Jonathan Kozol's Amazing Grace is a book that describes the everyday horrors and struggles for survival, for a group of elementary girls and boys who are growing up in the South Bronx, the poorest congressional district in the United States. "When you enter the train, you are in the seventh richest congressional district in the nation. When you leave, you are in the poorest." This unimaginable way of life seems normal to these children because they really don't know any better. Normal to them is sickness, drug abuse, pollution, death, welfare and violence. Throughout this book, Kozol interviews many children so the reader gets the open and honest answers for the community. It is continuous dialogue between Kozol and many residents. Many of them speak about how they feel abandoned or forgot about by our nation. "I believe that what the rich have done to the poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil. Kozol wanted to get close to the individuals he got his information from because he wanted to get the true feeling for the environment he entered. He tried to uncover some reasons why people live these horrifying lifestyles or what could have lead them to this. The amount of drug users is extremely high; the dangerously large number of gangs, the poor and high unemployment rate and the most shocking is the number of people who have been infected with AIDS. Kozol is an extraordinary interviewer that has such a special connection with these kids that he reveals another side to these kids from the ghettoes. He reaches deep inside and hears them crying out for help and hears their hurts and sorrows. Although when first meeting them they seem to be so cheerful but eventually they starve for atte... ... middle of paper ... ... and unbreakable. Every week the church was full of desperate people trying to fulfill their needs with God. They felt safe inside and danger free. The story was very inspiring and just leaves me feeling guilty because I really don't realize how awesome I have it and how terrible others do and how unfair the world is. The book goes perfect with the class because it coincides with the lectures we've had over the semester. The only thing about the book that I wasn't crazy about was the repetition that Kozol used. Although it got a little annoying to read at certain parts I feel that it was effective because of the repetition. Overall it was a great book. Thanks a lot for everything you have taught us this semester. I have really enjoyed your class and I'm glad that I had the chance to actually think about these topics, some of which I rarely think about!
The book itself is an on-going dialogue between Kozol and the neighborhoods residents, interjected every so often with thoughts from Kozol. He covers a spectrum of topics from AIDS, drug addiction, prostitution, crime, poorly run and funded schools, white flight from schools to over-crowded hospitals and the amazing faith in religion and God that many of these people have.
Many neighborhoods are inhabited only by the most hopeless of poverty-ridden people while others downtown or across the park do not care, or are glad to be separated from them. Such is the problem in New York City today and in Mott Haven in Jonathan Kozol's Amazing Grace. I have lived in New York City all my life and I had no idea that these problems were going on so close to home. If I live about three miles away from Mott Haven and I am not aware of the situation there, then who is? Chapter 1 of Amazing Grace opens with a startling fact.
While reading Amazing Grace, one is unable to escape the seemingly endless tales of hardship and pain. The setting behind this gripping story is the South Bronx of New York City, with the main focus on the Mott Haven housing project and its surrounding neighborhood. Here black and Hispanic families try to cope with the disparity that surrounds them. Mott Haven is a place where children must place in the hallways of the building, because playing outside is to much of a risk. The building is filled with rats and cockroaches in the summer, and lacks heat and decent water in the winter. This picture of the "ghetto" is not one of hope, but one of fear. Even the hospitals servicing the neighborhoods are dirty and lack the staff that is needed for quality basic care. If clean bed sheets are needed the patients must put them on themselves. This book is filled with stories of real people and their struggles. Each story, though different in content, has the same basic point, survival.
Kotlowitz does an excellent job portraying how demoralizing life in the ghetto really is. Through showing what the children of the book go through, Kotlowitz remains very neutral. He bestows the thoughts, fears, and hopes of inner-city children that normally are not exposed to those who do not live in these circumstances. Lafayette and Pharoah are only two of the thousands of children suffering in these disturbing conditions. The Chicago Housing Authority did go in and clean up the buildings, but without accessible money there is not that much that can be done. The children born into poverty cannot overcome the situation, unless they are provided with the means and opportunities to do so.
The West side of Chicago, Harlem, Watts, Roxbury, and Detroit. What do all of these areas have in common? These areas, along with many others have become mine fields for the explosive issues of race, values, and community responsibility, led by the plight of the urban underclass. Issues such as violent crime, social separation, welfare dependence, drug wars, and unemployment all play a major role in the plight of American inner-city life. Alex Kotlowitz's book: There Are No Children Here, confronts America's devastated urban life; a most painful issue in America. Kotlowitz traces the lives of two black boys; 10 year old LaFayette, and 7 year old Pharoah, as they struggle to beat the odds growing up in one of Chicago's worst housing projects. Their family includes a welfare dependent mother, an alcholic-drug using father, an older sister, an older brother, and younger triplets. Kotlowoitz describes the horrors of an ill-maintained housing project completely taken over by gangs, where murders and shootings are an everyday thing. Kotlowitz does a fine job at portraying ghetto life; those who are outside the American dream. He succeeds at putting a face on th people trapped inside the housing projects with virtually no hope of escape. One can truly feel a sense of great loss for the family, and a great deal of hope for the two young boys. You can truly feel yourself hoping that things will work out for them, and you can really feel like you know these young men on a personal basis. Kotlowotz spent a great deal of time with the boys so he could portray the world from the eyes of a child growing up in the ghetto, and he does an amazing job.
Jonathan Kozol's Amazing Grace is a book about the trials and tribulations of everyday life for a group of children who live in the poorest congressional district of the United States, the South Bronx. Their lives may seem extraordinary to us, but to them, they are just as normal as everyone else. What is normal? For the children of the South Bronx, living with the pollution, the sickness, the drugs, and the violence is the only way of life many of them have ever known.
Thank You, professor for amazing class. I never get up this early, and I failed a class this early back 3 semesters ago. But with your class, I looked forward to coming and letting myself speak on the topic and see what everyone had to say also. Thank you again!
It seems like a fairytale-like utopia until the narrator’s tour of the city takes a dark turn. Underneath the beauty, there is a dirty broom-closet-sized room. A small feeble-minded naked ten year old child sits there in its own excrement. Subject to malnutrition and neglect, the child is only given just enough
Elli talks about daily life in her neighborhood. Her mother does not show any compassion for her. When Elli complains of this, her mother brings up excuses that are unconvincing. Elli believes her mother does not care for her and that her brother is the favorite. Hilter’s reoccurring radio broadcast give nightmares to Elli, whos family is Jewish. The nights when the Hungarian military police would come and stir trouble did not provide anymore comfort for Elli. One night, her brother, Bubi, comes home with news that Germany invaded Budapest, the town where he goes to school. But the next morning, there is no news in the headlines. The father sends him back to school. He learns the next day that a neighbor’s son who goes to school with Bubi has said the same. The day after, the newspapers scream the news of the invasion. Bubi arrives home, and the terror begins.
Overall, I would give this class on a scale of one to ten an eight out of ten. The progression from the introduction of discourse communities to the power point on a specific discourse community went smoothly. The course was well thought out and I felt that it touched all of the necessary material for a composition one course. The only issue that I had with the class would be the cancellation of the classes. I know this may be out of your control but It made it difficult for me whenever I had a question, however, being able to email and get a quick response helped fix the issue.
At first glance, it seems that the author is going to take us on yet another journalistic ride through the land of the poor. Similar to the ones you read about, or hear in the news. However, this is not the case; the real underlying theme is what is society doing about the plight of the poor? Kozol uses the views of children to emphasize that these reports on living conditions are not being obtained by “disgruntled” adults, but from innocent, learning children whose only misfortune was being born to this particular area.
Drugs, violence, prostitution, pollution, infestation, and sickness of all kinds are present in South Bronx, New York. Unfortunately, children are surrounded and involved in all these problems and more. In Jonathan Kozol’s novel Amazing Grace, an evil reality full of racial segregation and alienation affect the people living in the ghetto. The personalities of these children are changed forever due to the existence of discrimination.
Thank you for your lectures. I learned a lot from you in class. I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
...novel, “deeply subversive,” “scripturally incorrect” and “dangerous.” Whereas Minister Steve McVey says, “A person discovers grace when you come to the end of your own self-sufficiency and realize you have been made acceptable through Jesus Christ and him alone. You can't score points with God."
Aside from all of these, I loved your class and would recommend it to anyone who asks which American Government professor to take. Thank you for everything that you have done for us! Hope you have a good summer.