Poverty a retrospect of beliefs with the wrong reality Essay Example for Free

Poverty a retrospect of beliefs with the wrong reality Essay As children we see life through a different set of eyes than others, and we accept the reality of our surroundings by how others judge us. We were the poor kids of the neighborhood and the others kids let us know that. My parents divorced when I was 5 and things were rough for my mother with 3 kids to raise on welfare. We thought we had it bad. Sometimes, we didn’t know where the next meal was coming from or who was going to help if things got worse; I remember we would stand in line to receive the food box for the month. Mom would put meals together and then she would leave for several weeks at a time, being on the road working for the Roller Derby. We never knew who our babysitters were going to be or if they were going to treat us with some sort of dignity and respect. Many times we took matters into our own hands and got rid of them and others just left, because we were not always the best behaved kids in the world, and we were always in some kind of trouble. The cops would bring us home at least 3 times a week for doing some crazy thing in the neighborhood, or stealing something from the local store to eat. After a while the cops and the store owners would just ask if we had something to eat or if there was something that we needed. Those were the days when people did come together and help others that were less fortunate, and we definitely needed the help. Our cousins lived in Firestone Park, a suburb of Los Angeles. They had some of the same obstacles to overcome except they did not have the community support that we received. My aunt was a single mother and did not receive food stamps. As I think back now on the difference between our lives, and the obstacles they faced compared to ours, we had it made. We faced challenges just as they did; I have been behind bars many times in my life. Both I and my older brother had interventions that changed our lives. My brother found out that the only way to change his life was to change his environment and look for other ways to support himself and his family than drugs. There were no food boxes available to my cousins and the cops were not as forgiving as they were in our neighborhood; the cops took my cousins to juvenile hall. There is one difference between my cousins and my family; they were half black and white. They were not looked at with the same sympathetic eyes as us and they told us about the way they were treated by the people of the city, and putting you all behind bars was the only way to solve the problem. From early on in their lives, they had to face the harsh reality that they were not treated the same as others even in their own community. Being called names by the other kids in the neighborhood, they had to fight everyday just to earn respect and they became the aggressors. They did things that we never thought of at our age, but that was the live they lived. My cousins went to juvenile hall very early on, and when they would get out, it did not take long for them to be locked up again. One of my cousins has spent over 3/4th of his life behind bars, and that is the only life he knows. We had spent a couple of days here and there in juvenile hall where they spent months throughout their teenage years. They did not have the same kind of caring community members as we did in our little part of the world; being a big city, crime was a way of life for kids there. There were not many options for the young people and joining a gang and the reality of death was just an everyday part of life. Drug abuse was prevalent and my cousins excelled in the life of crime. If it had not been for the YMCA in our community and the people that were placed into our lives, things for us could have been just as it was for my cousins. Both of my brothers have been in jail a time or two, except for my youngest brother who is spending the rest of his life in prison. He was sentenced to 25 to life, 25 to life and 18 years for crimes he was involved in 1994. I moved away from Stockton, California in 1996. My older brother moved away several years after I did and he now lives in Waldport, Oregon. He is a well respected part of the community. My journey began in 1995, after suffering a heart attack behind an overdose of Methamphetamine; I knew that I needed to change my life when I woke from the coma, and the charges that I was facing from running from the law for over 2 years. The judge whom I went in front of gave me my way out, but the road was not going to be easy. I had to complete a drug program, pay up all my fines and go to parenting classes. My kids had suffered long enough; they had to deal with all my addictions, the stealing, lying and cheating. It was going to be a battle, but I was willing to do what it was going to take to put my life back on the right track. The judge looked at me and told me â€Å"that if you do not complete this program and do all the requirements that I have set forth, that I would be facing 15 to 20 years straight time†. Thanks to the Veterans Administration and a Stockton Sheriff named Officer Garcia, the judge was going to give me a chance of a lifetime. All of the charges against me were to be dropped, and my records sealed and I would have a fresh start in life. The judge said it was against his better judgment to give me this opportunity, but I had a lot of people willing to give me a chance. He was looking forward to putting me behind bars. My cousins never had any kind of opportunities such as the one I was given and they were criminals and they would be punished to the full extent of the law. All of my cousins are in prison for life because of 3 strikes law. One of my cousins was not so lucky; He was shot and killed by the Los Angeles police that said he had pulled out a gun but none was ever found. They called it justifiable shooting, also known as guilt by association. I look back at the events of my life and realize that we were not poor by any means compared to other families in the Los Angeles area. The opportunities we had been given were not there for them and although we committed some of the same crimes, their punishment was more severe. I could never imagine being where I am today. I thank God for the people I have had in my life that gave me some different perspectives and hope that I could have more than I ever dreamed of. I look at how my cousins were raised and they way we were, and there are similarities, but we had it easy compared to them. Being of two different nationalities and dealing with the everyday stresses of the big city life must have been a burden that I am not sure if we would have survived. I must admit that life was not always rosy and wonderful, but we always had a roof over our heads and we might not have had the best meals but at least we had one. I am grateful to all the people I have had in my life that thought there was something to fight for and never let me give up hope. I pray for my cousins every day and give thanks to the lord for all that I have been given. Works Cited †. Howell, James, Decker, Scott H. â€Å"The Youth Gangs, Drugs, and Violence Connection Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, January 1999. U. S. Department of Justice. Boyz N the Hood Singleton, John. 1991. Columbia Pictures

We Must Build a Culture of Peace Essay -- Graduate College Admissions

We Must Build a Culture of Peace      Ã‚   " Think global, act local" is an appealing slogan, but the advice falls short. We live in a world where our best friends live on different continents and we converse more with our neighbor in Nigeria than our neighbor next door. No longer is it logical to say, "Charity begins at home." Instead, our work for human dignity and human rights must be carried on everywhere at once. To create a global culture of peace, youth of the new millennium must think and act both "global" and "local" contemporaneously.    Youth with a burning inner desire to see a global culture of peace must seek opportunities and relationships in which to demonstrate peace. Over 50 years ago, a child fugitive knew this and proclaimed, "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world" (Frank). As a young teen, Anne Frank innately knew that the premise for building a global culture of peace is for each of us to reach out and touch the lives of as many people as possible in an attitude of love and tolerance. To accomplish this goal, young people must work concurrently in 3 spheres: local, national, and global.       Locally, we can create our own community-based peace clubs and/or we can join established clubs within schools which promote peace, peer mediation, and conflict resolution. In these clubs youth can learn about peace and then go a step further to educate others by organizing peace walks, writing letters, distributing petitions, planting peace gardens, writing poetry and essays about peace to present in coffee houses, sponsoring peace essay and art contests, writing peace plays to present to the public, and/or publishing our own newspapers.   ... ...me sow love" (Halamandaris). We must let our peace flow outward to influence other youth and adults to join us in our cause. For it is only when we agree to settle our disputes and attain "liberty and justice for all" with words and not wars, gentleness and not genocide, harmony and not hatred will we achieve the ultimate goal - a global culture of peace.    Bibliography Dumas, Alexandre. The Three Musketeers. Bergenfield, New Jersey: Penguin USA, 1982. Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition. Otto H. Frank, Editor. New York: Doubleday, 1995. Halamandaris, The Brothers, editors. Caring Quotes: A Compendium of Caring Thought. Washington, DC: Caring Publishing, 1994. "World Population Trends." United Nations Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). May 28, 2000. Available http://www.un.org

Brothers Grimms

German folk literature undoubtedly is of the nationalistic nature, but not in the negative sense that most people usually associate it with. The Brothers Grimms folk tales have been thought of to have greatly influenced the German nationalistic attitude of which was pertinently shown in the twentieth century. Jakob Ludwig Karl Grimm (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Karl Grimm (1786–1859) are German philologists and avid collector of folk tales. They are the brothers who were made famous by the hundreds of children stories they wrote. Their book contains a collection of what probably are still the most famous children’s stories.The Brothers Grimms started taking an interest in fairy tales in 1803. Since then, both began writing down the tales that have been handed down from generation to generation. Most of these were not German, but are in fact of French origin. The Brothers Grimms went to a large extent to modify these stories and add a German touch to each of them. Ther e were a lot of myths regarding how these stories were collected. Only until a few years back had it been known that these stories were collected from the bourgeoisie, instead of what was believed to be from uneducated German peasants.The results of these extensive studies on folklore lead to the publication of their book Kinder- und Hausmarchen (English: Children's and Household Tales) contain the most beloved folktales in the work today. They have been translated to numerous languages – evidence that indeed these stories have interest the world. The first volume of the first edition of the Brothers Grimms collection of Folk tales was published in 1812, which contained 86 stories. The second volume followed in 1814 and contained 70 tales. Much were added and subtracted from the original set of stories in the succeeding editions of the collection.By the seventh edition, the Grimms’ Fairy Tales totalled 211 tales. Among the most popular of these 211 tales are The Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty and Rumpelstiltskin. It would be impossible to fully analyze each one of these stories as there are so many of them. Contrary to what the names suggest, these folktales are not so much about elves and fairies but more on foolish younger brothers, beautiful ladies, vain queens, mighty kings, wicked stepmothers, and anthropomorphized frogs and mice.Trickster figures are also rampant in Grimms’ stories, and most often than not, the heroes must trick these tricksters in order to fulfil their fortunes. The first edition of the Brothers Grimms stories received several criticisms. The book was entitled Children’s and Household Tales. However, critics feel that these stories are not suitable for children. The stories contain in-depth scholastic information that was regarded to be too heavy for children. They also had references to such subject matter such as sex and violence.The Brothers Grimms resolv ed to change some details of their fairy tales to fit suitability for children. Snow White and Hansel and Gretel used to have wicked mothers in the first edition. In the subsequent editions of the story, it was changed to wicked stepmothers. They also removed proofs of Rapunzel’s betrayal to the prince. She was not made pregnant in the later editions. Also, since these stories were not originally German, a lot of terms had to be changed. A fairy is an enchantress. A prince is a king’s son, while a princess should be a king’s daughter.Considerable attempts were also made to reconstruct the stories and make it more German. Many of the stories in Grimms’ fairy tales are considered to be coming-of-age stories. Young boys must prove their worth against the strong forces of nature or their domineering siblings. Young girls must leave their parents behind and learn to live with their husbands. The stories show how a lady or a gentleman should behave, with emphas is on decorum, responsibility and respect for superiors. The stories invoke obedience as reverence and love for the king. Great honor and glory is attributed with serving in the military.Loyalty also played a major part in the plot of the stories, which stress that anything beside a nationalistic spirit is unacceptable. Class separation is also very prominent in the stories. Generally, heroes are of low social status who turned out to be part of the royal family in the end. Heroes are depicted as gentle and compassionate to old women, poor peasants, and even to wounded animals. They are always rewarded with some treasure such as gold and silver, or are provided with a beautiful bride. On the other hand, a foolish character often finds himself a victim of some magic spell.The Brothers Grimms could not have stressed in their Fairy Tales the importance of the above mentioned values. With the over two hundred fairy tales in their collection, these values repeat themselves in all stories . Regardless if that story is about romantic love, filial love, adventure or heroism. These are the values which constantly show in each of the tales. Obviously, the brothers would want their readers to familiarize and apply these onto their daily lives. It is evident in the fairytales that the Grimms would want to teach about good values such as sympathy, kindness, loyalty and bravery.They want to educate by illustrating that heroes are richly rewarded while the villains are severely punished. The stories allow them to impart the values that are necessary for a nation to survive. The Germany we now know is different from what Germany was before 1800. It was only a group of people united together by one language, nothing more. With the publication of Grimms’ fairy tales, they combined fairytales that depicted real German culture and unified Germany. In fact, they have done their jobs perfectly well as Germans have a strong sense of nationalism.The Brothers Grimms, through the ir fairy tales are strong advocates of nationalism in Germany. However, what sets the Grimms’ fairy tales apart from the rest are the violence involved, especially in punishing the wicked. They contain more violence compared to other folk tales. This probably is the reason why the first edition received so much criticism on the stories as being children’s stories. The Brothers Grimms did not intend their stories solely for the children, however. As philologists, they sincerely hoped that their works can be used as resources in the studies of not only German literature but of German history, as well.Needless to say, the Brothers Grimms are granted as their collection of fairy tales have indeed made it to the cultural archives of German philology and are being used by scholars worldwide in understanding the German culture and language better. The Brothers Grimms were not only writers but are also active nationalists. They lived in an era when Germany was still a colony o f the French, and literature proved to be an outlet for them to do their share to preserve the German heritage. They wrote about princes and princesses, of magic and witches.But more than just being bedtime stories, these stories stirred the nationalistic character of their readers. They fought using their stories the promotion of a nationalistic Germany. The stories manage to bring back to life a time when knights were bold and the ladies were fair, when good always triumphed over evil, and when bravery and virtuosity were held in the highest esteem. Under Napoleon’s French rule, the Brothers Grimms strived to preserve what was German. That age was the age of Enlightenment. It was an age where traditional things are done in unconventional ways.France was probably the strongest advocate of the idealogies of Enlightenment at that time. Its ideals launched the infamous French Revolution which affected the whole of Europe. And France brought these Enlightenment ideas with them t o Germany. The brothers were two of those who encouraged their fellow Germans to reject the French ideologies, and instead take pride of their own culture. Through what may probably be thought of as cute bedtime stories nowadays, the brothers rallied to their people an intellectual backlash against the Germans which culminated the War of Liberation unifying the whole of Germany against Bismarck’s rule.This intellectual backlash further presented itself in other areas such as philosophy, science and politics. Other intellectuals resolved to reject the Enlightenment, and instead looked deeper into their culture for inspiration. This movement known as Romanticism spread far beyond Germany. And undoubtedly, our Brothers Grimms made a huge contribution to that development process. People started looking within themselves the attitude and abilities demonstrated in Brothers Grimms characters. People started to place much importance into their own cultural heritage.They were made awa re how important it is for a country to preserve its culture so it can also survive. In a way, whenever Grimms’ heroes fight the wicked spirits, the brothers are also fighting the French colonizers. In an impressive way they participated in motivating the rest of the German people to stand up and fight Napoleon’s rule. It was easy for the French to colonize a Germany that was not unified. Germany at that time don’t recognize themselves as one country. They do not have that sense of pride to be Germans.More so, they don’t as so much care regarding their cultural wealth. The Brothers Grimms changed that. The Brothers Grimms united the German people with the use of their popular collection of folklores. With the publication of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Germany now has something they can be proud of, something that was exclusively shared by the Germans. All a country needs to unite as one is to have something in common, and that’s what the Brothe rs Grimms provided. The brothers detailed in their folklores the ideals valued by each German.When the Germans read about these entertaining stories, they were not only entertained but their German pride has been strengthened and their nationalistic character has been awakened. The fairy tales hide in themselves the secret to overcoming the French dominion on Germany. The past was recaptured in entertaining stories of love and adventures. The brothers discovered that Germany had a charming and magical past. This belief helped keep up their enthusiasm to further write their folklores which eventually have affected and influenced the rest of Germany to instil nationalism into their hearts and minds.And the brother could not have chosen a better audience – German children. The children who were brought up with Grimms’ Fairy Tales grew to have a great sense of nationalism within them. The Grimms managed to incorporate into the child’s minds what is expected of him a s part of the Germany. Like the characters of the fairy tales he used to read, this child grew up to be virtuous, responsible, loyal and a great deal of nationalist pride. With all those characteristics, what more can a country need from its countrymen? The Grimm’s Fairy Tales have widespread influence. W. H.Austen regarded it as one of the founders of Western Literature. The Nazis patronizes it, especially among the children as it teaches them to be racist, especially in choosing their marriage partners. With this, the Allied Forces banned the stories as it promoted racial instincts. These tales were also referenced by Holocaust writers, i. e. Jane Yolen in her memoirs Briar Rose. It is simply amazing how a collection of children’s stories can have so much influence, not only in the authors’ hometown but to the rest of the world. Even up to this date, reading a Grimms’ Fairy Tale can still stir up the one’s patriotic side.One can’t help but sympathize with the major character’s plot to fight and defend what is rightfully his. The Brothers Grimms would have been proud to see how their works have affected so much. Nobody can contest the fact how much these cute stories have helped awaken the nationalistic Germans. We are fully aware that Germany is one country who really prided and regarded itself highly. The Brothers Grimms have indeed revolutionized Folk Literature. Folk stories do not only serve as bedtime stories for children but are also believed to inspire nationalists.Indeed, even a country’s fairy tales are reflective of that country’s ideologies. Brothers Grimms have found a most effective way of promoting the nationalistic attitude. They used entertaining fairy tales – subtle but sink deep in the youngest of hearts. References A. S. Byatt, â€Å"Introduction† p. xxx, Maria Tatar, ed. The Annotated Brothers Grimm. Haase, Donald, ed. 1993. The Reception of Grimms' Fairy Tales: Responses, Reactions, Revisions. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press. McGlathery, James, et al. 1988. The Brothers Grimm and Folktale.Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press. Peppard, Murray. 1971. Paths Through the Forest: A Biography of the Brothers Grimm. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Tatar, Maria. 1987. The Hard Facts of Grimms' Fairy Tales. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Tatar, Maria. 2004. The Annotated Brothers Grimm, W. W. Norton & Co. Ward, Donald. â€Å"New Misconceptions about Old Folktales† p 98 James M. McGlathery, ed. , The Brothers Grimm and Folktale. Zipes, Jack. 2002. The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World, Palgrave MacMillan.

What Is a Tricolon in Rhetoric

As defined in our Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms, a tricolon is a series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses. Its a simple enough structure, yet potentially a powerful one. Consider these familiar examples: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.(The Declaration of Independence, 1776)With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nations wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.(Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, 1865)This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.(Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address ) Whats the secret to composing such moving prose? It helps, of course, if youre writing on the occasion of a momentous event, and it certainly doesnt hurt to bear the name of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, or Franklin Roosevelt. Still, it takes more than a name and a great occasion to compose immortal words. It takes the magic number three: a tricolon. Tricolon In fact, each of the well-known passages above contains two tricolons (though it could be argued that Lincoln slipped in a series of four, known as a tetracolon climax). But you dont have to be an American president to use tricolons effectively. A few years back, Mort Zuckerman, publisher of the New York Daily News, found an occasion to introduce a few of them at the end of an editorial. Citing the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in his opening sentence, Zuckerman goes on to argue that defending America against terrorism means our traditions of free speech and free association have to be adjusted. The editorial drives toward this forceful one-sentence conclusion: This is a critical time for leadership the American people can trust, leadership that will not conceal what can be explained (and justified), leadership that will hold our liberties sacred but understand that our freedoms, enduring through civil turmoil, hardship and war, will be at risk as never before if the American people conclude, in the wake of another catastrophe, that their safety has come second to bureaucratic inertia, political expediency and partisanship.(Putting Safety First, U.S. News and World Report, July 8, 2007) Now, count the tricolons: ...leadership the American people can trust, leadership that will not conceal what can be explained (and justified), leadership that will hold our liberties sacred but understand that our freedoms . . . will be at risk as never before...our freedoms, enduring through civil turmoil, hardship and war...their safety has come second to bureaucratic inertia, political expediency and partisanship A trio of tricolons in a single sentence, outdistancing Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. Though not quite as rare as a triple axel in figure skating, a triple tricolon is almost as hard to achieve with grace. Whether or not we share Zuckermans sentiments, the rhetorical force with which he expresses them cant be denied. Now, does Zuckerman make a habit of mimicking the prose style of the Declaration of Independence? Only every now and then can anyone get away with such oratorical flourishes. You must wait for the right moment, make sure the occasion is appropriate, and be certain that your commitment to a belief is commensurate with the vigor of your prose. (Note that the final item in a tricolon is often the longest one.) Then you strike.