Barbara Lazear Ascher On Compassion The man’s grin is less the result of circumstance than dreams or madness. His buttonless shirt‚ with one sleeve missing‚ hangs outside the waist of his baggy trousers. Carefully plaited dreadlocks bespeak a better time‚ long ago. As he crosses Manhattan’s Seventy-Ninth Street‚ his gait is the shuffle of the forgotten ones held in place by gravity rather than plans. On the corner of Madison Avenue‚ he stops before a blond baby in an Aprica stroller. The baby’s
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In Barbara Lazear Ascher’s essay called "On Compassion" is about how she is looking around at people at a bus stop and she starts to point out the flaws in everyone that is there. In the opening sentence she talks about how sloppy this one man is by saying he has "his buttonless shirt‚ with one sleeve missing‚ hangs outside the waist of his baggy trousers." She also says that everyone at the bus stop is just daydreaming and not paying attention on what they are doing. As it goes along the owner
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Barbara Lazear Ascher‚ in her essay‚ On Compassion‚ draws attention to the homeless in New York and how they are affecting others. Ascher’s purpose is to invoke empathy among her readers. Using rhetorical questions‚ imagery‚ and compares the homeless of today to‚ Ascher inspires her readers to think about the poor situation the homeless are left with.She adopts a reflective and thoughtful tone in order to cause readers to wonder if people should be more compassionate towards the homeless. Ascher opens
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Challenging society’s viewpoints about compassion‚ Barbara Lazear Ascher’s essay “On Compassion” calls to attention the act of giving to the homeless‚ and whether these actions are done out of true compassion or simple agitation. The various stories recalled within the essay are set in “The Empire State”‚ New York. As the essay begins‚ the author first writes about a homeless man who approaches a mother waiting a crosswalk with a stroller in hand. The man is distracted as he walks by the sight of
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reread “on Compassion” by Barbara Ascher and began to understand what she was trying to say this time. She just wanted to notice what is going around her and when she did‚ she had noticed different scenes that made her questions if they are done because of care and love or feeling they are obligated to do them. in her paper she said‚ “ Twice I have witnessed this‚ and twice I have wondered‚ what compels this woman to feed this man?Pity?Care?Compassion?”(page 47).She shows different stories with the
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“On Compassion” by Barbara Lazear Ascher The purpose of this essay is to question the readers. Ascher wants the audience to analyze themselves to determine the reason behind why people show kindness‚ whether it is out of fear‚ pity‚ or compassion. Compassion is learned through experience and seeing those less fortunate; it brings out sympathy because one cannot ignore it when unfortunate people are everywhere. “And yet‚ it may be that these are the conditions that finally give birth
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Leo COMPARE AND CONTRAST Barbara Lazear Ascher and Anna Quindlen both write an essay which signifies their opinion about homelessness based on their observation on the society. Their essays states how people characterize and treat homeless as others. Ascher and Quindlen’s work also have message that they want readers to know and understand. On Ascher’s essay “On Compassion‚” she uses an example and symbolism such as the two homeless men to denote something. The first man who was mentioned on the
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Compassion at Play Are people born with a complete quandary when it comes to compassion or is it something that has always been there? Barbara Lazear Ascher‚ born in 1946‚ writes‚ “On Compassion.” Having lived in New York City‚ Ascher is able to take first hand examples from the city to show the affection people have towards each other. Ascher is able to illustrate that compassion is something that has to be taught because of the adversity at people’s heels by including tone‚ persuasive appeals
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‚ BARBARA LAZEAR ASCHER On Compassion Barbara Lazear Ascher‚ born in 1946‚ worked as a lawyer for two years before she became a full-time writer. Her essays‚ which have appeared in newspapers and magazines‚ have been collected in Playing after Dark (1986) and The Habit of Loving (1989). She has also written books about her brother’s death fi-om AIDS (Landscape without Grav- ity: A Memoir of Grief‚ 1993) and romance (Dancing in the Dark: Romance‚ Yearning‚ and the Search
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humanizing homelessness people can be compelled to effect change in their community. Change can alter the opinion of people or influence someone to act differently in their everyday life. Authors‚ Anna Quindlen in “Homeless‚” and Barbara Lazear Ascher in “On Compassion‚” emphasize the human aspect of change; however Quindlen is more effective in compelling people to change their ideas about homelessness because of her passionate and inspiring‚ she doesn’t defy in persuading change and making the reader
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