Martin Espada Essay

Martin Espada is a Spanish poet whose main themes are discrimination and racism towards the Spanish. In his first poem, "Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877" shows a description of the ecstasy of  white man crowd at two Spanish men being lynched. The second poem, "The New Bathroom policy at English High School", the Spanish language is banned in a bathroom because someone does not know the language. In "The Revolutionary Spanish Lesson", a protest is held out of rage due to not being recognized. These poems all contain a discriminatory theme, and the opinion on discrimination is the same in all the poems; they are not supporting discrimination.
   First of all, his poem "Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877" had an extreme focus on discrimination. The poem is about exactly what the title says. The poem states, "remain the faces of the lynching party...a high collar boy smirking, some peering from the shade of bowler hats, but all crowding to get into the photograph." This means that everyone was trying to take a photo with the two dead Mexicanos. This describes how excited and amused the people are now that Mexicanos were dead. Very discriminatory, because it shows how no one cares about two dead men if they're Spanish. This is very unfair, and cannot have any theme and opinion other than being anti-discrimination.
    The second poem, "The New Bathroom Policy at English High School", is also a discriminatory work. The poem states, "So he decides to ban Spanish/ from the bathrooms/ now he can relax." This poem and quote illustrate a lack of confidence in people that others cannot understand. This also proves that unless people know exactly what is being said by anyone, they will not trust that person. These two pieces of evidence show that people will forbid others from being who their are for their own satisfaction and integrity. Espada wants you to feel disgusted at this behavior, because it is selfish and fearful, and goes against years of promises and history of the U.S., which is not keeping it's promise of letting everyone live in it equally.
  The third poem, "The Revolutionary Spanish Lesson" is also discriminatory. The poem shows extreme disrespect because people will not pronounce foreign names correctly, and having to pay for it. The poem states, "Whenever my name is mispronounced, I want to buy a toy pistol......hijack a busload of Republican tourists in Wisconsin, force them to chat anti-American slogans in Spanish,", showing him getting angry at the people who mispronounced his name and made his life a hell. This poem is more about the justice in the Spanish man's eyes, because it seems as though he thinks of himself getting his revenge on the people who sought to segregate him. This poem is very discriminatory because it shows how the tables were turned, when people who don't like Spanish are forced to say anti-America slogans in Spanish. This poem has a deeper meaning than just a mispronounced name, but that meaning is still as discriminatory.
  These three poems all have their own ways of expressing their opinion on discrimination. Regardless, what the author tries to get you to take away from this is the same in each poem. The discrimination shown in these poems can be described in today’s light given all the recent events having to do with racism and discrimination. Discrimination is shown in a very negative light in every poem, and the techniques the author used are all very moving. They make you think of discrimination as a hideous thing.

Upfront Essay

The gaokao is China's college entrance exam, and 9 million teenagers take itannually. If you pass the gaokao, you get into college, but if you don't, it's manual labor in a factory or construction site for you. The gaokao is the only thing that lets you get into college, no other factors are even looked at for even a few seconds. This pressures the students beyond belief, and it is very unfair and a very bad idea to have so much riding on a single test for so many students.
  First, the gaokao is too pressurizing. In China, more people commit suicide when the time for the gaokao draws nearer. This shows how people show a drastic increase in anxiety around the time of the exam. The article says, "...shocking photograph online: a classroom full of students hooked up to intravenous drips to give them the strength to keep studying." That's unbelievable. The gaokao puts so much anxiety on kids that they decide to be fed through tubes. A test that induces that much stress is almost unthinkable. It certainly brings the effect of the gaokao into light. So, the point is that the gaokao puts too much stress on the students, and there is not a doubt why, when the gaokao drives people to commiting suicide
   Second of all, the gaokao is treated so importantly, even for a college entrance exam. In Maotanchang, there are many strict laws in place so that teens can do nothing except study. There is no dating, no computers, and no electricity at all. One student regards, "There's nothing to do but study." Maotanchang has very long school days, and very harsh rules. People in China are arguing against the test. It is taking away modern life in place for an anxiety-inducing test, which is not ethical.
Third, the gaokao is too important to pass, for teachers and students. If the students don't pass the exam, then teachers in China will lose their job security. That's not fair at all, because the teachers should not have everything riding on a test score. Because of this, the teachers have to dole out severe punishments for bad grades just to keep their rep up. This kind of procedure for training kids to get high test scores is not good, because it would only teach them to be intimidated and get punished. That is not what gives kids high grades, and the teachers should not have to force the kids to get good grades.
IN conclusion, the gaokao is an unfair way to judge if kids get into college. If there is so much riding on one exam, it will cause too much stress on the kids.