Thursday, February 27, 2014

Chapter 16 response

In this chapter I found that the event in which Benjamin found the book with poems was he most important. I find this the most important because in the chapter Kozol talks about how Ben had been held back and seems to pick on the smaller kids. He also mentions that he does not do his homework while the other kids are doing theirs and instead keeps getting out of his seat. It seemed as though Ben did not care for his education until he found the book with poems. Once he sat down with the book he read a poem bout a lion in a zoo, he seemed to relate himself to the lion while reading it. He read it to th class but once the other children left he read it with more passion and that is when Kozol realized that Benjamin liked poetry. It shows you that even someone like Kozol may missunderstand someone and not see who they may really be.

The most important character in this chapter is Benjamin. To start off the chapter is titled Benjamin, but also in this chapter Kozol is talking about the character and helping us better understand him. It shows the unseen passion the boy has. He was held back therefore old for his grade and almost being held back again. Kozol saw a boy who did not want to work on homework. Kozol states " I don't know if I'd gotten past my first impression of him as a rather loose-limbed, casual, and superficial boy who seemed to laugh too easily at other kids' mistakes" on page 213. He realizes after talking with Benjamin alone that he is a different person from the boy he thought he'd known before.

In this chapter Kozol has a lot of realizations. He finds that what his first impressions on people may not always be what he will later find of them. He also finds that though the kids that attend PS 30 still may struggle, they are still more fortunate then other children living in Mott Haven. He states on page 214 "They have this church in which to play and do their homework, with the help of tutors, after school. They have good books and toys, and games, and crayons, paints, and paper. They have supper. They have physical and moral safety. They have prayer. They have the fierce allegiace of the mothers and grand mothers. They have a priest whose vigilance is not flamboyant and whose loyalty is unconditional."  I chose this quote as the most important for the chapter because it talks about what the kids in the rough town are blessed with and how lucky they really are, compared to other children living in Mott Haven who do not know of Saint Mary's, or can not go there.

4 comments:

  1. I completly agree with you Ashley about Benjamin being the main focus of chapter 16. I think that Kozol wrotte about him to show us that there is all types of kids that come to St. Ann's and not all of them are going to be like Pineapple or Ariel who know what they want and work toward bettering themselves now instead of later.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I thought this was a great chapter also. Benjamin was definitely the main focus. I thought Benjamin may have also be a little afraid to let other kids know that he does like poetry because they may pick on him. Nice Quote, at least for some part of the day these kids have what all kids need.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think this chapter has a great lesson that everyone should keep in mind. People are not always who they seem, I like the message. I also like the message that someone always has it worse than you. I think is kind of the message that the quote you chose has.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Im glad that Kozol's first impression on Benjamin didn't last long because he really is a great kid!

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.