Student Profile #6

Unlike all previous student profiles, which have spotlighted my pupils from the Hacienda Heights/Rowland Heights area (and therefore examined the habits and customs of Chinese-American students), the incident that follows occurred in my Torrance classroom (and thus examines a Korean-American).

There is, contrary to what the overwhelming majority of students of the SAT will say if prompted, a diverse selection of reading passages on the Reading Comprehension section, many of which contain diverting and enlightening excerpts. For example, I have learned that:

The Navajo people value sandpaintings not for their aesthetic qualities, but as instruments of healing;
some jazz purists object to Miles Davis' experimental fusion of jazz with acid rock in the 1970s;
women travelers in the 1800s spawned a cottage industry in publishing their travel accounts by appealing to other, stationary women's wanderlust; and
early American film was unflinching in its portrayal of crime and social immorality.

In addition, I have skimmed excepts or critiques of Willa Cather's Sapphira and the Slave Girl, Joyce's Portrait of the Young Man as an Artist, a spattering of Jane Austin novels, and short stories by Mark Twain.

Unfortunately, as alluded to above, my students don't share my appreciation for the knowledge to be gained from the reading passages. Not only do they find the reading selections sadistically boring, but they have the added burden of using the excerpted material to answer questions about the tone, implied meaning, and other subtleties of the works in question.

There has been a perceptible shift toward readings about Native American culture and experience (e.g. the piece on Navajo sandpainting) (doubtlessly this trend stems from allegations that the SAT is somehow biased against minorities, women, &c, &c). Not surprising then, was the fact that among the passages slated for today's instruction was one on the contributions Native Americans to our society. To give some background on the passage, I thought it would be useful to mention ways we have benefited from the Native Americans:

"The pilgrims learned efficient methods of growing maize from the Indians; many historians attribute the early settlers' survival of the first winter to Indian assistance. During World War II, the Allies relied on the Navajo language as an indecipherable code which neither the Japanese nor the Germans could break. Their ecological consciousness and symbiotic relationship with nature have influenced modern ideas of sustainable development. Moreover, their multifarious languages, art, music, and dance have enriched American and world cultures."

At this point, Brian (the ostensible subject of this entry) added, "And they gave us casinos."

Sigh...yes, to what indeed would the whole of Western culture and civilization amount, if not for the wonderful world of Indian gaming and casinos?