...Stealing, Carol Ann Duffy The poem uses the first person and is written as a dramatic monologue, a well-organized narrative with the speaker’s comments. The poet explores the psychology of an anti-social character. He attempts to explain himself but reveals how far removed he is from the “normal” reader. We can sympathise with his viewpoint, but he remains an unpleasant character. The poem contrasts those who make things and those who only destroy them. The thief wants to do things to escape boredom but hasn’t the willpower and self-discipline to do them (like learning the guitar). Key images – the snowman – children built it, but the thief cannot make it look the same, so he destroys it; the bust of Shakespeare – contrast the creative and social with the destructive and anti-social. Ambiguity – last line of the poem Persona created and we hear the voice of a fictional character What sort of person is it? Does this poem read like a confessional? They are trying to explain their actions. What drives/motivates the speaker? What does the speaker think of himself/herself? What gender do you think the persona is? Explain your idea. “The slice of ice/within my own brain” suggests that the brain is cold. What other evidence is there in the poem which reveals how the speaker feels/thinks? He speaks of the snowman almost with affection, but he cares more for this than the children who have made it. The thief is morally confused – he sees “not taking...
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...A poem about immigrate workers seems very fit for the time. So it shocked to me to see that "So Mexicans are Taking Jobs from Americans" by Jimmy Santiago Baca was actually written in 1977. Th author writes this poem from an aggressive, angry point of view. He seems sick of how Americans treat Mexican workers and being accused of stealing jobs. "Do they mug you, a knife at your throat,/saying, I want your job?" (Lines 10-11). This line made me think about how we, as Americans, treat immigrate workers. "I see this, and I hear that only a few people/got all the money in this world, the rest/count their pennies to buy bread and butter" (Line 29-31). Is making money or scraping by the reason America started? My belief is that this county was started on the bases of making a better life for your family and to be able to live the life you want. Whether that is the freedom to practice your own religion, job or to speak your mind, everyone should still be able to move to America to experience those freedoms today as well. I feel that the author was reminding us of what we have forgotten. Nevertheless, America has become a country controlled by money and the search for it. Looking at the stock market will show how crazy we can feel when we see the greedy we have created slipping away. Back to the poem, so are Mexicans taking jobs away from Americans? Maybe, but isn't that the American...
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...Throughout the poem hints at constructive pursuits (making a snowman) and artistic objects (a guitar, a bust of Shakespeare). The thief steals an destroys but cannot make anything. He realises at the end of the poem that the person he is speaking to cannot understand his outlook; "you don’t understand a word I'm saying" doesn’t refer to his words literally, so much as the ideas he expresses. The poem is rather bleak, as if anti-social behaviour is almost inevitable. The speaker sees the consequences of his actions but has no compassion for his victims. He cares more for the snowman, an inanimate object than the living human children who have made it. And he wants what has already been made - he cannot see for himself how to make his own snowman. The thief is morally confused - he sees "not taking what you want" as "giving in", as if you might as well be dead as accept conventional morality. Bit he alienates us by saying that he enjoyed taking the snowman because he knew that the theft would upset the children. "Life's tough" is said as if to justify this. The sequel comes when the thief tries to reassemble the snowman. Not surprisingly (snow is not a permanent material) "he didn't look the same", so the thief attacks him. All he is left with is "lumps of snow". This could almost be a metaphor for the self-defeating nature of his thefts. The thief tells us boastfully that he "sometimes" steals things he doesn’t need, yet it seems that he always steals what he...
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...TO OUR FRIENDS NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE BAR MITZVAH Bar Mitzvah is an expression that means “subject to the commandments,” meaning that an individual is old enough to take personal responsibility for fulfilling and celebrating the laws of the Torah. This traditionally occurs in his 13th year. By reading from the Torah, saying the blessing for the reading, and by helping to lead the service, the Bar Mitzvah will show he has acquired the knowledge and skill to accept this responsibility and its privileges. Becoming a Bar Mitzvah is not itself a religious service. That is, the Sabbath services are not being conducted because of the Bar Mitzvah. The reverse is true: The boy marks the fact that he is a Bar Mitzvah by participating in the Sabbath service. If no one was celebrating a Bar Mitzvah, the services would still be conducted and the portions read by the boy would be read by another adult member of the congregation. The Sabbath service at Congregation Tifereth Israel is a traditional service conducted almost entirely in Hebrew, the Jewish language of prayer. The form and structure of the service are 1,800 to 2,000 years old, with some sections dating back 2,500 years. For example, the "Musaf" service dates almost to the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. and was written to replace the sacrificial ceremony in the temple. (It is interesting to note that the synagogue itself, as an institution, dates to that event, when the Jews were...
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...was acting inappropriate for a professional and well-respected environment. I saw my best friend (Mike) taking left over food home. Hospital policy clearly state that no one takes food home without paying for it, and any suspected incidents of theft or suspicious behavior is to be reported immediately to a supervisor. I thought about many alternatives, but confused on how to handle it. He pleads me not to say anything to anyone, and promises it was only a onetime thing and it would never happen again. To be honest, at that time I was very upset with him and tangled with what to do because he was not just my co-worker, he was also my friend. The ethical dilemma I was faced with was whether or not I should report Mike to my supervisor for stealing food. It was taugh decistion because either way there will be a consequence. Here are some different ways I could make my decision: • I could report to my supervisor immediatley about what I just witnessed that Mike doing. • I could confront my Mike to report himself or I will because it could jeopardize my job. • I could ignore the situation because he is my friend and I don’t want to report him and get him into trouble, hoping he will resove the problem on his own without my involement. • I could write an anonymous letter to my supervisor explaining what I had witnessed Mike doing. If I were to tell my supervisor about what Mike had done, the consequence might be that the supervisor...
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...friend’s house working on our final art project during my sophomore year of high school. We were running low on colored pencils, so we decided to take a trip to wal-mart and buy some new art supplies. Walking around, we found some other things that we decided to go look at. In the isle, there were many different lip glosses and make up that we wanted, but we thought it would be easier to just take it instead of paying for it. A child can learn that stealing can have serious consequences. One lesson a person learns is responsibility. Many people learn this the hard way when it comes to stealing things. The time I shoplifted, I thought nothing about my actions because I figured I wouldn’t get in trouble. I learned responsibility when I got caught and had to explain to my mom why I stole a two-dollar lip-gloss instead of paying for it. There are also many ways to prevent shoplifting, and I failed to think about the consequences of my actions. I was told about the social and legal problems caused from theft, as well as how stealing affects the entire family. For example, it can have lasting effects, such as a juvenile crime record that could follow me until I am 18, incarceration in a juvenile detention center or placing the responsibility to pay back the store for the item stolen. It’s embarrassing; I lost trust from my mom all because I chose to steal instead of pay for it. Another lesson learned is honesty. When I was younger, I was always told never to take things that don’t...
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...In a situation such as me being a manager of a store and hiring a friend of mine who I caught stealing, I would defiantly terminate my friend and let the owner of the store know what happened. I would use ethical formulism to help make my decision because it is my duty as a manger to treat all employees’ the same friend or no friend. Not only is it my duty but it is truly the only good thing to do in a situation such as this. First, I put my neck on the line for a friend and my friend returns the favor by stealing from the store and making me look bad by having friends who steal. With friends like that who needs enemies. From a utilitarianism standpoint the greatest good to the greatest number of people would to honor the owner because overtime if an employee continues to steal the business may go under hurting employees’, the owner, and the customers. Religion comes into play in this situation because many people believe that religion is necessary to live ethically. God’s will is what is good. I consider myself very religious and faithful to my religion and I have always practiced by treating others how I want to be treated. One day if I become lucky enough to own a store and my manager’s friend is stealing I would hope my manger would do the right thing. Natural law is not something that I would rely on in a situation like this one. Morals are taught at a very young age and if morals were not taught and practiced at a young age more than likely that child will...
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...Pablo Arocha Professor Aleman 10 November 2015 1424609 Stealing Africa. Director Christoffer Guldbrandsen. 2012. Stealing Africa is a unique film that clearly calls into question whether or not multinational corporations are strategically taking all of the resources out of Africa. Christoffer Guldbrandsen clearly indicates how Africa has been a victim of multinational corporations, and that immediate change must occur. The film does an excellent job in illuminating the macro level issues that are occurring as a result of the exploitation that has occurred in Africa. Specifically, the copper belt in Africa, represents an essential commodity in the global community. All of the copper mines in Africa are owned my multinational corporations, and this is being used to manipulate revenues and taxes that should be paid to these host nations. Stealing Africa is a power film that demonstrates the level of exploitation that is occurring in Africa by the multinational corporations, and how this must be addressed by the global community. The paradox that is presented in the film, is based upon inequality that is occurring in terms of wealth and overall long term awareness that is thus present. On one end the country has the some of the highest natural resources in the world, yet is one of the poorer countries in the region. The film did an excellent job in showing how there is over ten times amount of revenue going out of Africa, comparative to the amount of foreign aid and income...
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...Stealing property from across the Globe A security guard may vigilantly patrol a company’s premises afterhours, checking every room and watching all the camera footage to safeguard his company, but major threats to the companies property may still be in danger from sources that aren’t even on the same continent. Due to the intertwined networks that makeup the functional framework of most business these days, more and more companies find themselves at risk of losing assets to overseas thieves. The article I read from The New York Times was titled U.S. Accuses Six Chinese Citizens of Stealing Tech Data. It concerned the recent case of, as descried in the title, six People’s Republic of China citizens who are being accused, under a law that is only rarely used, of stealing the intellectual property of a Silicon Valley based firm, namely the design for a chip that is used in the manufacturing of cell phones. The men in question held jobs in the United States for an extended duration and then following their time in the states, started to manufacture chips in China, selling and distributing them using the technology and trade secrets they learned during their time in Silicon Valley. The State Department is looking into this situation, however, even though they know who is responsible, guilty verdicts with actual prison sentences served are not the usual outcome due to the nature of US relations with the People’s Republic of China. This emphasizes one of the largest concerns...
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...Steal the loaf of bread and save the family, but be ready to face the consequences for stealing. That is the dilemma. If caught, he will leave his family altogether, unable to provide and give support while he’s incarcerated. Ending up in jail will brand him as neglectful. While it is easy to say that no one should steal and commit any wrongdoing, it is also difficult to give fault to the father for wanting to provide for his family in any way possible. “Desperate times, call for desperate measures” as Hollywood scripts may put it. Maybe as a last resort, they are choosing to do something illegal in order to survive. It is true that stealing is against the law and is ethically wrong. However, is stealing justified if it meant saving the family...
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...“I nearly wept trying to decide which to steal” quote by Gary Soto. This quote is explaining how he feels when experiences his first sin for stealing that pie. When he was a young boy he was very religious because the writer states he has never sinned in his life until he was six years old but that all changed because of that sinful pie. Soto uses many specifics to show us how he felt when he stole that pie when he was a young boy. He recreates his childhood moment and experience by giving us specific details on how he felt and what he did that day. As you can tell he was very religious when he was a little boy and according to him “I knew enough about hell to stop me from stealing. I was holy in almost every bone.”. This shows how devoted...
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...Stealing is the act of illegally taking by force or threat, it is criticised by many and frowned upon by many religions worldwide. Although many believe it is sinful to do so, can it be justified in certain circumstances? Perhaps it is not morally correct, but in emergencies of life and death situations it can be accepted. As a mother take on major roles and responsibilities to help their children receive the correct nutrients and medical care. Unfortunately not all families are financially stable enough to have the resources such as medical care and food to properly care for them. If i were put in that position in which i could not supply my child with food or correct medical care It is justifiable to steal in order to save my child’s life....
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...In the Parsley Garden by William Saroyan the author is trying to teach us that their is no better feeling than earning what you have with hard work. Stealing is bad. Working hard for the things you have makes you feel better than just taking something that's not yours. The main character in the story Al Condraj steals a hammer from the store and he got caught immediately. “He took the hammer and slipped it into the pocket”. “What’s he swiped?” …” A hammer”. He was caught by a young employee from the store. Al Condraj took the hammer because he had nails and wood and he just need a hammer to have everything to build something. The thing he wanted to built is a bench. Al Condraj was humiliated about what had just happened and wanted to go...
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...In the story Stealing South by Katherine Ayres, 16 year old abolitionist William Spencer is ready to gain independence from his parents and work the Underground Railroad disguised as a peddler. A peddler is a traveling merchant who loads up his wagon and brings his goods farm to farm, Girl Scout style. This job is reserved for men. His first “delivery” is of a young slave named Noah. After Noah arrives to the safety of Canada, he musters up enough courage to ask William to go back to Kentucky for his siblings, Noah and Suzanne. Excited to embark on his next adventure to save slaves and leave slave owners dumbfounded, William scurries deep into Kentucky. On his way to Kentucky, William finds himself dilly dallying in Cincinnati. When buying...
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...The poem “stealing” by Carol Ann Duffy is one of the most interesting poems I have ever read. It is about a common thief who steals objects with no great value, for example a snowman. You never know the thief’s gender or his or her name and this adds an air of mystery. Throughout the poem you feel no sympathy towards him. He takes enjoyment out of other people’s grief and this may be due to an unstable childhood or simply the way he feels about society. The poem is written quite sympathetically but no matter how hard you try, you find that the thief is a very unlikable character. He has an exceptionally high opinion of himself and a certain degree of self importance and this is made apparent by the way he looks at his life at a certain angle, with a third person view. It is my task to describe how far Carol Ann Duffy, in her poem “Stealing” reveals the persona and encourages a degree of sympathy on the part of the reader. In the first stanza the thief begins as if repeating a question someone has asked him. This makes me think that the thief is perhaps talking to someone or being interviewed. “The most unusual thing I ever stole?” It is also a rhetorical question and the thief makes it quite clear that he is not new to the world of thievery by saying “I ever stole”. His answer was “A Snowman.” And by keeping his answer short you feel that he wants to get straight to the point. I feel that it starts to become clear now that he cares more about the affection from inanimate objects...
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