Little Things Are Big By Jesus Colon

During the Vietnam War, Mexican American soldiers fought bravely to defend the United States. However mainstream historical chronicles are almost silent concerning the contributions of these soldiers in this war. Most literature omits the accomplishments and experiences of Mexican American soldiers. One example is the bestselling book Everything We Had by Al Santoli, which chronicles the oral history of soldiers in the Vietnam War. However not one Mexican American soldier is interviewed . When they are mentioned they are usually described in a stereotypical way for example Gary Hook who describes these soldiers as “ Mexicans” who speak “Mexican” in his book One Day in Vietnam. The brave participation of Mexican American soldiers in the Vietnam War did not improve the marginalized status of their community within the United States. It also failed to advance their civil rights battles and their war against poverty. Even though they fought bravely Mexican Americans faced prejudice before and during the war and received minimum recognition and rewards for their efforts in the War .

In “Invisible Child,” a New York Times article written by Andrea Elliot, we follow a day in the life of a young African American girl, Dasani, growing up in New York City. However, instead of living in an “Empire State of Mind,” Dasani lives in the slums, growing up homeless with her two drug addicted parents and seven siblings. Dasani often finds herself taking care of her siblings, making sure they have enough to eat, tying shoelaces, changing diapers, getting them to the bus stop in time, and the list goes on. An 11 year old girl, essentially taking care of a whole family, as well as taking care of herself by going to school, receiving an education, and partaking in extra-curricular activities. Elliot captures the life and struggles of a family well under the poverty line, giving us an unprecedented look into what Dasani must do each day not just to grow up in New York City, but to survive.

Courage is when someone does something for non-selfish reasons, no matter how frightening it may be. It’s not just physical bravery that can be considered courage, just speaking out can be just as powerful. A person is courageous when they make decisions that help positively affect another person's life. It means you stick up for what's right no matter the consequences that follow. People can express courage through following their hearts, standing up for what’s right, and expanding their horizons.

In the narrative “Little Things Are Big” by Jesus Colon, Colon saw a lady carrying a baby in one hand, a suitcase in the other, and two little children trailing behind her. However, Colon is a Puerto Rican Negro, while the lady is a white American. He kept considering whether to assist her or not. After some time, he decided not to help and instead pushed by her. He later on regretted his choice and promised to offer help regardless of how the offer is going to be received.

“I remember thinking; I’m a Negro and a Puerto Rican. Suppose I approach this white lady in this deserted subway station late at night? What would she say? What would be the first reaction of this white American woman?” Jesus Colon was a writer for a newspaper, who had been taking a train back home late at night, and had come across a white woman who was struggling to get on and off the subway with three children and a large suitcase. Jesus contemplated offering help, but wondered if she would be prejudiced and refuse his help because of the color of his skin. Because of society’s views on the behavior of older black men, Jesus decided not to be courteous, and ignored her in fear that she would scream or think he had bad intentions. Once he

Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, once said: “A man who makes trouble for others is also making troubles for himself”. This concept can be seen in the development of Okonkwo as a character throughout the book. Creating plenty of trouble for others, but ultimately creating the most trouble for himself is possibly the plot for the entire book. Generally, the creation of trouble is not a value that is appreciated in any culture, especially in Umuofia. Okonkwo breaks many of the boundaries and social norms within his culture; his tendency to be immature and unaccountable combined with being very self-concerned and the defiance of elders creates an interesting mix adjacent to the cultural standards.

Buckley opens his essay with a personal anecdote describing the acceptance of “whatsoever” he realizes that outside it was below freezing temperature and in the train it was 85 degrees. Buckley explains how the train conductor went back and forth through the aisle and not a single person moaned. There were ample amounts

“It really is that simple.” Melinda Branson’s catch phrase signaled the end of her cooking demonstration and a roar of applause shot through the produce section. The makeshift stage presented her as some kind of superstar. Flashing a smile she held her tray of appetizers toward the crowd as if she were proudly showing off the royal baby.

Many individuals do not realize it, but obesity has become a huge epidemic in today’s society. Individuals tend to ignore the growing unhealthy products around them; instead of questioning why people are gaining weight so rapidly, they enjoy the unhealthy and unsuitable substances that they are putting in their body. Some eat whatever they can find, and since they are in a certain predicaments, they have no choice but, end up doing the same thing to their children. Many have not seen it yet, but parents are feeding their children unhealthy substances. The nutrients that they are feeding them are unhealthy, and since children do not know any better, they cannot disagree with what is being provided to them, nor can they tell whether they have had enough or not. In an article “Too Much of a Good Thing” by Greg Critser. He explains how parents are partially to blame for their children 's obesity and also their children 's environments. Critser uses statistic, biological experiments, and comparisons show how child obesity has become a great problem in today’s society and that parents have much to do with it.

A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid presents the hypothetical story of a tourist visiting Antigua, the author’s hometown. Kincaid places the reader in the shoes of the tourist, and tells the tourist what he/she would see through his/her travels on the island. She paints a picturesque scene of the tourist’s view of Antigua, but stains the image with details of issues that most tourists overlook: the bad roads, the origin of the so-called native food, the inefficiency of the plumbing systems in resorts, and the glitches in the health care system. Kincaid was an established writer for The New Yorker when she wrote this book, and it can be safely assumed that majority of her readers had, at some point in their lives, been tourists. I have been a

In “A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid, Kincaid criticizes tourists for being heartless and ignorant to the problems that the people of Antigua had and the sacrifices that had to be made to make Antigua a tremendous tourist/vacation spot. While Kincaid makes a strong argument, her argument suggests that she doesn't realize what tourism is for the tourists. In other words, tourism is an escape for those who are going on vacation and the tourists are well within their rights to be “ignorant”, especially because no one is telling them what is wrong with Antigua.

Fist, people overcame obstacles by not caring what other people thought or said. For example, in “A Work In Progress”, Aimee Mullins talks about a time when she bought a dress that showed her prosthetic legs and a little bit of her knee. Her father said that it was inappropriate and told her to take it off. She told him no because she thought she looked nice. This shows that Aimee Mullins did not care what her father thought. She thought she looked good enough to disobey her father, which she had never done before, to show that she did not care about what they thought. Another piece of evidence, in “Soul Surfer”, Bethany Hamilton is being crowded around photographers who want to see her arm. She did not care what they thought about it or what her family thought she should do, not show her shoulder, and Bethany did it anyways. This

In his article Rich and Poor, Peter Singer argues that we have a moral obligation to give assistance to people in absolute poverty. He derived this conclusion from three premises. The first states that if it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening without sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, then we ought to it. The second premise is that absolute poverty is a bad thing. The third premise is that we are able to alleviate some portion of absolute poverty without giving up anything of comparable moral significance. To illustrate the urgency of our duty to assist the poor, he believes that in a case where we happen to walk pass a child drowning in a shallow pond, the vast majority of people would agree that it would be seriously morally wrong to not rescue the child. Connecting this scenario to Singer’s argument, we can say it is seriously morally wrong to not assist the poor because the lives of these people in need are of greater moral importance than the excess income we would otherwise spend on luxury goods. Thus, Singer is correct in saying that we have a moral obligation to assist the poor, and that failing to do so is equally as morally wrong as failing to rescue the drowning child.

In the 1950’s the melodrama genre came to age and there is no better example than Douglas Sirk’s All that Heaven Allows. The melodrama followed some basic characteristics which can be identified in the film. First and foremost the narrative of the melodrama focused on the family. All that Heaven Allows follows the narrative of the typical melodrama but at the same time also challenges the social conventions. While Sirk follows many of the key themes he does so in a more detached fashion. The protagonist Cary is bound to her community by her social class. Change was occurring in society and the melodrama displayed people’s restraint to this. In All that Heaven Allows Sirk began his focus on the female and her desires in contrast to the more conservative male focused melodrama. As with the melodrama the legibility of the story, displayed through the plot, is simple and easy to follow. “Our engagement with the story depends on our understanding of the pattern of change and stability, cause and effect, time and space” (Bordwell and Thompson, 2008). The linear time flow of the film allows for it’s simple understanding. This is added to by the expressiveness of the melodrama, where everything is brought into the open and nothing is left unsaid. The expressiveness of the melodrama is also represented in the highly expressive mise-en-scene. Sirks use of colour, the human figure, camera work, lighting and music allow him to portray suppressed meaning and significance.

Courtesy is the most important word in the story “Little Things Are Big” by Jesus Colon because he wants to repay for his rudeness by not making that same mistake. In the story, the author writes about how he experiences prejudice and how he reacts to it. Also the fear of what will happen after making a choice on what to do about. The author has to make a decisions that he thinks is the best he might not be proud of it but still thought it was the best one to pick.