between shades of gray essay

Ava Mascuch                                                                                                                                 711

“between shades of gray” essay                                                                                             4/13/15

    Most people talk about the 1930s and 1940s as a time when Hitler imprisoned thousands of Jewish people. What they usually do not talk about as much is Stalin and the Soviets who killed an estimated 7,000,000 people. The book “between shades of gray” tells the story of of a girl named Lina who is sent to prison camps with her Mother and brother Jonas. The story also talks about how Lina managed to get through the camps and the reason she survived was because of her Mom. Lina’s Mother helped her and Jonas survive  the camps by always encouraging them and to telling them not to give up.  She always put her children and others before herself.

    The Mother was a hero in this story because she encouraged Lina and Jonas not to give up no matter how hard times got. She always looked on the better side of things. For example in ”between shades of gray” Jonas says, “Looking at the sky, it’s like I’m lying on the grass at home in Lithuania. That sounded like something Mother would say,throwing color into a black-and-white picture.” pg 90. This quote shows their Mother looks on the better side of things and tries to see the silver lining in each situation. Another example from the book that shows the Mother’s optimism is “The shack was approximately ten feet by twelve feet...this is filthy. But nothing a little cleaning can’t fix, right?” pg 109. This quote is shows that even though they were in a filthy shack that could barely fit all of the people in their group the Mother still did not let the situation get the better of her. This helped teach Lina and Jonas not to give up because of a bad scenario.

Another way in which the Mom helped Jonas and Lina through the camps was that she always put them and others before herself. For instance, when “Jonas found the package from Mothers cousin’s Regina. Inside was a small blanket, a sausage, and a coffee cake. Mother shared the food giving small pieces to everyone.” pg 50. This quote shows that even when the Mother could have just eaten the food with Lina and Jonas, she decided to think of the others on the train and share. A second example is, “We’ve seen her nibble, but she’s always giving us bread...Mother was starving herself to feed us.” pg 285. This example supplies that the Mother is thinking of her children and making sure they have enough to eat, instead of being greedy like most people at the camp. She is selfless.

    Overall, the Mother is one of the heros in “between shades of gray” because she was selfless and always looked for the silver lining in difficult situations. If she had not acted the way she did Lina and Jonas would have probably ended up dead. This shows that small and hopeful actions can influence peoples lives and help them survive through tough times. 

Upfront magazine argument essay

Ava Mascuch                                                                                                                                 711

Upfront Magazine Argument Essay                                                                                        4/12/15

Is it fair that so much is riding on a single test for millions of Chinese students?

At the time of the gaokao test in China there are a lot of stressed out teenagers.  That is because the test is the only thing that matters in the process to get into a Chinese university.  Therefore, if a student does not do well and get a good score he or she will not get in and will most likely end up joining China’s 260 million migrant workers.  Is it fair that so much is riding on this one test?  For teens in China a few points one way or the other could determine the promise of a life of migration work.  Everyone should have a chance to go to college.  It is unfair that this whole process depends on the gaokao test because teens are forced to devote so much of their time to studying for this test and too much is sacrificed for the students to practice for the test.  

Even though students spend huge amounts of time much time on this one test, many of them miss the cut off score by just a few points.  For example the article, “China’s Cram Schools”, about the gaokao test states “20,000 students train around the clock for China’s national college-entrance examination.”  This quote shows that many Chinese students stay up late and wake up early in the morning to study and then go to school and study some more for the test.  The same article also describes the life of one of these students, “Xu filled every spare moment with studying, testing himself between classes, on the toilet, in the cafeteria.  After the lights went out at 11:30, he sometimes used a battery-powered lamp to keep going.”     There are probably many students like Xu who devote enormous amounts of time to prepare for the test.  It is not fair to let all of that hard work go to waste because of one test score.

Chinese students’ lives should not ride solely on this test because there are already many sacrifices made by students and their families just for them to study for the test at a good school.  For instance, the article “China’s Cram Schools” states “the rent on their tiny room was high...and it represented only part of the sacrifice Yang’s parents made to help him become the first in his family to attend college.”  This quote shows that his parents are living in a small apartment so that they can send their son to school to study for the gaokao.  A second example from the article describes how one family struggles and sacrifices.  “My mother constantly reminds me that I have to study hard because my father is out working construction far from home to pay my school fees...said Cao.”  It is not only the students who work hard to do well, but parents do too and they make sacrifices to pay for the schools.  Why must all of this hard work and sacrifice be judged by and wasted by what can be one bad test grade?

Although it is not good that one test determines Chinese students’ future, there can be good aspects of this test because if they manage to do well on it.  Students who do well on the test are promised a better life.  For example, the article states, “A few weeks after he took the gaokao last June, he learned his score and was ecstatic...it would win him a spot at one of Anhuis best second tier universities.”  This is good for one student, but not all of them are promised a college education.  “Not all the news was happy.  Tang’s childhood friend tanked on the exam...he would end up on a construction site, just like his father.”  Cao and many other Chinese students like him who did not do well ended up working as migrant workers.  Everyone should be offered a chance to apply to a college and not just the people who do well on the test.          

Overall, the parents of the students sacrifice so much and the teens devote so much time to practicing for the test and it seems unfair for it to determine their futures.  The gaokao causes too much pressure and stress for the Chinese students and their families.  Their whole life should not be judged by one test score.