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Compare and Contrast “University” and “Warren Pryor”

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Compare and Contrast “University” and “Warren Pryor”
Compare and Contrast “University” and “Warren Pryor”
Liam Wong, Kevin Chiu, Dennis Wong
Block D. Ms. Fuller Dec. 4th

Why is education important to society? Would one be able to read without a successful teacher teaching one how to read? Education is a key that holds the ability to open many doors - doors which open into vast rooms of knowledge, love, experience, discovery, and dreams. Education is an essential to human living and a fulfilling life, but what happens when the path one takes is not the choice that one personally wants? In “University”, written by Leona Gom, and “Warren Pryor”, written by Alden Nowlan, the poems present both negative and positive effects of education on society.

The good intentions of the parents result in an awkward distance between them and their children. In “Warren Pryor,” the parents “marveled how [Warren] [wears] a milk-white shirt on work days” as this not something a farmers working on the fields would wear. His privilege to wear clean shirts and jeans on Sunday makes them believe he is different socio-economically. To think for them to be close again would just be awkward. Similarly, in “University,” the parents claim to the children that” [they] are changed, too good for [the parents] now,” showing belief in that they do not fit in with their children anymore. Since the parents believe their kids are too good them, they do not think they should anymore. In both stories, close families of parents and children grow distant from each other because of a barrier of education and social status. It can already be seen that contrary to popular belief, education does not necessarily bring happiness. The protagonist in “Warren Pryor is described as “hard and serious” (12-13) because he feels “like a young bear trapped in a cage” unable to do what he desires. He felt as if he owed it to his parents to become what his parents want him to become. In “University,” the parents are unsatisfied as “something they wished for (has)

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