Throughout the year this class was one of my favorites. The culmination of all the things we learned on a single test seemed overwhelming. However, since we were well prepared everything went as smooth as it could.

      For me personally, I became overconfident during my essays and spent too much time on my synthesis essay. In order to manage time I went to the rhetorical analysis without finishing my synthesis. The directions on the rhetorical analysis were different, in the last line it asked how Luce's introduction prepared her audience. I somewhat ignored that and just wrote my essay like I normally would and addressed it in my conclusion. I ended up finishing but with a one sentence conclusion when I decided to go back to my synthesis essay.
      To better prepare for the exam I would of focused on my multiple choice more since it is a matter of timing and skills - something that can be fixed. On the day of the test I finished with only 3 questions left, a lot better than before. Skipping the first passage was a great decision since I didn't really comprehend it well anyway. With all this being said if my multiple choice came through and my essay graders don't mind my handwriting, I'm hoping for a 4.

      P.S This class has been a wonderful experience and thank you Mr. Felder for taking a chance with accepting me into your class. In all of my English classes I basically learned the same things over but in your class I've all learned so much. I know we've all became better writers and it's all because of you. Thank you!

The wind is so cold it hurts as it brutally hits my face. I could only close my eyes in fear that the frosty wind would ice the water in them. While doing this I mentally and physically pushed myself to walk faster, my only goal at this point was to seek warm shelter. At dusk ,the school stands as a massive shadow. It seems a lot more grand with its white massive Greek columns that gave a classical addition to the contemporary sleek glass bridge, both represented  two completely different time periods. The view only holds my attention so long as my mind thinks about the physical pain winter has on my numb fingers and my blood that feels like it’s frozen. I walk with my eyes on the only source of light from within the towering blue doors. Each step carried weight as I walked up the stairs in hopes to not be swept by the 50 miles per hour wind. I walk even faster to catch the door, my numb fingers couldn't bear to hold the icy cold handles. I finally walk in with a few other students who were all quiet. We all had the same goals of reaching the toasty school to shield us from the whiplash of the wind.

The hot air and fluorescent lights immediately hit when I walked through the doors. Everyone could hear the echoing voice “Swipe and check”(or some other inadmissible word that no one has yet deciphered). Inside, the air was stale with a faint smell of cleaning products. We were further forced into the auditorium by deans whose faces showed they  were just as upset as the students that the weekend was over. There were two types of attitudes from the students. Half the class looked like zombies with bags under their eyes, who were still recovering from the loads of homework that caused the common condition of sleep deprivation. The other half chirpy and complained about the weather, the day, and the teachers basically everything under the sun. The bell was about to ring and we were packed like sardines by the doors. It reminded me of the lines during the Great Depression. We all wanted to get to class early, me especially since it would be one of the few times during the week.  

The way up the stairs were unusually clean and even more surprisingly so were the hallways. I ducked my head hoping not to make eye contact with the teachers I would see later today. The gray steep stairways caused students to huff and puff clearly showing our lack of physical ability. The wall had new artwork of abstract circles within circles that gave some color to the bland wide hallways. I finally reached the destination I’ve been planning on since 5 AM, my hard metal seat that had absolutely no support. The trademark signs of our teacher were there, his yogurt, his venti sized coffee to get him through the day and his backpack on the chair. From the back of the room he reverberated “Good morning”. His oddly optimistic attitude contrasted with ours. To each one of us it signaled that if we ultimately sucked it up and had a latte we too could conquer Language and Composition.

Hillary Osei

Mr. Felder

AP English Language

January 3, 2016

Often times as humans we are only concerned with our own lives. We don't realize that the people in the world around us are being cruelly and unfairly targeted. Eventually an event affects our own personal lives and it builds our awareness of the world around us. It is important to realize that discrimination may not have affected you personally, but it is still alive and well in today's society.

Public figures who represent the masses are often found spewing statements that unfairly targets entire groups of people based on their religion. For example, if you turned on your TV to the news during the campaign season it is possible you would find Donald Trump exclaiming the need to stop all immigration of Muslim immigrants because of terrorism. Discrimination is the unjust treatment of people based on race, religion, sexual orientation and more.  By excluding all possible Muslim immigration  this perpetuates the stereotype that all Muslims are liabilities, terrorists and extremists. Not all Muslims are terrorists and by unfairly treating an entire group of people for rare acts of terror creates discrimination . Furthermore, discrimination can result in violent crimes. In 2016, hate crimes against Muslims increased about 70 percent, the highest since 9/11. The drastic increase in hate crimes and the words of public figures show that discrimination is still rampant and engaged in.

No one ever subconsciously imagines that they’d be purposely be targeted because of their race, at least not by simply walking in your neighborhood. Imagine if you were one of the eighty thousand people who have been victimized by Stop and Frisk. Police officers approach you aggressively and begin to question you while being patted down, there is no explanation about why they are doing this. Your  heart beats so fast you could hear it. The police officers leave with their badges and guns while your dignity and self-respect was left right where they once were.  This is the story of many Stop and Frisk victims. Stop and Frisk enabled police officers to search a person if there was reasonable suspicion. However, Stop and Frisk fell short and a unproportional amount of blacks and Latinos being targeted. Based on racial profiling police officers would primarily go to neighborhoods predominantly inhabited by minorities. There has been evidence of recordings with police sergeants telling officers to purposely target blacks and Latinos. About 90 percent of Stop and Frisk victims were innocent and they were cruelly and unfairly treated just because of their color in the name of justice.
The opposition argues that discrimination isn’t still prevalent in our society. Often citing the recent Supreme Court decision that legalizes gay marriage as progressive. That this law now shows the acceptance and favorable reception to the rights of the LGBTQ community. Opposing views believe that there is  widespread acceptance of the LGBTQ community and thus discrimination isn’t thriving. However, this is largely not the case. Many people acted with defiance to the decision that openly gave civil rights to the LGBTQ community. After this decision many states such as Kansas, Alabama and Texas did not want to obey the law. Government officials blatantly resisted giving out marriage licenses or conducting marriage ceremonies. The fact that widespread powerful government officials can cruelly affect another person’s fate based on their beliefs proves discrimination is alive and well.  
Discrimination isn’t something that people are born with, it is taught. Not acknowledging that discrimination exists will allow it to manifest and grow. The fact that someone could just look at you, stereotype and dehumanize you is actively happening in all corners of the world. The first step is to acknowledge discrimination exists and address the relevant issues. It isn’t really far-fetched to believe that world peace is possible with more acceptance to other people’s religion , race, sexual orientation and more.