Talking Point #1

Jonathan Kozol; "Amzing Grace"

Author's Argument:
Kozol argues that the government, the middle class, and the upper class are at fault because they don't do enough to help the poor in the United States.

Quotes:
1. "He has a package of cookies and removes one. He breaks it in half, returns half to the package, and munches on the other half as we are walking."
When people are as poor as the people that are talked about in "Amazing Grace" nothing is taken for granted. This quote is an example of how things aren't taken for granted. A man has a full cookie in his pocket. He is hungry so he takes the cookie out breaks it in half, puts one half away, and eats the other half. I believe that the reason that he did this was because he might not eat again after he finishes this cookie. Once the cookie is gone the man might not eat again for who knows how long. Even though it is only a cookie and it isn't a full meal it is still something in your stomach and even just a half a cookie can ease the stomach when it is hungry.

2. "The point is that they put a lot of things into our neighborhood that no one wants,' she says. 'The waste incinerator is just one more lovely way of showing their affection.'"
Every now and then the government asks permission to place things in neighborhoods. In this case the government wanted to place a waste incinerator in the suburbs on New York City and the middle and upper class people didn't want it in their neighborhood so the government placed in in the South Bronx. With the waste incinerator it brought many illnesses and disease into the area and many men, women, and children got sick from it. The middle and upper class people would then ask questions such as "why are the children so sick?" "Why doesn't the government do anything about it?" That is all because the more "privileged" people put this terrorizing machine in an area that was somewhat healthy until the waste incinerator was put in. Sometimes people don't realize what they are going until it is actually done.

3. "Evil exists. he says, not flinching at the word. 'I believe that what the rich have done to the poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil. Somebody has power. Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people-that is my idea of evil.'"
There is always going to be evil that exists in the world. In this case, Kozol believes that the rich people are doing evil onto the poor people. I can see where he is coming from with this because the ric people were the ones that decided that the waste incinerator was going to go into the South Bronx. With them placing that there of course the poor is going to view them as evil. When people are poor or even down and out they turn to religion for answers. When a poor person hears things from a preacher of course they are going to believe it because they believe that they speak the truth and only the truth.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
This read for me was easy because it was more of a story and it wasn't an opinion so it was repetitive. This text compared to the other texts I think was the easiest out of them all to read. Out of this story I learned that the South Bronx isn't an easy place to live. It is just like any other area in Rhode Island that has areas like this. Even though many of those areas are in Providence many of us are able to grasp and understand this because we either live it or see it everyday. People being poor and sick is common now and there are people out there that feel bad for them, but then there are people that don't care at all that people are out there dying. All those people say is they put themselves in this situation, but it shouldn't matter. They are people too and they needed to be cared for just like anyone else.

Bernard Goldberg; "Jonathan Kozol"

Author Argument:
Goldberg argues that there are many young people in the country today that don't feel proud to be American anymore. He also states that teachers in schools are to blame because how they are teaching the material from the text book.

Quotes:
1. "One boy says he'd just as soon live in Canada."
This goes to show that many people just to escaping as a solution to living in a country like they do. When a country is as bad as it is many people have turned to running away or escaping because if they leave the country that will solve all of their problems. What many of these people don't realize is that even thought you might be going to another country that country might just have the same problems as we do, so in the end they might end up with the same problems there as they have here.

2. "...They take care not to offend America's past enemies, but don't seem to worry about offending Americans..."
Teacher's nowadays have to be very care with the things that they say. There are many different ways that people says things now that many people take offense of. In the classroom when a teacher is discussing a certain topic and it has to do with either race or gender they have to be ready for a student at anytime to come at them with a defensive statement But when it comes times to talk about their own people in this case, Americans, teachers feel free to bash them as much as they want without thinking if it would offend someone. Just because someone is a certain race, religion, gender, or ethnicity doesn't give you the right to bash that group of people.

3. "that one is working for a purpose and that that purpose is a great deal more profound and more important than the selfish pleasure of an individual reward."
Some people live out their lives doing things that will please them and don't think or even react to what other people have to say. Then you have other people that do very little for themselves and do many other things for the people that they are surrounded by, such as family and friends. When you ask a father or mother what they are working for 9 times out of 10 they will say that they are working for their family or that they are working for their significant other. It all has an effect on how people live out their lives. There is always a reason as to why people do things and hopefully it isn't for the wrong reasons of self-satisfaction.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
This was an easy read and I was able to grasp the concepts that were given to us. One reason why I find that it was easy to read was because a lot of the issues that were brought up I can relate to because I heard them in previous conversations. This reading occurring to the other reading was the easiest reading so far because once again I was able to relate to it. When I am able to relate things to one another that is when I am at my best learning. Out of this article i feel that there are people in society that are cautious to what they say about other groups of people, but when it relates to their own group of people they don't even think twice sometimes about putting them down or bashing them. I just find it hard to believe that people don't think about some of the things that they say. That is why some people aren't afraid to say things about a certain group of people because they hear other people saying things so they think that they can do it too, but that is the way life is so we just grow from it.