Roberts Stereotypes

In addition to changing my views about poverty, Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle modified my views about homelessness. Prior to reading Walls’ memoir, I thought that homelessness was an inescapable part of a

“One diverse population that has continued to increase over the quarter of a century is composed of people who are homeless” (Baggerly & Zalaquett, 2006, p.155). Homelessness has become a growing problem in society because more and more people are finding themselves to be homeless and not knowing where to turn. Many people do not

Lars Eighner's short essay, "Dumpster Diving," reveals the stereotypes about homelessness in America. In order to confirm these known stereotypes about American culture, Eighner includes autobiographical accounts of the economically inferior class, as well as revealing his elitist rules that governs the life of a homeless person. According to Eighner, homeless people fall into the following categories, 'can scroungers', 'Dumpster divers', and 'scavengers.' (Eighner, 1993). In addition, Eighner's blatant demonstration of his superiority to the people he scavenges from reveals his true character of snobbery.

Quindlen assumes that her audience buys into the cliché of “home is where the heart is,” and believes that homeless people are different than people with homes. The author’s assumptions are reasonable because the idea of homeless that Quindlen is battling, is the version portrayed through the media. When Quindlen included the idea that home is a feeling, she specifically addressed an assumption that undermined her views.

The Box Man is an essay written by Barbara Ascher that addresses and criticizes how American society does not give homeless people the respect they deserve. In the essay, Ascher describes a night of the life of an average homeless man. Ascher accomplishes this by using her character the Box Man to represent the homeless people of America and to display how society sees the homeless. Barbara Ascher’s The Box Man utilizes thoughtfully chosen diction, precise negative and positive imagery, and effectively placed tone shifts to argue that the homeless, represented by the Box Man, are worthy of respect.

Many people throughout the world look at homeless people negatively, and that is some thing they do not deserve. People automatically assume homeless people are dirty, uneducated, and dangerous, but this is not always true. Many homeless people are war veterans and need help to get their life back on track, but they are too scared and hated to seek it. The stereotypes associated with homeless people make many people shy away from helping them and that is one of the reasons why they are really suffering. I chose homelessness as my topic because it is an issue that should be addressed and examined more carefully. People treat homeless people unfairly because of the stereotypes associated with them and choose to ignore them instead of helping them.

In “The Homeless and Their Children”, author Jonathon Kozol explains how poverty and homelessness can go hand in hand, but he also shows his readers that the government in New York City during the 1980’s did not really attempt to assist those in need. The author shows us how the homeless and illiterate struggled by sharing with us an interview with a young woman called Laura who resided in a massive welfare hotel. Kozol did not find it necessary to write this piece in a persuasive tone, or a compassionate tone, or even an angry tone to get his message across. He did not need to include a multitude of statistics to convince his readers that homelessness, illiteracy, and governmental apathy were issues. As stated in the introductory

A suburban life is a paradise full of shopping, colorful gardens, and well-groomed homes. Despite all these benefits, a suburban life is an isolated life. People living in suburbs are rarely exposed to miseries in society. One of these conflicts is homelessness. When living in an environment surrounded by homes, individuals often have difficulty imagining not being able to sleep in a warm bed, eat a proper meal or even receive necessary medical attention. This grim situation is depicted in the writings of Jeannette Walls. In the autobiography The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls accurately portrays homelessness by explaining its causes, its impact upon daily life, and its effect on victimized families.

A homeless person is an individual without a permanent, stable housing situation who either spends his or her nights on the streets or in temporary facilities, such as shelters and abandoned buildings. Throughout history, society has been “holding the poor, rape or incest victims, minorities, or the handicapped responsible for their misfortunes” (Zur). Society has been blaming the homeless for being in the position they are in. However, upon closer inspection, it must be noted that “children under the age of 18 accounts for 39% of the homeless population…battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness…[and] 40% of homeless men have served in the armed forces” (Who Is Homeless?). It is clear that those who are homeless are not

For most being homeless isn’t there faut and we hate them because they dress poor and we believe they are evil, worthless and unimportant. However, I know for a fact upon personal experience that a lot of the homeless have bigger hearts than any of us despite being in their situation.This judgement upon appearance happens all throughout the novel, in the story even black person is made out to be, these bad people, worthless and unhuman like. Not just the black is community is treated like this .A man named boo radley is a white man which is portrayed as a monster but in actuality is kind hearted, courageous and willing to put his life on the line to protect others.

The issue of homelessness has been called as one that is "highly ambiguous and intangible" (Neale, 1997, p.7). Wright defines the homeless a "diverse, heterogeneous lot. No single catch phrase or easy myth can possibly describe them all" (p.46)

Right off the bat, Elliot throws shocking statistic after statistic: “…more than 22,000 homeless children in New York,” “One in five American children is now living in poverty…” Eliot’s urgency to tell a story behind the “panhandlers” and “beggars” shows that there is more at work behind the scenes of a family living below the poverty line. To show that behind a woman and her husband who can’t keep a job, there may be 4, 5, 6, 7, or even 8 children to feed as well. The negative stigma behind the homeless population in America is the reason Elliot wrote the article. Elliot shows that

Sherman Alexis is about an Indian boy named Junior who is living two different lives; an outcast at his reservation and a basketball star dating the hottest girl in school at the all-white school Reardan. Junior is not only considered a nomadic who betrayed his tribe, but he’s had to overcome his parents’ addiction, the death of his grandmother, sister, and friend, and losing his best

Source 3 indicates to us that there are “starvelings without hope.” The sheer use of the name “starveling” implies that they are seen as different compared to everyone else in society, and therefore should be treated differently. Alternatively, it could be to target those who are homeless as it makes it easy for some to understand. This could potentially make readers feel that there is inequality taking place and therefore despise those that refer to them as “starvelings’.” Similarly, source 1 uses emotive language when Gordon Brown describes child labour as the ““new slavery” for our age.”

Richard was assigned to this project because the company feels that the client will relate to him. They see this as an asset that may contribute to the company acquiring the project. Yes, the stereotype is playing a role in this scenario the company feels that Richard nationality will be a key factor in the persuasion process. Stereotypes are defined in chapter four as a rigid and often negative biases used to describe or judge individuals based on their membership in a social group. I feel that selective perception is what moved them to give Richard this assignment this is when consciously or unconsciously we focus on certain parts of messages and ignore others. Stereotyping and selective perception have been linked to prejudice and often