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Junior's Poverty

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I chose to analyze this quotation because it reveals the development of Junior’s realization about the extent of his poverty. He is shocked to see his mother’s name in his geometry book, and he understands how the cycle of poverty in which he is trapped is affecting his life outside his home. Next, the quotation is significant because it reveals Junior’s thoughts and feelings regarding the education system on the reservation. He says the textbook situation “is absolutely the saddest thing in the world”, which emphasizes his disbelief. If children are forced to study from the same textbooks as their parents, how can they learn new things? How can they hope to escape the fate of their parents? Junior had been excited to start high
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It symbolizes his adjustment from a student who could only imitate to an adult who is now able to recognize the toll his false aspirations took on his family. Hoggart and Rodriguez’s strongest agreement on the scholarship boy’s family hardship is that there is a “loss of balance” (549). Rodriguez begins to subtly stray away from the idea of a “loss of balance” when he admits to the drastic change in the relationship with his family. Rodriguez says that, “school grew more and more attractive to me…I spoke to classmates and teachers more often each day than to family members “ (Rodriguez 550). Rodriguez describes and admits to the feeling school had instilled in him.

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He presents the story linked to his ethos and pathos, showing his character and the emotional turmoil he faced being a child. The author tells that everyone had the same opportunity which he did, but he made great use of it. The opportunity that all children went to the school and all of them could learn, participate and explore. In the beginning the author explained how he understood the concept of the paragraph in his life.

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Being one of the first quotes in the book, this quote nicely provides a better understanding of the interlocked conditions and problems that those in poverty often face. It beautifully illustrates how the poor are limited by their living and working conditions and find difficulty escaping poverty due to how closely interlocked their conditions are. In order to escape poverty, these individuals have to find a way to solve all of their problems contained within their environment. However, these poor individuals are unable to do so since they are facing financial problems. Reflection

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Fortunately, Alexie does not, and is able to fulfill his desire of reading by teaching himself, an accomplishment for any three-year-old. Though he didn’t struggle with his task, he and his family faced economic hardships; it was more than just poverty, it was also the limited school system on the reservation, but more significantly, it was the mental barriers Alexie faced with the other Indians in the Non-Indian society. His family, who worked hard to make a salary, served as an example and influence on Alexie to push through obstacles in order to succeed. In Alexie’s household, books were everywhere to be found, since his father was an avid reader; “Our house was filled with books. They were stacked in crazy piles in the bathroom, bedrooms, and living room” (16).

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In A Framework for Understanding Poverty, Ruby Payne try’s to explain the behaviors and barriers of three social classes: poverty, middle class, and wealth. Beyond the social class of poverty, it’s a breakdown of the elements of the classes and the ‘hidden rules’ each one has. She stresses that these hidden rules aren’t taught in businesses or schools, these of which function as the hidden rules of middle class. Payne states these hidden rules aren’t exactly natural, they’re learned, and as one grows up in a particular class those rules are set in place. She lists all the rules in each class, and the differences are striking.

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“One scabby sheep is enough to spoil the whole flock,” and draws a bad picture of handwork. In these cases, parents have the right to put them under pressure in order to bring them back to education track. Hence, social forces are the only bridge separating themselves from their

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In both “The Night in Question” by Tobias Wolff and “The First Day” by Edward Jones, the authors describe characters whose lives have been transformed by the love of a close family member. However, Wolff suggests that this deep love manifests itself in a brother’s physical protection from an abusive parent, while Jones implies that it reveals itself through educational security ensured for the child by an illiterate mother’s persistence in her daughter’s school enrollment. Wolff establishes these instances of protection from abuse through flashbacks triggered by the retelling of a sermon. Jones approaches the story chronologically to prove the determination of the mother despite rejection. These two stories, both manipulate characterization

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Throughout the world, many different inspirational leaders encourage everyone to learn and get educated so that they are able to get a good job and good salary in their future and avoid ending up in poverty. In the three different forms of mixed media of “1/3, 1/3, 1/3” by Richard Brautigan, “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X and “Solar Mamas” produced by Mette Heide, the authors convey a unified truth, that not having the proper education can result in living in poverty and society having more power and control over a person, but education is key to success as it makes someone powerful and successful in society. The truth is conveyed through looking into the character’s background, a literary theory on education and symbolism in these three different

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The continuous loss of relatives is too harsh for a boy, so Alexie uses a kind of “slight sorrow” to let Junior realize the weakness of life in the face of death. In addition, while cleaning the cemetery later, Junior says, “Reservations were meant to be prisons, you know? Indians were supposed to move onto reservations and die. We were supposed to disappear. But somehow or another, Indians have forgotten that reservations were meant to be death camps.”

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Faced with many obstacles from poverty to racial stereotypes, Junior must override them if he is to make his life better than that of fellow Indians. Interestingly, rather than letting the obstacles hold him back Junior understands that his destiny is in his own hands and he must celebrate who he is even if it means fighting. In the end, we see a boy who have managed to overcome all hardships to get to the top, even if it means making tough choices such as changing schools, therefore is could be seen that race and stereotypes only made Junior

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It is a very emotional scene, showing a change in identity. Junior wants to be himself, but also to go out and to seize amazing opportunities beyond the reservation. Junior decides to do both. He stays on the rez, but also commits to going to school in Reardan, an all-white town outside the reservation. People aren’t born strong - they become strong.

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According to the PBS Frontline video “Poor Kids” 2012, more than 46 million Americans are living beneath the poverty line. The United States alone has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the industrialized world. It is stated that 1 out of 5 children are living in poverty. The video documented the lives of three families who are faced with extreme hardships and are battling to survive a life of being poor. All three families have more than one child and could barely afford to pay their bills and purchase food for their household.

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Mr. P believes that Junior has not given up on his dreams; that he is constantly fighting for them. When Junior throws his textbook, which his mom also used, at Mr. P, he is acting out because “that old, old, old, decrepit geometry book hit my heart with the force of a nuclear bomb. My hopes and dreams floated up in a mushroom cloud” (Alexie 31). He realizes that poverty is acting as an anchor, keeping him grounded from reaching new heights and succeeding in life. Junior is being persuaded to leave the reservation; to pursue his dreams, the only problem is that he does not know where to go.

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