Confessions of a Bad Teacher

Elements of memoir that were being employed by John Owens in "Confessions of a Bad Teacher" are by choosing an important moment in his life, his telling of a personal nonfiction story, and his use of description and dialogue.  Owens had a successful career as a publisher, but he chose to write about a time in his life where he was not very successful, but made a difference in his life.  He chose the personal, true story of his experience with poor inner city children because even though it was not his most financially successful time, it was the moment in his life when he realized not to judge people by their appearances and by their social status, culture, and upbringing.  The last element of description and dialogue was my favorite part of the story.  I also enjoyed his use of humor.  One example from the text is when a student yells "I'd bring Pringles!"  It is such a simple sentence, but I thought it made the story so much better.  I also enjoyed his adjectives when he was describing other characters like the indian man and the heavy principal.

In summary, I think this story was about personnal triumph versus what is expected from others.  On the outside, this appears to be a story about how unfair the New York school districts rules and principals can be, but I think it is so much more.  The story is about how a man that had no experience with the cultures and lifestyles of the children in a poor high school was able to ignore the negative criticism he received and made a difference in children's lives.  Though he did decide to leave teaching, he had not given up when the children were rude and disruptive.  He worked hard and learned how to relate to his students.  And, in the scene when he finally leaves the children show their appreciation by getting him a cake and asking him to tie one of their ties one last time.  

Some of the main tensions and conflicts in the story are between Owens and Ms. P and between Owens and his students like Africah and Natasha.  The conflict is present between Owens and Ms. P because all principals in the district are rude to the teachers.  It is known that they are looking for teachers that they can give "U's" to.  The conflict between him and Ms. P is also present because of his conflict with the students.  When Owens first has confrontations with Africah and Natasha and her crew he does not know how to handle them.  He never successfully deals with Natasha, but he finds a way to calm down Africah by rapping lyrics to a song she knows and making her enjoy class.  His resolution is in the end of the story when he leaves the principal and his students but has learned a lot about life. 

The point of the story is that you should never judge anything before you experience it. Or at least that's what I think the point is.  I think that if he had judged his students or if he had listened to the man that told him to run Owens never would have experienced this life changing year.  He did not listen to the man and he decided to try things out for himself.  He did not judge the people in the school before he had gotten a chance to experience it for himself. 

The story is relevant because schools like the one that Owens taught at are still around.  It is also relevant because Owens talks of his experience teaching and many kids my age are trying to decide what they want to study.  Also, like Owen, my peers and I are new to a school and are meeting new people.  It is also very important that we give all people a chance and do not judge others from their appearance, culture, or from what other people say. 

Owens' intended audience is any person who is thinking of whether or not they should make a change in their life or try a new experience.  It can be directed at people of all ages which makes it a ery universal story.  Though Owens' direct case is that he is starting at a new school, the main theme of the paper can be transitioned to many different situations. 

Some strong narrative techniques that Owens used are humor, description, and dialogue.  Like I said earlier, I think that Owens use of description to allow the reader to imagine his characters is very detailed and makes his story more interesting.  His use of dialogue adds a new level to his story by revealing his characters in other ways.  These two elements and his use of humor make the reader stay interested in the story and make a reader want to find out what happens in the end. 

Owens transitions his paper by separating it into sections.  These include his interview for the job, his first class, his second class, when he leaves, and even one scene that flashes back to when he first met Ms. P.  These sections and their titles make it easier for readers to follow the storyline of the paper.