In the passage Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World, Scott Russell Sanders disagrees that “the belief that movement is inherently good.” Sanders claims that we should root ourselves in places instead of ideas and we should care for the earth rather than our own selfish desires. Through refuting Rushdie’s argument and recognizing the counter argument and appealing to the audience’s intelligence by using historical facts and evidence, Sanders relays his belief that we must settle down and “pay enough need and respect to where we are.” Anytime Sanders quotes Rushdie, he worked in his own point while refuting Rushdie’s point. In the beginning, Sanders quotes Rushdie three times. The first time he quotes Rushdie he overall agrees with
Living Out by Lisa Loomer is a play that tells the story of the complicated relationship between a Salvadoran nanny and the lawyer she works for. Both women are smart, hard-working mothers who want better lives for their children. The play explores many similarities and differences between them. Through the main character Ana, we understand what it’s like to leave a child in another country and to come to come to the United States. We also get what the potential cost is like to sacrifice your own child in order to care for someone else's. Through the lawyer; Nancy, we understand the pressure on women today. How they try to do everything perfectly and sometimes having to put work before their family. The play also looks at the discrimination and misconceptions between Anglos (White American’s) and Latinos.
Walking across a dessert to a place where you know your family is going to have a better life and better opportunities. You can just see it as you are getting closer to where your destination is but what is that destination well in Linda Chavez writing “Supporting Family Values” it is the United States of America. Chavez writing is not just about illegal immigrants in the U.S. but also the they family values are not what most people think.
The three short essays were subjectively confusing, dry, and simple to read. I was not impressed by the subject matter in Yiyun Li’s “Orange Crush.” Nor was I enthralled by the way “The Sanctuary of School” and Kingsolver’s “In Case You Ever Want to Go Home Again” were written. On the other hand, Lynda Barry had a pleasant ending to her lackluster essay in “The Sanctuary School.” Overall I was let down by the three treatise.
In Scott Russell Sander’s response to Salman Rushdie’s essay on the benefits of moving, Sanders claims that people should focus more on where they are at instead of trying to fulfill one’s materialistic desires. He also rebuts on the idea that movement is entirely good. By using historical evidence, direct quotes and a respectful, conversational tone, Sanders expresses his belief on why humans should settle down and abandon the tireless moving.
He moved here to the "land of opportunity", when in fact that so called "opportunity" actually brings sadness, misery, and even death. For many of the immigrants of the time the American dream became
Ronald Takaki quotes Langston Hughes in his book A Different Mirror “ Let American be America again, let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed, … I am the red man driven from the land, I am the Immigrant clutching the hope I seek, O let my land be a land where, equality is the air we breathe.” (Takaki, 19-20). “‘We the’diverse ‘people of the United States’ transformed America into a mighty economy and an amazing unique society of varied races, ethnicities, and religion.” (Takaki, 20). Takaki wrote in his book, “ Day of spacious dreams! I sailed for America, Overblown with hope.” ( Takaki, 14). Would not all immigrants come here for a better life? Yes, Ken Vinson, who works at a local power station in Marshalltown, Iowa said, “Some people came here because they were desperate. I don’t care how they got here, and they have a family. Now all of the sudden you want to rip these people out and send them back? I wouldn’t want my family torn apart like that.’” (Barabak, 2016) . An opponent may say, their desire and dreams take away our hope. Desires, dreams, and hopes, however, are contagious and
This falls into the hands of Thoreau as “[he] believed that true America should not be a country that oppresses its people to support invasion of other countries and exploitation of the lives of others” (Ma 385). Though Thoreau's basis was more along the lines of environmentalism, he was quite the political man in his essay Civil Disobedience. Plainly stated in terms referring to Occupy Wall Street, as many points of Thoreau are, the government is too corrupt to care about the people, therefore they only care about the business; a fate that Thoreau saw in the early 1800s has come to fruition. In conclusion, Thoreau may have come across as simplistic, but he was looking at a much bigger picture when it came to society and the progression of technology and industrialization in the world. He did not believe that the world should stop working and live off the land, on the contrary, he believed, “The human dignity, wildlife and freedom were preserved within such a working process.
Flannery O'Conner has again provided her audience a carefully woven tale with fascinating and intricate characters. "The Displaced Person" introduces the reader to some interesting characters who experience major life changes in front of the reader's eyes. The reader ventures into the minds of two of the more complex characters in "The Displaced Person," Mrs. McIntyre and Mrs. Shortley, and discovers an unwillingness to adapt to change. Furthermore, the intricate details of their characters are revealed throughout the story. Through these details, the reader can see that both Mrs. McIntyre and Mrs. Shortley suffer from a lack of spiritual dimension that hinders them as they face some of life's harsher realities. Mrs. McIntyre struggles throughout the story, most notably during the tragic conclusion. Her lack of spiritual dimension is revealed slowly until we ultimately see how her life is devastated because of it. Mrs. Shortley, on the other hand, seems to have it all figured out spiritually -- or at least she believes that she does. It is only in the last few minutes of her life that she realizes all she has convinced herself of is wrong.
Throughout history, traveling both domestically and internationally has been a major aspect of American life. Whether traveling for work, vacation, or even just leisure, Americans have always been on the move. Although, from Arthur C. Brooks article, “How to Get Americans Moving Again,” it is evident that times are changing. In “How to Get Americans Moving Again,” Brooks portrays an America that has had an immense percentage decrease in the amount of Americans that domestically move between states. This decrease is due to a traveling environment that has left a vast amount of fear and uncertainty in the hearts of travelers, which has caused them to stay home. Considering the current circumstances that Americans are traveling in, which includes
Have you ever woke up in the morning and asked yourself, “Why am I living this life?” Throughout the book of Walden, Henry David Thoreau questions the lifestyles that people choose; he makes his readers wonder if they have chosen the kind of lifestyle that give them the greatest amount of happiness. Thoreau stated, “Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them().” This quote is important because most of society these days are so caught up in work and trying to make ends meet that they lose the values in life. Thoreau was forced to change his life when he found himself unhappy after a purchase for a farm fell through. On Thoreau’s journey he moves to Walden and builds a house and life from nothing but hard work, symbolizes many different objects.
Gender conflict is an issue that still exists within our society, long after the days of the Women’s Rights Movements and the division of career opportunities amongst men and women. While many times women are the ones facing obstacles, there are several instances in which the U.S. Prison System has made it harder for men to deal with their convictions. In Joanne Mariner’s article, “Deliberate Indifference,” she thoroughly describes the horrendous acts of rape and assault that occur within prison cells across the country. As male inmates are raped and violated, their suffering is setting the standards for different types of “masculinity” within our society. Nell Bernstein also discusses how the use of video-chat software is affecting the outlooks of convicted fathers and their struggle to keep contact with their families in his article, “Relocation Blues.” Both articles reveal the unrecognized struggle of male prisoners as they fight to survive in some of the harshest facilities within the country.
Bound are we who seek to satisfy the desires of our own personas. Lost are those who strive to find unification within a group environment. Words that I’ve lived by for years because they apply directly to the way that I do things on a daily basis; they’ve kept me going for a long time. In some cases, my activities elicit a response that is the equivalence of being banished from the group. Yet nothing that I do is so taboo as to deserve such a punishment. I play video games and spend time alone to contemplate life. So why must I care so much as to what the others think about my actions and the way that I am? There’s a simple answer to that question, and the truth will be revealed as the essay unfolds. A little hint as to avoid being entirely
To illustrate the disdain caused by constant moving, Sanders uses allusions. He alludes to the past when the Spanish came to the New World and imposed their “religion, politics, and economics of the Old” on the people (Sanders). The allusion relates back to the fifteenth century when Christopher Columbus comes over to the America’s and his people bring diseases and kill many of the Indians; in turn, the Indians rebelled against
The last stanza explains the narrator’s reason for “moving,” or in other words living: “I move / to keep things whole.
What is it about sex that makes everyone so uncomfortable? Upon reading Randa Jarrar’s A Map of Home, one of the major themes that the novel goes in depth about is Nidali’s sexual awakening. Many students would argue that this novel is littered with too much sexual activity, i.e. masturbation. However, A Map of Home is a novel about finding your place in this world; the search for your identity and purpose. Sexual identity plays a significant part of that continuum. You may question, “Well, could you have figure out a way to describe her story without all the sex stuff?” This statement would demolish the novel’s relatable and sheer honest tone, as well as disintegrate the genuineness behind the narrative if Jarrar would omit Nidali’s sexual experiences. The complete fact that young teenagers do think about sex so often makes one grasp the true relatability this novel showcases through the main character’s sexual experiences. In this essay, I plan to explore the importance of sexual awakening, Nidali’s own reasons for experimenting with her sexuality, and what we can ultimately learn from being open with what we want in that context.