...I first saw the title I really had no idea what I was about to be reading. The word “vag” within the era of the writing, the 1930’s, was short for vagrant. A vagrant according to my Mac is one who wanders from place to place. According to the text it’s a derogatory term for a homeless person. The short introduction on page 946 of our text explains the story correlates to a publication surrounding men returning from World War 1. It seems however that this passage can relate to any period in our nations history. In this instance we are left to ponder how this young man got to be in a place where he has to thumb for a ride, perhaps he was born into the lift of what may seem like hopeless dreams or perhaps he fell into an inescapable nightmare after serving for his country. In the short story the vagrant faces officers sworn to protect turning him away seeming to offer no compassion for who he may be or why he may be living such a life. In today’s modern world we are faced with similar struggles. We see not only men struggling but families. As of November 2012 there were almost 4,000 families in some kind of shelter in the Commonwealth. The story compares those with money flying from place to place in the time of amazing new transcontinental flights to those only method of travel is a thumb and helpful Samaritan. Within the story you can see a stark contrast between those with opportunity and money and those who have nothing. A situation still prominent today one...
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...A Good Night’s Sleep It’s a short story written by Brian McCabe about a teacher called Lockhart, who lives on third floor of a tenement building in Edinburgh. He is an insomniac, which is sleeplessness, that’s one problem, but what makes the problem even worse is that his neighbors make a lot of noise, especially the old man from the apartment upstairs and the couple that lives next to him. One night he cannot fall asleep, because he as mentioned before is an insomniac, and then he hears something bumping softly against his door. He is lying, thinking about lots of stuff that night, for example is he thinking about the time where he was young and was going to parties and having fun, and then he’s having troubles figuring out a subject for the nxt mornings discussion with his class. Later that night he walked out to check what it was that was making the noise against his door, and found out that a homeless girl was sitting in his staircase. He talked with her, and asked her to sleep in his son’s bed, but she refused. Later that night came his neighbor couple home from a pub or something, and then they kicked her out of the staircase. Later Lockhart lay in his bed, and could not stop thinking about her, and then he suddenly heard the noise again and knew she was there. The story takes place in Lockharts apartment, and in the staircase outside his apartment in Edinburgh, late at night. Lockhart, the main character is an average man living a almost normal life. He has an apartment...
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...A Good Night’s Sleep - A Scottish short story The story deals with George Lockhart who is trying to sleep but has a hard time doing so due to the noisy city life and his insomnia. He lives on the third floor in a tenement building in Edinburgh. He is a teacher of Community and General Studies, and he misses his ex-wife Elaine “He tried not to think of Elaine, his ex-wife, sleeping in their old comfortable double bed – alone?” (p.1, l. 41), and has a son named Ben with her as well. He notices every sound from the people and cars out in the street to the neighbors. It makes him more frustrated and less tired. He finds a homeless adolescent girl on his doormat and who is geting some rest. Instead of staying humble when the homeless girl is being confronted by George, she gets irritated and has a rude tone every time she answer him back. At the start of their conversation we feel that Georg is a bit shocked, and therefore asks a lot of questions because he is curious to know why there is a homeless on his doormat, which only gets her more upset and she sees George as an wealthy man (p. 3, l. 89-92) that only contributes problems in to her attempt to sleep, and he has to be dealt with somehow in a way that doesn’t end up in her having to leave and find another place to sleep. She doesn’t see him as one that could actually help her in some way. She has a very pessimistic attitude. The reader can clearly see from the start of their conversation that she is sure that he doesn’t...
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...October 23, 2013 Homelessness is More Appealing Many of us will never be homeless, and not everyone understands the benefit of having a wife, but after reading the essays’, Homeless (Quindlen, A. n.d.) and I Want a Wife (Brady, J. 1971), one can gain a better understanding of both. I am a wife. Therefore, I can certainly connect with the narrator’s story of I Want a Wife. This is a narrative essay, in which the narrator reflects on why she too would like to have a wife after a visit with a recently divorced male friend, who is looking for a new wife. The narrator gives a list of duties and activities she will and will not do if she had a wife, and she can visualize the benefits a wife could afford her with less responsibilities and more time for school or friends. My other essay of choice is quite different in theme, but it is still relatable. Anne Quindlen’s essay, Homeless (n.d.) is a short descriptive essay with the narrator retelling of an account when she met a woman, who she believes is homeless, at the bus terminal. It is during the encounter that the narrator reflects on homeless people in general, the homeless individual and about herself. Both of these essays’ are well written, however, I feel that Homeless (Quindlen, A. n.d.), is a more appealing essay than I Want a Wife (Brady, J. 1971), as it allows the reader to become more engaged in the descriptions and reflect on the details of the story. Whenever I first start reading any type of literature, the first thing...
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...“The hardest thing for a homeless person is sleep and a conversation,” said Pastor Garrett with Safehouse Outreach. On Lovett’s Service Initiative for Ninth Graders (SING), advisory groups went out to various social service organizations. At these organizations, students completed diverse community service projects to help the Greater Atlanta community. My advisory group went to three places: United Way, Safehouse Outreach, and World Relief. The service at each organization was different, but overall my view on homelessness has changed. During my SING experience, I learned about the issue of homelessness when conversing with Pastor Garrett who works for Safehouse Outreach. Garrett knows first hand what it is like to be living on the streets. Garrett served our country in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not only did he leave the military with an honorable discharge, but he also left with no compassion what so ever. Garrett, still compassionless, felt compelled to work with a church in his hometown in South Carolina. He was sent to a...
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...publicity so, they can became famous over the internet. In this picture of a homeless guy in Times Square New York, shows a homeless man with a police officer right next to him. By the police officer doing this deed, makes the law enforcement look better. Also for the police officer, people label him as a hero and not a person just trying to look good in the eyes of the public. In this visual it shows a cop doing a good deed to get publicity. In the picture the homeless man is wearing raggedy clothes because his pants are all ripped up at the bottom. It is winter time because he has a winter coat on and so does the police officer. People that are unhoused usually only have one pair of clothing and it’s the one they are wearing also, don’t have many possessions because everything that they have travels with them. Usually homeless people carry everything they own in a book bag or a shopping cart. In the picture a pair of boots is next to the homeless man and the police officer is kneeling down next to him. The officer is looking right at him with his hands in front of the homeless man, showing the man that he won’t hurt him. The officer knew that the homeless man was walking bare foot around Times Square and bought him a pair of all-weather boots and thermal socks. The homeless man’s feet were all blistered up because he was walking around Times Square in the winter with no shoes on. When the homeless man got the shoes, he was so happy. In an interview the police officer...
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...Bread on the Water l. 180-210 They walked back through town, reaching the church just as the crowd was coming out the door. Tommy worked his way against the flow, hoping to hook up with his parents before they figured out he hadn't been there during the service. "I'm toast," Tommy muttered to Andy as he caught sight of Mrs. Skeffington talking to his mom. When his folks reached him, his dad didn't waste any time. "I'm very disappointed with you," he said. "Sorry." "Getting thrown out of a church service. Of all the places to misbehave." He went on for a while Tommy nodded and made the proper noises to show how bad he felt. Out of the corner of his eye, He could see Andy dancing through the same routine with his mom and dad. Finally, his (Tommy's*, because it sounds as if his father would turn to Tommy's grandmother) dad turned to his mom and said, "Let's go. I'm starving." Tommy followed his parents to the car and got inside. Behind them, he saw old Mrs. Wilming hobbling slowly along the sidewalk. Mrs. Skeffington cruised past her, not offering a ride. On the church steps, the Lindens were pulling their little kid by the arms as he dragged his feet and screamed his head off, pleading for a Happy Meal. When they reached level ground, Mrs. Linden gave him a swat on the rear to speed him along. Through Tommy's open window, he heard her say, "Just wait till I get you home." "We're trying to raise you the right way," Tommy's mom said as his dad shot out of the parking lot...
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...particular is at epidemic levels for those returning to civilian life. Given the Iraq and Afghanistan tours and number of soldiers returning from multiple tours in “hell”, it is little wonder the number of homeless vets has more than doubled in the past two years. (Zoroya, 2014) Serious measures need to be taken to save our “fallen soldiers” from the depressing life on the streets of America. But in order to do this we must first understand the life of homeless vets to determine why conventional attempts at solving this problem just don’t work. Our society needs to take ownership in working with State and Federal Government to implement successful solutions which produce positive results in eliminating homelessness among our veterans. The number of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans who are homeless or risk losing the roof over their heads is increasing as more of these soldiers return home from active duty. At the end of September, 2014, 531 of these vets were living on the streets of Connceticut. (Zoroya, 2014) These numbers are actually much higher because it only represents the number staying in shelters or those receiving federal temporary housing vouchers to pay rent as noted in Department of Veterans’ Affairs reports. (Zoroya, 2014). There were more than 62,600 homeless veterans in the United States according to data from January 2014 report released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Paralyzed Veterans of America, 2014). Given the contributions...
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...environmental standards in a positive way (Tesia Vargason, personal communication, April 1, 2015). With the purchases of properties in the DC Metro area, they are frequently improving their buildings to meet LEED or Energy Star standards, which creates better efficiency for lighting and heat and the environment simultaneously. They believe that this approach creates the best value for tenants of the buildings and employees (Tesia Vargason, personal communication, April 1, 2015). Their sustainability efforts are focused on resource conservation and tenant health and productivity. Their resource conservation efforts include initiatives concerning energy, water, and materials. It is stated on their website that almost 60% of First Potomac’s multi-story office portfolio is Energy Star certified and that their efficiency efforts save approximately $2.5...
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...“Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but it should finish in the reader’s.” - Stephen King. It’s up to the author to create their own image in their own imagination as they’re writing, and then to do their best to place their image of a place or characters into the reader’s mind. Authors do so by using descriptive adjectives. In the short stories “The Treasure of Lemon Brown” by Walter Dean Myers and “Lemon Tree Billiards House” by Cedric Yamanaka, the authors use descriptive adjectives and word choice to develop the setting and characters. In the short story “The Treasure of Lemon Brown” author Walter Dean Myers uses descriptive word choice to establish setting and characters. For example, “He had seen this man before, picking through trash and pulling...
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...categories including mental health care. Mental health care has gotten the short end of the stick in the last few years, and it has become a spiraling problem in the United States. Between 2009 and 2011 the United States witnessed some of the largest state budget cuts in history, and we are still suffering from the consequences of doing so. Where does a majority of homelessness, suicide, substance abuse and jail overcrowding stem from? If you take a closer look it will become very clear that cutting the funding for mental health research and treatment has left these mentally ill patients with very few options suitable enough for their varying conditions. Due to the lack of appropriate facilities needed to properly diagnose and treat mentally ill patients, jails are becoming overcrowded and homelessness is at an all-time high. The importance of mental health care is being put on the back burner while, instead, it needs to be a priority and that is why President Obama’s proposition to increase funding to aid the mentally ill in 2014 is extremely necessary. As states cut mental health care funding, prisons are becoming an asylum. There is a very common misconception among the general public that mentally ill individuals are extremely violent, however, this statement has proven to be very false. The unfortunate truth is that this stigma blossoms from the fact that, these days, jails have become one of the few places that will take the mentally ill patients in. As the economy dries up...
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...home provides continuity and a social context for individuals and families, and those become homeless lose more than a shelter (Smith Barusch 165). With its many causes, homelessness is an extremely diverse problem that has proven difficult to remedy. Though some homeless people find themselves in unfortunate situations, others are homeless by choice. Those who choose homelessness do so either indirectly, by making decisions that result in negative consequences, or directly, by opting to be free of life’s responsibilities. This belief is not commonly found in print since society most often feels compassion and pity toward the homeless. Still, assistance is offered on a federal level, as well as on local levels. Although there are many charitable organizations, along with the government, that offer assistance to the homeless nationwide. Homelessness remains a prevalent problem mainly due to the fact that some of the homeless choose that lifestyle. The Stewart B. McKinney Act, which provided assistance to protect and improve the lives of the homeless, defines a homeless person as “one who lacks a fixed permanent nighttime residence or whose nighttime residence is a temporary shelter, welfare hotel, or any public or private place not designed as sleeping accommodations for human beings” (Blau 8). These people can usually be categorized into two types: “the episodically homeless and the...
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...Kip Tiernan: A Leader in the Fight Against Homelessness Homelessness can be defined as an individual lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence (McKinney-Veto Homeless Education Act, Section 725). Because homelessness can be a short or long-term problem, it is difficult to accurately calculate homeless figures. The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that there are 634,067 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in the United States. This includes people of all genders, ages, races, and backgrounds. According to the Campaign to End Child Homelessness, 1.6 million children experience homelessness annually (2012). In total, approximately 3 million individuals are experiencing homelessness each year (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty). Homelessness is a problem that is very personal. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends, and veterans are being affected. We must come together as a society to work toward combating this problem. Kip Tiernan was an inspiring leader in the fight against homelessness. Her greatest accomplishment was founding Rosie’s Place, the first homeless shelter for women. Kip Tiernan was born on June 17, 1926 in West Haven, CT. She was raised by her grandmother after her parents passed away when she was still a child. She got expelled from boarding school in the 1930s for consumption of alcohol. In 1947, she moved to Boston to study jazz at Boston Conservatory. Unfortunately, she again got expelled...
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...Loose Change The short story is a about a woman who lives in London or a ”Londoner” as she calls it. One day her period comes early as she is walking into the National Portrait Gallery to get warm. She doesn’t have any change for the tampon machine so she asks in the bathroom if anyone has got some change she could borrow. One girl responds. The girl and her brother fled from Uzbekistan, she is now homeless and all of her money can be kept in one pocket. The woman decides to take her out for a cup of tea out of gratefulness for the change she borrowed from her. The girl tells the woman about why she is now in England and how she and her brother are now sleeping on the streets of London every night. At one point the girl starts crying. The woman leaves to get her some napkins, but as she has the napkins in her hand she turns around and leaves the café. The story is written in first-person narration and has a linear structure. The story is reaching towards many well discussed topics such as immigration. In the story we follow a classic “Londoner” who keeps to herself and minds her own business. You can say that she is a very reserved personality (pg. 1 line 1-3). The conflict appears when she “befriends” a refugee from Uzbekistan. The girl is different, and she looks different as well. The woman wants to help her but for some reason something is stopping her. She seems to think that she, as a single mother, she has enough problems already. The woman seems very insecure especially...
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...who has been living on the streets of Seattle for six years, writes that “I’ve been killing myself ever since [my grandmother] died” (Alexie 108). According to Jackson, winning back his grandmother’s regalia from the pawnshop means reconnecting with a heritage (light) that he’s lost to darkness, which in this situation manifests as homelessness and alcoholism. The story recounts Jackson’s struggles of pulling together enough money to buy back the regalia. Despite encountering generous cops and winning lotto tickets, Jackson always finds himself short on change, spending the money on food or “bottles of imagination” (Alexia 99). Darkness acts as an obstacle. Jackson’s alcoholism prevents him from ever getting together enough money to buy back the regalia. Despite this, it is because he is aware of his darkness that he even has the strength to try. Jackson, at one point, says, “I want to be a hero… I want to win it back like a knight” (Alexie 110). Motivated by the need to restore his family’s heritage, or his own enlightenment, Jackson works to move from darkness to light. He wants to be more than a drunk, homeless Indian, and it is this need to move out of the darkness that motivates him to move towards the light. The prejudice Jackson experiences as he is stereotyped into a category of a listless bum, though it serves as an obstacle, also is the main motivation behind seeking his enlightenment. Without the need to move above his stereotype, Jackson would have never worked so...
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