Ragged Dick, by Hoatio Alger

With all of the media 's hatred of poor people, it must affect their self-confidence and how they view the American Dream. Through her experience, Jennifer Mayer has noticed that very problem. While working in the soup kitchen, she noticed that most of the people who came in lived in "survival mode" and only lived "day-to-day" with no real goals. They had no dreams of success because they believed it to be impossible (Mayer). One reason for this self-esteem issue is their lack of education. Since poor people rarely have a college education, they feel like they have no future. This can often cause them to give up on their dreams and resort to crime (Reef 225-226). Also, because poor people are below America 's social and economic system, they will often give up on their dreams.

In Horatio Alger’s Ragged Dick, Alger writes about a rag-to-riches story and points out valid and key messages that tell of things like hard work and determination can take anyone from the bottom to the top, despite one’s economic class. I do realize that in real life that although these messages hold key to making it in the world, everyone does not have the equal opportunity to succeed or move up in class rankings like Alger says.

To many Americans, poverty is merely a synonym for ‘not rich’. Even those who understand the definition may struggle with the concept that poverty is not a distant, foreign, concern; poverty can occur in any country, region, neighborhood, and household. In a study performed by Carroll et al, 60% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “poor people are poor because of laziness and lack of will power (2011, p. 116). In the same questionnaire, 77% of respondents felt most poor people have the ability to escape poverty without government assistance (Carroll et al, 2011, p. 117). As above facts show, despite the widespread nature of this issue those not living in poverty often have

Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger. This story follows a young boy, who through hard work, determination, self-reliance, honesty and good character went from a homeless black-boot to a respectable, high paying job.  This story is filled with examples of what life was like in New York City, telling the us what he would find and experience in it. In Ragged Dick, This was a time of progress, change and falsehood in American History. This is when people really started to chase the illusive American dream, and Alger is trying to capture this rags-to-riches vision. The fact that the book takes place in New York is not enough to understand the full extent of this book. At this time many Americans were going through one of the hardest times in

Nelson Mandela once said, “Poverty is not natural it 's man-made.” This quote states that a person can overcome poverty if one has the desire to live a better life. In a novel called Poor People written by William T. Vollmann, the author travels around different countries and places to learn about poor people and to get a global perspective view. While interviewing different kinds of people, Vollmann would ask them one question: why are you poor? Looking at people 's answers Vollmann noticed that some of the people gave quite interesting answers. Vollmann went through a lot of situations where he just couldn 't imagine what life would be if he was ever to live like that. Another novel that has a similar poverty situation is called Let The Water Hold Me Down, written by Michael Spurgeon. Hank, the main character of the novel, experiences a tragic moment in his life. Losing his wife and daughter while drowning, this tragedy left him feeling like it’s all due to his miscarrying about them. His life becomes full of sorrow, and the only way out it was to go to Mexico to his friend’s place and restart his life over. In a new country of Mexico, this story takes place. Even though he had money, a house, and friends’ support, he still experienced lots of pressure trying to survive in Mexico. Poverty has different meanings in everyone 's lives but by reading these two novels, there are three similarities that can be made about people living in poverty.

After the Civil War America experienced a period of huge industrial growth. Government devotion to business and new breakthroughs left urban poor and working class unattended. This widened the gap between the rich and the poor, making it difficult for a less fortunate individual to work their way up in society. Many Americans, however, believed that it was definitely not impossible to become successful in life a lot of times due to myths of success stories like Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger. It is a novel about the hero’s transformation from a ragged, homeless boy of the streets to a respectable clerk with a salary of ten dollars per week. The novel follows “myth of success” formula: a young man - decent, but with no real prospects for the future

The Horatio Alger myth is one of the oldest myths in the history of the United States of America. Horatio Alger was a 19th century author who wrote short stories that all had the same universal theme: a young man rising from a poor childhood to become a successful adult. Alger’s stories were enormously popular during his time and continue to be so today with the term “Alger Myth” become a household saying. The popularity of Alger’s stories is not surprising when one considers America has consistently pushed the notion that anyone can achieve success if they work hard. Every child in America is told at some point in their life that they can be anything they want to be.

The "rags to riches" stories by Horatio Alger have helped many people in the US to believe that hard work will lead to sussess and wealthiness. Indeed, does not matter when – 19th century or nowadays it is difficult to control your own faith. Although there is a common belief that rich people take all, there are some stories that prove othervise.

The miscommunication some citizens may have is that those living in poverty have joyful lives without the money. I would much rather critique the fact they speak so highly of the poor as if they were willing to trade places instantly. How many people in poverty do you hear repetitively explaining to the upper classes that they indeed adore being hungry, having constant illnesses as well as not being able to provide the necessities of what their family needs? I can’t quite put my finger on it, yet I have not heard any realistic person mention this; I can state that they do

This review is formulated with scholarly sources and references based off of poverty in America. This disclosure is approached with a value free sociological approach, and it will give insight on the social causes of poverty and the effects it has on America. Poverty is a very controversial topic. Many will assume that people living in poverty are lazy, made bad life decisions, or that they are solely the reason for their predicament however, people living in poverty would argue that their are deeper issues for it. Poverty will be deeply explained and researched from both perspectives

The logic of poor peoples purchases as they attempt to meet a wealth image they cannot obtain is obscene. It is impossible to provide for their families and live a rich lifestyle under little earnings. Stated by Isabel Sawhill, “None of this means that providing lower-income families with more money is necessarily a bad thing” (Sawhill). The political system works in a matter to benefit poor families with money they do not earn. Poor individuals complain about being poor while it is quite simple to overcome poverty and rely on a career. Pursuing a career and presenting a humble attitude can help with overcoming poverty and presenting a better reputation. Poor individuals need to visualize more than spending money on unnecessary items, work to flip their money without relying on the government, and be themselves not a false image.

Many describe poverty as an economic deprivation, or lack of income. However, this alone does not incorporate the different social, cultural and political aspects of this unfortunate reality. Poverty is not only a deprivation of economic or material resources but a violation of human dignity. The general scarcity, lack, or the state of one without a specific amount of material possessions or money. It is a versatile concept that may be defined as either absolute or relative. Time and again, poverty is a call to action, for the poor and the wealthy alike, it is a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities.

Poverty is a massive issue today, it surrounds all of life’s experiences, and it impacts on the future for people everywhere, and on health everywhere in society. Poverty is not just related to unemployment or

It can be seen that there are a multitude of reasons that the poor tend to remain poor. Reasons ranging from the spending patterns of the poor to the health and nutrition of the poor all attribute to the creation of a poverty cycle that seemingly condemns the poor to being poor. Obviously this isn’t a rule of thumb but rather an accurate observation, it is not to say that the poor can’t become affluent but rather the conditions and environment that surrounds those who are poor severely impedes their ability to earn an income and move over the poverty

Being poor really change my life because it causes me to have a new look on life. I remember being poor when I was a child by not having much clothes and shoes. I also remember not having many channels like Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network. If I wanted to watch those shows, I had to go to my aunt’s house. My mother was working at McDonald’s when I was only 4 years old and my father was working at a car dealership but wasn’t selling any cars at the time. My father used to drop me off at McDonald’s before he went to work since my brother couldn’t watch me because he went to school and my parents couldn’t afford to get a babysitter or someone to watch me. Not only my mother was watching me but also her co-worker was watching me too since my mom had to work. The most toys I ever had was from McDonald’s. One day my mother decided to quit her job because she wasn’t getting paid enough to get my brother and I, new things.