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Leonard Pitts Response To The Earthquake

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"If you're going through hell, keep going," -Winston Churchill After witnessing the Haitian people's response to the earthquake that destroyed their homes in 2010, journalist Leonard Pitts wrote an essay about his observations. Although many different conclusions can be reached after reading the essay, one message stood out.The main point of the essay is that sometimes, the earth is cruel, but human beings are strong. Pitts proves his point by describing three things: the disasters that fill our world today, the people who suffer through these disasters, and the hopelessness of the situation. First, Pitts explains that the earth is cruel by describing the disasters that fill our world today. As he states near the beginning of the article: …show more content…

First, he describes the "homeless, dust-streaked Haitian" in a pitying, but not condescending tone. His language also makes the reader feel sympathy for the victims; he uses words like "wretched" and "poor" to show how terrible this situation is. Furthermore, it makes the reader question why these people deserved their fate and why it was justified that they earned such a punishment. This sentence is important to the main point because it describes how life can be unfair. He also brings to mind some of the non-natural tragedies that have subverted this small nation: "...it has a history of political instability and colonialism, of being ignored by the major powers when it is not being exploited by them." Thus, Pitts expresses his message by telling the audience that even if being exploited by major powers doesn't seem like a natural disaster, it really is. This statement proves that the earth is cruel because human beings induce much of the chaos, and human beings are a part of this earth just as much as the wind and rain. Moreover, this further demonstrates the main point of the essay because it shows how human beings, who can suffer and be victims, can be tyrannical as well. Pitts continues to support this idea by using figurative language such as similes. In one line, he states, "...the seas rise and smack the shoreline like a fist". This simile describes the

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