Aufgabe I

Aufgabenstellung

Outline the obstacles Stacy Torres faced in pursuing her education.

(30 %)

Analyze how Torres presents her journey to academic success. Focus on the use of language and its effect.

(30 %)

Choose one of the following tasks:

3.1

Comment on Stacy Torres’ statement “belief and love can only take you so far” (l. 63). Also refer to the text at hand and materials studied in class, such as Sarfraz Manzoor’s autobiography Greetings from Bury Park.

3.2

You are taking part in an international online workshop titled “Diversity in a Changing Society.” Write an article for the workshop website in which you assess the importance of experiencing diversity in various areas of life.

(40 %)

Material

Text: Stacy Torres, “My Path to Academia Was like a Hollywood Story. But Becoming a Professor Shouldn’t Take Miracles” (2023)

Unlike kids who dreamed of becoming singers, actors or athletes, I grew up wanting

to be a waitress.

This early career goal made sense given my working-class background. My secretary

mother had barely graduated high school. My father, who'd entered the country as

an undocumented Chilean immigrant without a high school diploma, worked as an

elevator operator in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, where I was raised.

School was always my refuge, especially after my mother died when I was 16. With

her death, I became a primary caregiver to my three younger sisters – and was

responsible for running the household. That often meant assisting my sisters with

homework or explaining something to my father in simplified English.

After the realization that I'd taught informally for years, I gave up on waitressing and

aspired to become an English teacher instead.

I went to school with the children of ex-Hippies and artists. I often heard talk about a

place called "college." I couldn't picture it, but I wanted to go, since everyone else

seemed headed there. To further my educational pursuits, Dad scavenged the trash

for books, giving me a guide to plants for a garden I didn't have, a random volume

"M" of the World Book Encyclopedia, and Pablo Neruda's poetry. His newspaper

delivery friend passed along multiple papers that "fell off the truck" for me daily.

The path to higher education for those of us from lower socioeconomic classes is a

narrow one. Our most plentiful opportunities are those that would veer us off course.

Few, if any, get second chances.

I certainly had my close calls.

A well-meaning high school guidance counselor almost diverted me to the allied

health vocational track, which would have had me skip college to be trained as a

certified nursing assistant.

No thanks. I earned six college credits in advanced placement classes instead. [...]

Without anyone to help me, applying to college and filling out financial aid forms

involved a lot of 17-year-old guesswork. Even the matter of what schools I should

target was a mystery. I remembered a kind, middle-school math teacher who

attended Fordham University. So, I added it to my list of three.

I got in and attended Fordham on a mix of scholarships, need-based grants, and

Federal Stafford loans. I studied comparative literature and sociology while juggling

my family responsibilities and the burdens of a commuter student who didn't have a

computer or a quiet study space. [...]

Sheer will and determination powered me through hardships and toward my degree.

I lived an ascetic existence of study and caretaking. I had no social life or friends. I did

have the motivation passed down from my parents to try to make something of

myself.

I'd long idolized my teachers and wanted to pursue a doctoral degree that would

allow me to become a college professor. But I also intuited a need to understand my

own traumas before I could hope to examine others' experiences. Studying nonfiction

and memoir writing, I reasoned, would offer me a way to wring some lemonade from

life' s lemons.

So, I began a master of fine arts program at Columbia University, where I attended

writing workshops with people from vastly different class backgrounds. One

classmate's essay divulged his father's position as a credit card company president,

and how he bought the house of a family friend, then-Senator Joe Biden.

I'd learned to push buttons for tenants in my father's elevator.

Many assumed I was from working-class Queens, surprised to learn that I'd grown up

in Manhattan. They never made that mistake about a white, blonde classmate who

attended my same elementary school.

It was the same when I eventually attended a PhD sociology program at New York

University. Many of the students in my class had professor parents. One co-authored

peer-reviewed journal articles with her Ivy league professor father, who helped

teach her the ins and outs of academic publishing like it was the family business.

After graduation, the stars aligned to bring me to the Bay Area when I received a

prestigious UC President's postdoctoral fellowship at Berkeley. It was instant love.

The universe ultimately boomeranged me back to the Bay when UCSF recruited me

to my current position, after two years in upstate New York as a professor. [...]

I'm no longer the little girl who wanted to wear a lace-fringed apron and carry an

order pad, but my mind's never far from my beginnings. My family's love carried me

to great places, bolstered by teachers who believed in me when I didn't always

believe in myself. But belief and love can only take you so far.

(772 words)

Quelle: https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/professor-education-collegedegree-17760379.php.

Weiter lernen mit SchulLV-PLUS!

monatlich kündbarSchulLV-PLUS-Vorteile im ÜberblickDu hast bereits einen Account?

inhaltliche Aspekte:

coming from a modest financial and educational background
being in charge of her siblings and the home after mother’s death when she was a teen
balancing academic and family obligations during her studies
having little knowledge of possible career paths/higher education
receiving career advice at school that was below her potential
getting no help with bureaucratic challenges
borrowing money to finance studies
feeling self-doubt

mögliche inhaltliche Aspekte:

enumeration (“guide to plants,” “random volume,” “poetry,” ll. 16f.; “scholarships,” “grants,” “loans,” ll. 31f.): naming the many factors that contributed to her later accomplishments
contrast
- “singers, actors or athletes” vs. “waitress” (ll. 1f.): revealing her initially limited job ideas
- “his father’s position” vs. “my father’s elevator” (ll. 46-48): highlighting class differences
exaggeration (“It was instant love,” l. 57): underscoring the strength of her decision to pursue an academic career
phrases implying how mysterious academia was to her at first (“a place called ‘college,’” ll. 13f.; “17-year-old guesswork,” l. 28)
imagery with travel-related terms (“The path […] is a narrow one,” ll. 19f.; “veer us off course,” l. 20; “almost diverted me,” l. 23; “love carried me to great places,” ll. 61f.): highlighting her challenging but successful journey
metaphor
- “School was always my refuge” (l. 7); “will and determination powered me through hardships” (l. 35); “a way to wring some lemonade from life’s lemons” (ll. 42f.): showcasing her efforts to better her circumstances
- “the stars aligned” (l. 56); “The universe […] boomeranged me back” (l. 58): acknowledging the influence of luck
negation
- „no social life or friends” (l. 36): showing her dogged pursuit of her goals
- “I’m no longer the little girl” (l. 60): pointing out her personal and work-related growth

→ Through the use of various means, the author presents her career path as being an odyssey characterized by her own hard work, outside support, and luck.

3.1

mögliche inhaltliche Aspekte:

explanation of the statement: future life options are not only determined by a caring environment and confidence in one’s abilities

possible aspects to be considered: one’s life path can be influenced by

family
- degree of love/support (e.g. Torres experiencing encouragement in text at hand; skepticism regarding Manzoor’s lifestyle and career in Greetings from Bury Park)
- social background (e.g. influence of fathers’ jobs on Torres’ and Manzoor’s opportunities)
- economic status (e.g. inability to afford quality educational material in text at hand; Manzoor having to help with mother’s sewing job instead of using free time for studying)
friends (e.g. Manzoor exploring new horizons through friendship)
intrinsic motivation (e.g. Torres focused on educational goals; Manzoor’s interest in pop culture shaping his life)
authority figures/role models (e.g. influence of teachers/guidance counselor on Torres; Bruce Springsteen’s influence on Manzoor)
living environment (e.g. Torres’s diverse social surroundings broadening her horizon; Manzoor growing up in working-class town with limited social variety)
ethnic background (e.g. encountering prejudice in text at hand and in Greetings from Bury Park)
education (e.g. quality of schooling offering opportunities)
chance/luck

3.2

mögliche inhaltliche Aspekte:

experiencing diversity can influence social equality to different degrees in areas such as

school (e.g. teachers, peers, textbooks)
- setting examples/broadening horizons
- forming social structures
media (e.g. social media, news, entertainment)
- offering insight into different life experiences
- providing role models and orientation
- questioning stereotypes and offering the opportunity to normalize diversity
communities (e.g. neighborhoods, clubs, religious groups)
- shaping sense of normalcy through socioeconomic and ethnic integration
- developing understanding for different cultures and tradition
work (e.g. colleagues, superiors)
- providing opportunities for advancement
- leading to a sense of community instead of being othered
politics (e.g. representatives, laws, institutions)
- being acknowledged on a political level
- feeling empowered to actively shape society regardless of personal background

Weiter lernen mit SchulLV-PLUS!

monatlich kündbarSchulLV-PLUS-Vorteile im ÜberblickDu hast bereits einen Account?