Rhetorical Analysis on An Elementary School in Slum Essay Example for Free

Rhetorical Analysis on An Elementary School in Slum Essay The poem â€Å"An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum† by Stephen Spender, begins with a stanza depicting the worrying condition of the students in elementary school. As the poem extends further, Spender points out the corruptions in the Government and accuses it for paying little attention to children’s education and health conditions. He argues that the children should break through the confinement of slum, and embrace the beauty of nature. In the slum, Children do not have pleasant moments; they are far away from the â€Å"gusty waves†, and far away from the fields and playgrounds that supposed to accompany them along their childhood memories. They also do not have healthy bodies. A simile compares their hair to â€Å"rootles weed†, which shows that the children are severely malnourished, and are not taken care of. The boy is â€Å"paper-seeming†, and â€Å"of twisted bones†. The â€Å"tall girl with her weighed-down head† implies the fact that she might be looked down by others, and she is physiologically and psychologically fatigue. However, there is â€Å"one unnoted, sweet and young† kid, at the back of the classroom, whose â€Å"eyes live in a dream, of squirrel’s game. † We can see a glimmer of hope from this sweet kid, however, we are not sure if he is simply lost in the â€Å"squirrel’s game†. The school is poorly equipped with donations such as Shakespeare’s portrait that decorates on the â€Å"sour cream walls. † The picture of â€Å"cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities† is in sharp contrast to the dusty sky and shabby building of elementary school in reality. The kids’ future is painted with a fog under a â€Å"lead sky. † The depiction of turbid sky created an atmosphere of despair and hopelessness. Not only the children’s future is foggy and blurred, but also their lives are monotonous and insipid, â€Å"far far from rivers, capes, and the stars of words. The children are confined to the school in slum as well as their imagination. William Shakespeare, the greatest playwright and poet in English language, is â€Å"wicked† to them, because they cannot appreciate the splendidness of language. And â€Å"the map is a bad example, with ships and sun and love tempting them to steal. † The map gives chil dren the taste of charming nature; however, instead of igniting the light of hope, it falsely tempts the children to acquire their goals even at the cost of stealing. They live in â€Å"cramped holes†, a limited and narrow space, with â€Å"slag heap† all around them. Their study environment and living conditions are horrible, that they cannot maintain healthy body, let alone receiving appropriate education. Their future is like â€Å"mended glass,† foggy and blurred, full of despair. The school only operates when â€Å"governor, teacher, inspector, visitor† come to observe, so it does not provide serious teaching. Consequently, â€Å"this map becomes their window and these windows that shut upon their lives like catacombs. † The slum limits the students’ horizon, like catacombs, and the maps are the only way for them to see the world outside. They live in a dream that can never come true as long as they are still in the slum. At last, the poet envisions the students break through the confinement of slum, and finally they can embrace the beautiful nature, that was once on the map but far away from them. Spender harshly criticizes the government’s nonchalance towards the poverty-stricken children, and he appeals to all the people to pay more attention to the children and help ameliorate their education and health conditions. So that they can â€Å"show the children green fields and make their world run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues run naked into books. †

Adolescents and Divorce Essay -- Teenagers Impact Divorce Essays

Adolescence is a period of turmoil and change for youngsters. During this time in their lives, adolescents experience many types of stresses. Some of these stresses include identity crisis, relationships with family members and friends, and the physical changes that take place. Adolescence is a very trying time and it can be heightened when divorce is an additional problem to be dealt with. Divorce only adds to the turmoil and hardships of adolescence. The effects of a divorce can leave an individual feeling lonely and at fault for the break up of their parents.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Divorce is a family crisis, which could require a long period for recovery. Along with the turmoil associated with the adolescent stage of life, divorce adds other stresses. Adolescents are already confronted with numerous changes, including physical changes in the body and social adoptions, that the changes that occur as a result of a divorce could be overwhelming. They are also in the transition stage of separating themselves from their parents and developing into an adult. The adolescent is at the stage of development in which he must separate himself from his parents on order to establish as an adult?(Buchanan, p.70).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Being socially accepted is one of the more important aspects of this developmental stage. The development of relationships with friends allows for them to form an identity. The adolescent only accepts his or her identity if, and only if, the society feels that it is correct. Otherwise, they may feel inadequate and isolated from everyone else because the do not fit in with everyone else?s standards(Buchanan,14)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This developmental stage in one's life in conjunction with the effects of a divorce, make the changes much more difficult to overcome and accept. "How an adolescent copes with the problems of a divorce depends upon their emotional health and maturity level,"(Buchanan, p.71). Each individual may react in his or her own way. Some of these reactions can consist of hostility towards family, especially their parents, aggressiveness, and/or depression. They may make sudden choices that they might feel could be the answer to their problem. For instance, constant running away might occur which results in secluding oneself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The behavior of females at this crucial time seems to be more of a disturbance, while the males showed to be more severe. The m... ...ary Ellin Logue. "The Effects Of Parental Divorce On Students." Journal Of Divorce & Remarriage 46.3/4 (2007): 83-104. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. Dufour, Sarah, and Brian L. Mishara. "Children's Reactions to Divorce and Separation."Partnership For Children. Partnership For Children, n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. Internet Sources Consulted Antecol, Heather. Bedard, Kelly. â€Å"Does Single Parenthood Increase the Probability Of Teenage Promiscuity, Substance Use, and Crime?† Journal of Population Economics 20.1 (2007): 55-71. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Apr. 2015. Crouse, Shaw Janice. SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES. â€Å"No-Fault Divorce Hits Children Hardest.† Washington Times, The (DC) (2013): 3. Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. Fagan, Patrick F.Rector, Robert. â€Å"The Effects Of Divorce On America.† World & I 15.10 (2000): 56. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. Kelsey, Linda. â€Å"Why divorce damages teenagers every bit as much as young children.† Daily Mail 29 Apr. 2010: 68. MainFile. Web. 15 Apr. 2015. Moses, Eskind Marlene. â€Å"Helping Children Endure Divorce.† Tennessee Bar Journal 49.1 (2013): 34. MainFile. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.

A Modest Proposal: Cannibalism

I feel that Jonathan Swift’s piece of work could be used and interpreted different with each and all audiences alike. There is a whole bunch of information to interpret. How Swift, looks at children not as individuals, but as animals used to be sold to the rich as food. Swift’s work is very dark in this piece, with regard to selling of children for food. And with regards to Ireland’s economic advancements actually depend on it. He urges all other people to think that children could be sold in different styles and makes mention of how they could be prepared as a fine food dish. Swift’s states, â€Å"A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragoust. † Now normally if I can’t pronounce it I don’t use it or order it to eat, but these last two ways of preparing the children as food sounds as if a dish the rich would order. To me it sounds like Swift has rather expensive taste for lavish habits and tendencies. I think we can almost compare life in Ireland back then to today. All though there aren’t people selling their children to have the rich feast on their bones, or do I think it will come to that but it is close to our nation’s economic struggle. Our economy wouldn’t allow the selling of children of children to feed the rich. I do believe Ireland was in a lot worse shape than we currently are. They had no renewable resources such as fruits and vegetables to fall back on the way we do. They also didn’t have the amount of import and export trade that we have on our side. Swift constantly throughout his story states that selling the children to the rich is the only solution to the countries hard economic times. He even talks that all the families should consider fattening up the smaller children. Also Swift also makes mention of overpopulation and well makes a suggested solution to this crisis. He proclaims that children at the age of one can be sold to meat markets, thus helping the crisis of over population and in turn saving the parents of the children the cost of raising and providing for that child. Parents, who participated in this crazy idea, would pull the nation out of its current economic struggle. And that’s not all he then talks about how parents who helped out with his proposal how it would affect home life. Husbands would grow to respect wives better. What? I don’t know at all how this could possibly be something that could have a positive impact on a family what so ever. I think that Swift tries to persuade his readers that this is the only option for Ireland and its survival, in a dog eat dog world. He then starts stating statistics, he mentions of 120,000 some Irish children born in a year, that 20,000 should be kept for breeding and the continuance of the Irish legacy. And what’s even better is that a quarter of these choosing few, are to be males, are you serious 5,000 boys and the rest girls. This brings a question to my mind, what was the deciding factor that kept the child to be raised or sold. What tops the cake once more is that he says one boy for a total of four girls. I believe this contradicts his husband respecting the whole wife thing early in the paper. Swift goes on later to explain the idea of cannibalism should not stop at children, but instead its countries enemies, or even political figures. The idea of a nation such as Ireland cannibalizing its own population and natural resources sickens me. I would bat an eye at the thought of eating my son, or selling him off to the butcher to be slaughtered and sold. Swift goes on in this story to talk of common practices and courtesies. He talks that if Irish poor are to be married, and have a family, the family should refrain from domestic violence in and throughout the family, and love and cherish family. I serious think that this guy had dual personalities, he so many different stories to each situation. Possibly he was bi-polar or maybe he used some opium or something of that nature. I don’t think Swift had financial problems what so ever. Swift goes on in his work and states that he admits that this will drastically reduce the Irish population, but other nations should not practice this idea in their cultures. He considers it a â€Å"healthy patriotism†, and goes on to say that the children that are to be butchered should stay domestically and not be exported. This would keep other nations from wanting to overtake the Irish population and decimate the whole society and Irish culture. In Jonathan Swift’s work you can tell he is rather upset with Ireland’s politicians and the wealthy. You can also see that he is upset at the general population of the poor. He is angry at the poor population because they have made no plans or have no intentions to get out of the downward spiral their country is in. I wonder if he wrote this piece as a way of making the general population consider in participating in cannibalization, as an act to blow the whistle in a sense to make the politicians act on the current situation at hand in their times.

Impact of Divorce and Children - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2434 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/06/24 Category Psychology Essay Level High school Tags: Divorce Essay Did you like this example? Abstract The rate at which divorce cases are increasing in the 21st century has become alarming not because spouses have finally realized that they are better off alone but because the social settings have made it difficult for the spouses to understand each other and live together as a single unit. These divorce cases have a lot of effects on the social, physical and psychological development of children of all ages including adolescents. This study reviews the impacts of parents separation on children and their wellbeing. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Impact of Divorce and Children" essay for you Create order The paper scope will cover ways in which social, physical and psychological development of children is affected by the accelerated rate of divorce and how to incorporate treatment. This is because it significantly increases the risks of children depicting harmful behavioral patterns such as violence, abuse and aggression among others that put them in danger of social seclusion. The objective of this paper is to describe the effects of divorce on children and encourage healthy marriages. Introduction Divorce cases have increased due to domestic disagreements such as work related issues, infidelity and lack of purpose. These aspects place a heavier weight on the children who have to bear the burdens and negativities of divorce. For those children who are not able to answer for themselves, some of these divorce cases end up placing them under foster care. With limited access to substantial time to both parents, most of these children grow up with no moral direction and psychological breakdown which trickles down to their future relationships (Tarroja et al 2017, p.12). The hardship in their home seems to find its way into their lives especially if they do not get exposed to role models and mentors that shape their relationship lives after divorce. The immediate negative impact of divorce on children emotional wellbeing is undisputed. Based on meta-analysis research, children affected by divorce display poor emotional and physical outcomes compared to children from functional families. (Quinney Fout 2004, p.55). With most divorces taking two lines which are hostility and separation, it is unclear which of these two aspects affect children the most. For infants, regression, eating problems and excessive crying are some of the signals that they will give when they notice something is wrong at home. This is due to the change in environment whereby an infant notices that either the father or mother is not present as usual. For toddlers, stress and uncontrolled behaviors such as throwing things can be depicted. In as much as these may be viewed as a form of stubbornness, it is just a childs way of saying that he or she is aware of the change in condition. All these divorce issues come with consequences which affect the childs stability. To begin with, children have to move from one school to another in case one of the parents has to move to another place. This brings a new setup in the life of the child in that they have to reorganize their friends circle and environment. Secondly, living with a single-parent has consequences because there are things that a child can only learn from the father which will not be imparted into the child if the father is not around and vice versa. Thirdly, divorce brings about financial struggle in single-parent homes which means that there are some basic needs and luxury which the children were used to but cannot afford due to the change in status (Ballard et al 2014, p.124). In attempting to explain the effects of divorce, key areas such as the childs psychological wellbeing, physical and social will be consider alongside how these aspects are different in the lives of children with both parents. This is because children from intact homes have been found to do better in life as compared to children from divorced families living with single parents and minimal visit from the other parent. Literature Review According to research, over a million children suffer from divorce cases in America. Divorce significantly weakens the family and the relationship between children and parents because the attachment bond is broken. According to Quinney and Fout (2004) attachment between the parent and the child is so strong that it determines a childs personality and behavior throughout their lifetime (Quinney Fout 2004, p.57). The pain experienced by children at the beginning of a break up of a family makes them vulnerability to general distress as the family disintegrates. Focusing on the mother, it is very crucial that a child grows near his or her mother because once the mother is removed; the child will begin to detach themselves even from other caregivers no matter how friendly they may be. This makes them to show ambivalent aggression in as much as they long to be cared for at the same time. Key issues bringing about divorce can be outlined as poor communication between the spouses in that they do not talk about their needs and how to overcome their problems. Secondly, intimacy issues which arises from lack of satisfaction of one partner and built up resentment in the relationship due to a mistake that is considered as unforgivable. Financial strains and feelings of incompatibility can also lead to divorce. Studies done on the divorce effects on the social and psychological development of children designate that the pre-school kids population is the most prone to divorce, but for others, no age difference exist when it comes to divorce (Jeynes 2012, p.40). Children of divorce families were found to have resurgence sadness, some sort of grief coupled with fear and other emotional difficulties, such as aggression and poor educational achievement (Jeynes 2012, p.40). It also becomes hard for the children to adjust to their new life and this can be long term problem. This ma y lead to children having troubles concentrating at school, during class work which affects their school performance. Divorce at times diminishes childrens capacity to handle conflict as they have been experiencing family conflicts in most times of their lives. Also these children exhibit behavioral problems as they lack guidance and counseling from their parents. Divorce was also found to have specific impacts which can be termed as gender sensitive. First, aggression as an emotional impact was more common in boys than girls while depression was common among girls than boys. The adolescents often act out and get into troubles in school as a way of easing the pressure at home (Maxwell Evans 2014, p.5). Additionally, due to the lack of social support in terms of counseling, divorce was found to negatively impact the parent-child relationship in the family (Maxwell Evans 2014, p.5). Since these destructions weaken the family relationship, it results to destructive conflict management when the children grow to adulthood. Moreover, most of these children will not display behaviors such as cohabiting w hich is common among college students when they reach that age also the fear of having children will keep them away from healthy relationships because they are afraid to relive their childhood ordeals (Maxwell Evans 2014, p.28). Children who have experienced parental divorce have a wide range of emotional reactions including sadness, anger, lower satisfaction, lower self-esteem and lack of confidence. Divorce is also associated with incidences of mental health problems such as depression because of the huge change in their lives as they will have to choose the parents to live with especially when parents separate. Apart from this, withdrawal from friends and family, aggressiveness, and hyperactive behavior are also depicted based on the effect range from mild to severe. Since the distance between both parents is already created, satisfaction from the efforts of either one of them is diminished with increased resurgence of anxiety and anger (Ballard et al 2014, p.135). To salvage whatever is left of these childrens social, psychological and physical wellbeing, it is important to understand their characteristics such as gender and age at which the divorce took place in relation to the family characteristics su ch as socio-economic status, cultural background, ethnicity and childrearing. Treatment Divorce is always a trying timing for the entire family especially the children. Because of this a lot of caution should be taken while in marriage to prevent occurrence of a divorce. These may include occasionally visiting marriage counselors to improve physical and emotional intimacy between the spouses, talking about your needs which could be a great way to solve any dispute in the family and reconciling if possible. However, in the vent that none of these can happen then parents should provide support to the children by not neglect their needs as they wallow in the end of their marriage (Jeynes 2012, p.42). This can be achieved through cooperation and maintenance of a positive relationship even after divorce between one another which could possibly reduce the overall sense of conflict though sometimes it is impossible to entirely eliminate conflict especially when money is involved. The non-custodial parent should have regular visitation schedules with the children as this could minimize feelings of depression, inadequacy and abandonment. As explained earlier that divorce can be confusing for the children, it is very important to explain what is happening to the children and be willing to give nonjudgmental answers to the children (Quinney Fout 2004, p.63). Younger children may not be able to understand clearly the causes and consequence of divorce, but the parents can ensure that the divorce does not negatively influence their relationship with the children. The issue of one parent not being the custodian should not limit childrearing by both parents demonstrating to the children that in as much as the family structure is destroyed there is potential for linkage. Additionally, parents should be sure to provide extra love, support and care for the children at the time of separation. The affected children should be introduced to programs that could reduce the effects of divorce on them or rather help them to understand and cope with their parents decision to live separate lives. Basically, these programs fill the gap that has been created in the lives of the children by giving them role models and people to look up to who have been in the situation that they are in at the moment and come out stronger (Tarroja et al 2017, p.19). These individuals can mentor these children during these programs to ensure that they heal both psychologically, socially and physically. Relationship education can also be incorporated during these programs especially for adolescent children who saw nasty divorces which were characterized with abusive language and conflict. The education programs should be able to show them that there is another side of conflict resolution which does not require all the drama that they had seen. Environmental modeling can also help the children deal with social breakdown. Logically, cognitive development and moral conformity is important in the life of a child to ensure that they achieve general level of social wellbeing. For traumatized children, moving them out of the neighborhood where all these divorce aspects took place could help heal them especially if they are taken to a neighborhood where people love and would not discriminate them. For instance, if the child had grown fond of a grandparent, it would be feasible to send the child to the grandparents for a little while where they can unwind and forget about every other thing for a moment. On the other hand, it is better for the children to be in the care of someone they know well during this period than with a stranger in foster care who will only make them to retaliate rather than heal (Maxwell Evans 2014, p.17). Generally, treatment of children from divorce homes takes a lot of patience and love to make them understand why they are in that position, that it was not their fault and that they have a totally different life to choose rather than the one that they had seen crumble in their homes. Mentors and role models should ensure that these children understand that despite the difficulties of the present, the future can only be shaped by the choices they make. Summary Parents considering divorce should understand that no matter how old the child is, they need to be reassured that they will always be loved by both parents permanently. In addition to that, children should be allowed to love both parents and spend time with them as they will without being interfered with and intimidated to lean on one side regardless of whose fault or idea it was for the separation to occur in the first place. Mentors and role models are important in the life of a child whose home is going to have a divorce because they will act as counselors and source of hope to the child that things are going to be fine in the end. The psychological wellbeing of the child is the most affected during divorce. This is because children tend to develop negative behaviors as form of retaliation for what is happening in their lives. Some of these behaviors include recurrent anger, anxiety and fear of being left alone with no one to care. This effect trickles down to their academic performance as they perform poorly because they are having divided attention on what is going to happen next to either their mother, father and or other siblings in case they get separated to live in different homes. The broken bond of attachment makes them to become resentful to a whole lot of things no matter how little they may appear. I recommend that the social wellbeing of the child is not left out either especially when the child begins to isolate themselves from the society due to fear of intimidation. This makes them to have a low self-esteem about themselves as they focus more on what other people think about them. Additionally, they also avoid getting into relationships when they grow older to avoid a repetition of what happened to their parents to them. Generally, divorce has a lot of negative effects on the child wellbeing doing more harm than good thus parents should be encouraged to work out their differences. References Jeynes, W. (2012). Divorce, Family Structure, and the Academic Success of Children. doi:10.4324/9780203048764 Ballard, R. H., Rudd, B. N., Applegate, A. G., Holtzworth-Munroe, A. (2014). Hearing the Voice of the Child in Divorce. Psychology, Law, and the Wellbeing of Children, 121-137. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199934218.003.0008 Maxwell, L. E., Evans, G. W. (2014). Children and the Physical Environment. Wellbeing, 1-30. doi:10.1002/9781118539415.wbwell065 Tarroja, M. C., Balajadia-Alcala, M. A., Catipon, M. A. (2017). Children of Divorce. Oxford Clinical Psychology. doi:10.1093/med:psych/9780198765844.003.0016 Quinney, D. M., Fouts, G. T. (2004). Resilience and Divorce Adjustment in Adults Participating in Divorce Recovery Workshops. Journal of Divorce Remarriage, 40(1-2), 55-68. doi:10.1300/j087v40n01_04