More from the Great State of Arizona

Illegal immigration policy is not the only thing for which the state of Arizona is being scrutinized. In recent months, the state has begun auditing teachers who have accents. (Watch the CNN report here.) The thought behind this is that teachers with heavy accents should not be allowed to be in contact with students who are still in the process of developing speaking styles in their native language, English. Of the staggering 1500 teachers who were audited, 25 were found to have "issues" with pronunciation or grammar, resulting in a loss of teaching privileges. 
       For obvious reasons, these audits have come under fire. Assuming that the state of Arizona truly has its students' best interests at heart and is not merely trying to discriminate against immigrants (which may be a big assumption, given recent immigration laws), the method behind the policy is simply flawed. These audits are clearly not the best way to determine whether someone is fit to teach. They might have perfect grammar and pronunciation, but if the students are not learning anything, it does not do any good. And who is responsible for judging which pronunciations are correct? As Irish teacher Ian Kidd states, "There is no one correct way to pronounce anything in America". A less subjective test of teachers would be to test the students on what they have actually learned.
       Some of the best teachers that I have had speak with heavy accents. This does not make them worse in the classroom. If anything, it adds much-needed diversity and better prepares students for people they may come across in the real world who don't have perfect OED-approved English. Most people in the country, myself included, fall into this "lesser" category. 
       One school's superintendent says, "You can have a diploma and still be a bad teacher". Now, I completely agree with this statement, but it relates to a totally separate issue. You can also be an excellent teacher and not have a diploma. He supports the audits on the grounds that children will miss out on important education if their teachers have accents, which is understandable. However, any teacher with a teaching certificate has already been evaluated and approved. Why can the state change its mind years later? Also, according to the video, studies have actually shown that non-native English speakers make better English teachers.
      More and more, I feel as if I am living in a deeply racist and biased society that preaches equality and practices discrimination. This latest development only solidifies my opinion.

Conquering the Land

In class, we watched Working in a Coal Mine, an episode of Morgan Spurlock's documentary TV show, 30 Days. In this particular episode, Spurlock voluntarily descends into a coal mine to do hard labor every day for a month. After watching, we had a class discussion about why we mine coal. 
     The relatively obvious reasons of financial gain and having few other options came us pretty quickly, but then a factor that I would never have considered was brought up: Many of the miners, despite all of the safety risks and terrible working conditions, actually enjoy spending their days down below the surface of the earth and could not imagine a life for themselves where they do anything else.
     Sitting in a comfortable classroom, I could not fathom how anyone could actually think this way and want to support themselves by mining coal if they had any other options.
    Then, on Saturday morning my perspective changed and I came to understand these coal miners on a new level. For extra credit in biology, my class went to cut down Buckthorn trees, an invasive species that chokes out the local forest. After working for about three hours, we were all able to look around at the new clearing we had made and feel a real sense of accomplishment. Even though it was simple labor and did not require much thought, there was something refreshing about having "conquered the land".
    Finally, this all relates back to The Kentucky Cycle. The Rowan boys are always going on about how much they love owning and farming the land. They feel a bigger connection to it, as Patrick says, "IT AIN'T JUST DIRT! It's land" (Schenkkan 92). He truly sees a deeper meaning in it. 
     After my Buckthorn cutting experience, I am convinced that every human has a deep desire to make an imprint on their surroundings and leave something behind for future generations. That is why the Rowans love their land and that is why coal miners are willing to venture into the earth every day.

Men Who Hate Women and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

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Ah! The first non-junior theme blog in over a month!

So this afternoon I saw a Swedish film at the Wilmette Theater. It's English title is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The direct translation of the Swedish title, however, is Men Who Hate Women. (Thanks to Therese, our Swedish exchange student, for bringing this to my attention.) This second title is quite fitting, since the plot has a lot to do with sadistic rapists. 
I found the change of title very interesting, mostly because it never occurred to me that the titles of foreign films would be changed for American releases. After my initial surprise, my American-Studies trained self began to wonder why the title would have been changed.
Seeing as the purpose of the movie industry is to produce art and to make money, I imagine that the change is due to one of those factors. The author of the original book from which the screenplay was adapted is now dead, so it could not have been due to his artistic wishes. (Although, interestingly enough, the book is called The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in both countries.) This leaves the financial reason.
I do not believe that a movie released in the US with the title Men Who Hate Women would do very well in the box office. Someone out there, however, thought that such a title would do very well in Sweden.
Maybe the concern was that such a male-driven society would not tolerate such a title, and that no one would go to see it. 
Under any title, it was a very intriguing movie with an interesting plot and very well-developed and complicated characters. I would highly recommend it.