Langston Terrace

The author uses the notion of the “whole family attended meetings about Hollydale” again to reiterate not just the importance of the family, but the community itself and its importance in the culture. The community is a part of what the author calls “black love”, which is part, of the poem’s intention. “Black love” meaning that being together, having joyous holidays together, a sense of community and supporting each other is equivalent to wealth.

When living with his grandmother, Suina describes his memories during the frigid winter. During those cold months, “a warm fire crackled and danced brightly in the fireplace, and the aroma of delicious stew filled our one room house.” Suina’s description illustrates his grandmother’s house as a nurturing environment. It is a setting in which his grandmother clearly cares for him. He remembers enduring the long freezing winter nights when “the thick adobe walls wrapped around the two of us protectingly.” The characteristics of the house showcase a sense of connectedness between Suina and his grandmother. Living with his grandmother clearly give Suina several reasons to be happy. It is not only a place that cares for and protects him, but it is also a place that “was just right.” Suina’s grandmother’s house provides him with a tremendous amount of self-confidence. Unfortunately, all of that self confidence is lose when he goes to school. School leaves Suina utterly bewildered. He begins to realize how different the two settings are. He starts to lose sight of the essential aspects of life with his grandmother that once made him so

“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

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

She tells of the feeling of shame which emerge from not even having a bed throughout her entire childhood (3). She does reassure that she has the security of her family being the only constant in her life, “Close and sweet and loving. Lucky me on my small pallet on the floor” (4). Travelling every summer “We never knew from one day to the next, from one year to the next, where we would go or live or what we would do” (127), her security of her family seemed always there “Having lived in other people’s houses, barns, and in migrant housing in various stages of decay and repair, it felt as though we could make a home out of anything” (99).

I think the term “home” means a place where family members lived together. Everyone in the family supports each other, care about each other, respect each other and everyone gone through hard times together. The home may not be big, but it is cozy, it may not be very fancy, but it is happy to live there. This idea of home applies to the text “Fire From the Rock” By Sharon M. Draper very well. Sylvia and her family lived in Little Rock, Arkansas, during segregation. Sylvia’s neighbor, Mr. Crandall, treated black people badly. Once, Sylvia’s little sister, Donna Jean was bitten by one of Mr. Crandall’s dogs purposely. The other time when Sylvia’s brother, Gary was beaten by Mr. Crandall’s kids because Gary wanted fairness for the black people. Also when everyone in the town knew that Sylvia was one of the black students to attend Central High School, Sylvia faced more pressure and troubles from the white people. But no matter what happen to Sylvia and her family, they always supports each other and care about each other, everyone in the family stood together and gone through hard times together.

Traditional homes were founded on the premise that there were two married parents in home owning, mortgage paying with a car in the driveway cookie cutter advertisement. Life in today’s world is not as pretty or as a slick advertising copy from the 50’s and 70’s would have you believe. Social class can be the difference in livelihood based off of economic status and also varies greatly by zip code, even within the same state over a period time. Today this disparity in wealth and economic fluidity is something still vitally affected by social class; often traditionally associated with a lack or abundance of money or privilege of a higher social standing by one’s peers or society in general.

Lena Younger doesn’t have materialistic things and good wealth but, she walks high, displays pride, and carries herself. Her children’s are her pride and joy and would do anything for her children’s. With no important dreams of her own, for even her dream of having a house is interested only by her aspiration to make living conditions better for her family. She says, upon receiving the $10,000 insurance check from her husband death. I think her American Dream is to have a house so, her family can live in a better environment. Lena is belittling by some of her family member because they want to use the money for something else. “Big Walter used to say, he’d get right wet in the eyes sometimes, lean his head back with the water standing in his eyes and say, "Seem like God didn’t see fit to give the black man nothing but dreams but He did give us children to make them dreams seem worthwhile." He stating that he makes sacrifices for his family even though he has dreams for himself.

Mama’s harsh upbringing frames her perspective on the world. During Mama’s childhood, she faces a harsh world chock full of microaggressions and racial prejudice alike. Despite all of the factors working negatively in Mama’s favor, she successfully clambered out of her original pit of societal oppression, and instead took residence in a society a tier above that of her upbringing. The cornerstone of Mama’s dream is the concept of a home with a garden, wherein family can grow up and prosper: “Well, I always wanted me a garden like I used to see sometimes at the back of the houses down home. This plant is close as I ever got to having one” (Hansberry, 53). Although this dream might seem meager through a contemporary looking-glass, black people were systematically denied homes prior to and including the mid-nineteenth century, therefore Mama’s dream demonstrates her direct wish to live a life

Mark Haddon once said, “Reading is a conversation. All books talk. But a good book listens as well.” Although, there are many children's adventure books, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cineros is the best by far. The book is intriguing, funny, heart-warming and full of adventure. The book paints a vivid picture of Esperanza and her family living in their new house on Mango Street. Sadly, the house doesn’t meet up to Esperanza’s expectations, but she learns to adjust to her new home. The character of Esperanza in The House on Mango Street expresses the difficulty, adventure, friendships, and maturity in her lifestyle. While living on Mango Street, Esperanza faced many challenges. She acclimated to the consistent move from place to place with her family. In The House on Mango Street page.3, it says, “But what I remember most is moving a lot.” Esperanza moved about four times before moving on Mango Street. She transitions from apartment to apartment, but now her family finally has a home they can call their own. Unfortunately, the house isn’t the house Esperanza dreamed of or seen on T.V. It wasn’t the luxurious three bathrooms, big flat screen television, and large backyard kind of house. This house was small, red with tight steps and small yard. The red bricks are crumbling, the door was swollen, and everyone shared bedroom. Currently, the house accommodates six people: Mama, Papa, Carlos, Kiki, Esperanza and her sister, Nenny. Learning to adjust to her new home,

of this can be seen from the very first page of her book. Here, she begins to tell the story of traveling back to her old neighborhood, only to find it to be “a distinctly poorer one” than it was in her childhood days (1). To recreate the image for her readers, she presents them with a picture of what she compares to be likened to “a third-world country” She explains that “some of the stores had “rusted iron bars across their windows” while other businesses had been closed down and nailed up. She tells of several houses in the area having “boarded-up windows” and “graffiti, broken glass, and trash” strewn about, even though it appeared people were still living there. By painting a picture for her audience the author is able to virtually take them to the very road she once

Family is expressed in diverse ways. Mama strongly believes in the importance of family throughout the book. She continues to try to keep them together by fulfilling their dreams before hers. Her dream was moving her family out of the ghetto and into a house with a yard where children can play, and she can tend a garden. Her dream has been deferred since she and her husband moved into the apartment that the Youngers still inhabit. Every day, her dream provides her with an incentive to make money. But no matter how much she and her husband strived, they could not scrape together enough money to make their dream a reality. As they go through trying times the eventify they come together as a family because by the end they realized being together was most important. They are still strong individuals but together they prove they are a strong family. Throughout the book the Younger family is constantly arguing about what Mama should do with the ten thousand dollars she inherited from her husband. “I-I just seen my family fall apart today…. Just falling into pieces in front of my eyes we couldn’t have gone on like we were today (Hansberry91)” Mama is trying to tell her family that these arguments about the money are tearing her family apart. She wanted them to know that she did the right thing by buying the house, thinking it would make her family happy again. Mama could have spent the money on herself, but she chose her family first and their needs that is

One of the houses was Deep South looking; run down and bare of any organized growth, i.e. landscaping. It was just a large rectangle— greatly in need of paint and repair. And, this house just happened to be near the heart of The Town of Smithtown, right in the cross roads of the historic area of the celebrated main street. But, in hindsight, perhaps this dwelling was a part of that history—a reminder of the history that had its good and bad; the well to do and the have nots, with some of the have nots, not having because the haves didn’t want them to.

It is known that unlike the urban areas, residents of rural areas report a higher satisfaction. This is because of the place centric values that Miss Daisy was able to obtain. The close geographic proximity of family and friends made Miss Daisy’s life much easier. For example, her son lived really close from her home and would visit often to check up on her. Another example is that Hoke was able to drive through a storm to bring Miss Daisy some coffee and some company. Miss Daisy had a high involvement in local activities such as going to the Jewish service, playing Mahjong with friends or even going to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give a speech. These availabilities gave her a community satisfaction as well as personal life satisfaction.

Forest Hills has diverse architectural styles and a large family-oriented population making it one of the best neighborhoods to settle in. It is a convenient (under half an hour) commute from Manhattan on the E, F, M or R subway line.