Yao 1

Jerry Yao
Ms. Thompson
AP Language Block 2 Skinny B
7 September 2014
Draft One
A Response to A Talk to Teachers
Although Baldwin states that the purpose of education is to allow one to become
independent in ones own society (Line 1-2), Rose perceives the purpose of education as a guide
for one to succeed in society. Rose states, Jack MacFarland couldnt have come into my life at a
better time (Paragraph 2, Page 5). On page 5 from paragraphs 2-5, Rose describes of Jack
MacFarland, a teacher and a mentor, who helped Rose improve his outlook on education. Other
students in the vocational track were unable to succeed because the vocational track and the
environment limited their potential. Upon further examination of the purpose of education in
guiding students and impacting students academically and mentally, Rose signifies the
importance of the purpose of education throughout his essay, I Just Wanna Be Average
Roses personal experiences helped signify the purpose of education as a guide to become
successful. In a response to Ken Harvey, Rose states, Who wants to be average? (Paragraph 2,
Page 3). Rose poses that question after a fellow student in the vocational track, Ken Harvey,
stated that he wanted to be average. Unfortunately, other students, much like Ken Harvey, in
the vocational track have similar expressions as Ken because they lack the teachers to help them
succeed academically because The vocational track, however, is most often a place for those
who are just not making it, a dumping ground for the disaffected (Paragraph 6, Page 2). The
teachers seem to have an incentive to teach well and motivate the students rather than actually
taking their time out, like MacFarland, to make an influence on the students. However, Rose met

Yao 2
Jack MacFarland, a teacher who not only had better style of teacher but also made an impact in
Roses educational career. For example, MacFarland advised Rose to apply to college when no
one else in Roses family could help Rose at that period of time; in the future, Rose reflects on
MacFarlands influence in his position in society.
From our two pieces of evidence, the purpose of education in Roses essay is to inform
the students about how to experience society in a successful way because he states his future as
a time during which I absorbed an awful lot of information: long lists of titles, images from
expressionist paintings, new wave shibboleths, snippets of philosophy, and names that read like
Steve Fusco's misspellings - Goethe, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard (Paragraph 2, Page 7) As Rose
reflected at the end, the purpose of education from a teacher was to allow the student open their
perspective on the world around them rather than develop their own independence in society.