In David Guterson’s short essay “No Place like Home,” he visits communities like Green Valley and meets with residents to discuss the lifestyle of the average suburban family, typically four members in total, who live in the walled in, well watched, prestigious sounding, city sized western version of our local community Landfall. While the essay begins with a sunny sounding tone the reporter almost attempts to portray the community as a facade with something dark lurking in the deeper corners, he does this by phrasing certain things with a suspenseful tone in the first paragraph. David does, inevidetly reach some of his darker topics as he address crime and a certain area of politics. His point, after all though, seemed just to be to inform…
This assignment will identify key points then critically compare and contrast different articles (Farrell, 2012) and (Parsell, 2013) on homelessness. It will ascertain the topic and focal points that surround homelessness. Furthermore it will discuss and link together the similarities and differences of their main argument and policy message within the articles.…
In her article “ Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Kids.” Anna Quindlen discusses the issue about homeless families in the United States and the impact of homelessness on the children. Quindlen describes one situation where six people, a woman and five children, live together in a room the size of a master bedroom. The idea, Quindlen says, is that the ineffectiveness of the welfare system has negative impact on families, particularly, mothers and their offsprings . She poses the statement that each day the younger children go to daycare, while the others go to school. During that time their mother, Sharanda, looks for an apartment when she isn’t at her drug-treatment meetings. Quindlen suggests that ultimately shelters will become the…
Gowan uses three primary constructions of homelessness in her ethnography: homelessness as a moral offense or sin-talk, as pathology or sick-talk, and as the product of systemic injustice or system-talk (Gowan xxi). Perhaps the oldest moral construct in North American society is sin-talk. Sin-talk poverty management calls for strategies of exclusion and punishment (Gowan xxi). Thusfar, it has been a successful (although somewhat inhumane) form of social control (Gowan 202). The homeless population, including beggars, hobos, and other impoverished people, has been considered morally weak and/or criminals by American society since colonial times (Gowan 31). While exploiting vulnerable individuals and going against “the rules” is common among the San Francisco homeless, it is not all-inclusive of the population (Gowan 83). Self-renewal and reformation has only reinforced hostile behavior through systemic hostility and judgment (Gowan 222).…
Happiness will endlessly be bound by the pressure to choose. Having the choice to either compromise or pursue joy in our lives, is what makes being happy more fulfilling. For some, compromising their happiness is a way to please other people or the idea of their future. In his short story “Home Place”, Guy Vanderhaeghe explores this topic and more, as we go through a fathers responsibility in fostering happiness in his son. The short story examines Gil and his son Ronald, who rushes through marriage in order to inherit a massive family farm owned by Gil, and past generations of his family.…
In Scott Bransford article “Camping for Their Live”, Bransford writes about a newlywed couple Marie and Francisco Caro and many other homeless people in California’s Central Valley. The Caros didn’t have enough money to put a down payment on a home therefore they became homeless. Bransford uses a concerned tone when writing about the homeless in California. Bransford has some strengths and some weaknesses in his article. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of tent cities and the people who live in them. Bransford is biased towards helping homeless people. Bransford has a concerned and sympathic tone in his article about the homeless people in California’s Central Valley.…
Within the introduction, Hulchanski disassembles the word “homelessness”, and how homelessness is used by researchers, media, politicians, and services providers. He illustrates the invention of homelessness, who is highly susceptible to homelessness, and the detrimental impacts of homelessness. At the end of the introduction, Hulchanski plans for the the e-book to “take apart the word ‘homelessness’, and revealing the many social issues it conceals..and to develop appropriate responses”. Furthermore, working towards a goal that in “20 years, the term ‘homelessness’ will be obsolete”.…
While reading Anna Quindlen’s “Homeless” we are faced with the difficult question: Is a home everything? Quindlen has come to the conclusion, that yes your home is everything, and I cannot help but to agree with her. There is an understanding that there is a difference between a house and home. Whereas the building you are living in is referred to your house, your home is the compassion and comfort you feel in that house with your family and friends. Quindlen states that in your home you have, “certainty, stability, predictability, privacy” (Quindlen par. 4). Although there are downsides to owning a house, there is comfort and familiarity in one’s home because of the ability to have somewhere private to withdraw and family that helps raise…
In the excerpt “Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World” the author Scott Russell Sanders states “Our Promised Land has always been over the next ridge or at the end of the trail, never under our feet” (Sanders 6). Scott Russell Sanders uses this quote to start off his argument of whether migration is useful in the idea of creating human beings or not. Throughout this persuasive passage the author refutes many points on migration brought up by Salman Rushdie. He does this throughout the passage to prove to the audience that settling would have a highly beneficial effect on human beings. Not only does he refute these points, but he uses them to his advantage by explaining what is wrong and right about them, which overall improves his…
With the recent affordable-housing crisis that has been transpiring in Canada, homelessness has become a highly significant social issue (Gaetz, Gulliver, & Richter, 2014, p. 5). To address the issue of homelessness, the Alberta Secretariat for Action on Homelessness (Secretariat) released the document “A Plan for Alberta: Ending Homelessness in 10 Years” in 2008. The philosophy behind this plan is Housing First which was popularized in New York City in the 1990’s (Calgary Homeless Foundation, 2014, p. 1).…
Imagine spending each night out on the streets and waking up to a blathering commotion on rough, lumpy concrete. Your thoughts leading you to your own theory of as the only chances of survival are begging and relying on people for food or change and searching for anything edible in the nearest garbage cans. Homelessness is one of the most difficult journeys you might get in life. Whether you’re a child or an adult, there is a chance that you can encounter these horrendous conditions, but these circumstances do not just come out of nowhere. There are many factors that lead to becoming homeless. However, solutions are out there in the world. Solutions that may end homelessness. We should all work together to end homelessness everywhere throughout the world. This essay will discuss…
The warmth and comfort in one’s home is something that is close to many people’s hearts. In the United States, especially in small suburban households, families come together to bond. In a small cozy home, children run and play joyously, and are nurtured with love from their parents. Parents provide for their children by giving them a roof over their heads, keeping food on the table, providing clothes to wear, and giving them a safe place to sleep. The children who are able to do this are part of a small, privileged class in the United States. There is a small population in the United States where youth live in the streets, and have to provide for themselves. In the United States, homeless youth is often disregarded, because many people believe that a parent would not abandon their child to survive on his or herself.…
Poverty in America is a subject that though everybody recognizes is existent, most do not pay attention to very often. In 2010 the poverty line for a family of four was $22,314.00 and 15.1% of Americans were living off of less than that (Tavernise, 2011). While 15.1% is a high number to begin with, the truth is that many more people are living on the verge of homelessness. Countless families are split up every night with children going to a friend’s house or an extended family member’s house to ensure that everyone has somewhere to sleep. These people are called the “hidden homeless” by the Charlotte Observer (Whitesides, 2011). Even more people are either living in tent cities or in their cars all around the United States. The events that lead to homelessness range from drug abuse to being laid off from a career because of a poor economy; but sadly the former makes it seem as if everyone who is homeless is in their situation because of their own faults. Many people who are approached by someone who is homeless or sees them panhandling for money hesitate to offer money because of the discourse that all homeless people are alcoholics and drug abusers. Unfortunately, the truth is that “many adults panhandle on corners for money to pay for a cheap motel room so that their children can have a warm place to sleep for the night” (Whitesides, 2011). Through this essay, the topic of homelessness and poverty in America will be explored by understanding some of the causes that have contributed to poverty throughout history and how the homeless are coping with their situation.…
“She lives with a tribe of homeless teens- Runaways and throwaways, kids who have no place to go to other than the cold city streets, and no family except for one another. Abused, abandoned and forgotten, they struggle against the cold, hunger, and constant danger” (“Can’t get there from here” by Todd strasser). Here in the United States, about more than 610,000 people face the tragedy of losing their homes (Annual Homeless Assessment). As a matter of fact, according to the “Global Homeless Statistics,” it is estimated that about 100 Million people are homeless worldwide. Many of us, having a roof over our heads, mistreat them, making them seem invisible to our world. Sometimes, we even treat them as minority, as if they were…
Homelessness is a growing social injustice in the United States. The degradation that these people face every day is terrifying. It is a crisis that we too often ignore, hoping it will restore itself. That assumption delivers a widespread lack of understanding about the facts that lead to homelessness. Homelessness exists as a problem that we should acknowledge and treat.…