gaokao essay

The Test that Determines your Life:

The Chinese Gaokao

Zach A. Thompson

Class 711

April 10, 2015

You are at the Maotachang High School in China, studying for the gaokao test.  Because every college in China looks solely at gaokao scores when choosing students, you study all day, and much of the night.  Millions of Chinese students all over the country are doing just the same, so they can go to the top universities.  Rich kids can hire private tutors and pay their way in, but poor kids like you have to visit ‘cram schools’ like Maotachang.  The Upfront magazine article “China’s Cram Schools,” discusses the topic of the gaokao test.  This way of testing, putting every bit of pressure to get into a good college, is not a good system for students.  The extreme pressure of China’s gaokao test is unfair, especially for kids in poverty.

The gaokao system is unfair because if you don’t do well on the test, there is no hope of getting into a top university.  In the Upfront article, it says, “Given every June over several days, the test is the only thing that matters for admission to Chinese universities” (Larmer, page 13).  This end-of-the-year test is what the colleges look at, and if you don’t do well enough, you can’t do anything about it.  The gaokao test, in a way, represents what your life will be like after high school.  If you do well, you could be a wealthy scientist or engineer working in a large city.  But if you fail, you will probably be someone in poverty working on a rural farm, construction site, or factory, making very little money.  Therefore, this type of testing means there is extreme stress leading up to the tests.  The article says that “Yang Wei, then a senior at Maotachang, had spent the previous three years, weekends included, stumbling to his first class at 6:20 in the morning and returning to his room only after the end of his last class at 10:50 at night” (Larmer, page 13).  Yang Wei was at the Maotachang high school, where he did nothing but study for the upcoming gaokao test, every day, sixteen hours per day.  He did this for three years, just to study for one test.  This puts incredible stress on students trying to get the top score on the test.

This system is also unfair for poor kids, because they at a disadvantage.  In the article, it states, “Rural students are at a severe disadvantage.  Villages like Yuejin, where Yang is from, have poor schools and few well-trained teachers” (Larmer, page 14).  Poor rural villages don’t have many good teachers or schools, so students can’t learn what they need to know to do well on the gaokao test.  And that means the next generation will be the same.  Furthermore, the article states, “Wealthy urban families can hire private tutors, pay for test-prep courses, or bribe their way into the best city schools” (Larmer, page 14).  In the city, rich people have more money and resources, more ways to score high on the gaokao, while the poor struggle to score well, and often still don’t.  In this system, the rich people stay rich, and the poor people stay poor.

On the other hand, the gaokao test can be what gets a poor rural family out of poverty, the one ray of hope for success.  The Upfront article talks about the story of Xu Peng, who grew up in poverty but made it out by scoring high on the gaokao.  The article says, “He grew up as one of China’s 60 million ‘left behind’ children, raised by his grandparents while his parents worked as migrant fruit sellers in the distant city of Wuxi.  Xu spun out of control in middle school, sneaking out with his friends, becoming obsessed with video games.” (Larmer, page 15). Xu started out life in poverty, and in middle school, became a terrible student, and didn’t get accepted to a good high school.  However, he realized he had to change somehow, so he went to school at Maotachang, and studied during every spare minute for the gaokao.  As the article says, “The extra push might have helped: Xu scored 643 out of a possible (but never achieved) 750.  That gaokao score enabled him to get into Tsinghua University in Beijing, one of China’s most prestigious schools” (Larmer, page 15).  No matter how bad your school grades are, getting a good grade on the gaokao test can change the life of a poor student.  But this is just one success story, and does not represent the majority of kids.  The unfairness of the test and the lack of resources mean that most poor kids stay that way.  For example, the article describes Cao, who started out life in poverty just like Xu and Yang Wei.  But he, just like the majority of poor kids, did poorly on the gaokao and “he would end up on a construction site, just like his father” (Larmer, page 15).  The gaokao is not the one way out of poverty for most poor kids.  It is a false hope that people try to believe in.

Overall, China’s college application system and its gaokao test are an unfair system that puts the poor kids at a disadvantage, and keeps them poor.  The extreme stress of the test is also a problem for students studying, even leading to suicides being more common.  A more fair college application system would be one where poor kids are just as likely to do well as rich kids, not just a single test with all the pressure of your career behind it.

hunger games essay

The Hunger Games Gender Roles

March 25, 2015

Zach A. Thompson 711

  

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a dystopian novel about the teenagers Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark who are forced by the government to compete in the fight-to-the-death competition called the Hunger Games.  They work together and win the Games together. Katniss is motivated by the desire to revolt against the totalitarian government, whereas Peeta appears to be more motivated by love and desire to be with Katniss. The female protagonist is the leader in the relationship, can get the male protagonist pulled into rebellious acts, and has the power to protect him, even if it means hurting herself.

In The Hunger Games, Katniss has more power in her relationship with Peeta and is far more rebellious.  Her actions are more influenced by her need to defy the government.  Peeta is more driven by his love for her.  In the beginning, the story says, “Even though trespassing in the woods is illegal and poaching carries the severest of penalties, more people would risk it if they had weapons.  But most are not bold enough to venture out with just a knife.  My bow is a rarity” (Collins, page 5).  Katniss first disobeys the government by hunting illegally in the woods.  She goes beyond the fence that borders her district to defy the authorities and feed her family.  Peeta’s first connection to Katniss happens later in the story, at his interview before the Hunger Games begin.  In the story, it says, “ ‘I don’t think it’s going to work out.  Winning… won’t help in my case,’ says Peeta. [P] ‘Why ever not?’ says Caesar, mystified.  Peeta blushes beet red and stammers out. ‘Because… because… she came here with me’ ” (Collins, page 138). Peeta is confessing his love to Katniss, by saying that winning the Hunger Games won’t help him find love, because his love interest came to compete in the Games with him.  His love for Katniss is what motivates him. 

During the Games, Katniss clearly has power in her relationship with Peeta and uses that power to sacrifice herself for him.  When they are together, Peeta gets very sick, and needs medicine, and Katniss can get it at the Cornucopia, but there will likely be a battle there.  She travels for a day and arrives at the Cornucopia.  After retrieving the backpack with the medicine, the story says, “the second knife catches me in the forehead.  It slices above my right eyebrow, opening a gash that sends a gush running down my face” (Collins, page 284).  An enemy tribute, Clove, is throwing knives at Katniss and she is severely injured when the knife hits her in the head.  Despite Peeta insisting she not go, she has the power to go and get it anyway.    

At the end, the reader can see Katniss’s final act of rebellion in the story, and Peeta’s final act of love towards Katniss.  The text says, “Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers’ faces.  They’d have failed the Capitol” (Collins, page 344).  Right before Katniss and Peeta win the Games, it is declared that there can only be one victor, so only one of them can win.  Katniss realizes they need to have some victor, so she and Peeta pull a stunt where they pretend to swallow poisonous berries, which would kill them.  But right before they swallow the berries, they are announced the victors.  This is Katniss’ ultimate act of rebellion, as all the tributes dying would ruin the games.      Katniss says, “ ‘Trust me’ ”(Collins, page 344), when Peeta doesn’t understand the stunt.  “He holds my gaze for a long moment then lets me go.  I loosen the top of the pouch and pour a few spoonfuls of berries into his palm.  Then I fill my own. ‘On the count of three?’

 Peeta leans down and kisses me once, very gently” (Collins, page 344).  This shows how Katniss is trying to revolt against the government by ruining the Games.  Peeta is just going along with it because of his feelings for her, letting her be the leader.

Throughout the story, Katniss uses her strength as a character to get Peeta into doing rebellious things, and even saves him once.  Peeta cares more about his love for Katniss, and doesn’t feel the need to rebel against the government.  This book is interesting because the female character has power, unlike fairy tales where the man is always the hero.  This is different from the sexist view that men are more powerful then women, and a start to eliminating that belief.

Puppet of the Government "1984" book club essay

A Puppet of the Government

1984 Book Club Literary Essay

Zach A. Thompson

Class 711

March 15, 2015

“BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (Orwell, page 2).  And controlling you too.  The dystopian novel 1984, by George Orwell, tells the story of Winston Smith, a man who gets into a relationship with the woman Julia, and who joins the secret anti-government organization “The Brotherhood.” The year is 1984, in the future, and there is an oppressive government called the Party that controls almost everything in their territory.  They eventually catch Winston and Julia, and Winston is sent to the “Ministry of Love,” where he is interrogated and mentally tortured until the end, where he declares that he loves the mysterious government leader, Big Brother.  The author is sending a message to the readers that we should keep our eyes peeled because governments can take total control, so much that they are controlling every aspect of what people do or say, owning their lives.  He is saying that we should be careful because that kind of government shouldn’t exist in real life.

                 

The government makes itself seem like the “good guys,” the ultimate heroes, and that life before them was terrible.  When people believe that propaganda, when they think the government is doing the right thing, they will be powerless against the oppressive rulers.  In the story, it says, “The history books say that life before the Revolution was completely different from what it is now. There was the most terrible oppression, injustice, poverty—worse than anything we can imagine” (Orwell, page 79).  The Party is talking about when there was capitalism in many countries.  They are saying that back then governments were corrupt and unfair to the people, that back then was the “bad old days,” that life is much better now.  Now, they say, peoples’ lives have been saved by the Revolution and the beginning of the Party.  Propaganda in the history books make people believe lies about the Party, and become under the government’s control.  If they start to think what the government says is true, that life is good now, they will be less likely to rebel or try to overthrow the government.

The Party also uses constant surveillance to control peoples’ lives.  They use telescreens, to watch everyone in the whole country.  In the text, it says, “The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously.  Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard” (Orwell, page 2).  Telescreens are like security cameras, but much larger and in every home and building.  Government officials watching on the one end could see and hear people on the other end.  The telescreens could not be switched off, which meant that the government could use them to see what was going on virtually any place where they had power.  The telescreens allow the government to know what’s going on during every moment of peoples’ lives, and doing something even slightly suspicious could send someone to a forced labor camp, so peoples’ lives are very controlled.  Furthermore, children were recruited into groups like the Spies, where they could report anyone of being a traitor, and then be considered a hero.  The book says, “Nearly all children nowadays were horrible.  What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages” (Orwell, page 21).  The Spies are a great opportunity for the Party to control the people.  Not only are they watching everyone to report to the authorities, but this kind of work at such a young age means that kids will grow up loving the Party, and stay that way for life. 

In 1984, the government has supreme power, so much so that they can control the lives of the people.  They use constant surveillance and propaganda to take power.  The message the author is sending is clear—we should not let this happen to our world, the world outside of a book.  The message is that today, countries like the U.S., which are democracies, shouldn’t become like North Korea, where people have no freedoms.  Here, we take these everyday liberties like freedom of speech for granted, but we might be losing them.  Internet surveillance is getting stronger.  Groups like the NSA and others are constantly looking at our Internet activity to see if any of us might be terrorists.  I don’t think our government should be doing this, knowing everything we do online.  Our nation shouldn’t become like the Party in 1984.

Poetry Essay

Fathers’ Love through Poetry

Zach A. Thompson

Class 711

March 9, 2015

When you think of a typical “Dad,” you might think about something specific, a certain kind of person.  However, there are many different fathers that exist, that show love for their children in many different ways.  The poems “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke show that this is true by talking about two very different fathers that show love for their children very differently.

In “My Papa’s Waltz,” the father shows his love by waltzing with his son.  In the poem, it says, “We romped until the pans/slid from the kitchen shelf.”   This poem is about a boy and his father who are dancing together one night in their home.  They are waltzing boisterously enough that the shelf is shaking and things are falling from it.  I think that they are having a good time and the father is showing his love that way.  Later on in the poem, it says  “[he] waltzed me off to bed/still clinging to [his] shirt.”  It is later in the night and the father is still dancing and they continue until the boy goes to bed.   The boy still wants to keep waltzing because he is still holding on to his father.  At that moment they are showing their affection for each other and the boy doesn’t want it to end right there.  The father in this poem is waltzing with his son for a long time to show his love, waltzing all night. 

In “Those Winter Sundays,” the father shows his love by doing extra work to help his family.  In the poem, it says, “with cracked hands that ached/from labor in the weekday weather.”   The father is doing physical labor all week in the frigid weather that makes his hands dry and chapped.  He is doing so much for his family that he is hurting himself for them, a clear sign of love.  Furthermore, the poem says, “Sundays too my father got up early/And put on his clothes in the blueblack cold...  made/banked fires blaze.” According to the poem, the father got up early every day, even Sunday, to help fuel the fire in the cold weather.  He is showing his love by making his family feel at home and putting himself out for them. 

Although love has been expressed in both poems, some might argue that the tones are not completely positive.  In “Those Winter Sundays,” it says, “No one ever thanked him.” The father is not getting any appreciation for his hard work.  He is showing love for his family, but they are not returning the favor.  However, I still think the tone is mostly positive, because although he is not getting any gratitude, he still works on and on for them.  This means that he cares even more about them because he doesn’t mind not being thanked.  The tone in “My Papa’s Waltz” is also mixed.  In the poem, it says, “The whiskey on your breath/could make a small boy dizzy.”  The boy is waltzing with his father, who has had too much whiskey and is possibly drunk.  Drunk people can be unpredictable and in the poem, the boy’s ear keeps getting scraped by his father’s belt buckle.   However I believe that the father really cares about his son and the tone of the poem is mostly joyful.

Overall, in both poems, the fathers show clear love for their children, but doing it in very different ways.  From dancing to hard work, all good fathers, like the ones in the two poems, should show love for their children to stay a true and loving family.