Michael Pereira III
Section 4D89
Anuja Madan
7-26-15
“House” and “Home” Essay “House” and “home” are two terms that are often seen as one and the same. They are concepts that hold a vital part in one’s good life. In order to understand their importance in the good life, one must understand why it is deemed to have any value at all, and how they are each severely different. Answers to these matters can be found in the following resources: Sonia Nazario’s Enrique’s Journey, Dr. Shehan’s lecture on Governing the Good Life, and Miranda Lambert’s The House That Built Me. In Sonia Nazario’s “Enrique’s Journey,” it can easily be seen that “house” and “home” are given two distinct meanings. Both, however, are central parts to Enrique’s main goal:
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Shehan’s lecture regarding housing policies in the United States provides different definitions-as opposed to Enrique’s Journey- to the controversial terms “house” and “home.” It can be seen that in the various stories of the tenants, many obstacles had to be overcome in order to acquire a house and home. Because of the issue of discrimination on the grounds of race, in the case of Steve and Michelle, a living facility was not attainable. The couple was not able to rent a property because of the color of their skin. In this situation, it can be seen that the definition of a “house” was a piece of property to live in, a place in which one can eat, sleep, and rest when away from work. The definition of a “home” can be seen in the story of William, who received constant harassment because of his homosexual orientation. William was verbally abused and insulted both inside and outside his apartment, particularly by the super of the apartment complex. While he had a physical house to live in, he did not feel as though he was “at home.” In this situation, William held the definition of one’s home to be the place where one can relax and feel safe from harm, whether it be physical or verbal. It is a place where a person can be integrated into a community without being looked down upon for whatever reason. The story of Keith provides even more definitions to the two said terms. Keith had AIDS, and because of this, he needed a place to live in so that he could take his medication. …show more content…
The song tells the story of a difficult time in Miranda’s past, a period in which her family faced bankruptcy as a result of the crash of the family’s business. Her family lived with some other family members for a time, but a new house was becoming a growing necessity. They settled on a house that was on the verge of being torn down if it was not rented. It was in poor condition and needed much repair. However, it was still purchased. Because of the scarcity of money in this new house, her family struggled to acquire food, resorting to methods such as planting a garden, hunting game animals, and raising animals such as rabbits. She did, however, keep many memories from the house, including, as her song states, her bedroom where she always did her homework and learned to play the guitar and the burial place for her dog in the backyard. Now, Miranda looks back through the song and realizes that living in the house was a learning, maturing experience and that she “Won’t take nothing but a memory from the house that built me.” It can thus be said that she ties the terms “house” and “home” together. To her, a house is a physical place to live in, while a home is the house in which a person develops the majority of his or her character and personality in, while also creating countless memories that last a
The novel begins with a journey, both physical and emotional; the Brennans are physically moving houses and towns, but also moving into new, unfamiliar territory. The leaving of ‘home’ is synonymous with the leaving of what id known, familiar and comfortable, in a literal and metaphorical sense.
Taking Time People risk their lives in numerous ways, for the people they love. In Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario, Lourdes, Enrique’s mother left her family behind in Honduras, when he was young, to travel to the United States, benefiting in more money to support their family in an improved household. After many years, with no return, Enrique wanted to change this. No other opinions got in the way, and Enrique began his journey to the United States. Without knowing it, various struggles and consequences come along the way, to reunite with his mother once more.
According to President Obama (2014), “If we are serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, and law enforcement- and fix our broken immigration system. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have acted. I know that members of both parties in the House want to do the same” (President Obama, 2014). The United States of American has long been the safe haven for those who seek to escape poverty, hunger, torture, and oppression in their home countries. According to the film, The Other Side of Immigration (2009), in 1970, the United States housed 750,000 immigrants and as of 2009, there are
Did you know that people in other countries have jobs that can not even sustain life? This is a very detrimental problem for the country and the family within that country. Sadly, the people within the country come to a point of recognition that they are going to have to change their circumstances in life. So they have to make a difficult decision leave their family to be able to give their children a better life by sending money back to the home country or take their oldest child out of school to start selling things on the streets. If the parent decides to leave the home country, then she will start a process of immigration to another prosperous country like the United States America without looking back to change her
For the first time in 130 years, more young adults are living with parents until their mid thirties. Part of this could be an emotional attachment keeping them from leaving home because after they leave, everything will change. However, many are losing their real sense of home and are just using it as a place where they can avoid paying bills and many other responsibilities. Many young adults now do not understand the extensive sacrifice it is to leave their one and only home. In “On Going Home,” Joan Didion expounds on her struggle to connect with her current house, in a nostalgic and resigned tone, and vivid imagery, symbolism, and comparison Didion expresses the regret she feels every time she remembers she left her “home”.
Home is not just the building one lives in but also those who live in it. Joe is
In the very first vignette Esperanza discusses how her family moved around a lot and even though the house on Mango Street was not the house of their dreams, it was a great achievement to own it. Although Esperanza knew they were not moving anytime soon, she recognized one advantage; her family was free of landlord management. In my community home ownership is a constant battle and for many simply a dream. I learn the value of home ownership in a similar sequence as Esperanza. My little sister and I were moved to and from apartment to family member’s houses until our first small home. A home with no back yard and only four stairs and side walk out front. None the
“Home is where the heart is.” In The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros develops this famous statement to depict what a “home” really represents. What is a home? Is it a house with four walls and a roof, the neighborhood of kids while growing up, or a unique Cleaver household where everything is perfect and no problems arise? According to Cisneros, we all have our own home with which we identify; however, we cannot always go back to the environment we once considered our dwelling place. The home, which is characterized by who we are, and determined by how we view ourselves, is what makes every individual unique. A home is a personality, a depiction of who we are inside and
In class, we watched the movie called “Home of our Own”, it is about a single mother, who raised six children. After living in Los Angeles, Francs Lacey lost her job by this perverted man at work. She did not know how she would support her family, so she decided to move to a new state for a better future for her children’s. On their long journey on the road, Lacey had to give up her wedding ring to get some gas for the car. Lacey came a cross and saw a small house on the corner. The house did not have a door, windows, or an outhouse. They all lived in a small shack home in Idaho, barely have money to buy a home for them self.
As a woman, Mama’s aspirations to get a house was uncommon in those days, but Mama always dreamed of moving out of there small apartment and into a nice house in a safer neighborhood with a small garden.(92). She describes her dream house like it is the most spectacular thing in the world. She is extremely happy for herself, but happier for her family. However, Mama’s goals are more complicated then just wanting a house. With this house she feels that the family now has hope and can accomplish their dreams. On the other hand, without this house Mama predicts that the family will continue with
Likewise, the importance and descriptions of the characters’ homes within the novel also illustrates the impact of racial discrimination on African Americans. Each home described in the novel serves a greater purpose than simply being a place to live (Crayton 12). Homes symbolize the psychological health of the characters who live within it and the situations that caused them to be in that particular mental and emotional state
The house’s efficiency and helpfulness seem to make it cold and emotionless and the fact that it lives on after its inhabitants have passed just proves how the house is only a machine that is unable to love, this house will always be a house but it will never be a home.
Home should not just an abode built to live in or one's place of residence, rather a a place of security and amenity. Home is not just a house, it's a place in which someone should look forward to opportunely live in. A home is not just built by bricks or concrete but rather with a countless supply of love. I walk into my home everyday welcomed by the memories of my childhood and the love of my family. I feel at ease reminiscing the first time I walked into this house and how we were a family of four in a house without walls or windows which now turned into a family of five with a beautiful place to call our own. To me home is my sanctuary, however, that is entirely different for Kiese Laymon in the essay How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: A Remembrance because his home is unstable and a rough place to live in. Kiese Laymon does not always live in his home due to the risky circumstances with his mother coupled with the nonfunctioning essentials at home, which is the opposite of how I describe my home.
“Home” can be a focus of memory, a building, a way of mentally enclosing people of great importance, a reference point for widening circles of significant people and places and a means of protecting valued objects”. 1
The idea of home is a loose image for me, one that wobbles and threatens to be blown away at the lightest breath. Home will never be a singular place, as I’ve become familiar with too many walls, each a distinct color of beige that is friendly, but not inviting, like a stranger you greet briefly as you skirt around them on the sidewalk. Each house a place to hold the memories I’ve placed in objects, a shell against the cold wind of time that bites harshly at the thin jacket that objects offer to recollection. Houses are nothing more than a box that contains that which I hold dear. Old pictures taken with friends against the hazy background of a summer night 10 years ago, a snow globe from my mother’s business trip, a letter from my brother, all things I would consider to be childhood home above an actual house. Home isn’t a place, it’s an intangible thought that I hold sweetly in my head, one that reminds me of the good, the bad, and those who have touched me throughout my life.