In the reading, “The Lady in Red,” Richard LeMieux talks about how he was once successful businessman but then he became a homeless man after his business failed and had to beg for money as his last resort. When he was successful he would invite many people over for Thanksgiving and enjoy the luxury of spending money on more expensive food. Afterwards he ended up in his car with his dog and rationing his money on food and gas. Consequently he ran out of money and tried begging but there were people that ignored him or were rude because he was homeless. LeMieux wants people to understand that you should stay strong just like when disrespected by the man in the Porsche or the man that muttered about how worthless homeless people are LeMieux knew
There are characters, which the migrants in the novel encounter, who take risks to help a person in poverty. At the beginning of the novel, Tom tells the driver of the red truck, "´ But sometimes a guy will be a good guy `" (11). Mae, who is unwilling to give a loaf of bread to the Joads, finds herself selling two pieces of candy for less than their value. The man at the register in the camp were the Joads were picking peaches lent Ma a dime. Ma needed sugar for Tom's request for coffee but was a dime short. The man was not allowed to lend money without a slip. " He looked pleadingly at her. And then his face lost its fear. He took ten cents from his pocket and rang it up in the cash register." He took a risk of losing his job for Ma. The people that seem unwilling to help out usually have a good heart. They don't want to see the anguish and the pain these migrants have suffered. They want to help, but there is only so much a person can or is willing to do. The man who owned the gas station had lent gas to previous migrants who gave him dolls, furniture, and other utensils. The junk he got in exchange for
What would happen if defying the government could result in death? In the memoir Red Scarf Girl, Ji-li describes how everybody had dutifully followed Chairman Mao and took action in helping the Communist Party. On the other hand, others flouted the Party. During the events of the Cultural Revolution, Ji-li Jiang has self-conflicts about her true beliefs. Ji-li once believed in the kindness of the Communist Party and had confidence that the Cultural Revolution would benefit the fate of China. However, Ji-li’s beliefs soon change from following the footsteps of Chairman Mao to going against the Cultural Revolution for the sake of others.
After reading “Yellow Woman” a sense of mystery is imposed on the readers. The story itself is very short and dreamlike. It is as if there is no beginning to the story. The narrator wakes up on the sand of a river bank next to a man she does not know. The man known as Silva acts very strangely towards her throughout the entire story. He is always laughing and smiling while at the same time forcing the narrator to do what he wants. By the same token, the narrator never puts up any sort of a fight to leave. The Narrator in the story knowingly follows Silva’s every word even knowing deep down she knows that she probably shouldn’t. She uses her time with him as an escape from her own
Always, I was told from parents and elders that anyone can achieve their dreams through arduous work and dedication. Surprisingly, I hadn’t pondered this until I observed a shivering homeless person standing at the corner asking for help on one snowy, frosty winter day. This affected my life greatly. On the way, I just started thinking about the life of homeless people and how they are not fortunate enough to get their own place to live, their choice of delicious food to eat and several other amenities that we all enjoy in our everyday lives. An incident, like this, sparked an enthusiastic sense of compassion and empathy in me. Along with my family, I started thinking deeply and my thoughts to help the homeless expanded to other areas and I wanted to start helping the community around me as much as possible.
The essay, On Compassion By Barbara Lazear Ascher, addresses the subject by going beyond the origin and reasoning for compassion. She interprets this by examining characteristics of homelessness and ways to empathize with it in the city of New York, her home. The use of rhetorical devices allows the author to adequately teach readers the ideas and essence of compassion. Ascher’s use of organization, figurative language, and ethos allows the application of philosophy and sentiment to question our articulation of the subject.
The man was quite rude when my mother didn’t have any more she could give (as we were not very well-off financially), and walked away cursing at her, holding the money. For a short while afterwards, I felt that perhaps the family friend’s stereotyping was accurate - until I thought about it and came to the conclusion that any homeless person could react like this.
Homelessness exists as a prominent issue that plagues society in various ways. It brings about hardship and controversy as individuals struggle to survive on a daily basis. Additionally, this complication tears families apart and ostracizes individuals from a society where they once belonged. A specific problem regarding homelessness consists of lack of interest from bystanders; some of these spectators refuse to even acknowledge homeless individuals sitting at their feet. As homeless people live their lives on street-corners, the more fortunate members of society choose to engulf themselves in their personal problems alone. Displayed by their clothing and accessories, most of these individuals possess the ability to help in some way;
“If I give this homeless person a dollar then I’ll have to give the next guy a dollar and so forth … I’ll end up broke!”
In the memoir “Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution” written by Ji-Li Jiang and forwarded by David Henry Hwang, it follows the experiences of Ji-Li Jiang during the onset of Chairman Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution of China while living in Shanghai, China, 1966. In the memoir, Ji-Li at only the age of 13 experiences first hand the many effects of the revolution which are shown in many ways. These effects include her peers attitudes, her family and classmates relations, as well as personal feelings of the overall event.
Astonishingly, 564,708 people are currently homeless in the United States, according to Social Solutions (Social Solutions, 2016). The topic, “Living Poor,” has only become much more apparent in the news and in everyday life. Two essays, On Compassion by Barbara Lazear Ascher and On Dumpster Diving by Lars Eighner, can be evaluated as discussing two different aspects of the homeless situation in America. After close reading, On Compassion more effectively achieves its purpose of defining compassion than On Dumpster Diving, which describes the wasteful nature of mankind.
Over half of a million people within the United States are homeless, the largest part of that group belonging to the famed and familiar city: Los Angeles. But why is it that the majority of Americans seem so unaffected by the penniless, impoverished souls harboring the areas they often visit? It was once delivered by the famed businessman and religious leader, Joseph B. Wirthlin, in an address named "Live in Thanksgiving Daily" that "The more often we the see things around us -- even the beautiful and wonderful -- the more they become invisible to us" (Wirthlin 11). The essence of Wirthlin’s wise words is that because we see certain things so often, we become desensitized and accustomed to them, leading us to acknowledge them less and less. This however, serves as a poor excuse when explaining our lack of effort in attacking and solving the social issues present in homelessness. In today’s day and age, individuals often adapt the mindset of: “Your problem, you deal with it.” But how are these human beings, who have aspirations and dreams just like you and me (that are now crushed), are supposed to just “deal” with living without a penny to their names with no possibility of finding any source of income? How are these people supposed to just “deal” with the paralyzing fear and helplessness they experience every night before they lie down on the cold, hard concrete floor of a dingy alley that they’re forced to call home for the night? Of course, they don’t. Well, more
Surviving homelessness is a struggle. With people walking by you when, you ask for money or help, sleeping in the hot or cold, not eating for days. Going back Janacek, he stated that everyday the shelter workers, would send him and every other person that was staying there to the streets. Even if you find a shelter to stay at while homeless, it is not a guarantee that you will stay there until you find a job, or home. There are about 5,253 homeless people in the city of Toronto (estimated in 2013), and there are only 41 shelters as of 2015. So no everyone will be able to stay multiple or even one day at a shelter. Not only this, homeless people have a more difficult time finding a job according to the huffington post. In the article written by christine schanes, it states that to get a job “people must be clean and wear clean clothing”. So if a person doesn’t have access to a shower, toilet or anything that keep us clean, how does society expect them to get a job? So the next time a homeless person asks you for money, or anything, try putting yourself in their
The word “homeless” is used to describe many different kinds of people with a variety of problems; the “homeless” includes veterans, the mentally ill, the physically disabled or chronically ill, the elderly on fixed incomes, men, women, and families that have lost their source of income, single parents, runaway children who’ve been abused, alcoholics and drug addicts, immigrants, and traditional tramps, hobos, and transients (Martin, 1999). In “Helping and Hating the Homeless”, Peter Martin claims that although these people all have different backgrounds, histories, and reasons for not having a “home”, they are categorized and stereotyped by society and all looked down upon for being “homeless”. He addresses his readers, those that pass by
“Carefully, my parents chose my name: Ji-li, meaning lucky and beautiful. They hoped that I would be the happiest girl in the world.
The lack of dignity that these individuals feel is a direct effect of society’s disrespect for the lower class. The stereotypes of the homeless conceived by upper social classes, cause the lower class to lose any respectable role they may have in society. A homeless man in Oberlin, Ohio says, “Many of us historically invisible people, in our quest for visibility, have chosen to take the routes of organization and alliance building. Often we tend to find that our muted voices have more resonance, bass, and credibility within these snugly, institutionally sanctioned cubby holes” (Laymon). After failing to get sufficient help through