Mike Rose's Essay 'I Just Wanna Be Average'

If you were Italian and somebody called you a “Wop”, what would you do? If it were me I would feel very angry and offended. In the essay “I Just Wanna Be Average” being called a “Wop” or being physically abused happened frequently. Written by Mike Rose, he shows us how badly he was treated by his teachers in high school. In the beginning of this essay, Rose describes how his teachers treated him in his early years of high school. Rose's choice of phraseology when characterizing his teachers is very harsh. In one short paragraph it shows how much he really was abused. Everything from verbal to physical abuse really left an impact on his life. In the third paragraph of this essay, Rose first talks about his Freshman English teacher. He
quotes, “His voice would rise in paranoid accusations, and occasionally he would lose control and shake or smack us. I hadn't been there two months when one of his brisk, face-turning slaps had my glasses sliding down the aisle.” (Rose, 317) Secondly, Rose explains how harsh his physical education teacher was. “He routinely has us grabbing our ankles to receive his stinging paddle across our butts.” (Rose, 317) Truly, these two teachers were abusive to Mike Rose. When he was slapped in the face, it wasn't just a weak hit. His teacher hit him all out, enough to make his glasses go flying off. As for his physical education teacher, he also hit Rose. With this teacher being an ex football player, he had a lot of strength and power. He also used a paddle other than his hand. When the teacher called him a “Wop” it was more than just name calling. The definition for “Wop” is a racist slang word for people of the Italian decent. In conclusion, this small paragraph is packed with examples of verbal and physical abuse. This abuse wasn't only given by one teacher, but multiple so it makes the situation even worse. Rose chose this phraseology to describe his teachers so the reader really feels how extreme and hard his life was.