GaoKao VS SAT & ACT

          The gaokao and the sat and act are all mandatory tests for students in America and the gaokao for students in China. The gaokao has long term effects while the sat and act have short term effects. Although both exams are important, the gaokao can affect your career and your life as a student. The sat and acts are both tests that determine your placement in colleges, not scoring high enough will lead to the enrollment of a public college. The gaokao has harsher consequences and affects your life as a student more than the SAT s and acts.

              The GaoKao is the Chinese national college entrance exam. In China, the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, colloquially known as the GaoKao (Gao meaning high, Kao meaning test), is the ultimate yardstick of academic accomplishment. If one's score is good enough, they will receive entrance into a prestigious university.The gaokao is a standardized test for all students in China.The gaokao is held once annually at the end of the school year. Third-year high school students (high school in China lasts three years) generally take the test, although anyone may register for it if they desire to. The gaokao is an exam that calls for extreme measures when it comes to studying and passing. Many students have studied for days straight, hooking themselves to intravenous drips to give them strength to study for long periods of time. This shows the importance level of this test, the gaokao has high standards and harsh consequences. Failing the gaokao likely means ending up in a factory or construction job, or in other words, not as successful. The intention of the gaokao is to get into a prestigious university or college. Getting into a prestigious university will set your life with a well rounded education and a start to a successful career.

          The SAT is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States.The SAT is a mostly mandatory standardized exam that gives a general consensus on where you stand academically in relationship to the other students of the US. The point of the SATs and ACTs is for other schools to know what you are doing without observing what you do in class. You cannot pass or fail the SATs or ACTs, schools only look at their minimum requirement score."The SAT and SAT Subject Tests are designed to assess your academic readiness for college. These exams provide a path to opportunities, financial support, and scholarships, in a way that's fair to all students. The SAT and SAT Subject Tests keep pace with what colleges are looking for today, measuring the skills required for success in the 21st century." The fallout of the SAT isn't as harsh as the gaokao as it does not determine your overall career and future. The SATs determine what university you get into, that does not mean you won't get into any at all. You are granted a college, it's just a matter of the academic level of it.

          In conclusion, the aftermaths of both the GaoKao and the SATs are different in that the GaoKao has a longer-term effect and harsher consequences and that the SATs sustain a shorter-term effect and have less harsher consequences than the GaoKao.

                      ELA Alice in Wonderland Essay

The classic Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll depicts a young girls’ dreams as she travels through Wonderland in her dreams. Alice has issues adjusting to a new state of society and lifestyle. Lewis Carroll portrays the idea of childhood innocence and life as a meaningless puzzle. Lewis Carroll depicts symbolism and changes in childhood by using objects to show the bigger picture and deeper meaning. Alice is faced with a series of problems that puts her knowledge to the test. She is forced to use her instinct when she falls down a rabbit hole and “lands” into the Victorian Era. An era of class in Britain from 1837-1901. Lewis Carroll portrays the idea of childhood innocence and struggles, and life as a meaningless puzzle.

Throughout the story, Alice is faced with a series of challenges that appear to be unsolvable. These series of  events replicate the struggles and challenges of a crisis in the life of a child. For example, The Caucus Race and The Mad Hatter’s Riddle are events in Wonderland that test the limits of Alice’s abilities and knowledge. The Caucus Race was a land race with all the animals in Wonderland that seemed endless to Alice. Constantly racing through the course that the Dodo set. The race was only a half an hour. The Mad Hatter’s Riddle “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” was proposed to her at the dinner table, this riddle caused an argument and a huge debate over semantics. This shows unorder in Wonderland.

In the beginning of the story, Alice goes through a variety of physical challenges. After she falls down the rabbit hole, she is in a small room, unproportional to her body. On a small table there is a bottle labeled ‘DRINK ME’. When she drinks it, Alice shrinks to a size proportional to the room. After she shrunk, Alice realized she had left a key to a door on top of a table. She then spots a cake saying ‘EAT ME’ hoping it will bring her to normal size, but it only makes her grow a few inches taller. Leaving the key on the table forces her to cry uncontrollably to the point where she forms a pool of tears. This leads us to believe and symbolizes that as a young girl, Alice or girls around her age, are lead to be struggling with physical appearance. While girls go through these times, it is speculated that they have emotional problems as well, hence the pool of tears in chapter two.

In conclusion, Lewis Carroll depicts ideas of childhood innocence and life as a meaningless puzzle by symbolizing things we are able to perceive as something else. Many authors use symbolism throughout their stories to show two ideas using one object. Symbolism is widely used throughout Alice in Wonderland, although only some were covered, the book has plenty more to offer.

Dear Ms. Berner,

“Censorship is the enemy of truth” -Bill Moyers. Not owning banned books in our school library is a difficulty for children who are interested in reality. I believe banned books offer relatable situations for children who have problems at home and for students who want to learn the “real” side of our world, and not the ones we see on TV. Banned books can be a little disturbing but there should be at least a content warning, and the reader shall decide. Undoubtedly concerned parents slightly disagree. They believe there are no lessons to be offered in these books, other than to influence and bring their children into the world of sex, drugs, and violence. Banned books should be allowed in our school’s library, and in public libraries across the country.

Banned books require a level of maturity, there needs to be a certain level of understanding for the reader to develop a lesson from the book. The book a reader chooses should depend on their level of maturity. “The determination about which books should be restricted from children depends on their level of maturity. A person less mature might misinterpret the meaning of subject matter resulting in inappropriate thoughts, beliefs or behavior.” said Brandon Redlinger from www.csindy.com. This statement agrees with the majority of the student community. We believe students should have power over what they read. Students shouldn’t be restricted to what they read. “I have visited dozens of high schools, rich and poor, private and public, integrated and segregated, absolutely safe, and fearfully dangerous, and have heard hundreds of stories that are tragic and collectively amazing.” Sherman Alexie said. Banned books featuring drugs, sex and violence can help teens across America dealing with struggles at home, and in their own personal lives. Reading these books will provide an outlet, and a stress reliever for these teens. It will help them relate, succeed, and progress happily.  

Banning books is like blinding someone, covering their eyes from reality. How can you expect someone to mature, grow, and develop sympathy for others when you aren’t able to experience situations that are a reality for other students? “The current research suggests that books can give readers more than one opportunity to tune out and submerge themselves in fantasy worlds. Books provide an opportunity for social connection.” - Gabriel and Young Providing social connection for struggling and discouraged teens will give them support to help them in their situations, lives, and daily struggles with personal issues they have at home. For example, a teen addicted to drugs can read a story about someone overcoming the addiction and will influence them to do the same.

Others may say that banned and challenged books offer too much violent and sexual content. “Oh jeez, do we really have to have this argument again? Here goes, contemporary literature has too much sex and violence and our kids need to be protected from its depravity.” -Meghan Cox Gordon. Why ban violence and sex now? It has been around forever in literature. Classics, Shakespeare, and so many other poets feature the same amount or even more of drastic and sexual content. We are exposed to these themes everyday, news, movies, video games, and most importantly, the internet.

In conclusion, I feel that banning books is a wrong doing and should be illicit. Banning books hides the real side of the world, students shouldn’t be held back to explore the lives of another human being, or a fantasy character. If a book is really that bad that it should be banned, there should be a stamp warning. A stamp warning is a warning on a book that presents profanity, so there is a forewarning. Having a stamp warning is an excellent way for teens to attain maturity in giving them a choices in life.

From,

Adam Almontaser