Kozol 39).
The fact that Kozol chose a passage by such a young child shows that Kozol’s goal is to have the reader see the impact race has had on young girls like these. The uncorrected grammatical errors make the letter and emotion Alliyah is expressing feel more authentic. By using the format of a letter, Kozol shares his own connection and emotional attachment to the inequality suffered by this girl with the reader.
Alliyah’s letter is not the only quote that Kozol uses. Choosing this syntax makes Kozol appear more sincere in his relationship with the kids he works with. Overall, this boosts his credibility— as it replaces his report of the situation with primary source accounts.
By using so many different children’s stories, Kozol is more effective at captivating his audience. I found myself having much less difficulty getting through arguments (which were slightly repetitive) when he exemplified his argument with a specific student. In a greater sense, these stories help Kozol clarify his logic without over generalizing reality. In my little experience dealing with racial issues, I’ve found that generalizing has led to both inaccuracy and indifference.
The Shame of the Nation would be significantly less compelling to me if I was only told that “separate but equal” wasn’t actually equal. Not only have I heard that before (and would be redundant if repeated for 317 pages), but it also would not help me understand why. As a privileged white female in rural New Hampshire, I am not able to empathize, nor will I ever be, with this reality. For this reason, it is crucial that Kozol uses these first hand accounts of Brown v. Board of Education’s deconstruction.
In both chapters that I have read thus far, Kozol ensures that the reader doesn’t just have to take him for his word. In order to establish that segregation in public schools does exist, Kozol uses countless statistical examples. Generally, he uses large percentages. These large percentages show the extreme nature of the situation. As I read such a great quantity of statistics that complemented one another, I became relatively confident in the truth of what I was reading; many schools are almost entirely made up of a single race.
In one instance, Kozol directly compared the financial states of the primarily white “Baby Ivies” and primarily black and Hispanic New York City public schools. To provide the reader with some continuity, Kozol returns to using Alliyah (although she is not directly related. He shows that “New York’s Board of Education spent about $8,000 yearly on the education of a third grade child in a New York City public school. If you could have scooped Alliyah up [and] plunked her down with a fairly typical white suburb of New York, she would have received a public education worth $12,000 every year” (Kozol 45). This argument emphasizes Kozol’s previous emotional argument about socio-economics impacting the quality of non-white and low-income school’s materials and facilities .
These days at my own school are the exception, not the rule. I believe that it is this major difference that will always outweigh any similarities that I ever could find myself drawing. Hopefully, as I read further into The Shame of the Nation, I will gain a greater understanding of the true impacts of these differences in schools.
Alliyah’s letter is not the only quote that Kozol uses. Choosing this syntax makes Kozol appear more sincere in his relationship with the kids he works with. Overall, this boosts his credibility— as it replaces his report of the situation with primary source accounts.
By using so many different children’s stories, Kozol is more effective at captivating his audience. I found myself having much less difficulty getting through arguments (which were slightly repetitive) when he exemplified his argument with a specific student. In a greater sense, these stories help Kozol clarify his logic without over generalizing reality. In my little experience dealing with racial issues, I’ve found that generalizing has led to both inaccuracy and indifference.
The Shame of the Nation would be significantly less compelling to me if I was only told that “separate but equal” wasn’t actually equal. Not only have I heard that before (and would be redundant if repeated for 317 pages), but it also would not help me understand why. As a privileged white female in rural New Hampshire, I am not able to empathize, nor will I ever be, with this reality. For this reason, it is crucial that Kozol uses these first hand accounts of Brown v. Board of Education’s deconstruction.
In both chapters that I have read thus far, Kozol ensures that the reader doesn’t just have to take him for his word. In order to establish that segregation in public schools does exist, Kozol uses countless statistical examples. Generally, he uses large percentages. These large percentages show the extreme nature of the situation. As I read such a great quantity of statistics that complemented one another, I became relatively confident in the truth of what I was reading; many schools are almost entirely made up of a single race.
In one instance, Kozol directly compared the financial states of the primarily white “Baby Ivies” and primarily black and Hispanic New York City public schools. To provide the reader with some continuity, Kozol returns to using Alliyah (although she is not directly related. He shows that “New York’s Board of Education spent about $8,000 yearly on the education of a third grade child in a New York City public school. If you could have scooped Alliyah up [and] plunked her down with a fairly typical white suburb of New York, she would have received a public education worth $12,000 every year” (Kozol 45). This argument emphasizes Kozol’s previous emotional argument about socio-economics impacting the quality of non-white and low-income school’s materials and facilities .
Other Thoughts
As I read the introduction to this book, I remember pausing at one paragraph, momentarily amused. Kozol was recounting a story of a school that had “rooms that were so cold in the winter that the students had to wear their coats to class while kids in other classes sweltered in a suffocating heat that could not be turned down” (Kozol 7). I thought back to last year when the heat didn’t work for a day, about all the times that classrooms have felt boiling hot, and about the dripping ceiling tiles. I found myself comparing the similarities between my own school and the school I was reading about. Then, I stopped (and reconsidered). Even within the first 63 pages, this book has led me to realize how naive I am for believing that I can equate these minor incidents at my own school with the situations that other schools are in.These days at my own school are the exception, not the rule. I believe that it is this major difference that will always outweigh any similarities that I ever could find myself drawing. Hopefully, as I read further into The Shame of the Nation, I will gain a greater understanding of the true impacts of these differences in schools.
Works Cited
Kozol, Jonathan. The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling
in America. New York, Random House, 2005.
Hi Cate!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this blog post; it's interesting learning about the books that other people are reading. I related to what you said about having little experience with issues of race -- I realize again and again that being white AND living in Hopkinton has given me almost no frame of reference for racism. So, I appreciated and was impressed when you mentioned that it is important to listen to other people's stories, in light of our own inexperience. Do you have any ideas for how we (as white people in Hopkinton specifically) should go about educating ourselves about matters of racial disparity based on what you've read so far? What do you think is most important for people to realize about the state of education in this country?
Thanks for the comment, Mia!
DeleteTo answer your questions, from both experience and my reading, I can tell that race is something that children learn about from a young age. While I don't yet have my own idea about how it should be taught, I think that instead of teaching young kids to be 'colorblind' or waiting until these kids are 'old enough' for such delicate subjects, there should be a greater exposure to the topic in early elementary school. In fact, I think it's a luxury that in our school we can wait this long to learn the realities of race in America.
In my opinion, the most important thing that people can realize about education in the United States is that a public education is not necessarily an equal education. I think that there's a general misconception that the biggest difference in public schools is their size— an urban school with thousands or a rural school with only a couple hundred. After reading, I think that the real difference is the school's economic situation. It is very important that people know that the economic state of a community corresponds to the school's racial demographic and therefore the amount of educational funding schools with non-white children receive.
Dear Cate,
ReplyDeleteOverall I thought your post was structured logically and effectively connected your ideas about the effectiveness of emotional appeals to the text overall. Reading your post, especially the part about the inequality in school funding, made me think about - and research - various ways that we as a country could solve the problem.
I don't agree with the idea that the differences in funding are necessarily an intentional effort by whites in power to keep minorities down, but the statistics themselves are indicative of the fact that minorities do face significant disadvantages. No matter how they are brought about, these issues are pervasive throughout minority communities and represent a significant problem in modern America that needs to be addressed.
Cate, I appreciate your honesty and clarity about your reactions to the reading you've done so far, particularly the "Other Thoughts" section. It's easy for me to complain about the ceiling in my room leaking or the budget being frozen. However, we have laptops, projectors, and I have access to new books for my classes. These are options and privileges not all schools have.
ReplyDelete