As I walk home from school, the streets are silent. There are very few cars; only the most elite people are able to obtain and maintain them. Although it is about twelve in the afternoon, no one is out on the streets. Most adults are working to fulfill their civic duty. They have to work from nine am to five pm Monday through Friday. For an hour before work, every adult has to put in an hour at the gym to stay fit. At least, that is what the Panelists tell us. They also have to read for an hour every day as a form of mandatory “leisure time.” The Panelists say that we need to keep our minds sharp, which is why we read so much. During school today, I learned that the Panelists are a group of six people who basically rule Tahsia. Together, …show more content…
The Disaster took place long before most of us were alive, even the Panelists. From what I understand, the Disaster was a time in history where every country in the world was at war. As a result, many people died from going to war, famine, or disease. The Disaster was such a damaging event to our world that by the end of it, there were very few people left. Those people split off into four separate groups, each forming their own country. A group of six people organized Tashia and became the first …show more content…
Tonight is the night everything changes for my family and I. Around midnight, I open my window and crawl out. I am glad Tashia banned any homes bigger than one story because they were dangerous and wasteful. I’m wearing all black, and my heart is pounding in my chest. I am apprehensive to cross the border because I am not sure what will happen. No one ever talks about anyone ever leaving Tahsia without consent from the Panelists. I try to prevent myself from thinking about what will happen to me if the fence is electrified or if there are guards. Finally, after what seems like forever, I reach the fence. I almost jump for joy when I see there are no guards in sight, and better yet, no signs that the fence is electrified. Taking a moment to rest, I study the fence and decide that I will have to climb over and climb back down. The fence is too high to jump from, which may be a blessing or a curse. Probably the latter. After a few minutes’ rest, I run for the fence and start to climb. While climbing, I mentally thank Tashia for all the hours of exercise since it is definitely paying off now. When I climb down the other side, I notice straight away that the vegetation is different from Tahsia’s. I know that I can’t wait here much longer, so I start running. I’m not sure where I’ll end up, but anywhere is better than Tashia at this
In Jason de León's eye opening and heartbreaking book The Land of Open Graves, we get an indepth ethnological account of the many people who's lives have been shaped in one way or another by the Mexican-American border, and the weaponization of the inhospitable Sonoran desert. In this section of border crossing, 4 million undocumented migrants have been arrested (more than one third of all immigration arrests), and countless others have tried, failed, succeeded or died (1). De León also frames Border Patrol as a tool of state-sponsored structural violence and highlights the horrendous after effects of free trade policies for tens of millions of immigrants seeking to regain what they had lost. The author also details the ethical and moral
In T.C. Boyle’s The Tortilla Curtain, it should be easily noted that each wall comes with a much deeper, metaphorical meaning. The literal and figurative boundaries in the story appear as symbols for what keep the characters in their own “worlds.” These boundaries symbolize the fear of outside forces which each character struggles to keep away from what they cherish the most. Although the boundaries in the story can both be real and imagined, each one of them can allude back to the main issue of the Mexican-American border.
As I wearily sat in my seat, writing an essay on the importance of electricity in the modern world, I caught myself glancing repeatedly at the clock that was so carefully perched above the teacher’s desk. “Ten minutes, only ten more minutes left until school is over and I get to go home!” I told myself. In most schools, the average school day is about eight hours long. Eight hours of continuously sitting in a chair taking notes during lectures, doing classwork, projects, etc. During these eight hours of school, students deserve a short, outdoor break in which they can isolate themselves from the stress of working all day and just relax. Studies have shown that people who take short breaks throughout the day to do light, outdoor breaks are more productive than those who do not. A short, outdoor break will benefit students due to the fact that students will have time to relax; students will be able to focus more, concentrate, and be more productive; and teachers will have more time to prepare for the next class coming.
Reading is on the decline and our reading skills are declining right along with the amount of reading we do. This is happening right across the board through both genders, all age groups and education levels, people are busy and they just do not have time to read books that they are not required to read for school or work. There are serious consequences to this neglect of reading that will continue to worsen if ignored. We need to take notice of what is happening to our culture and stop this situation from continuing, we must act to correct these issues that we are faced with. These things are discussed in the essay “Staying Awake’’ by Ursula K. Le Guin who uses the NEA essays “To Read or Not to Read’’ and “Reading at Risk’’ to support her argument that there is a decline in the amount of time that we are spending on reading and our ability to understand what it is that we are reading.
Medina, Isabel M. “At the Border: What Tres Mujeres Tells Us About Walls and Fences.” Journal of Gender, Race and Justice 10 (2007): 245-68.
Fitness consumes society and distracts them from problems emerging around in the country. The problems, the real source of anxiety, keep developing and classes have become to engrossed in themselves to notice. Ehrenreich emphasis, “By confusing health and virtue, we’ve gotten testier, less tolerant, and ultimately less capable of confronting the sources of disease…” (Ehrenreich, 2016, p. 339). Her emphasis sheds light on America’s failure to understand the impact society makes, as a whole, since the individual selves take the focus. American society lost sight of worth and in their attempts to find it placed their worthiness into how strong and toned they became. The worth of America society as a collective is the influence they can bring about and if America can find that worth, as Ehrenreich urges, “…It can make us fit for something: strong enough to fight the big-time polluters, for example, the corporate waste dumpers; tough enough to take on economic arrangements that condemn so many to poverty and to dangerous occupations; lean and powerful enough to demand a more nurturing, less anxiety ridden social ladder” (Ehrenreich, 2016, p. 340). Building up strength and endurance to come together as “We the people” and invoke change is among some of Americas greatest worth. However, if society does not pull the cord of the so-called medicine, that is healthism, off America will never be able to wake up and return to her former
Through the path of history, there have been several major events that influenced thousands of lives and were significant in forming the world today. One of the largest and deadliest events that occurred in history was a disaster not anybody could control or be held accountable for. This was Hurricane Katrina. On the early Monday morning of August 29th, 2005, a Category 5 rating Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States with winds up to 175 miles per hour and a storm surge of 20 feet high. Hurricane Katrina was one of the greatest and most destructive natural disasters recorded to make landfall in the United States. The natural causes of the hurricane, poorly structured levees, disaster inside the Superdome, and the
Asare and Danquah and Graham brought up some interesting points concerning the relationship between sedentary behavior and mental health. Asare and Danquah discovered that technological advances have reduced the participation in physical activities. Most teens would rather use their computers or watch television than go outside or be active. Screen devices have become addictive but also are being used more often for schoolwork, as Graham states. The demanding lifestyle of today’s high school and college students is another cause for high sedentary behavior. Books and assignments have been put online, where students are reliant on computers to do their schoolwork. This also puts more pressure on the students, leaving them with little time to be
Jeffrey, Terence P. “Border Patrol Will Up Goal For Miles Of Border Secured.” Human Events
It was the deadliest and costliest natural disaster of all time in US history. What I
In “The Closing of the American Book,” published in the New York Times Magazine, Andrew Solomon argues about how the decline of literary reading is a crisis in national health, politics, and education. Solomon relates the decline of reading with the rise of electronic media. He believes that watching television and sitting in front of a computer or a video screen instead of reading can cause the human brain to turn off, and lead to loneliness and depression. He also argues that with the decrease of reading rates, there will no longer be weapons against “absolutism” and “terrorism,” leading to the United States political failure in these battles. The last point Solomon makes is that there is no purpose behind America being one of the most literate societies in history if people eradicate this literacy, and so he encourages everyone to help the society by increasing reading rates and making it a “mainstay of community.” Solomon tries to show the importance of reading in brain development and he encourages people to read more by emphasizing the crisis and dangers behind the declination of reading.
Who does not want a home? A shelter to sleep and a roof to dine under. Of course no one wanted to stay home forever, but once in awhile and even when far away, they will long to return to that sacred place, the place where they grew up and the place they have left behind, home. The desire for a home (or house to be precise, though there was not much of a different for this case) was realistically reflected through a fiction work of Sandra Cisneros, a Mexican American write, a story called The House on Mango Street, where we shall discuss about its setting, plot and character.
He writes, “Of the day’s twenty-four hours, the Utopians devote only six to work... The other hours of the day, when they are not working, eating, or sleeping, are left to each man’s individual discretion, provided he does not waste his free time in roistering or sloth but uses it properly in some occupation that pleases him” (More 51). This describes the importance that More’s utopia puts on not overworking individuals, as well as allowing people the time to do activities of their own choice. We designed our utopian society to be very similar by making it a priority not to overwork citizens and putting equal emphasis on work, leisure, exercise, and rest. This important practice in our utopia ensures that society will not be lacking in anything that could result in inadequate physical, emotional, or mental health. For example, ensuring that people have the ability to set aside time each day for exercise is a key aspect of living a healthy lifestyle. An article by TrueSport explains the role and benefit of exercise in promoting health and wellness in life. It reads, “Health benefits that result from regular participation in physical activity include reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome and improving metabolic health in youth. Such activity also benefits musculoskeletal health. ‘Compared to those who are inactive, physically active youth have higher
Yet the society in Sleep Dealer isn’t as far off from reality as some science fiction tends to be; being set in a near future filled with the capitalistic tendencies and social structures that we share in the present. Today, much of Mexico is in poverty due to a poor economy and plentiful cases of corruption. This is what causes so much legal and illegal immigration; they need to support their families, and America is full of low-skill jobs. Sleep Dealer explores what would happen to this situation if the border became impassable. The implications of the United States’ closing of the border would be extensive, but most importantly, no longer can you legally or illegally immigrate there. Closed borders manifest unfriendly rel...
Fewer and fewer children are playing outside regularly, choosing instead to be inside on the computer, in front of the television, and playing video games. Many children do not get enough physical activity in their daily routine. Many schools physical education programs cut back on the time actually spent doing vigorous activities. "One study showed that gym classes offered third-graders just twenty-five minutes of vigorous activity each week" ("Overweight and obesity,"2009). Guidelines show that children over two years old should at least get sixty minutes of vigorous activity a day ("Overweight and obesity,"2009). The average family is busier today than ever, which causes parents to rush meals and not take the time to plan nutritious hom...