Homeless Americans Essay -- essays research papers fc

In our current time of economic prosperity in the United States, many people are enjoying greater wealth, higher earnings, and profitable investments. Unemployment rates are reported to be low, and wages high. Yet there is still an extraordinary amount of homeless people living in the United States. In an article entitled â€Å"The Criminalization of Homelessness† Celine-Marie Pascale tries to convey how the homeless are being treated unfairly by society. Criminalization might be a little too strong a word to apply to the punishment of homeless people, but Pascale is trying to make a statement about the homeless situation in the United States today. I would like to take a closer look at this article and examine the points she is trying to make. Pascale begins her article by stating that many U.S. cities are enacting laws which would punish homeless individuals for doing things many ‘ordinary’ people do all the time. For instance, loitering or sleeping in public (320). She states that the California Homeless and Housing Coalition estimates that there are around a million homeless people in California alone. Eight self governed cities in southern California and at least one city in northern California passed anti-sleeping laws, says Pascale (320). Another law in the city of San Francisco states that it is â€Å"illegal to linger for more than 60 seconds within 30 feet of an automatic teller in use† (321). The city of San Francisco spent a lot of time and money to arrest 15 people for begging in 1993 and Pascale alleges that there are several other major cities in the U.S. with similar laws (321). According to Pascale, Berkeley uses trespassing laws and loitering laws to keep people off the sidewalks and away from places like parks and laundromats. And in Santa Cruz you can be arrested for sitting on a sidewalk, sleeping outside, or even sleeping in a car (321). Pascale asserts that the reason for these laws is to protect the businesses located around these areas. She also says that â€Å"no one wants to run a guantlet of panhandlers to get to a boutique or step over people sleeping on the sidewalk to buy a cappuccino† (321). And for that reason, most business owners think it reflects badly on them if there are homeless people loitering or sleeping in front of their store (321). Pascale points out that, in general, most people believe that it is the individual’s fault tha... ... people who can’t seem to handle life’s challenges turn to crime just so they can go to prison because prison is an easy way out for them. You get free housing and free food for as long as you are there. Although this is not the case in many situations, there are some who would find this arrangement appealing. In â€Å"The Criminalization of Homelessness,† Pascale does a fair job of showing her audience that homeless people are not being treated very well. She informs us of the problem by giving cited statistics and specific examples, but she could have included more details to make her point stronger. Webster’s dictionary defines a criminal as someone who is found guilty of a serious offense by violating the law. Homelessness is far from a serious offense, and it is far from being treated as a serious offense. But she is right that we need to change the way we handle the homeless. In my opinion, Pascale’s article was more of an informative essay on the laws of some cities than a serious article about the problem in this nation concerning homelessness. Works Cited Begrens, Laurence; Rosen, Leonard J. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 7th ed. New York, Longman, 2000. 320-322.

Art Analysis: Midsummer Night in Harlem, by Palmer Hayden Essay

‘Midsummer Night in Harlem is an oil painting painted by Palmer Hayden. Palmer C. Hayden was an American painter who depicted African-American life as he saw it, especially during the Harlem Renaissance. The painting Midsummer Night in Harlem appears to depict African American people departing and relaxing after an evening at church in Harlem. This painting shows the energy and positive attitudes of the people through the use of vibrant colors and the happy expressions of the faces. The people in this picture have features that were comparable to the minstrel characters (Wikipedia, 26 July 2013) often depicting Black face. Many have very dark skin with big white eyes and teeth, and are all smiles. All of the people are dressed nicely in dresses for the women and girls, top hats and slacks for the men and boys. It is safe to assume that the people in the picture had just came from church, because in the background you clearly see the church and a handful of people walking out as well as a carload of people driving off. The most prominent line in this art work would be vertical, because it leads the eye up /down and down/up and conveys the activity in the picture. Upon first inspection of this work, my eyes are drawn to the church as focal point, mainly because of the positioning of the church and the use of the vertical line from the moon to the kid at the fire hydrant. This identifies the viewers’ point of view and also shows how the moon is used as the light source, as well as the street light positioned just in front of the church. The illusion of space around the church leading up to the moon in the sky is utilized to draw your eye upward as if to signify that it is nighttime. The illusion of depth is utilized here in many ways by the appearance of distance created from the people by the church in back to the increase of people by the apartment steps in front. Aerial perspective is used in this painting by the lack of visual detail of the people by the church, like their facial features and their clothing. Midsummer Night in Harlem has a distinct unity of composition throughout the entire piece that helps the viewer relate the symbolism of the church and moon in back, to the people nicely dressed and congregating on the apartment steps in front. The forms in this artwork are utilized by the use of many three-dimensional shapes with length, width and depth, like the apartment buildings, the car and the church. Contrast is used throughout the work to help guide your eye from the apartment buildings to the church, and the people. Movement is used in this piece by the use of lines, contrasting shapes and colors to guide the viewers’ eye throughout the composition. In this work of art, our eyes move upward from lines of the little boy by the hydrant up to the people looking out of windows of the apartment. From there, our eyes move to the slight contrast in colors of the church and the moon in the sky. A good amount of balance is created in this art work by the way the colors and shapes are combined in harmony. In this image, Hayden achieves a sense of balance by dividing the image in two sections: the right side is occupied by details of people with distinct features while the left side lacks a great amount of detail in the people and focuses on the church and moon. Midsummer Night in Harlem has a color scheme that is analogous because the colors work in harmony and is very pleasing to the eye. The main colors in this painting are red, brown, white and grey. The value of the colors used in this art work is set to dark while the intensity and brightness is set to medium. For example, the reds, burgundy and brown used in the picture (especially for the apartment buildings and clothing) are warm but appear a little toned down in color. Hayden creates emphasis through color and position throughout this piece. For example the faces of the people ranges in intensity by the dark faces and bright smiles as mentioned earlier. Also the outfits worn by the people demonstrate emphasis in color; some are wearing white while others are in print and color. In conclusion, the painting Midsummer Night in Harlem utilizes a vertical directional line that illustrates that there is some movement in the picture, yet is calming in effect. The main implied shape throughout this art work is a rectangle which also induces a calming effect. The painting has a slight contrast of color with an analogous harmony throughout. The overall illusion of depth and space in this piece provides unity and balance to the composition.

Video Games Do Not Cause Violent Behavior - 855 Words

Video games do not cause violent behavior The advancement of technology in the contemporary word has increased the use of video games by children, teenagers and young adults. The video games have existed for almost three decades and the controversy of their causing violent behavior spans the same period (Porter and Starcevic,422). The release of Death Race game in 1970s initiated a debate with organizations, governments officials and other institution taking sides in the argument of whether violent video games cause violent behaviors. The issue has been a bond of contention and has attracted several scientific studies as well as psychological explanations. As a result, the media, regulatory authorities and professionals in mental health have debated the effects of video games on the behavior of those that play, especially the young people. This essay argues that video games do not cause violent behaviors. Firstly, research has found out that video games do not cause violence behavior; in fact, it has been reported that they have a sort of calming effects on youth who suffer from attention deficit symptoms (Nauert np). In other words, video games can be more useful in reducing the bulling and aggressive behavior than causing them. According the research conducted by a team led by Furguson, there is no association between young people playing video games that have violent content and subsequent increment of delinquent bullying or criminality among children (Furgurson et al.,Show MoreRelatedViolent Video Games : Do They Cause Violent Behavior And Actions?1747 Words   |  7 PagesViolent Video Games: Do they cause violent behavior and actions? Ah yes video games are huge icons of culture and identity for the people of the newest generations but games aren t usually digital rainbows and love but some revolve around violence in their our ways, so as you would expect these games deeds don’t get away without criticism and opposition to some degree. Are violent video games a major cause of violent and aggressive behavior in those who play them? Are they contendersRead MoreDo Violent Video Games Cause Aggressive Behavior?1383 Words   |  6 Pages Do Violent Video Games Cause Aggressive Behavior? Samantha Remesz Saginaw Valley State University Abstract This paper explores violent video games and their affects on people’s behavior and emotions. An experimental study was done by Smith, Lachlan, and Tamborini and is investigated further. The researchers wanted to examine people’s behavior after playing violent video games as well as nonviolent video games and compare the differences of the two. 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