Introduction: "What Can One Person Do About Poverty?"

These are questions 3 and 4 from Hartmann and Blass's Thinking Ahead exercise on page 88 (2007).

Read the following quotations. Look up any words you don't know in a dictionary. Is there any quotation that you especially like? Which one? Why?

• The greatest of evils and the worst of crimes is poverty.
  George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)
   
• A decent provision for the poor is the true test of a civilization.
  Samuel Johnson, quoted in Boswell's Life of Johnson, 1770.
   
• Anticipate charity by preventing poverty.
  Maimonides (1135 - 1204) 
   
• If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
  John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, 1961.
   
• The truth is we are all caught in a great economic system which is heartless.
  Woodrow Wilson (US President 1913 - 21), The New Freedom. 

In your culture, are there any famous sayings or proverbs about poverty? 

___________

Reference

Hartmann, P. & Blass, L. (2007). Quest 3 Reading and Writing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Introducing "Developing Nations": Quest 3, page 87

Source background
Our source is Hartmann and Blass's (2007). image on page 87 of Quest 3, which is below.

Quest 3, chapter 3 "Developing Nations"

_______________________________________ 

Discuss these questions in a comment: 

• Did you have a job when you were this child's age (12)? 
• What does a person need in order to start a business? 
• How can we make sure that everyone has the same opportunity to succeed? 
• Hartmann and Blass's question assumes we should do this. Do you agree? 

___________

Reference

Hartmann, P. & Blass, L. (2007). Quest 3 Reading and Writing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Which essay question are you answering?

Now that we have written our definition paragraphs for the academic writing exercise that is Part 5 of "Cultural Anthropology," we can proceed to our major writing assignment for this term: answering one of the controversial questions on this list. We know not only that they are all highly controversial in society generally, but the survey we did previously (June 22) shows substantial disagreement on many of them within our class.

• In a comment below, explain which of these questions you are going to answer.
  (Note the verb here, and that it is imperative.)

Roger and Piggy and the world of adults

In my questions to help us notice important points in chapter 5 of Lord of the Flies, I copied this passage from page 94 (1954):

“Grownups know things,” said Piggy. “They ain’t afraid of the dark. They’d meet and have tea and discuss. Then things ’ud be all right—” 

“They wouldn’t set fire to the island. Or lose—” 

“They’d build a ship—” 

The three boys stood in the darkness, striving unsuccessfully to convey the majesty of adult life. 

“They wouldn’t quarrel—” 

“Or break my specs—” 

“Or talk about a beast—” 

In his essay on Roger, Feem found useful support on page 62, where Henry is protected from Roger's stones by "the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger's arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins."

• What is Golding saying in these and similar passages about the world of adults? 

___________

Reference

Golding, W. (1954). Lord of the Flies. In W. Golding (Author) & E. L. Epstein (afterward), Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee.