...”Living in Poverty” – Richard Wright The definition of poverty can be a very individual thing, but if you ask people what they think poverty is, I think that most of them would say that it is lack of money. However, I also think that some of them, just a little group of them, would say: “Some people are so poor, all they got is money”. This is just one of the discussions, which involves poverty. It is also discussed whether poverty always will be in someone’s life if they are raised in it – and whether everybody has equal conditions when it comes to having a life without poverty, as a child or as an adult. In the essay “Living in Poverty” by Richard Wright poverty is the main theme. Richard Wright invites us in to the debate with his personal experiences and his story about living in Britain’s poor environment. Through the story Richard Wright get us to think – is poverty something in our mind? And is poverty really the only option for someone? The essay “Living in Poverty” is a creative non-fiction essay. More specifically; a personal essay, so I assume that Richard Wright is the “I” in the story. The essay is focusing on the topic ‘poverty’ through Richard Wright’s own stories and are therefore based on true and personal experiences. The whole story is about Richard Wright growing up – his childhood, teenage years and years as an adult. Richard Wright grew up in poverty, but he expresses that he never felt poor or saw he his family as a poor family. He grew up with a loving...
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...------------------------------------------------- Poverty is a state of mind “If you think you’re poor, you’re poor. If you think you’re rich, you’re rich. No-one is ever going to come along to cure your poverty. The only solution is to do it yourself.” These words are incisive. But is this the naked truth? “Poverty is a state of mind” (2012), written by Bernard Hare, deals with the idea of poverty as a mind-set. In this essay I will analyse and comment on Bernard Hare’s essay, based on a study of the writer’s use of contrasts and the use of his own experiences during the essay – lastly with an investigation of the writer’s intention. (115) Bernard Hare’s essay was originally broadcasted on BBC Radio 3 as a radio essay in 2012, later on, it was reprinted on BBC’s website. The story basically takes place in Leeds, in the North of Britain. We are following Hage through his upbringing in a poor environment. His father worked as a coal miner, and his mother was a shop worker in a department store. The events of the story are listed in chronological order - from back in the days where Hare was a child, spending his days among the cobbled terraces of east Leeds, to 1968 when his family got their first black and white television, and lastly he is taking us to the present, through his experiences as an alcoholic...
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...B. Poverty is a state of mind How are we supposed to look on poverty? Is poverty simply a question about lack of money and resources, or is poverty instead, a lack of liberty, hope, understanding etc.? Does your economically resources mean that much? Utterly doesn’t money tell anything about how you behave towards other beings? When people look down on their neighbor just because they know the person is not able to afford certain things, which for them seems strange, they do not behave humanly. Poverty is somehow a state of mind. If you yourself, think that you are rich, you are rich, and converted if you think you are poor you are poor. Your fellow human being cannot cure your own thoughts of yourself feeling poor. The only solution on problems, which you are dealing with, is yourself and the way that you are thinking. Furthermore does social heritage have an influence on how a child is behaving? In the essay “Poverty is a state of mind” written by Bernard Hare, we are told about this principal character who has been born into poverty in 1958. It is quite early revealed that his parents are getting low wages – but in spite of the lack of money, they are able to afford the most basic necessities of life. The society is described as a peaceful society where hospitality is huge part. Though he has an idea that they are poor, he explains that his life was filled with warmth, love, shelter etc. The main character is described as a ragged and bolshy boy, with an inquisitive...
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...between wealthy and poor people and it has grown a lot over the years. One part of England is doing well, while the other part is struggling and facing bigger challenges. It causes a lot of difficulties for the poor, but is it just materialistic or is it also psychological? In the essay “Poverty is a state of mind” by Bernard Hare from 2012, originally broadcasted on BBC radio 3, he reflects on his life growing up poor and talks about how he finds poverty as something controlled by your mind. Hare is a social worker and a writer. He was born in Leed in 1958 and grew up in poverty. His father was a coal miner, and his mother was a shop worker in a department store, even though they both had a job, they were poor, probably because of the time they used on the pub drinking and smoking. But Hare did not have a problem with that since he did not feel poor at that time. In the story we follow Hare through his life as a child in poverty, social worker, back to poverty, helping a group of children, and then becoming a writer. I am going to analyse this essay by focusing on Hare’s own experiences, his use of contrast, and his intention in writing this essay. Even though Hare grew up in poverty, he did not notice it much in his childhood. By looking back, Hare sees that they had a good social circle in the neighbourhood, love, and the things needed to survive: “As far as I was concerned, we had warmth, love, shelter, enough to eat – except towards the end of the week sometimes, as...
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...Poverty is a state of mind Growing up in a poor family can be tough, but when you are young you mostly focus on the positive things in life - or at least those are the times you actually remember. This text focuses on Bernard Hare’s childhood and teenage years. Inheritance and environment is an issue he brings up, and how he broke it. He insinuates that he, if he followed inheritance and environment, was supposed to be doing hard physical work, just like his parents, instead he rose up and got good grades, went to university, and became a social worker and now a freelance writer. He is trying to get people to do the same - to look outside of the box they have been born into. When explaining his youth, Bernard uses obvious sarcasm; “Britain then was a good place to grow up. Home was warm, school was stimulating and challenging, the “bomb sites”, as we called them – in reality slum clearance zones – made excellent adventure playgrounds, and everyone still felt good about pulling together and bashing the Germans.” (p. 8, l. 70-77). This could be an attempt to recreate the feeling of being a child, where no matter how bad times are, you still perceive and recall them as being great, or it could be mock the almost gothic feeling Britain experienced after the Second World War. Obviously, he had a dangerous childhood with “bomb sites” and games in hazardous environments. The schools were boring and non-stimulating, and afterwards he came home to a cold home, where no matter how...
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...Children & Poverty in the United States Children & Poverty in the United States Kylon D. Shipp SOC120 University of Phoenix In the United States, there are millions of families with children who live at or below the poverty guidelines set by the federal government. The federal poverty income level is around $22,050 a year for a family of four, and it takes about twice that amount to cover the basic needs and expenses of a family of this size (National Center for Children in Poverty, August, 2010). Although most parents are employed, the low pay wages these days tend to leave these families in a constant struggle to provide for their children. Most states have programs that help families that have a lower income take care of their children’s basic needs such as food, shelter, and medical expenses. However, children who grow up in poverty may still be affected by poor health and mental health issues. Poverty has also been known to affect a child’s ability to learn and leaves them at a greater risk for emotional, social, or behavioral problems. Research shows that poverty is the highest threat to a child’s well-being (National Center for Children in Poverty, August, 2010). Since 1964 when the war on domestic poverty was declared, the United States has spent hundreds of billions of dollars helping large and small towns across the country. They have repaired old homes, helped people find jobs, and also provided free food for those who are living in poverty. Despite the...
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...“Living in Poverty” Poverty is known all over the world. It can strike you, it can beat you or you can be lucky enough to defeat it. Poverty is fluctuating periods that somehow never are welcome. In the essay “Living in Poverty” written by Richard Wright we hear about his own experiences through poverty which he was born into in 1958. The main character’s father worked as a coal miner and his mother as a shop worker in a department store. Through the essay we follow this character, first known as the blackest five-year-old-boy in their street, then as a teenager, and in the final part as an adult educated man. The writer uses a lot of coloured and offensive adjectives through the essay which give the readers a more intensive and exciting experience. It gives the story life and meaning while the readers create more powerful images in their heads. You can for example see that on page 8, line 71-72: “Home was warm, school was stimulating and challenging”. Furthermore, the writer sometimes uses humor and on page 8, line 60-69 you can see that. At the same page line 79-82 we see another example on that: “...I fell in love with Bible stories and colourful pictures, although I wasn’t entirely convinced about virgin births, miracles and risers from the dead.” Even though it is noticeable statements you can’t avoid reading it with a smile on your lips. This technique also gives the reader a more thrilling experience and in this occasion the writer wants to lighten the story up, in...
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...the United States Josh Wainwright Sociology 101: Principles of Sociology- Word Count: 2111 Abstract The purpose of this essay is to express how to address current issues in today’s society. The issues that I have to address are poverty, crime, education, health and a 5th problem of your choice. The 5th problem that I chose to address was jobs. I go about addressing these issues as if you were the President of the United States. This essay gives I a chance to express how you feel about these issues and what would you do to fix these problems. As President of the United States, it is my duty to address problems in this American society. The five main problem that I want to address are poverty, crime, education, health and jobs. These are important issues that I am working on fixing immediately. My plan is to dramatically decrease the poverty and crime rate. I am also going to improve education, health insurance and job opportunities. Poverty America’s poverty rate is too high. Let’s look back on 2013 poverty rate. According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2013, there were 45.3 million people in poverty. For the third consecutive year, the number of people in poverty at the national...
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...didn’t think of them in this way since starting class and doing the research we’ve done, have taught me so much. Many of society issues are social inequality, poverty, urbanization, discrimination against race, and culture. When learning about these issues, I’ve decided to do my paper on Poverty and Children in the United States. Poverty within the United States has become a major issue that affects our society and at hand families with children are coming face to face with this issue every day of their life. Poverty has become a major issue in our society today due to the result of our economy and the decision that one makes in life. And sad to say when the economy is always on the defense at failing, the children of our society have to pay a high price. There’s many reason and factors that can be related to one’s poverty. Some factors that can take place to which can place a child at poverty could be, single parent, unemployment, homelessness, abuse, or mother having more kids she can take care of. Over time history shows that poverty in the United States has raised a great deal. Many of us can’t even imagine how it feel to live in poverty, even if it’s looking us right in our eyes, we still try not to picture ourselves in that place. Poverty means can range from so much, and not just from not having enough money. Poverty truly mean not having enough of everything you need in order to take care of your household, money, and food is the main source. Not being able to having enough...
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...Poverty is the of one who lacks a socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. It is said to exist when people lack the means to satisfy their basic needs. On a global level although, this could be a matter of personal and government downfalls. One of the main sources of poverty begins with the mindset that some low-income parents and adults have ultimately instilled in themselves. Poverty is a raging epidemic faced in America due to false beliefs of the welfare system combines with the ignorance of many Americans on welfare. From the beginning of poverty dating back to the early part of the 1800’s, there has been much evolution and much talk about the poverty gap. Questions have been raised about why society enables poverty:...
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... 10-30-15 Poverty in the United States Arkansas is the second among states with the highest poverty rates, at 17.3 percent. The patterns of poverty in Arkansas have established and varied over time in relation to the physical characteristics of the state and to changes in economic and political behavior. Poverty is the high and low in different Arkansas counties. The counties with the highest poverty rates, in Arkansas, are Lee, Phillips, Lincoln, and Desha. The counties with the lowest poverty rates, in Arkansas, are Saline, Benton, Grant, and Lonoke. Only these four counties had poverty rates lower than the national average. Saline, Grant, and Lonoke counties benefit from their proximity to Little Rock (Maher, Daniel). In 2008 in Arkansas, most whites were in poverty. Within the population of those in poverty, whites made up most of the percentage in poverty. However, blacks came close with whites for being in poverty. Then, Latinos came last for being in poverty. Whites have obviously made up most of those in poverty (Maher, Daniel). Women and Children have made up a part of those in poverty in Arkansas. The gap of income variances between women and men means women are in more poverty then men are. In Arkansas, almost 19 percent of women are living in poverty, whereas only 14 percent of men are living in it. Children in Arkansas living in poverty under the age of 18 is almost 25 percent (Maher, Daniel). Arkansas, in poverty, is a difficult...
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...Poverty affects the whole world and is payed little attention too. Poverty is a problem the world has been aware of for a long time but now is when we need to work together to solve it. I will mainly be focusing on poverty in the US since that's so close to home. What we need to realize is that poverty exists everywhere. If the US focuses on the problem at hand we will realize how we can strive to end poverty. When many of US citizens hear the word “poverty” or “poor” they immediately think of other countries. The Census Bureau has listed that one in five children in America are using food stamps. Huffpost gives us the information that food stamps enrollment sees new highs last year when the year before that is dropped due to improvements in...
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...Dear The Federal Government of Untied States of America, My Name is Betty Johnson and I am 30 years old. I am writing to you because I am very concerned with the future of the citizens in this country. Throughout my life poverty has been Americas "Darkest Secret". I never Really hear news Reports on the growing percentage of Americans living in poverty, or the ways the government is trying to fix this issue. I grew up in Detroit, Michigan where more than a third of residents live below the poverty line (Sasha Abramsky, "America's Shameful Poverty Stats"). Throughout my childhood I have watched many friends' families struggle financially. Sometimes my friends would go without eating for a couple of days simply because they could not afford it. I would offer them food but they would kindly decline because they were so embarrassed because of their situation. They would wear clothes that wouldn't fit them because they couldn't afford to buy new clothes. They would miss school to watch their little siblings because their mom was a single parent and had to work all day everyday just so she could feed them. They didn't even apply to college because they knew they had to immediately pick up a crapy job so they could help their mom pay the bills. The list goes on. All of this is happening under your supervision and it doesn't seem like much is affectively fixing this issue. America's lowest percentage of citizens living below the poverty line was 11.1 percent in 1973. It reached...
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...through the minds of a Bahamians who play numbers as a way of life. These people rely on numbers to somehow solve their everyday problems and to abolish them from their financial slavery. Gaming in the Bahamas should be anything but legalized. The increasing amount of number houses today is ridiculous. They are the people who lead others to believe that there is an easy way to life, that money is the key to a happier life. These are type of thoughts that lead to an unfulfilled and purposeless society. I for one do not support this behavior and certainly do not support the move of legalizing gambling in the Bahamas. I feel that the legalization of gaming in the Bahamas will continue to give people false hope, impose poverty and increase crime. Poverty is no stranger to the Bahamas. There is an estimated amount of 43,000 people today, who live in poverty in the Bahamas (Joseph Darville,). This number is constantly rising every day. One of the negative effects of gambling is that it encourages poverty. A study found that people in poor neighborhoods are twice as likely to have gambling problems. John W Welte, a Senior Research Scientist at University of Buffalo showed that 11 percent of people who were unemployed, received public assistance or lived in places of poverty were problem gamblers (John Welte). In a speech written by Walter Williams, an American Economist, he suggests three reasons for the cause of poverty. The reasons he lists are that people of poverty “cannot produce...
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...Ohio is on the rise” (The Regional Food Bank of Ohio is a food pantry where anyone has a special concern for the poor, elderly, lonely, homeless, and hungry. It is a place where people from all walks of life can come together to share a hot meal and visit and enjoy each other’s company. Figure 1 Figure 2 Increase in poverty percentage in Ohio Poverty Percentage by State Hunger has affected millions of families across the United States. Many economic issues are the Cause of poverty, the use of food pantries and soup kitchens, and the disbursement of food stamps. The number of people that would receive food from a food pantry went from 250-300 all the way up to 2500-3000; this big of an increase had been related to the recession (Greenburg, Michael. American Journal of Public Health, 2010, vol.100 issue 11, p2021-2022.) Low-paying jobs are sending men and women home with only enough money on their paychecks to be able to pay rent. Due to the increasing rate of people coming into food pantries, the amount of food that the federal and state government was able to supply had to be dropped by 2/3’s due to budget cuts. With the government dropping the available amount of food this hurts the children more than adults, because children cannot make a living for themselves. Child care expenses have been increasing and will continue to increase . ...
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