1. According to Kozol, what are the prevailing attitudes toward the homeless?
While reading this essay, I began to notice the negative ways that people view the homeless and it made me realize how often I have seen this in my life. Whenever you see a homeless person on the street you tend to have a sense of sympathy towards them yet you try to avoid them. People are afraid of the homeless because they think they are diseased and scary, keeping a good distance from them. We here many stories of how some homeless people take drastic measures to get money or like, the incident of Elizabeth Smart, they go crazy and kidnap children. I think it's stories like these that build up this fear in society towards homeless people, creating a generalization that all homeless people are "bad" and "scary."
2. In paragraph 38, Kozol says that we are afraid of homeless children. What are we afraid of?
In paragraph 38 it talks about how people in society are scared of homeless children and how Kozol doesn't know the exact reason. The reason might be because they are sick and may carry disease but I think that it is more than that. As humans, we seem to go to the extremes, believing that if the child is raised in a homeless environment that they might be homeless their whole lives. Society's minds begin to wander and they start to believe that one day these children will be the ones causing crime on the streets. People fail to understand that these children, are just like any other innocent child. It is not that they chose to be apart of this lifestyle, it just happened. Little do people know that these "homeless children" have the potential to be successful if they are raised in the right environment. They forget that these kids are simply just kids.
3. Are any examples particularly moving? Which ones? Why do they affect you the way they do?
There were many examples in this essay that were very moving and changed my viewpoint on the situation of homeless people. One example that really set me into viewpoint when he told the story of the man who was set on fire while sleeping on the park bench. Not only was I emotionally drawn back at the fact that someone would do such a thing, but also the fact that people walked by and watched this happen and didn't inform anybody. They just watched the man burn. This took me back and kind of made me realize how people genuinely believe that homeless people are not people. They think that they are some unwanted species. It made me more sympathetic to homeless people and changed my viewpoint on the situation.
4. Has your perception of the homeless changed as a result of reading "Untouchables"? Explain.
My viewpoint of the homeless has changed after reading "Untouchables." Like most people, I would have a sense of sympathy towards them yet I would keep my distance and avoid them. I have realized that like the people in the essay, I have treated them like they are not human beings. Yes I still believe that some homeless people could try harder to make some money. Yes I still believe that some homeless people could have prevented being homeless. However, reading this essay has made me realize that not all homeless people are the same. It made me realize that not all homeless people are like Elizabeth Smart's kidnapper. I have become more sympathetic to the homeless and have this urge to help them in every way that I can. They author must have done his job right because he has changed my view on the homeless situation here in America.
Most excellent responses, Rebecca.
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