paper 4 expos - 1 Karim Gres Karim Expository Writing Paper...

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Karim
Gres Karim
Expository Writing
Paper 4
Jean Twenge, “An Army of One: Me” & Malcolm Gladwell, “The Power of Context:
Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime”
As the years pass by, it seems as if society’s self-esteem has improved by
accomplishing strong achievements and being placed in a high-class economic state.
Recently, school has been a place where children go to in order to build confidence and
make friends with other children who share common interests and characteristics.
Likewise, adults such as doctors, teachers, and lawyers, try to build self-confidence in the
workplace. This over-confidence is causing a problem in one’s perspective of viewing
themselves compared to others. In Jean Twenge’s essay, “An Army of One: Me,” she
explains that humans fixate on self-esteem and build a sense of narcissism, carrying a
confidence that the individual holds the vital position. Malcolm Gladwell, in his essay
“The Power of Context: Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime,”
describes how small processes of a situation can alter the ways that a person will react
during the scene on the figurative phase of life, such as schools affecting the effectiveness
learning of children. For one to develop a strong sense of self without producing a sense
of narcissism, the education system ought to integrate a stricter environment by only
rewarding its top students, successfulness be achieved by the incorporation of happiness
into people’s lives, and a sense of respect should be demonstrated to society.
It seems as if the modern school system is striving to obtain a higher rating on
America’s Top Schools, than a higher achievement rate for its students by lavishly
rewarding them, rather than allowing them to improve their learning field. Jean Twenge

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explains in her essay, “Kayla was invited to the math class party as a reward for making a
good grade … a barely passing 71. The pizza parties used to be only for children who
made As, but in recent years the school has invited every child who simply passed”
(Twenge, 490). Schools are inflating grades and allowing kids who borderline passed to
feel accomplished by depriving a motivation to learn and improve. Teachers build their
own self-esteem by this process. They re-acknowledge their teaching as effective and
successful by viewing their glass as half full, instead of half empty. Teachers feel as if
students learned enough information just to “pass,” which puts students in a general pool
of grades, rather than a specific, accomplished group.