What is Poverty?|| Jo Goodwin Parker || Compulsory English Grade 11

 

Essays

What is Poverty?

-Jo Goodwin Parker

 

 

Understanding the Text:

Answer the following questions.

a)    What is poverty according to Parker?

According to Parker, Poverty is living a miserable and shameful life losing own pride and honor in lack of economy even being unable to provide basic needs such as balanced died, health facilities and proper education to children.

 

b)   How is poverty difficult for parker’s children? List some specific examples.

Poverty is difficult for parker’s children because the elder children don’t have latrine facility, small baby doesn’t have potty seat and neat and clean diapers. They lack neat and clean clothes and nutritious food. Gnats and flies surround their bodies and they remain forever with runny noses. They don’t get proper sanitation so they remain dirty and ill all the times. Rich children don’t play with her children. Even Parker could not admit her children into nursery schools and lacked caretaker during the time she had job resulting her to quit her job.

 

c)    How does Parker try to obtain help, and what problems does she encounter?

Parker lacked money to raise her children so she asked for a loan from her relative. She had to visit different offices to find her relative. Even she had to circle round block to block but hardly had she got a loan from her so she was forced to see another person. She had to go to the different people asking a loan telling her whole story behind the need of money but she had to return back with the red cloud of shame and the cloud of despair when they denied giving loan thinking that she could not return.

 

d)   Why are people’s opinion and prejudices her greatest obstacles?

The way people behave and measure poor is much different than they do to the rich one. They think as if poor are not humans. It is not only in the case of Parker, almost every part of the world; poor people are judged and behaved hatefully. They don’t get job and help from other. Middle class and rich people think poor people are trivial and insignificant. They don’t help and advocate for their rights. Parker was also behaved in the same manner as she explained in her essay. Her relatives didn’t want to lend her loan thinking that she could not return back. Even her neighbor spoke her to be an immoral mother of illegitimate children but they didn’t know the reason behind she broke her marriage with her husband.

 

e)    How does Parker defend her inability to get help? How does she discount the usual solutions society has for poverty (e.g. welfare, education, and health clinics?

In her essay, Parker defines poverty is asking for help in one point. Once she asked a loan from a relative but she did not get loan and next time she asked a help from her neighbor to drop her to the town but she did not get help. In both situations she was expected to pay them back which she could not. She didn’t get help from her relatives and neighbors because she could not give anything in return. She has given these two examples of being helplessness to show the real nature of people in the society when there comes a time to help out poor people. It is also a duty of society to help poor people to provide welfare, education and health clinics. She asked help from her relatives and neighbors for the sake of her children’s educational and health facilities but she did not get help. She thinks that government must provide surplus commodities programs to the poor, but government also thinks it is waste of fund. Health facilities and education must be provided free of cost by the government to the poor people. Health posts and schools must be established in slum and rural areas but government doesn’t think such works as important works.

 

Reference to the Context:

a)    Explain the following:

Poverty is looking into a black future.

Jo Goodwin’s essay “What is Poverty?” is in the form of question and answer. The essay begins with a common question “What is poverty?” asked to her by the rich readers. She has explained poverty based on her real experiences in many points. In one point she says, “Poverty is looking into a black future.” This means that poor people don’t have bright future. They can’t think about future because they are just struggling for joining hands to mouth. Future plan is made when we have sufficient money. Only rich people plan of making beautiful houses, making their children doctors and engineers. But poor people’s future is black. They are involved in different crimes. Instead having bright future, poor people could be drawn into bars. They can’t see anything in the future but they just have dream-dream of having everything.

 

b)   What does Parker mean by “The poor are always silent”?

Jo Goodwin Parkers gives answer of “What is poverty?” in many points. For her to be poor is also to remain silent. Poor people are voiceless in the society because their voice is unheard. Nobody listens to them even though they talk about their problems. Parker also gives some examples of her voices unheard by her relatives and neighbors. People’s voice becomes stronger when they have money. Rich people can solve any problems caused by their voice. Even they can buy justice. But poor people can’t do anything just bearing any kind of discrimination, domination, and insult in the society. Their voices are suppressed. Their opinion and views are of less worth to the people even though they are logical and right. Their Relatives and neighbor don’t take their side if anything bad happens to poor people. It is better to remain silent so they are always silent.

 

c)    What writing strategy does the author use at the beginning of most of the paragraphs? Do you notice a recurring pattern? What is it?

Jo Goodwin Parker gives her ideas on what poverty is. First given as a speech, this article is written as an attack on human emotion. Parker successfully compels the reader to examine his or her thoughts and beliefs on who the poor are. Parker's use of connotative language causes the reader to feel many emotions. The whole essay is written in conversational manner. It seems the writer is taking to her readers. Most of the paragraphs are answers of the question “What is Poverty?” It is assumed that any rich reader is asking this question to her and she is answering the question beginning with “Poverty is…” The words, “Poverty is” is recurring pattern used in the essay.

d)   What does Parker develop each paragraph? What details make each paragraph memorable?

Each paragraph of the essay “What is Poverty?” begins with “poverty is” to define poverty in different points. The first sentence of each paragraph is key sentence which is supported by lots of details. She has included every detail minutely to convince the readers about poverty. All sentences of every paragraph are beautifully connected as if we are making of a chain joining several parts. The graphic details about the actual state of poverty through unique points are memorable. 

 

e)    In the final paragraph, how does the author use questions to involve the reader in the issue of poverty?

This essay including the realist account of the life of poor people, begins and ends with the questions “What is poverty?” and “Can you be silent too?” respectively. Though she says that poor are silent, she has spoken lots of heart touching things about the situation of living being a poor. The condition of poor never becomes improved if all people remain silent. So, as a representative of poor community, Parker has disclosed the actual condition of poor. She wants to improve the condition of poor drawing attention of concerned people. She has become a voice of voiceless poor people. And she has made the rich people understand the guilt attacking them emotionally. She asked this question at the last of the essay giving a miserable plight of poor people. After knowing all no one can remain silent. As a conscious and emotional reader, we can’t remain silent to the plight of poor people. This essay makes us feel that poor are also humans and we must help them. We must raise voice for the betterment of poor people.

 

Reference beyond the text

a)    Define a social problem (homeless, unemployment, racism) imitating Parker’s style.

b)    Using adjectives to highlight the futility of the situation, write a short definition essay on Growing up in poverty.

 

Essay on Growing up in poverty

Poverty is the single largest social denominator which neatly divides the society between the haves and have-nots and the ever-increasing exodus of middle class population tightly wedged between the two extremes. The looming shadow of poverty hangs heavily on the economic, social, psychological and physiological bearing of those suppressed beneath its burden.

 

Poverty or the inability to meet even the basic necessities of life aims to erode the very right of a person to live life with dignity. Where basic needs like the next meal, a shelter over one’s head, clothes to provide cover are not met, being able to provide for education, recreation or medical facility is unheard of.

 

It is not hard to imagine how this life of abject destitution and penury would affect the fragile young minds, bodies and hearts. Being exposed to such material deprivatio increases manifold the chance of being subject to abuse of all kinds from a tender age. Child labour, child exploitation, street violence, domestic ill-treatment, bullying, sexual abuse are atrocities they face and encounter from their early years. No wonder then violence becomes a norm in their way of life and it is a constant struggle to either fight back or perish in such an environment.

 

The probability of being lured into crime as a temporary breather from such misery cannot be ruled out. The statistics is even more dismal when it comes to female child. Limited resources are allocated based on power equation at home and in the society and women find themselves much behind in this ladder. Child marriage, early pregnancy, repeated pregnancies, rape, domestic abuse aggravates their suffering to unimaginable proportions. With little recourse to law and other safety measures, the scars remain life-long and the cycle persists through generations.

 

Physically poor levels of nutrition, lack of proper medical aid and advice, lack of vaccination facilities, child marriages lead to poor health and high infant mortality. Death through accidents is a common occurrence where day-to-day life is met with constant hurdles and life-threatening obstacles. The government medicals aids and hospitals either are not accessible or far below in terms of rendering quality service.

 

Though government does provide free and compulsory education in all government school below the age of 14 and a mid-day meal to lure children within its corridors, yet a major chunk remains deprived on account of the need for every member to lend an earning hand, the earlier the better. The quality of education provided in these government school is so substandard that it no way provides a way out from the clutches of this vicious cycle as only quality education can. Noise, disruption, family atmosphere, street brawls, lack of adequate lighting facility also make it difficult for those dwelling in poverty to embrace the change and the true value of education is also realized too late in life. By that time, the damage is irreversible.

 

The emotional and mental effects are far reaching. A permanent sense of low self-esteem, lack of confidence and inadequacy is their constant companion. Their stress hormone cortisol responsible for regulating body’s response to threat from external changes is always spiked up leading to constantly feeling victimised, threatened and insecurity. Poorer mental health affects their ability to learn and adjust. If living a life constantly under the glare of poverty doesn’t kill them, it certainly leaves them weaker and withered and beaten. The circumstance under which life is suffered under the shadow of poverty certainly leaves any individual much the worse as it deprives him of the right to achieve his potential as free and equal member of society.

However, it is also true that some of the most illuminating examples of humanity, sensitivity and empathy has emerged from the darkest recesses of poverty. Life redeems and allows us to hope that better access to better opportunities and facilities of life shall perhaps one day help to free them from these shackles and allow to live life as an equal and deserving member of the society.