RW, In Praise of the F Word

 By Nate Feldman

Vocabulary from “In Praise of the F Word.”

1.      A trump card: a tool or technique that gives someone strength over others

2.      Testimony: a person’s story about something that happened (usually used in court)

3.      Resentful: a deep anger (usually coming from a feeling of unjust treatment)

4.      Unpleasant: not nice or enjoyable

5.      Diploma: certificate you get for graduating from high school or university

6.      Intellectual: ability to think

7.      Conspiracy: a hidden agenda to make things happen

8.      Impediment: something that blocks or prevents you from doing or achieving something

9.      Abusive: hurtful to someone; physically abusive; emotionally abusive

10.  Doomed: you will have a bad fate

11.  Illiteracy: not being able to read or write

12.  Semi-literate: kind of can read and write

13.  Literate: can read and write

14.  Illiterate: can’t read and write

15.  Sadder: comparison for sad

Seika said she felt sad today.  Kotoha said, well I’m sadder than you are. 

16.  At stake: when there are big consequences based on the results of something

i.e. When you go to university, there is a lot at stake because you are planning your future. 

17. merit: something that holds a lot of truth or value

 

In Mary Sherry’s 1991 essay, In Praise of the “F” Word, she made the argument that teachers should not be afraid to fail students because it will benefit them if they do not advance when they do not have the skills necessary to succeed in life.  This article is based on the problem of people who pass in school but aren’t ready for the real world when they are out of it.  So, the question is should we pass all students, or do teachers need to be more aggressive in who fails or doesn’t? From my perspective, teachers should fail if necessary, but they also should try to work with students to prevent it if they can. (Intro)

 

I think there are students who need to fail or flunk a grade because they not only are not ready for the next level, but they made no attempt to be prepared.  For example, if you told students that they needed to complete a certain assignment to pass to the next grade, and they decided not to do it, then most certainly they deserve to fail.  It’s not only fair that they fail because they didn’t do the assignment, but it would be unfair to students that worked hard and did it to have the same result as the students that didn’t.  (Reason for opinion)

 

On the other hand, I think the teacher also needs to put in some effort to prevent failure if possible.  For example, a student may be missing work or not doing well in class not because they are not ready, but because of other issues in their lives.  For instance, perhaps they are having depression or personal problems at home.  Failing will not make them stronger, it might make the situation worse.  The teacher should try and find a way to encourage those students to become stronger if they can. (Another reason for opinion)

 

Mary Sherry suggested that threatening to fail students puts them in line.  It is true that some students need to fear failure in order to be motivated.  With those, the trump card of failure is useful.  However, as I have mentioned, some students the threat of failure will make a bad situation worse.  Maybe the student has a learning disability or has a family problem.  Teachers also need to be empathetic to them and try and help them work around it.  (Argument/Counterargument)

To conclude, not all students should pass if they don’t deserve it, but at the same time, students should be motivated to succeed, and then if they don’t, it’s not up to the teacher, it’s up to them. (conclusion)


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