Facing Poverty with a Rich Girl’s Habits 1 Facing Poverty with a Rich Girl’s Habits Assignment 1.2 Monique Henderson English 115 Professor Revell November 18, 2012 Facing Poverty with a Rich Girl’s Habits 2 Facing Poverty with a Rich Girl’s Habits Assignment 1.2 I always wondered about how rich people would feel if they were put in poor people’s shoes. That is what happened in this essay, about how a Korean girl went from having anything she wanted and being very wealthy to losing everything overnight. Her family went from rich to poor over night because her father’s business crumbled and he had to file bankruptcy. To see how middle class people struggle with money instead of assuming everything is easy. The family moved to Queens, New York in the 1980’s.
The schools are generally over crowded with few good teachers. When there's a great public school there is not enough space for every child in the neighborhood. Children are stuck in low achieving schools because of how the school districts are divided. A lot of children end up in poor public schools because their parents do not possess the income that it takes to send them to a private school. Since 1971 education cost has increased from $4,300 to more than $9,000 per student.
The collapse of the housing market and unemployment caused the most damage. Between 1991 to 1992 unemployment had gone back up to 2.6 million. Negative equity meant home owner were paying mortgages far higher than their homes were worth. Many people could simply not keep up with the increased prices and resulted in them losing their homes due to the bank repossessing them. The recession hit close to home for the Tories, effecting the middle class not just the working class of the industrial north.
Dumas and her family experienced many difficulties when they first time came to United States. It is something that is very common to most families that are newcomers to America. Dumas had trouble with the language that was spoken in America, “Since my mother and I did not speak English, the meeting consisted of a dialogue between my father and Mrs. Sandberg” (Dumas, 4). There were difficulties during Dumas' school years. The problem of not being able to speak English was one of the biggest obstacles.
When Jeanne first arrived at Manzanar, she felt overwhelmed because before, “We were the only Japanese family in the neighborhood.” (7) The family began to grow apart as time passed, so Jeanne began to explore by herself. Once schools started, she began to experiment with many things; however papa didn’t have the same thoughts. Before they began to leave Manzanar, they expected brutal racism because of other stories, but once they arrived in the new place, it wasn’t as bad as they thought. While they were there Jeanne begins to go to Middle school as a 6th grader. While she is there, people are very surprised that she can speak English.
Nowadays, we can see lots of teenagers who try to fit in on the society by living like the society; sometimes this led to destruction. As the novel continues, Josie also feels being pressured at her school. Firstly, because most of the students at her school came from wealthy families and her acceptance to the wealthy catholic girl’ school was trough scholarship and not by paying the fees. Secondly, because her parents weren’t married when she was born and she had never met her father until the age of seventeen; in other words she doesn’t feel as normal like the other girls at her school feels. In my experience, issues like this happen in many schools, when you feel you’re an outcast on your school because you came from a low standard of living and your studying in a wealthy school.
But is this right, should parents even, principals just blow bullying off like that? Maybe we've seen a bigger kid shoving a smaller kid around, or a girl with less money shunned because her clothes aren't nice enough or she doesn't live in the right neighborhood. Both situations involve bullying, and it's a serious problem in elementary and middle schools nationwide. Too often, we don't take bullying seriously. Young people who are bullied are more likely to skip school or completely drop out.
Catherine Forces herself into a fever and hysteria when having to make a choice between the two, this shows her being constrained by her mind because she is mentally unstable. This makes her unable to leave the Linton’s house and have free roam. So in turn she is restricted by the house too. Catherine is also restrained by her social class, Without a mother Catherine grew up without a woman as a role model, so she grew up without proper supervision, which in turn made her never learn the society’s code of conduct for a young lady. She was care-fee and mischievous.
It’s not like my family is filled with a whole bunch of illiterate people. Trust me my family is filled with very smart people. The sad part is they weren’t given the chances to complete high school. For example my mother had an untimely pregnancy which limited her ability to attend school regularly which eventually led to her having to drop out. These stories continue throughout my family and the list goes on.
One of the children in the bunch yelled, "You're just ugly why are you even alive!" I was appalled, I too know how it feels to look different and have you peers judge you. Even though that was so many years ago, it felt like yesterday as I watched this innocent girl cry. Starting middle school isn't easy for any child coming out of elementary school. It's almost a step closer into being a teenager and not everyone is always ready.