Review Of ' The Little Kids '

After graduating high school, Duddy finds a job as a waiter at Laurentian Mountains. He leaves his family back home and goes to work to prove that he is capable of making money. He accepts a challenging waiter job to show his uncle that he is as skillful as his brother, Lennie. Most of the employees at Laurentian Mountains are college students, “...first and second year McGill boys” (64), other than Duddy. Most of the college boys come from “more prosperous families and Duddy found it difficult”(64).

The documentary “Poor Kids”, it shows the story of the lives of three families who struggle to make ends meet every day. These families lack the resources such as money to buy food and other every day necessities, pay for the rent, and the parents not having a job or not having an unstable employment. I felt heavy hearted after watching this documentary because I can imagine myself in their situation. I feel blessed that I did not have to go through what these families are going through. It is hard to imagine how it feels like to have no money or little money to buy food, clothes and other things, pay the utilities, not having a decent place to live, moving from one motel to another, and not having a stable to job to support the family.

There Are No Children Here is a story of the struggles two preteen boys live with while growing up in the projects. From the first pages the scene is set amongst the all too familiar gun fire blazing through the neighborhood. This story is of eleven year old Lafeyette and nine year old Pharoah dealing with the daily fight for survival in inner-city Chicago circa 1987.

There are No Children Here, by Alex Kotlowitz, tells a story about the family of LaJoe and Paul Rivers. The book focuses on Lafayette and Pharaoh, two of the younger children in the family, and their interactions with each other, the neighborhood, their family, their friends, and the police. Following the family over three years shows the importance of neighborhood factors when it comes to crime. According to Sampson and Groves (1989), social disorganization refers to “the inability of a community structure to realize the common values of its residents and maintain effective social controls”. Many aspects in the book exemplify how neighborhood factors, social controls, and community factors have impacts on crime. The book exemplifies how neighborhood disadvantage can lead to informal social controls, which in turn produces crime. Due to these factors, social disorganization is the best theory to explain the crime that occurs in There are No Children Here.

There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz tells the harrowing story of the Rivers family and their shocking experiences living in an underserved Chicago public housing project. The story focuses on Lafayette, a middle school aged boy discovering his identity, Pharoah, an elementary school aged boy with high ambition and goals, and their resilient mother LaJoe. Matza’s Techniques of Neutralization discuss how people can create rationalizations to justify delinquencies and crimes. Specifically applicable to There Are No Children Here is the theory of Denial of Responsibility which occurs when the perpetrator of an offense claims the situation was out of their control, they did not know the law, they were a victim of circumstance, or they were acted upon by outside forces rather than acting themselves. The second theory applicable to There Are No Children Here is Becker’s theory of Master Status. The theory of Master Status states that labels can take on a “master status” and can have an enormous influence and once you’ve been labeled, then define you. These theories aid in understanding how the pattern of violence and destruction is perpetuated in the projects of Chicago and the misfortune in the Rivers family.

Hard and honest work was instilled in all members of the Treviño family by the time they were able to pick up a hoe. Modern day parents and many social workers would look at Apa like a slave driver working his wife and kids to the point of exhaustion on a daily basis. The Treviño kids were not given the opportunity to have a carefree childhood. “He was taking a bunch of children to Minnesota, but he didn’t see it that way. My father knew nothing about children. He treated us like adults, expecting adult responses from us. We were a team going to work” (12). From a post-toddler age these kids were treated as adults and expected to work

The book states, “I made money babysitting and doing other kids’ homework. I did book reports, science essays, and math… After school I babysat for a dollar an hour and could usually do the homework then. I also tutored kids for two dollars an hour” (224). This elaborates how she’s able to find ways to make money for herself and the kids’ move to New York. She was hard-working and did many jobs to provide a stable income when her parents wouldn’t. This resourcefulness helped later on in New York when she was trying to find places for money and she had always worked hard when she found a

In the essay “Kid Kustomers” by Eric Schlosser, the author addresses how companies use advertising as a way to lure children into buying their products. The author eventually convinces the reader that children then influence their parents into buying the product as well. Schlosser incorporates statistics about how much McDonald's sold their happy meals to children between the age of three and nine. This is simply because children watch more tv and go on the internet more; therefore, they are more likely to see more advertising, and eventually pursue their parents to buy them the product. In an informative tone, the author is speaking to parents with young

Lisa often gets frustrated when trying to play with other children. She takes toys from their hands and even hits children with the toys.

David Goodman eked out a minimal living for his family by working for a tailor in a sweatshop. To help alleviate the family’s poverty, the children were urged to work as soon as they were old enough.

During the winter all of Tall Dale’s children complain about walking to the bus stop together in the cold, but he remains them that he had to walk 5 miles to school up hill both ways. He has eight kids. Ray, is twenty three and she is going to college to become a lawyer. Jean, is twenty and is a farmer with his dad. Paul, is seventeen and is a senior in high school. He has no idea what he wants to do, but he helps out on the farm. As do all the other kids. James, who is fifteen and a sophomore in high school. Allen, who is fourteen and a freshman. Ella, who is twelve and an seventh grader. May, who is ten and is in fifth grade. Last but not least, Philip, who is seven and in third

“The Wild Children” a novel that takes place during Communist rule in Russia. The story

Through the eyes of society everyone has a set role they are expected to fulfill and certain characteristics they are supposed to exemplify. These roles and characteristics, this discourse, tells everyone how they should act and speak. For women it is the role of the mother. In our culture, that means raising the children, completing the household chores, and cooking all of the meals to perfection. Women are typical thought of as being demure and polite, small in stature, and submissive to the male gender. In the reverse, men also have certain roles that they are expected to fill and characteristics they are supposed to exemplify. Men are expected to be strong, dominant, and in charge of their families. They are often depicted, both in the media and in life, as the leaders. This discourse that we all follow can frequently be seen in Svava Jakobsdottir’s “A Story for Children.” The short story tells the tale of a woman as she raises her children and takes care of her household. The mother is completely devoted to her children and seeks to fulfill her role in the home to the fullest extent. As the story progresses, the main character slowly has pieces of herself removed by her children: her toe, her brain, and finally her heart. At the end of the text, after all of the children have become adults started families of their own, the mother realizes that she now has nothing and feels useless. In her short story, Jakobsdottir uses dramatization to depict the gender stereotypes and

I am writing my journal response on Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, which is a fiction book about cyberterrorism. The Department of Homeland Security kidnapped Marcus, the main character, and his 3 best friends immediately after a terrorist attack, keeping them there for 6 days, and then releasing all of them except Darryl, his very best friend. Even worse, Darryl was stabbed while trying to run to shelter after a series of explosions from the terrorist attack. After that attack, it seems that Marcus is being watched by cameras and bugged on his computers. He no longer has any privacy, and he wants revenge on the DHS for taking it from him.

When Willy and Linda purchased their home in Brooklyn, it seemed far removed form the city. Willy was young and strong and he believed he had a future full of success. He and his sons cut the tree limbs that threatened his home and put up a hammock that he would enjoy with his children. The green fields