Amazing Grace
The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation
Jonathan Kozol
Kozol argues that people living in the poorest oparts of the country still deserve to have quality lives (good hospitals, streets they can walk down without being asked to buy drugs, etc.) but do not get these lives. These people also get any shot of hope or freedom taken away from them either by disease or other hardships they face (welfare getting taken away).
"He doesn't answer me but smiles at the bears affectionately. 'I saw a boy shot in the head right over there,' he says, a moment later, in a voice that does not sound particularly sad, then looks up at me and asks politely, 'Would you like a chocolate chip cookie?' "
1.) I don't think I can verbally describe this quote but when I read it, it just stayed with me.
"A nurse who works there [Harlem Hospital], according to one press accountant, carries a card in her wallet with the message: 'Do not take me to Harlem Hospital in an emergency.' The relative merits if Brinx-Lebanon, however, do not offer Mrs. Washington much solace. 'It's the difference between terrible and worse than terrible.' "
1.) This quote is basically expressing the bottom line of how terrible the living conditions are in the place that Kozol is visiting. It appears that going to the hospital is worse than trying to take care of it yourself.
"I think they [drug dealers] hate you because you are not in their condition. 'I am in hell an you are not and so I hate you and I have to try to bring you down to where I am.' I feel pity for them and fear because they're lost."
1.) This quote gave me back hope after reading this article. It showed me that amid the mess that is described, there are still hopeful people in the world who literally have nothing to hope about it. It gave me back hope.
I felt that this article was easy to read. It was written well and the language was not complicated. I also felt like it kept my interest. Even though it was about 15 pages, it did not feel that long. As horrific as most of the details were, for some reason it just made me want to keep reading. I guess I was searching for the "hope" in the article.
I also felt it was hard to really describe the quote I picked. A lot of things stuck out to me in the article but to be able to write down what exactly it was about each quote that had such an influence on me was very difficult.
In addition, I am not used to reading about this type or material and literally felt like I was reading a script from a movie setting. Its not that I am naive or that I have never been to a part of the world that is like the places desecribe in the article. I guess a part of me just wants to hold on to that hope and not face the harsh reality that is described in the article. I guess I want to believe that even if life is horrible, that is some beacon of hope that gets people through their day.
On a separate note, when I started to read this article, I was prepared for a liberal lesson in the form of education reform. But I was suprised. As I read Goldberg's article first, I had a rough outline of how Kozol's article was going to read but it was not the case at all! Its almost difficult to see how Kozol could write the type or material Goldberg described when at the same time he produced this article.
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3 comments:
I too, often wonder what gets people through their day. What do they "cling" to or "hope" for? I am always amazed that people who have nothing are always willing to give up more for another person. What if we did that? What if we were like that little boy who gave up his slice of pizza just to see another person happy?
A friend once told me: "You woke up today and someone else didn't." Be grateful.
you helped me write my blog thanks asoch
What do you hear as Koxol's overall point here -- who does he blame for all of this poverty and opression?
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