English 7
Analysis
Assignment: Explore how Esquivel uses *the kitchen* and kitchen metaphors to reveal secrets about the loves and lives of the characters in her novel.(This student focused on interpreting the key metaphor of *lighting a match*)
[Instructor comments appear in bold, italic font within brackets below.]
The Lost Drive of Student’s Activism
Whatever happened to the youth’s drive and activism in order to protest
for their rights and have their voice heard on what is also wrong? This is a
question that many ask frequently in this period of time, around this year of
2008. Back in 1968 though, “The Year that rocked the world,” according
to Mark Kurlansky’s book, that question would have been a joke. A more
likely question back then would have probably been, “When or at what point
are the students going to stop with all their movements, marches, sit-ins, hunger
strikes, rallies, etc?” In 1968, the world was going through a rough series
of events, which could not go unnoticed or un-criticized by the people; and
in fact, people acted on what they believed was right. Students took a stand
and fought not only for themselves and their own rights, but for the rest of
the world. They protested issues like getting the blacks the same rights as
any other U.S. citizen, to the war in Vietnam and also the student massacres
that were taking place in other countries. Today’s generation, the so
called Echo Boomers have even been labeled “Generation Q,” according
to an article by Thomas L. Friedman, that is to say “the Quiet Generation.”
After forty years, the government, technology, science, money, have been just
the right tools to make our generation silent, self-absorbed, greedy, apathetic;
words which the 60’s generation did not know. [Good way to
contrast the two generations at the start. Also, clear focus you’re drawing
that there has been a huge change in attitudes since 1968.]
During 1968, the world was facing tremendous problems, such as unnecessary wars, military drafts, dictatorships, discrimination issues, excessive involvement of the government in education, among others. All of those factors were the leading cause of the students’ activism at that time. What’s so interesting about these movements is that they were not just happening in one or two countries, but all around the world, from America, to Europe and Asia. All the students were in search of was more equality, democracy, to be heard and not let the government step on their rights, especially when it came to interfering with their schools and education; that’s why rejection of any kind of authority was dominant among them. An example of the most remarkable common protests all around the world was protest against the U.S./Vietnam war. Some of the biggest protests took place from the U.S. to France, Germany, etc. The anti-war movements demanded that the U.S. left Vietnam, chanting, “Vietnam for the Vietnamese… U.S. Go Home… Johnson Assassin” (Kurlansky 54). [You could cut the sentence starting with “ Some of the biggest…” since it is essentially the same as what you’re saying here. ]
In Europe, France, Italy, and Spain were host to some of the bloodiest movements during the year. In May of 1968, there was a rebellion of students in France, with abandoned campuses, and spreading until becoming a national strike, due to the unison between students and workers. Around the same time in Italy, protests broke out at the University of Rome, even after the school had already been previously closed once in March also due to violent protests. These protests were so eventful because even the teachers and faculty joined in with the students, after the police injured around two hundred students on the first day of protesting (Kurlansky 82). Meanwhile, in Spain, the movements taking place were mainly anti-fascists, anti-Franco. These revolts started after almost thirty years of Franco’s dictatorship. Starting on 1967 and continuing onto the following year, a new generation of students started demanding a more representative government, pleading “Liberty!” and “Death to Franco!” (Kurlansky 16). When the anti-fascists demonstrations began, the police got involved, closing down many of the most important campuses around Spain, thus angering the students even more, making them seriously demand the authorities to stay out of their campuses, which were considered to be almost as sanctuaries.
Just as Europe was facing a year of student movements in 1968, America was definitely not the exception, with the U.S. and Mexico holding in their history some of the most memorable youth acts, including the worst student massacre ever. In the U.S. there was a whole series of issues being debated. Among the most important were the fight for blacks’ civil rights, and the war in Vietnam, which involved military drafts. The students just revolted when the Johnson administration announced that over a hundred thousand graduate students would also be drafted. The student movements began, with marches, sit-ins, rallies, and sometimes violent demonstrations, since everyone had learned that violence is what attracts the media, and media coverage is what you need in order to make a big statement. A student even said, “We thought the campus ought to look like a graveyard, because that’s where most of the seniors are headed.” (Joseph Chandler, Kurlansky 82). A lot of support groups, clubs, and societies were formed by students, like the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), one of whose main purposes was to show authorities they would not tolerate being told what to do, and what’s right or best for them.
Toward the end of the year, in Mexico City, just as its citizens were preparing everything to host the Olympics that year, the worst student massacre would take place there to take away the spotlight. According to Mr. Esteban Tellez, who was 17 years old at the time, and Mr. Marcelino Herrera, who was 15 at the time, students from various Universities, along with some of their professors and parents, started protesting against a recent raise in tuition. They demanded University studies to be affordable by everyone, and not just those with the money. When these protests began, the government, under Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, ordered the placement of soldiers at the campuses to control the students, because they supposedly believed all they were trying to do was spoil the Olympics (Tellez, Herrera).
On October 2nd of 1968, students started marching along the most important boulevards of the city, toward a place called Plaza de Las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco. The military was sent there, and was given the order to open fire on all of those who were protesting. “It was as if they were spreading poison on cockroaches.” (Herrera). They also had orders to kill or incarcerate any parent or teacher in the protest, due to fear of them protesting again near or on the actual days of the Olympics. The exact number of deaths is unknown but is an estimated between 400-500, and around 6,000 incarcerations, making this one the worst student massacre ever recorded. It was one of the saddest days for the citizens of the city, and till this day, forty years later, every Mexican, young or old, holds it deep to their heart, remembering the fallen students every year, marching the same streets they marched that shameful day. Mr. Tellez, looking at the youth from today, says, “Youth back then actually cared to make a difference, and the only way to do that is by taking action; they wanted to make history. Now a day, the youth doesn’t even care to vote, simple as that.” [What a great example here. Also, very clear transition on the subject of activism versus apathy. Be sure to cite your sources though.]
Today’s students generation, the so called Echo Boomers, show such a lack of care, of activism, they’ve simply just been labeled, “Generation Q,” the Quiet Americans. This is the first generation that has grown with computers at home, internet, cable TV (which the Government controls in various ways), and a whole bunch of other materialistic needs. The government has learned to keep us “happy,” to give us not what we need, but what we crave, what we want in order to fulfill our materialistic needs. Unlike back then in 1968, the youth is not watching on TV or hearing on the radio how many and in what horrible ways soldiers and other people are being killed in the war in Iraq. The government knows perfectly what kind of reactions a simple image of a soldier being killed can stir up. You would think that after learning about all that has gone on throughout history, the injustices, discrimination, patronizing, today’s youth would know better than to keep quiet, or just “send an e-mail” to show their support of a cause. As one journalist comments, “They have to get organized in a way that will force politicians to pay attention rather than just patronize them” (Friedman).
Unlike today, back in 1968, students wouldn’t even think twice when it came to stepping up for their rights or the rights of others: “They spent the summer being young and brave, risking their lives, getting beaten and jailed.” (Kurlansky, 91). Where’s that drive in the youth of today? A common thought or belief among students of today, like Isidro Vargas, who’s a student at Chabot College, is that youth only gets involved if affected “directly.” He says, “Youth possesses a lot of political power but doesn’t care to use it.” A lot of the times the students’ lack of interest or participation in a cause is their ignorance of what is being fought for, or the false belief that “they won’t make a difference anyway.” Another shared thought, says Raul Tellez, a student at CSUEB, and Manuel Ortiz, a Chabot student, is that youth is very materialistic; they only work hard to get what they think they “need,” and the more they have, the more they want. They’re also so self-absorbed; they believe their personal problems are enough to deal with and they don’t even have the time to attend a march or a rally, thus making the few who actually do care to make a difference lose hope or motivation, leading to them just giving up, thinking, “Why bother?” [Be sure to introduce all your quotes; your reader doesn’t know who Friedman is, for example.]
It’s a sad truth, but youth has lost its drive and sense of fighting for what’s right and not just settling for what the government is telling them is right. If the 60’s student generation, who lost their lives protesting and fighting for a just cause, heard what a student today does at the most to “support” a cause is turn on their computers and send an e-mail, they would feel such a disappointment. That would be so understandable. Students have to realize that past generations heroes didn’t achieve their goals by clicking away on their computers, but by getting out there and doing something about it. “Activism can only be uploaded, the old fashioned way – by young voters speaking truth to power, face to face, in big numbers, on campuses or the Washington Mall.” (Generation Q, Friedman). That’s exactly what the year 1968 was all about. It’s such a shame to see how kids today just expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter, and even on top of all they think that asking others, like politicians, what they are going to do for them or for their country, is enough to make sure everything will be ok. Well that’s clearly not enough, and it’s been proven throughout the years. John F. Kennedy once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” We, the youth of today need to stop being such a careless generation, overlooking what’s happening around us all over the world, just because it doesn’t affect us “directly,” because if anything, it will affect tomorrow’s world for our future children.
Works Cited
Friedman, Thomas L. “Generation Q.” New York Times 10 Oct. 2007.
Herrera, Marcelino. Church manager, St. Louis Beltran. Personal Interview. 15 Feb. 2008.
Kurlansky, Mark. 1968 The Year That Rocked the World. New York: Random House, 2005.
Ortiz, Manuel. Driver, CINTAS. Personal Interview. 30 Jan. 2008.
Tellez, Esteban. Sorter, Recycle Waste Management CO. Personal Interview. 30 Jan. 2008.
Tellez, Raul. Student, CSUEB. Personal Interview. 30 Jan. 2008.
Vargas, Isidro. Student, Chabot Community College. Personal Interview. 30 Jan. 2008.
** Minor mechanical errors/typos have been corrected by the creators of CHARLIE