Putnam's Ups And Downs Chapter Summaries

A Wall Street Journal reviewer noted “the widening divide between haves-and have-nots when it comes to nurturing children and preparing them for adulthood” had become a bigger threat to social cohesion than mere income inequality and that Putnam in his book “argues that children’s access to the core institutions that foster their development-strong families, strong schools, strong communities-is increasingly separate and unequal.” Based on my reading of the book, I can strongly say to an extent that this is indeed true. First off, let’s take a look at Port Clinton where the book initially starts. Through the opening lines it is already revealed that Port Clinton, Ohio is Robert Putnam’s hometown. Putnam then goes on in detail about his life growing up in the 1950’s and how it eventually changed to a more unequal town, hinting to the social inequality that would be later talked about in this book. Anyway, during the exposition, Putnam …show more content…
Chelsea came from a family of wealth. She lived a luxurious life that many families wished they had. To illustrate, a large white home with a wide porch overlooking a lake, fancy themed birthday parties every year, the whole nine yards. Once more, Chelsea’s parents are both professionals in their career. To say the least their family is comfortable financially and makes sure they are involved in Chelsea’s educational and personal life. This can be seen when her family eats dinner together, and when specifically Wendy, her mom, is even seen being an active parent in schools, whether it be interacting with the teacher, or pushing her child academically hence the result of Chelsea being “the most active person” in her high school, as student body president, yearbook editor, and part of the National Honor Society among others. Due to her upbringing there’s no surprise she ended up attending one of the big ten