I feel as though this class has helped me become a more polished and professional writer. When I first entered English 110, I was extremely unsure and lacked confidence in my writing. I believe that this point can be partly attributed to the fact that I had always had my instructors holding my hand and helping me through the writing process in high school. My senior English teacher always reminded us that college would be much more challenging than her class was and then she would go on to tell us stories of professors who gave out zeros for tiny oversights within a paper. This combined with general apprehension about college life left me terrified. I had always been a strong writer in high school; I know how to form an argument and support I expected to be reading long and boring books about topics that did not pertain to my life; as it turns out, this assumption was completely false. All of the three essays that we were required to read in class were fairly difficult to understand, but after a second reading, the essays meaning became clearer. I also feel as though their messages and key ideas were captivating. I definitely thought they would be extremely dry and difficult to understand. When I first read Richard Rodriguez’ “The Achievement of Desire,” I had the feeling that I could closely relate to this man. Everything that he said about education and sacrifice reminded me of my own schooling. The same idea can be echoed in Michel Foucault’s essay “Panopticism”; I found his ideas fascinating. I was extremely intrigued with how he explored power relations and being able to examine a panoptic structure in my Within my essay, I specifically focused on my experiences within a nursing home. In my paper, I write “The nurse’s station and the necessary staff rooms are at the center of the unit, similar to the central tower… Conversely, this makes the resident’s rooms similar to cells and the resident’s inside, comparable to prisoners” (2). In essence, I am exemplifying my understanding of a panoptic structure with an example of the people who function within the nursing home. Before writing the analysis, I did not think twice about going to work, but after writing this paper, whenever I went to work, Foucault and his ideas of Panopticism always remain in the back of my mind. This is not to say that this is all I focus on when I am at work, but that it makes me think twice when I am interacting with coworkers, residents, or family
Ever feel as though someone is watching you? You know that you are the only one in a room, but for some reason you get an eerie feeling that you are not alone? You might not see anyone, but the eyes of a stranger could be gazing down on you. In Foucault's "Panopticism," a new paradigm of discipline is introduced, surveillance. No one dares to break the law, or do anything erroneous for that matter, in fear that they are being watched. This idea of someone watching your every move compels you to obey. This is why the idea of Panopticism is such an efficient form of discipline. The Panopticon is the ideal example of Panopticism, which is a tool for surveillance that we are introduced to in “Panopticism.” Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," has taken the idea of surveillance one step further. The government not only observes everyone, but has complete control over society. The citizens of the United States cannot even think for themselves without being interrupted by the government. They are prisoners in their own minds and bodies. The ideals of “Panopticism” have been implemented to the fullest on society in Vonnegut’s "Harrison Bergeron," through physical and mental handicaps.
Perhaps no other event in modern history has left us so perplexed and dumbfounded than the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany, an entire population was simply robbed of their existence. In “Our Secret,” Susan Griffin tries to explain what could possibly lead an individual to execute such inhumane acts to a large group of people. She delves into Heinrich Himmler’s life and investigates all the events leading up to him joining the Nazi party. In“Panopticism,” Michel Foucault argues that modern society has been shaped by disciplinary mechanisms deriving from the plague as well as Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, a structure with a tower in the middle meant for surveillance. Susan Griffin tries to explain what happened in Germany through Himmler’s childhood while Foucault better explains these events by describing how society as a whole operates.
Entering this course I was worried because I have struggled with writing in the past, and writing has never been my strongest area. I feared writing classes in middle and high school, and had the same expectations for this course. I had wondered if I was ready for college English, and was worried that my skills and abilities would not be one the level they needed to be for college courses. My attitude and understanding of my writing process have both changed since the beginning of this semester. One thing that really helped my attitude and confidence was the fact that I was able to complete the assignments and get a decent grade. I was worried that I might not be able to do college level writing, and when I started completing the assignments and learning new ways to write my confidence and attitude changed. Another thing that really helped me throughout this course was that there was plenty of reading and information available to guide me through my assignments. I realized that there was more freedom when it comes to writing than I had experienced in high school. Being able to write more freely, and the freedom to choose what subjects I would write over made the assignments more enjoyable and easier to
...s, among other characteristics already mentioned. Understanding the purpose of existence and having a good education is crucial to living a good and moral life. When a child follows his interest, he may find a path to his career. Philosophy and history are valuable to a good education. Without philosophy to teach us how to be temperate, we would never learn to live well. Without our knowledge of history, humans would fall back into the same traps and mistakes over and over. It is essential that we know how and what to teach to each generation. The use of fear is not an effective method of teaching, as it may cause immobilization of the mind. Learning should be the greatest pleasure of life. Montaigne's essay Of the Education of Children is beneficial in comprehending how to complete the essential task of educating our youth with gentleness, joy, and effectiveness.
Michel Foucault's "Panopticism" is based on the architectural concept of the panopticon. Foucault extended this concept to create a new sort of authority and disciplinary principle. His idea was that of the anonymous watchers hold in and has the power to influence the ones being watched. This concept is two fold – it is subject to the person being watched not being able to know when they are being watched and to the rules of society places on individuals on how they should act in a given situation. This idea can be applied to every day life, like how we set up testing rooms for students or when reading literary works such as Dracula by Bram Stoker. In Dracula, there are power differentials caused by a character or characters "seeing" what others do not and caused by societal constructions.
Two particular authors wrote their essays on education, and although they focus on two unlike subjects entirely, the authors describe specific goals that they wish to have achieved based on their observations and experiences; therefore, there is at least some form of similarity.
English 1101 has been a very beneficial class. This class has allowed me to take a dive into more strenuous work that deals with writing. So far in English 1101 I have completed my common app. essay, a resúme, an essay about my future goals, an educational history narrative, and an advertisement analysis essay. All of the assignments have already benefited me in some way. I no longer need to spend additional time on creating a resúme or writing my essay that I will use when applying to colleges. The other assignments have allowed me to acknowledge who I am as a writer while reflecting on my past experiences throughout life.
Throughout the semester I have learned an astounding amount of information. The English 101 curriculum has not only taught me how to write in general, but also taught me a variety of ways to get my point across to the reader. Before I took English 101 I was an average writer at best, but now that I am taking a class that focuses on writing strategies I feel that I have been able to improve as a writer. During the course we were taught how to write an informative essay as well as how to write a persuasive essay. The type of writing that this class has taught me will most definitely help me with future classes as well as my future in the real world. Throughout the English 101 course I have been able to improve as a writer by composing essays
Pinar refers to the current situation in the field of education as a “nightmare” because education is no longer in the hands of educators. Our society today is becoming full of citizens and educators who are comfortable being the silent majority. Educators are sitting back in the shadows remaining silent while our government tells us how and what to teach in order to cultivate the minds of an economically productive future society. Teachers are no longer able to educate students about the value of becoming intellectuals because their time is spent training students to pass a test. In order to solve this problem, Pinar suggests that we learn more about our past and how we came to this juncture in our lives in order to deal with the problem that exists in education until this day.
In the class English 111, I have learned many things that will benefit me later on throughout my school years. I was acknowledged on what my strengths and weaknesses are in writing, and also what I can improve on. By reflecting on this past semester, this course has taught me a lot about writing and I have seen major improvement in my writing skills.
Foucault, Michel. “Panopticism.” Ways of Reading. Fifth ed. Ed. David Barholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999, 312-342. Print.
In doing so, Foucault famously compares contemporary society to a prison- “prison is not so unlike what happens every day.” Ultimately, Foucault attempts to exemplify
Over the course of this semester I learned a lot about myself as a writer. This English 101 class has really allowed me to expand my essay structure and ways of thinking. This was my first college writing course and it has given me much more freedom when writing because in high school I felt limited and like what we were writing was not very important. In high school I would write essays to just to fulfill the required word or page count and to a degree I still feel like this but maybe that is why I am an engineering major but in this course I actually was able to express my ideas and for the first time really test the limits of my writing capabilities. I really enjoyed being able to incorporate my voice more in my essays and I believe that I developed my own personal style a bit from this. At the beginning of the semester my writing was quite choppy and there was plenty of room for improvement in the overall flow of my essays. Now, I use several different tactics such as outlining to create better connections between paragraphs. I believe I was able to move beyond many of the high school ways of writing and make general improvements to my essays.
Every writer has his or her own way to knock out a paper. Whether it is a two-in-the-morning-due-the-next-day paper or a well thought out commodities paper for economics. The habits and techniques used are the same. When I begin revising my writing, I start by finding a few people to peer review my work. It is always a good idea to have a fresh set of eyes looking over my paper. Some of the aspects they decide to change are not always what is best for my paper, so I compare it with other peers.
The concept of panopticon in the penal system, which showed immediate success in reform and discipline, eventually leads to it being linked to every component of the modern society. Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon and Foucault concept of Panopticism is seen in many places today in our society. Wherever you look you will certainly find places like, schools, hospital, factories, asylums, and even universities, represent Panopticism because all of this places have some kind of surveillance s...