Emerald Ochoa is a prospective teacher studying English at California State University, Northridge. This website is a project as part of a course that examines new approaches to multi genre literature and media.

“I’ve always excelled and found the most freedom through English as a subject. I believe that English is the tool by which critical thinking can be best formed in our public schools. Today’s students desperately need to develop the skill. It is through exposure to and discussion of literature, stories, and text that we can get students to examine the ideas being presented. We need students to ask “Why?” They should be able to understand written works as representative of so much more than the literal, surface-level, reading. Every written work is a series of choices and students must be able to see that there is significance in the ideas, format, subject, cultures, and attitudes that are present and absent.

Likewise, it is through English that students can strengthen their own ideas and voice. With a command of the language, anyone can compose a powerful statement or expression and open a dialogue about our individual beliefs. They can make the invisible seen.