Compare and Contrast of Quindlen and Lutz
Upon reading and examining two essays, “Life under the chief doublespeak officer” a narrative by William Lutz and “Homeless”, a descriptive by Anna Quindlen, I firmly believe that Quindlen provides the preferred essay due to the gravity of her subject, greater personal relevance, and that her material allows the reader to sympathize with the subject matter.
William Lutz’s essay addresses the growing trend in Corporate America to disguise actions with words and or phrases that mask the intention of the company. In Lutz’s essay he says,” With doublespeak, banks don't have "bad loans" or "bad debts"; they have "nonperforming assets" or "nonperforming credits" which are "rolled over" or "rescheduled." Corporations never lose money; they just experience "negative cash flow," "deficit enhancement," "net profit revenue deficiencies," or "negative contributions to profits." (Lutz, n.d.) Lutz’s point is well taken, however the cynicism detected removes any sincere attempt to gain sympathy from the reader. Quindlen, however, addresses a heavy topic that deserves more than just a passing read, and that is being homeless. Immediately into the essay, Quindlen introduces the reader to Ann, a vagrant that has been “passing through” for two weeks. In their conversation, Ann produces a photograph from which Quindlen says this, “They were not pictures of family, or friends, or even a dog or cat, its eyes brown-red in the flashbulb's light. They were pictures of a house. It was like a thousand houses in a hundred towns, not suburb, not city, but somewhere in between, with aluminum siding and a chain-link fence, a narrow driveway running up to a one-car garage, and a patch of backyard. The house was y...
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... enjoyed both essays. Lutz’s narrative essay was full of humor and irony that gave me a peak into the corporate world. His work flowed and kept my attention, mainly because I work in that world in which he wrote about. Quindlen, though, opened a new door of perception with her descriptive essay. She beautifully scripted her story that allowed me to connect with her emotions and that of her friend Ann. Quindlen’s essay pulled me in with the gravity of her subject, unlike Lutz’s work relying on ironic humor. Quindlen’s work created a deep sense of sympathy and opened my eyes to understanding and seeing the homeless through different lenses.
Works Cited
Quindlen, A. (n.d.). Homeless. Retrieved from http://pers.dadeschools.net/prodev/homelesstext.htm
Lutz, W. (n.d.). Life under the chief doublespeak officer. Retrieved from http://dt.org/html/Doublespeak.html
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When I first walked into Krug Hall for this panel, I was apprehensive because it felt like I intruding on someone’s class but I am glad that I went. The panel was informative, the people from the ‘National Coalition for the Homeless’ were friendly and had insightful stories to share, and it changed my initial thoughts about homeless people.
Mark Peterson’s 1994 photograph, Image of Homelessness, compares the everyday life of the working class to the forgotten life of the lowest class in society. In the image, the viewer can see a troubled homeless man wrapped in a cocoon of standard manipulated 12in by 12in cardboard boxes and yarn. The yarn is what is keeping the man and box tied to the red bench. This bench has chipped paint and is right in front of a black fence. Underneath the bench is dirt and debris from the dead fall leaves. The center focal point is the homeless man on the bench. He is the focal point because he is the greatest outsider known to man. Behind this man is vibrant life. There is pulsating people crossing the clean street, signs of life from all the advertising on store windows, families walking and blurred cars filled with
One of the most prominent concerns of Evicted is the issue of inescapable financial instability as it relates to eviction. In the very first few pages of the book, Desmond reveals that the majority of poor renting families in America spend over 50% of their income on housing, with an even more astonishing one in four spending over 70% of their income on it (4). When families are spending the majority of their already meager income on housing alone, it is no surprise that they have little money left for savings or self-betterment programs such as a college education. Compounded with this is the fact that some welfare systems are constructed in a way that discourages long-term financial responsibility. For example, Supplemental Security Income, a program that provides monthly stipends for low-income elderly or disabled individuals, is revoked if individuals have too much money in their bank account (217). For
...on the homeless community. I previously held preconceived notions that the homeless consisted of people who were either unable to connect and form relationships with others or didn’t desire to do so. Yet, I observed most everyone greeting one another and reminiscing with those who have been absent from the community for a while, as well as, expressing concern for those missing. I recognized that the homeless may live in a non-traditional way, but they have established their own communities and are successful in forming and maintaining cohesive relationships.
“Write an essay in which you analyze the rhetorical strategies Judy Syfers uses to achieve her purpose.
...stic things in order to live a better, more sound, and overall healthier life. Juxtaposition makes the audience want to follow through with the purpose. Exemplification causes the audience to realize the extent of their materialistic nature. A definition of the average homeless person’s terms allows him to build his ethos and consequently allow the audience to believe and follow his purpose. A majority of people are a part of the middle class, and this majority tends to judge the poor for their lifestyle whether it be through Dumpster diving or begging on the streets. However, as proven by the essay, these people have no right to do so because the poor do, in reality, have a greater sense of self than these middle-class people, similar to the rich. The middle-class citizens must no longer act the victim; instead, they should be working on becoming more sentimental.
“Homeless is more than being without a home. It is tied into education needs, food, security; health issues both mental and physical, employment issues, etc. Don’t forget the whole picture.” (“Boxed In” 2005 pg. 108)
Her story was interesting to read, but she over exaggerated every detail, making it perplexing to read. “In Case You Ever Want to Go Home Again’s” transitions were non-existent, confusing me further. I could picture minute snippets of the essay, but the overall depiction was not clear. Furthermore, her narration had minimal dialogue; constructing a conversation in this story would recover this essay from the gutter it was in. If the author used transitions, dialogue, and used direct descriptions, her essay would have been renovated
Ascher speaks to her readers through the use of pathos. As she portrays the homeless – wretched, stained, and noxious – Ascher is permitting her audience to imagine them. Depicting the experiences between
Quindlen begins her essay by describing a homeless person by her name, emphasizing that this woman has a name and is a human being just like everyone else. Her goal is to show us that we should be looking at the homeless as the individuals they are, rather than categorizing them all into one group. As Quindlen words it, “It has been customary to take people’s pain and lessen our own participation in it by turning it into an issue, not a collection of human beings” (Quindlen 214). By calling them homeless, we are labeling them by the issue, being without a home, rather than giving them their individuality. The problem is that “We turn an adjective into a noun: the poor, not poor people; the homeless, not Ann or the man who lives in the box or the woman who sleeps on the subway grate” (Quindlen 215). This would be like being called ‘blonde’ instead of by name. Blondes are satirically viewed as ignorant in the media, so being called blonde instead of by name would be using a stereotype as an identity for someone; when in reality that may not be true. I already used the word homeless in this essay multiple times. We use it because it’s easier and quicker; but it can also be hurtful if used the wrong way. Using an adjective to categorize a group of people can be very hurtful, and as Quindlen
Welty, Eudora. “Why I Live at the P.O.” Discovering a Voice: A Rhetoric for Writers. The University of West Alabama. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead, 2009. 359-67. Print.
How does one compare the life of women to men in late nineteenth century to mid-twentieth century America? In this time the rights of women were progressing in the United States and there were two important authors, Kate Chopin and John Steinbeck. These authors may have shown the readers a glimpse of the inner sentiments of women in that time. They both wrote a fictitious story about women’s restraints by a masculine driven society that may have some realism to what women’s inequities may have been. The trials of the protagonists in both narratives are distinctive in many ways, only similar when it totals the macho goaded culture of that time. Even so, In Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing we hold two unlike fictional characters in two very different short stories similar to Elisa Allen in the “Chrysanthemums” and Mrs. Louise Mallard in “The Story of an Hour”, that have unusual struggles that came from the same sort of antagonist.