Event Analysis

"Mending Wall" by Robert Frost tells the story of two neighbors and the wall that separates their respective properties. The narrator describes the yearly process of the destruction by nature and the subsequent rebuilding by the neighbors of the wall. The two neighbors have differing opinions on the presence of the wall. While the narrator does not necessarily come out as against the wall he seems to not understand the point of it. The opening lines of the poem are "Something there is that doesn't love a wall." The narrator questions the purpose of a wall considering there are no animals to keep in our out. He states he would like to know what it was that was being walled in or walled out or why the neighbor felt so compelled as to wall him out. The neighbor opposite the narrator appears to be all for the wall. It his his belief that, "Good fences make good neighbors." In his lecture on September 11, 2013, Stephen Graham Jones read a short story about all the stereotype questions faced by an Indian during his travels throughout the country. He was asked questions like what his "spirt animal" was or if he had ever scalped anyone. Essentially the people who asked these questions of the Indian are he same as the neighbor who was in favor of the fence. If the people who asked the questions could put aside stereotypes about indians and the neighbor could get over the idea that "good fences make good neighbors," they could both learn a lot about the people around them.

In "Accident, Mass. Ave." by Jill McDonough, The narrator describes an accident where no damage is done but preconceived notions of what takes place after an accident leads to a public altercation. After the narrator's car is rear ended at a red light she said that since it's Boston, the only thing to do was get out and scream at the offending driver. In the midst of her tantrum the narrator notices that there has been no damage done to either of their cars. The two women exchanged hugs and a laugh about the incident and went on their separate ways. Just like the neighbor who built the fence and people who asked the question, the two women in the accident acted impulsively based off prior experiences. 

In "Learning to Read" by Frances E.W. Harper, a former slave named Chloe who is more than sixty years old wants to learn read despite everyone telling her not to waste her time. Her masters would always take away her bible so she made it her goal to finally be able to read it. After Jones finished the reading portion of his talk he took questions from the audience. One of the questions was how he got into writing. His answer was simple, he learned to write well so he could win back girls who had broken up with him. "Learning to Read" closes with the narrator saying she worked until she could read all the hymns and testament. Jones his now a published author. While both set out with completely different goals, both were able to achieve their goals.

Based on reading “The Service of Faith and Promotion of Justice in Jesuit Higher Education” by Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach it becomes clear that one of the cornerstones of Jesuit education is the importance of a students transformation. Chloe, from "Learning to Read,"going from illiterate slave to being able to read her bible would meet the qualifications of a successful Jesuit education.