What Is The Summary Of Fire In The Ashes By Jonathan Kozol

Many inner city dwellers are often physically, socially, and economically trapped to the confines of their living situation. Lack of financial stability in the inner city prevents many residents from improving their situation, and in effect leaves an entire community socially and economically stagnant and living with “rats in the front room, roaches in the back/junkie’s in the alley with a baseball bat.” In the author’s case, one shared by countless other inner city residents, the ability to even catch a breather from the depressing sites and life of the inner city is not even feasible due to lack of transportation.

Many education writers have much to say about the education-taking place in our public schools, as well as Kozol. For Instance Diane Ravitch a research professor of education at New York University spoke about an interesting truth, saying, “The achievement gaps are rooted in social, political, and economic structures. If we are unwilling to change the root cause, we are unlikely ever to close the gaps.” The success of our children’s education is mainly caused by economic, social and political statue. If one does not end the cycle the gap will most likely never close. This may tie in with when Kozol cites Marina Warner, an essayist and novelist, saying, “There are expensive children and there

Homelessness is a social problem that is prevalent around the world. Homelessness has existed for much of "civilized" human history. In the last two centuries, homelessness and changed and expanded. Sociologists who study and research homelessness have argued over its formal definition for decades, though for some, the definition of homelessness seems self explanatory and obvious. The paper will examine homelessness, particularly as a sociological issue, or a social issue seen from a sociological perspective. The paper will additionally reference sociological theory as a means of explanation for homelessness, such its causes, the demographics/populations, and other prominent known characteristics of homeless people. There are individuals and groups who choose to be, from a normative societal perspective, homeless, but for a great deal of the homeless population, it can be a treacherous and tragic lifestyle that is a result of a distinct set of social, societal, and individual factors.

Kozol’s main argument is that public education should be free and equal to people of all economic classes. Kozol believes that children from poor families are cheated out of a future by unequipped, understaffed and under funded schools in the United State’s inner cities and less affluent suburbs. The majority of these children are non-white, and living amongst poverty and crime. Kozol argues about the unfair standards we expect these underprivileged children to rise to. Children in these poor areas are being compared to children in affluent areas where the quality of their education is much higher. Kozol asks how these children will succeed in today’s world if they are not given the same opportunities as affluent schools give their children. Kozol believes that by depriving our poorer children of their basic needs we are forcing them into lives of crime, poverty and a never-ending cycle of inequalities in education. Kozol stresses that these students must be taught that “savage inequalities” do not have to exist between them and students in more affluent schools, and that all children are entitled to an equal education.

In the essay “Still Separate, Still Unequal” by Jonathan Kozol, the situation of racial segregation is refurbished with the author’s beliefs that minorities (i.e. African Americans or Hispanics) are being placed in poor conditions while the Caucasian majority is obtaining mi32 the funding. Given this, the author speaks out on a personal viewpoint, coupled with self-gathered statistics, to present a heartfelt argument that statistics give credibility to. Jonathan Kozol is asking for a change in this harmful isolation of students, which would incorporate more funding towards these underdeveloped schools. This calling is directed towards his audience of individuals who are interested in the topic of public education (seeing that this

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

Life in tenements was tough because as the population was increasing exponentially; the quality of life was becoming increasingly crowded and unsanitary. Since these buildings were in high demand, housing over two thirds of the population of New York, they were commonly made of cheap materials. Maks’ family’s rooms were not well made because “the ceiling is tin. The floor is wood. As for the walls, they’re all faded green with a few cracks” (Avi 54). The buildings themselves were packed with inhabitants so that the landlords could pack more money in their back pockets. The tenement flats were very dimly light, which left many lowlifes living in low light. There was a lack of light put on the subject, and some of the regulations to have better sanitation

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.

If anyone in the United States were asked, "What is the best part about living in this country?," most people would answer "equality". The United States is built on and known for the equality among its citizens and is often referred to as the 'melting pot'. After reading Jonathan Kozol's, The Shame of the Nation, equality is nonexistent within the schools he has gone to, and has been employed through. With his travels, expert testimony and personal stories gathered from the people within the community and schools, he shows the exact opposite of equality. Minority schools being his main focus, he discusses the inequalities these students endure and truly opens up your eyes to just how awful these minority schools have it. Jonathan Kozol is successful in his writing of The Shame of the Nation, and makes himself a voice for these minority schools that are denied of their voices.

The novel shows us the many difficulties that the homeless must go through during their daily lives. The novel teaches us how the homeless make sacrifices and struggle to survive, which many people don’t

One can only imagine what it is like to be homeless. Homelessness is depicted inaccurately in movies and television shows. As a result, people have negative perceptions of the homeless; they think that they are lazy, uneducated or mentally ill. The film “The Saint of Fort Washington” implicitly depicts homelessness, because it shows the realities of how the homeless survive both socially and economically. In this essay I will disuss how the homeless survice both economically and socially, and if the movie depicts homelessness realtiscly. Also I will analyze the extent to which Dordick’s article “More than a Refuge: The Social World of a Homeless Shelter,” compares to the depictions found in the movie.

In Slumming by Chad Heap the author describes the true reality of slumming, and how it was more wide spread than what it appear just in the surface. Heap defines slumming, as he concentrate on cities like Chicago and New York, that were provide with entertainment. This entertainment would come from immigrants, blacks, gays and bohemians during a period of large scale immigration in this cities. The author explains in detail the culture of slumming, as well as how it helps to produce the sex/gender/racial system. Heap also argues how the different participants in slumming affect one another. The impact between the different interactions among different races, classes and gender was as well discussed in detail by the author. Finally Heap

The meaning of homelessness has changed many times in the past years, we have forgotten that casual laborers, vagrants, and the wandering poor were not unseen in early years, whereby homelessness is an uneasy situation in society. According to Shlay & Rossie, (1992), homelessness is an individual without a home or a permanent place, but current perspectives indicate that intermittent homelessness falls into the definition. At the beginning vagrancy focused on skid row with the attention on single room hotels, boarding houses, and cheap places to eat, on the community that attracted transients, though they were not homerless, whereby they had had a place to sleep with an address.

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

Envision feeling lost and not knowing what to do or where to go. You spend every night in the chilly weather on a seat, which you call your bed. As you wake up to the prattling clamors every morning you choose which open spot will permit you to tidy yourself up. When you get hungry, you ask individuals for change to eat or you seek the closest trash can. For whatever remains of the day, you sit in the city trusting individuals will see you and will want to assist. Realizing that you are not judged by who you are but rather what you will be, you understand that the majority of people in public don 't necessarily understand homelessness, and it would be a miracle if the circumstances in homelessness ever change. Often you find them huddled on a seat or in an entryway under unwashed covers or worn out coats. These individuals are called homeless, in spite of the fact that they are more than just simply individuals without homes. According to Arthur Gilliard, in Homelessness, he states, “A homeless person is someone who is unstable to secure and maintain a permanent, safe, and adequate dwelling. Homelessness is the condition of being homeless, and it represents a broad social category of people who are, for any number of reasons, left without a place to call their own.”(Gilliard 9) Homelessness could walk in our community and you would not even know it. According to Timothy Pina, a writer from the book called Hearts for Haiti: Book of Poetry &