Book Analysis: Childhood

After reading chapters 4 through 6 in Matthew Desmond’s Evicted it was very interesting to learn about the goals and stories of those affected in the book. In chapter 4, Desmond focuses on a trailer park owner, Tobin Charney who is told by the Common Council that he has to begin evicting some of his tenants. Throughout this chapter, it is evident to recognize how Desmond focuses on how the city has been threatening to close down Charney’s trailer park if he did not follow through with evicting his tenants, who were known as troublemakers. Two of the noted people from the book were Pam and Ned. Pam had a very tough childhood and upbringing which led to her becoming a crack addict. The eviction of Pam and Ned was an important part of the chapter because Tobin filed for eviction against his tenants for not paying the rent. Tobin originally gives them 28 day notice but he managed to get them out in 5 days. This chapter was eye-opening because of the way Tobin reacted to his tenants, particularly Pam and Ned. I believe Tobin reacted like this because he was afraid to lose his trailer park to the town and cause problems with the council. Also it was eye-opening to see that Tobin only evicted this couple and not others who did not pay their rent, and in my opinion he did that because they were deemed as troublemakers. Later on in the chapter the goals that I noticed were that Tobin evicted Pam and Ned because of them being seen as troublemakers but used the reason of violations which covered that up.

Unfortunately, the loss of housing occurs frequently and takes a psychological toll on the people affected by depression. Desmond displays how Arleen is very troubled when she gets evicted, thrown into the cold, and stranded with nothing. It takes a toll mentally when she realizes she has no home to get away from the cold, but also the eviction will be on her record for the next move. When people get evicted there is so much going against them, that mentally they can’t keep up and become depressed. Desmond describes the depression of a Hispanic woman and her three children during an eviction. At first, she had “borne down on the emergency with focus and energy,” then she started wandering the halls “aimlessly, almost drunkenly, her face had that look, the movers and the deputies knew it well”(125). Desmond adds, “It was the look of someone realizing that her family would be homeless in a matter of hours”(125). With vivid imagery, Desmond truly shows the mindset of a woman who knows she lost everything. Eviction scars people and that it makes a lasting mark on how they mentally feel as if they are worthless.

There were a lot of touching stories throughout the book titled Evicted written by Matthew Desmond, one story that really stuck out to me was the story of a man named Lamar. Lamar lived in a housing unit owned by Sherrena. Lamar is hard working man, who lives his life in a wheelchair, and recovering addict. Lamar’s story seemed to have a lot of similar characteristics to what I might expect for someone to have a hard life.

At first, the house just sits there, resisting everything that wants it gone. Representing Carl and how he does not want to budge, how he’s determined to accomplish what Ellie always dreamed of , just like a house’s job is to stand

Eviction, while it hurts the family the most, also takes a toll on the communities in the form of ingroups and outgroups. In his book, Evicted, Matthew Desmond says, “Eviction even affects the communities that displaced families leave behind. Neighbors who cooperate with and trust one another can make their streets safer and more prosperous”(p. 298). To make those streets safer and to develop trust and a sense of security, in-groups are created by those in the neighborhood who talk to each other often and form a friendly relationship. Eviction can break that relationship and sometimes result in the removal of the security and trust in the ingroups. It also creates worry about what the next renter will be like. When that renter moves in they

Arleen’s story reveals the idea that eviction causes a person to often move to progressively worse housing. In the beginning of the book, Arleen is living in “squat duplexes with porch steps ending at a sidewalk edged in dandelions” (Desmond 1) Towards the end of the book, we see that Arleen is hopeless as Desmond describes her as someone “who was not always able to offer [her children] stability; stability cost too much.” (Desmond 240). Where Arleen was initially stable in her home, a simple mistake that her son made caused the family to get evicted and led to major instability within the family as Arleen struggled to find a place to live. During her spiral downwards, the stability in Arleen’s life disappeared because landlords are no longer willing to accept her because she has kids and has a record of evictions. These two things make it harder to find a home showing that society’s problem of eviction becomes Arleen’s personal trouble. While she uses as much as her free agency as possible to fight her personal troubles, she is unsuccessful showing that her free agency is much less meaningful. Arleen was forced

It was the last day of 10th grade, a whole summer of relaxation, freedom and sleeping were ahead of me. Or so i thought… Reality hit me right in the face with the word eviction. For years, we were expecting the eviction note, but we slowly forgot about it as life was getting better. There was more food in the fridge, the phone and tv bills always paid. We couldn't believe my mother once again screwed us over. The nightmare became our reality.

Before, this house, I participated in helping others; because I simply enjoyed it. It felt good to help, but working at Virginia’s house, taught me that I cannot do this for my own pleasure, but because it is the right thing to do. If I do not, they will continue to live in a home that is not safe, warm, nor dry. The effect of experiencing this created a profound impact, in such a way that it changed who I am, and how I live my life. I will never forget Virginia Banks, nor the horrid conditions of her home. Why did she and her home cause such a profound impact upon what I thought I knew about myself. The dangerous condition of the home was not the only factor that lead me to learn something new about myself. Virginia lacked the ability to financially, physically, and mentally better her own life. She did not even truly understand that her home could catch on fire and kill her in the middle of the night. I realized that if I did not help her, she would continue to live in a dangerous

I had really enjoyed my life in Newmarket, but I was time to start my life in New York City. My dad got a job there, so my mom and I moved there with him. I really liked my last school and had lots of friends there that I would miss dearly. It was the first day of school and I didn't know what the kids at this school would think of me. As I walked to school, I wondered what my fate would be today. I was almost at school when I noticed something unusual. I noticed that all the kids at school walked in cliques. Nobody in a clique talked to others cliques, and it felt like they wanted to isolate themselves. This was weird for me due to the fact that at my old school, everyone talked and socialized to each other. I walked into the giant building, and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. The school was massive, and it was at least 3 time bigger than my old school. I had to find my own way to my first class, and got myself lost several times, but I finally found where it was. I walked into the classroom and the teacher greeted me and I was introduced to the class. I went and found a seat at the very back of the room, where the only seat was available. I noticed as I sat down, the kids started to look at me in a funny way! I wasn't sure what this meant but it made my stomach turn, as if I knew something bad was going to happen. As I walking out of class I got bombarded with tall strong boy’s. They

The author to me was sad, but yet joyful in that she went on to an Ivy League School-Harvard, when everything around was screwed up. She was angry at times because of her parents and yet sad for them to. She was confused at why her parents would choose drugs over her and why everything bad and good was happening to her.

Evicted is a novel that follows the story of families who struggle with losing their homes, and the hurdles they have to jump to survive. The events that take place in this novel take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According the American Housing Survey, 1991-2013, a majority of poor renting families spend at least half their income on housing. Poverty is a major problem in America and the price of housing doesn’t help.

2. Redish suggests various way that web site headlines can capture and retain an online audience. The American Red Cross donation pages can be a good example of the seven guidelines that Redish puts forth when writing effective headlines (https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation). The author mentioned that titles such as Caroline Jarrett’s “Piggy in the Middle” did not collect nearly as many views as the headline entitled, “Sentence or Title Case for Labels”. Not only is the latter more clearcut for a user to understand but undoubtedly appeared on more search results than the vague “Piggy in the Middle”. Likewise, the American Red Cross donation page has a clear headline that clearly foreshadows the content. It reads: “Change Lives with

The door slammed on my way out of the old apartment building. No, I didn’t slam the door; it was a windy morning in the city of Chicago. As I was walking outside, I whispered to myself “This is it.” The wind was pushing against me, almost causing me to tumble over. Along with the wind, the smell of rain filled my nostrils and my clothing started to soak from just a five-yard walk from the apartment building to my dad’s truck. As soon as I got inside my dad’s truck, I was shivering from the ice-cold rain and piercing wind that was outside and I loudly sighed with relief. The slam of the door may seem like a negative thing, but it was actually the beginning of a better life for me. It was the sound of me breaking free from an affectionless prison

Did you enjoy the book? Why? Why not? I really enjoyed this book and writing. I appreciate how the author challenged the homeless people.

The book elaborates on how people can act as though their lives are so bleak, while they are driving around in top notch cars, eating at fancy restaurants and going home to their twenty five hundred square foot homes in the hills. In a ways it is very interesting how people sort of a adapt to the lives that they are living, regardless as to how good or bad the conditions are and a great deal of people start to think that the problems that they face are comparable to the rest of people on this planet. The reality is, there is always someone who is struggling and going through a tougher situation than you and it is a great thing to realize that when you feel like you are going through a terrible situation. It can be hard to think your world is over if someone has accidently smashed into your car while it is sitting out on the street, when you consider the fact that there are people around the globe that are going to die today because they could not get a drink of water. Although the book comes across as funny, as it is calling people out left and right, some of which we are all guilty of, the truths in it are very eye opening as