Poverty is a respected concept around the world. My instructor, Dr. Ardith Peters, taught it very successfully. My expectations for this course was primarily to expand my knowledge on the poverty concept, also to share it with people having primary knowledge about the idea of poverty, and to learn more ways to help the poor. This class met all of my expectations and made me open my eyes to a new world, exposing me to a better way of thinking For example, a way we learned more about poverty was by reading and discussing with literature such as The Other America: Poverty in the United States by Michael Harrington and Experiencing Poverty: Voices from the Bottom Second Edition by D. Stanley Eitzen and Kelly Eitzen Smith.
In my assessment paper, …show more content…
In a novel written by Eitzen, we read in class a chapter consisting of why the poor remain poor. Eitzen stated in his novel, quoting from Michael Harrington 's The Other America, “‘The real explanation of why the poor are where they are is that they made the mistake of being born to the wrong parents, in the wrong section of the country, in the wrong industry, or in the wrong racial or ethnic group.’”
We discussed many chapters from both books. In The Other America, Harrington states that "the poor live in culture in poverty". Harrington also states to support this, "there is an even richer way of describing this same, general idea: Poverty in the United States is a culture, an institution, a way of life. ' '
This means that the poor people construct a lifestyle only restricting them to only being poor. For example, in Experiencing Poverty there was a story about a Caucasian who sadly lived in a 1973 Dodge van. Instead of contemplating on ways to get himself out of poverty, he still keeps himself in poverty by, as he claims himself, keeping his corner. He relies on the food from the missionary rather than pondering on ways to supply himself with food. He also states himself that he and his buddies are lazy. (Eitzen, 2009 …show more content…
In Chapter 6 of Experiencing Poverty, it discusses the concept of gentrification which is the redevelopment of the poor the working-class. For example, a story in the book talks about a woman in her early thirties. Her name is Dawn. She got pregnant with her first child at age sixteen and has been living off of welfare ever since then. Her children are now teenagers. Dawn does not allow her daughter to roam around the by herself because of her non-exemplary neighborhood. She lives in CHA developments, where she has to cope with horrible plumbing problems. (Eitzen, 2009
In my assessment paper, …show more content…
In a novel written by Eitzen, we read in class a chapter consisting of why the poor remain poor. Eitzen stated in his novel, quoting from Michael Harrington 's The Other America, “‘The real explanation of why the poor are where they are is that they made the mistake of being born to the wrong parents, in the wrong section of the country, in the wrong industry, or in the wrong racial or ethnic group.’”
We discussed many chapters from both books. In The Other America, Harrington states that "the poor live in culture in poverty". Harrington also states to support this, "there is an even richer way of describing this same, general idea: Poverty in the United States is a culture, an institution, a way of life. ' '
This means that the poor people construct a lifestyle only restricting them to only being poor. For example, in Experiencing Poverty there was a story about a Caucasian who sadly lived in a 1973 Dodge van. Instead of contemplating on ways to get himself out of poverty, he still keeps himself in poverty by, as he claims himself, keeping his corner. He relies on the food from the missionary rather than pondering on ways to supply himself with food. He also states himself that he and his buddies are lazy. (Eitzen, 2009 …show more content…
In Chapter 6 of Experiencing Poverty, it discusses the concept of gentrification which is the redevelopment of the poor the working-class. For example, a story in the book talks about a woman in her early thirties. Her name is Dawn. She got pregnant with her first child at age sixteen and has been living off of welfare ever since then. Her children are now teenagers. Dawn does not allow her daughter to roam around the by herself because of her non-exemplary neighborhood. She lives in CHA developments, where she has to cope with horrible plumbing problems. (Eitzen, 2009