In his essay “A fire in the basement” Bob Herbert gives many examples that ultimately ask “what has happened to the American values of freedom, justice, opportunity and equality that separated us from other nations?” Herbert says that our society no longer cares to uphold these once fundamental values. Herbert declares that, “If I had one wish for this country it would be for leadership that would arouse the consciousness of the masses to the deceit and injustice all around them”(402) It’s obvious that Herbert is distraught by the current condition of our nation’s value system. And I must agree that we have lost sight of what really matters in today’s society and that we need a leader who will lead the people of this nation out of the dark and back to the original ideals of freedom, justice, opportunity, and equality that built up this nation. As stated before, Herbert uses many examples of inequality and injustice that he has encountered in The United States, including the incarceration of an innocent eleven year old girl for 3 years, or a young soldier’s life being irreparably changed by a roadside bomb that severed his spinal cord in Iraq. Now, many people may say that these are not new problems, that these kind of issues have always been around, which I say is just as bad, if not worse than if these were new issues. We as a nation should have, ‘lived and learned’ from these experiences, not just let them continue for centuries. Herbert himself says “It would be one thing if stories like these were rare, if they were bizarre onetime occurrences that we learned a lesson from and prevented from happening again. But the stories I cover are not rare”(398). After illustrating these examples Herbert continues by saying “I... ... middle of paper ... ...s if there will be no consequences. He is especially upset by President Bush’s “middle-class” tax cuts that were estimated to transfer more wealth to the richest one percent of the country’s population than any other economic plan in history. I can’t see how anyone would disagree with Herbert that the United States most defiantly needs to reassess the path it has taken. I completely agree with Herbert that this kind of immoral disregard for responsibility is reprehensible, every dollar spent affects the citizens of this nation, and every dollar wasted on the war is money that could be used to pull people out of poverty or to buy books for poor schools. Bibliography Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel K. Durst. "They say/I say": the moves that matter in academic writing: with readings. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2009. Print.
Herbert’s letter employs a simplistic structure which stretches a single line of reasoning. It introduces the subject, makes its claim, provides reasoning, and gives
Herbert expresses his discontent about how the government doesn’t focus on trying to fix things that really matter, that will actually help improve the economy. His overall point was that our future generations will be the ones facing this money deficit, and if the government doesn’t fix the problem, then future generations to come will find it even more difficult to be able to achieve this American Dream. Others such as Cal Thomas might argue that it’s not fully the governments fault to blame for the economy’s money deficit being so bad because it’s actually our jobs as a society to stand up and do something about it.
Whenever an author is creating an argument, they must appeal to whatever grabs his or her selected audience’s attention.When given the topic of Michael Fay, an 18 year old American citizen who was punished in Singapore for vandalism by being caned, two sources appealed to their audience in two contrasting ways. In “Time to Assert American Values,” published by The New York Times, the author tries to capture his or her audience by stirring up emotion. In “Rough Justice: A Caning in Singapore Stirs up a Fierce Debate about Crime and Punishment,” Alejandro Reyes presents factual evidence throughout the entire article to support his claims. After carefully analyzing both texts, it is apparent that Alejandro Reyes gives a more convincing and sufficient
A common dispute that has left people speechless for years is the debate between nature and nurture. Are humans influenced by their environments or their genetic make-up? This theory has not gone unnoticed while many theorists attempt to sway the opinions of their audience. Nature is comprised of our genetic and biological components that make us who we are while nurture is founded on the principle that humans are influenced by experience. I believe nature and nurture fall on a spectrum. Within the spectrum environmental, cultural, and genetic influences comprise a person’s unique
One would expect that social equality would just be the norm in society today. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Three similar stories of how inequality and the hard reality of how America’s society and workforce is ran shows a bigger picture of the problems American’s have trying to make an honest living in today’s world. When someone thinks about the American dream, is this the way they pictured it? Is this what was envisioned for American’s when thinking about what the future held? The three authors in these articles don’t believe so, and they are pretty sure American’s didn’t either. Bob Herbert in his article “Hiding from Reality” probably makes the most honest and correct statement, “We’re in denial about the extent of the rot in the system, and the effort that would be required to turn things around” (564).
nurture argument. Theorists have wondered how much of development is affected by genetics and the environment. Ultimately, nature and nurture intertwine to shape the lives of children. Nature may predispose children to certain behaviors if placed in specific environments, however the timing of the environmental exposure and the child’s natural tendencies also play a role. Theorists have also discussed the extent to which development is universal and how much of it is unique to individuals. There are consistencies that have been noted universally yet; theorists have observed variations in their competency in different tasks and way of life that may be contributed to genetics or the environment. Lastly, theorists debate about whether changes in development can be portrayed as qualitative where it involves dramatic changes or quantitative in which development is a steady progression. These debates have merits independently but require each other for a better understanding of child
Humans often make goals to reach an exhilarated state. When a goal becomes too hard to obtain and when too many people fail to reach this goal, society digresses. The American Dream is the national ethos of the United States that was created in 1931. It is a set of principles in which prosperity and success can be achieved through hard work and the right ethics. However, over the years, the “car has stopped.” This so-called “dream” is running low and slowly turning into a fantasy. With the exploitation of an over-powering government and the reforms of education heading in the wrong direction, the American Dream is running low and is on its way to extinction.
Every individual has a biological influence on their development; two individuals combine their genetic information to create a new organism, carrying biological predispositions that will shape their expressed behaviors and characteristics. However, Susan Griffin, author of the essay “Our Secret,” argues that while genetic influences are significant, they are not the sole contributors to an individual’s development. Throughout her essay, Griffin reveals to her readers that the presence of external, uncontrollable factors from an individual’s environment can be equally influential as they diverge the individual off of the predetermined path of life created by biological factors.
One major issue with the nation is their emphasis on the importance of having a timocracy society where power is measured and gained through wealth. A common ideology shared among Americans is “You don’t share things in common; you have your own things” (Burgess 236). Through this statement, Burgess remarks about how American citizens no longer have the will to familiarize themselves with
“The term “nature versus nurture” is used to refer to a long-running scientific debate. The source of debate is the question of which has a greater influence on development: someone's innate characteristics provided by genetics, or someone's environment. In fact, the nature versus nurture debate has been largely termed obsolete by many researchers, because both innate characteristics and environment play a huge role in development, and they often intersect”. (Smith, 2010 p. 1)
In 1874, Francis Galton said, “Nature is all that a man brings with him into the world; nurture is every influence that affects him after his birth”. The human body contains millions upon millions of cells and each of these cells contains hereditary information and DNA. However, there is no proof that the information carried in these genes predetermines the way in which we behave. I believe it is our life experiences and what we see and are told that shape the way in which we behave. Therefore, it appears to me that nurturing plays a far more governing and dominant role in a human being’s development rather than nature.
Are you shy? 1 out of 3 people will answer 'yes' to this question (Carducci, Zimbardo). According to the magazine Psychology Today, shyness is "awkwardness or apprehension some people feel when approaching or being approached by other people". Over the past 40 years, the percentage of people who consider themselves shy has risen to nearly 50% (Henderson). The significant number of shy people has sparked many researchers to find out what causes this so-called symptom. After numerous experiments and researches, it is accepted that there are several factors that can lead to shyness. Moreover, there are many ways to deal with this symptom. Shyness is caused by both social and innate factors; however, there are several ways to overcome it.
Shyness is often misunderstood as being antisocial, introverted or anything negative. Being shy doesn’t have to be a bad quality, there are many good traits to being shy. When you look up the word "shy" in the dictionary it says "bashful or timid". To be "antisocial" it means unwilling or unable to associate in a normal or friendly way with other people. And lastly, "introverted" means, "a person characterized by concern primarily with his or her own thoughts and feelings."
While taking a look back at life and reflecting to how i was when i was a kid the thing that have changed the most is the shyness. I remember going into places
Some of Herbert’s struggles to attain enlightenment can be seen in the poem “Discipline” in which the poetic speaker begs God to give up his “wrath” (2) and, instead, be more “gentle” (4) when judging man. The speaker wants God’s punishments to be lessened. The speaker, who could quite possibly be Herbert, wants this because he fears that God’s “rod” (1) or “wrath” (2) will be imposed up...