In the essay On the Meaning of Plumbing and Poverty, author Melanie Scheller touches on the idea of identity in terms of the poor as well as the treatment they receive. Scheller herself grew up living with her widowed mother and six children in whatever broken-down home they could afford (Scheller 320) . She begins this essay by tying her observance of an elderly woman that goes to the bathroom and flushes the toilet routinely to her growing up without an indoor plumbing system, because during her childhood those that did not have these facilities were considered poor. Basically, if you were poor then you were worthless and would not have a future. Throughout her essay, Scheller tells her stories of having to share a small home with many people, being judged by assumptions, and being
The poverty cycle affects many American families, it is the phenomenon in which poor families are poverty-stricken for at least three generations. In Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette and her siblings break that cycle. It is a story of triumph over adversity as Jeannette did not let the label of “poor” create an obstacle in her path. It did not come easy, as her parents obscured her view of what life out of poverty could look like. Although the weight of poverty strayed her relationship with her parents, it was all she knew, due to hard work and determination she defied the odds stacked against her and broke loose.
In this world, there’s learning things the hard way and the easy way; in Jeannette Wall’s world, there’s only learning things the hard way. The Glass Castle is an adventurous story that reveals the painfully miserable story of Jeannette Walls. A selfish mother, a careless father, and terrible social encounters- these are some of the elements of a harsh reality Rex and Rose Mary Walls failed to shield their children from. Growing up poor was already difficult, but growing up with a selfish parent, specifically an unfeeling mom, made life hell for the Walls children. The family barely had one source of income from Rex Walls, and instead of helping out with the family’s finance issues, Rose Mary spent her days at home painting.
Criminal Homeless Imagine yourself without a job and receiving a final note from your bank stating that you only have a week to dislodge. In consequence, you become homeless as a bug of society and if you sleep in any bench or under a bridge, you will end up in jail. Many people have been suffering such cruel reality due to their poverty. Barbara Ehrenreich, a political activist and author in her essay “Is it Now a Crime Being Poor?” discusses the problems of the US correctional system about the treat of homeless people. She explains how they are sent to jails for minor crimes.
A suburban life is a paradise full of shopping, colorful gardens, and well-groomed homes. Despite all these benefits, a suburban life is an isolated life. People living in suburbs are rarely exposed to miseries in society. One of these conflicts is homelessness. When living in an environment surrounded by homes, individuals often have difficulty imagining not being able to sleep in a warm bed, eat a proper meal or even receive necessary medical attention.
Class Stereotypes Stereotypes are seen as overgeneralized ideas, images, or beliefs of a person based on a group of people. Stereotypes can either be taken or said in a negative or positive way but mostly seen in a negative way. Stereotypes are formed on a life experience, idea or a belief a person may have towards one person based on the person’s gender, race, religion or social class. The most common stereotypes are of the social classes which are the: upper, middle and lower class.
Lauren DeStefano said, “ 'dystopian, ' by definition, promises a darker story” (DeStefano). One may find this to be particularly true in Ursula Le Guin’s “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas” when he is able to look past the happiness displayed proudly on the surface. Le Guin’s “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas” employs dystopian elements because the story, like other dystopian works, warns about societies with trapped citizens, living in a supposedly perfect city, who fail to question the structure of their society.
In the story Anthem by Ayn Rand, there is a society where freedom and individuality is nonexistent. In this setting, each individual exists only to serve the state. This philosophy is known as collectivism. Due to collectivism, a global dictatorship has been established.
Being born free in America is nothing, but does not sound like the truth. America is known as a symbol of freedom though how much freedom does people really have? People in America need to take serious risks in order to earn their freedom that they want. Though when people try to express their freedom they get locked away by the government. No one ever can be free unless they fight for what they believe in.
Ambassador Keng’s reaction to Urras in Ursula LeGuin’s The Dispossessed implies the conditions on Earth are truly deplorable at the time the story takes place. Her inclusion of Earthlings directly comments on LeGuin’s perception of the state of the Earth at the time she was writing The Dispossessed, and the Earthlings’ reaction to Urras supports LeGuin’s claim that what is viewed as utopic depends upon the viewer. Keng speaks little of what life is like on Earth, but it is clear from what she does say, and from her reaction to Urras, that life on Earth in her time is terrible.
Essay One: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin The extent that grades have on hindering the ability to learn is discussed in Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Dispossessed, in which Shevek a college professor is troubled by the importance placed on the grading system as a mark of understanding of a subject at the university he recently started teaching at. One of the first points to be made is that understanding what you were taught isn’t the point of schools anymore, it’s about memorizing the information for a test or assignment. Second, is that achieving high marks in school doesn’t always equate intelligence or lack of it . Lastly, it’s not how well one is able to memorize what they are taught, but how they’re able to take that information, process and apply it to real world problems that shows the extent of one’s true education.
Storytelling can be described as a powerful tool, with the ability to reach many different individuals and affect their perspectives through the messages they are conveying. Narratives in a similar sense can have perverse effects on human consciousness, leaving impacts of how we think, feel, imagine, remember and relate. Mitchell states that popular fiction is important to society as it contains many important messages that can be disguised as social transformation or ideological revisioning due to the large and diverse audience that it is able to reach (Mitchell, 2012). The focus will be to examine four different popular fiction narratives from this term and the important messages within them that aid or encourage some aspect of social transformation.
From history of hundreds of decades, we have witnessed the great progress made by human, in technology and in society. But injustice always exists everywhere in this world. Injustice and unfair treatment could not be erased from the world easily. Just like the situation described by John Steinbeck, the immigrants faced injustice. But there are too many injustices that even worse in the world.
Some countries are open and actively working to promote well-being through charity and acts to achieve justice. In opposition some countries are not willing to take on the responsibilities of letting displaced people into their borders. After seeing the lifestyle displaced people face each day the film encouraged me to do what I can to spread awareness about the unsteady world refugees face. I know that I would have a difficult time living like a displaced person and I cannot begin to image the fear, sadness, and struggles each day brings. Although, as an individual I do not feel I can achieve much impact, I do believe that sharing the messages presented in the film will bring greater understanding to others and from there a stronger force can be achieved.
If people have no place to voice their will or take part in deciding their own destiny, the community might grow disinterested and passive in their relationship with their government. Mill believes this is problematic for society because history, as he sees it, has shown that more democratic societies have more ‘energetic, and ‘developed’ societies as well as more ‘go ahead characters’ not seen in more totalitarian societies. Yet, this criticism might fail to cover a deeper problem of disinterest; it might lead to a level of moral deficiency as well. Mill fears that a loss of ability and activity, leads to a society losing its sense of communal responsibility and social justice. In their aloofness, people might be less inclined to believe that they have any responsibility to society since society has ceased to have any rights or purpose under absolute authority.
