Patricia Riley

Draft Paper #2

 

After watching Mr. Escalante in “Stand and Deliver” and Ms. Watson in “Mona Lisa Smile” I was

 

stuck not only by the similarities of the two teachers but also by their differences.  They both

 

had a tenacious streak that would not allow them to give up on their students even though the

 

students sometimes gave up on themselves.  In Stand and Deliver Mr. Escalante consistently

 

shows his absolute confidence in his student’s ability to learn higher math.  While they were

 

both good teachers I think that Mr. Escalante greatly surpassed Ms. Watson with his dogged

 

 persistence in getting his students to the point where they could somewhat confidently take

 

the Advanced Placement test for Calculus.  Ms. Watson goes to Wellesley College in Eastern

 

Massachusetts with the intention of not only sharing her love of art with the select group of

 

privileged female students but also of perhaps bringing some enlightenment  to the women in

 

regards to having more in their lives outside of marriage, children and a showcase home.

 

 

At the beginning of the movie, Mr. Escalante arrives at the school to find it in chaos.  He is told

 

he will not be teaching computers but will instead be teaching math.  Instead of turning around

 

and quitting he goes to his class and starts to teach.  When he meets the all Hispanic math class

 

it firms his resolve to make a difference with the students.  He sees himself in those kids and

 

wants to see them succeed in life and go beyond what society expected of them.    ADD

 

 EXAMPLE 

 

 

 

 

 

At the point in the movie where the class is working on a particularly difficult question, Anita

 

reveals that that day is her last as her dad needs her to work at the family restaurant full

 

time.  She is obviously very sad at the prospect of not completing her high school studies or

 

going on the college.  Mr. Escalante does not say anything at that time but we find him later at

 

 the restaurant with his wife having dinner.  Anita introduces her father to Mr. Escalante.  ADD

 

 EXAMPLE

 

 

When the class finally takes the Advanced Placement test for Calculus after months of studying

 

and even giving up their summer for additional tutoring they all pass with exceptional

 

 scores.  After being told that they have achieved their goal it is viciously taken from them when

 

 suspicion arises that there was cheating involved.  This proved to be yet another example of

 

Mr. Escalante’s firm belief in his student’s ability, and honesty for that matter.  He defends

 

 them even to the point of calling out one of the investigators. ADD EXAMPLE

 

 

 

 

Ms. Watson displays her own type of tenaciousness when dealing with the superior behavior of

 

her students the first time she meets them.  When she begins her slide show of well-known

 

works of art and hopes to amaze them with her knowledge, she is somewhat put out when the

 

students recite the facts about each piece of artwork.  She is in fact, a bit humiliated, but

 

instead of tucking her tail between her legs and fleeing in embarrassment she compiles a new

 

 set of slides.  These sets of slides, shown during the following class, are of little known and

 

slightly vulgar paintings.  The students don’t know anything about them but instead of gloating,

 

Ms. Watson proceeds to teach the women how to look at art from a different perspective,

 

perhaps from the angle of the painter and why he/she painted it instead of the surface

 

appreciation one feels when looking at works of art.  She continues in this way and it pays off

 

 for her when the students begin to engage in more meaningful dialogue.  ADD EXAMPLE

 

 

 Another example of how tenacious Ms. Watson could be is not necessarily an admirable trait.

 

When she questioned Betty Warren on her plans for after Wellesley and Betty said she had

 

thought of going to law school, Ms. Watson took matters into her own hands and got an

 

 application for Yale Law School and gave it to Betty on the sly.  After she found out that Betty

 

 was getting married to a young man who was attending college in Philadelphia she researched

 

law schools in that area and even brought the college catalogs and applications to her parents’

 

 home.  On that occasion she discovered that Betty and her fiancé had eloped the night before

 

and that she (Betty) did not want to be a lawyer.  She wanted to be a wife and mother and that

 

was all she wanted.  At first Ms. Watson seemed to want to push the subject but when she

 

knew she lost she congratulated Betty.  ADD EXAMPLE