Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Price of Going to Class

It is almost hard to imagine a place where you are in danger by just walking outside of your house. A place where girls aren't even allowed to go to school because the ones in power are afraid that they might gain too much power if they are literate and if they are intelligent. Living in a country where education is mandatory and going to a school where you are almost guaranteed to go to college, it seems almost unreal what is going on in Afghanistan. Often we hear people say that people in Afghanistan face horrible problems everyday, but do we how often do we actually comprehend what they they have to go through everyday? I will admit that I didn't understand quite how horrific the problems the Afghan women are faced with before reading this article and that I never thought about them because I was so busy in my life. After reading this article, you really slow down and think about what it is that you complain about in your life, like that schoolwork is so much and you have no time to do your homework, when they are worried about survival. Suddenly our problems seem so unimportant and little. I will go through the day knowing that I will have food on the table to eat tonight and that tomorrow i will be able to get an education. It makes me sick to think that someone, let alone a huge group of people (the taliban) could be so selfish to ban education from others for their own personal gain along with torture of others.

7 comments:

  1. I liked the way you were able to openly express your reaction to the article. Even though as you said, we slow down to take in the gift of school, we will eventually speed back up again and continue to complain about tests, papers, and grades. While this reaction is fleeting, the emotion is pure.

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  2. They way you wove in your feelings into an article that also tells the reader indirectly about the ruling group in place in Afghanistan was great. Your writing shows that the kind of rule the Taliban has currently is not a thing of the past, and that we all should try to venture out of the small world that we live in and explore other's.

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  3. I like how in the beginning, you paint a picture of what it is like in Afghanistan to kind of set the scene. Then, I like how you can admit that the situation is almost impossible to relate to because you're right, we live in a very sheltered, successful community. At the same time, you also incorporate your opinion of what is going on and the unjustifiable acts of the Taliban. Overall, I think you did a really good job including a lot of different points while also making one centralized argument.

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  4. Your opening was very very good. Your repose to the story, as well, is very good because it bring up the point that most of us here in the US would never believe that such atrocious acts occur everyday in Afghanistan.
    The ending includes your own personal opinion, which I believe makes this already great piece better.

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  5. I think came up with some good points, and I deffinately agree with you. We never have to worry about going outside because it isn't safe or coming home and not having enough money for food, and we probably never will have to deal with this. This article really put life into perspective, and I agree with you in the sense that I have realized how lucky I am.

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  6. I enjoyed reading your op-ed. It sets a clear picture of both our situation and the women in Afghanistan's situation. I agree with the fact that many us don't even think about having food a the dinner table everyday, it has become something so natural that we don't even think about it anymore. Great job.

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  7. This does a great job of really expressing your opinion about the state of affairs in Afghanistan. While it's not true that all American kids are almost guaranteed to go to college, the evidence is also compelling in support of your argument. Well done using specifics to describe the contrast between Afghanistan and here.

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