Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Lee’s Function in East of Eden Essay Example for Free

Lee’s Function in East of Eden Essay 1. Introduction As Shimomura(1982) points out, Steinbeck’s non-teleological thinking and the Taoism, which was put forward by the ancient Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu, share a great deal of similarity, in that both of them view human beings from a detached and holistic standpoint. It is not clearly known how Steinbeck, who is certainly a product of his time and his American milieu, came to be acquainted with and interested in Lao Tzus philosophy, but in Journal of A Novel, he appreciates Lao Tzu so highly that he places Lao Tzu beside Plato, Buddha, Christ, Paul, and the Great Hebrew prophets. It might safely be said that there must have been a seedbed in his indigenous thought where a seed of Lao Tzu was sown, germinated, and at last bloomed into a beautiful and fragrant flower so attractive for the Oriental reader. Thus, the purpose of this paper is first to focus on Lee in East of Eden, then to make clear the relationship between non-teleology and the philosophy of Lao Tzu, and finally to show how closely Lao Tzu’s philosophy is related to the idea of timshel. 2. Lee as a servant and philosopher As is well known to his reader, Steinbeck creates three Chinese characters throughout his novels from the first, Cup of Gold, to the last, The Winter of Our Discontent. To list them, they are Lee Chong, who is an owner of a grocery store, a flip-flopping old Chinaman who is not identified by name in Cannery Row, and Lee, who appears in East of Eden. Though these Chinese characters may respectively perform significant functions in their own rights in their stories, the one who particularly warrants considerable attention among these characters is Lee, who is more active and more influential in determining the fates of the major characters in the novel. Moreover, it is noteworthy that Oriental philosophy, which is a deciding factor in the outcome of this novel, is conveyed to the reader through the mouth of this Chinese character, who is actually thought to be a spokesman of Steinbeck himself. Though Lee makes his first appearance in chapter 15 of East of Eden as a faithful servant to the family of Adam Trask, it is when he first meets Samuel Hamilton by chance in the later scene that he turns out to be something more than a mere servant and also begins to carry his own significance in the novel. This scene should acquire great importance, in that Lee first clarifies his general view of life as a spokesman of the author. Even in the first conversation he has with Samuel, Lee is instinctively aware that Samuel is a person whom he can trust. Just after exchanging a few words with him, Lee quits speaking in pidgin English, as if he cast away his protective shell into which he has secretly retired until then. And in the course of the conversation, he spontaneously confides to Samuel his idea on what it is like to be a servant: I dont know where being a servant came into disrepute. It is a refuge of a philosopher, the food of the lazy, and, properly carried out, it is a position of power, even of love. I cant understand why more intelligent people dont take it as a career learn to do it well and reap its benefits. But a good servant, and I am an excellent one, can completely control his master, tell him what to think, how to act, Finally, in my circumstances I am unprotected. 1 This philosophical view on servantship which is uttered through the mouth of a Chinese character apparently reflects the authors basic view toward life, for it is easy to imagine that Steinbecks manner of describing the predominance of servantship over the mastership oozes from the idea of relativity which he attained as the outcome of his favorite non-teleological thinking. The idea tells the reader that any standard, as far as it is built around the artificially contrived system of values, loses its significant validity when seen in the light of non-teleological standpoint. According to this view, a person in a socially reputed position of power cannot avoid the possibility of losing his power when seen through another different â€Å"peep-hole. † And it is possible that in fact a low and unrespected person may gain predominating influence upon the people who are ranked far above in the so-called social status. Furthermore, another interesting point in this relation lies in the passiveness of such a low position. A person in a low position is unprotected by himself, but by becoming a servant to another person in a higher position he begins to play a role in his own right and at last controls his master. This master-servant relationship uttered by Lee reveals that once he has gotten employment by his master, even a helpless person who has little social function by himself not only begins to fulfill his own function but also gains predominance over his master. Consequently, this means that in this relationship a master is no longer a master and a servant is also no longer a servant. Eventually in this work this relationship results in the fact that Lee actually controls Adam in every situation. 3. Lee as a spokesman of Lao Tzu’s philosophy Similarly in the Lao Tzu, a collection of wise-sayings which were written by a person named Lao Tzu about in the fourth century BC(Fukunaga, Hachiya, Takahashi), the same topsy-turveydom in the sense of values can be found in one of the eighty fragmentary writings. In chapter 78 it says: In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it. This is because there is nothing that can take its place. That the weak overcomes the strong, And the submissive overcomes the hard, Everyone in the world knows yet no one can put this knowledge into practice. Therefore the sage says, One who takes on himself the humiliation of the state Is called a ruler worthy of offering sacrifices to the gods of earth and millets; Straightforward words Seems paradoxical. 2 In this passage quoted above, Lao Tzu explains the victory of the submissive and the weak over the hard and the strong, just in the same way that servantship finally achieves victory over mastership. Clearly enough, there is a great deal of similarity between Lee’s general attitude toward life and Lao Tzu’s precept of holding fast to the submissive. Needless to say, the common belief which underlies their paradoxical view stems from the idea that man-made values are nothing but relative, and this relativity is resulted from their attempt to rest their standpoint on a place which is as  free from human-centered arrangement as possible. There is no doubt about the idea that Steinbeck created Lee as a deciding factor of the outcome from this novel framed with a good and evil story, and it is not too much to say that Lee’s appearance reveals the authors strong consciousness of the relativity between good and evil. This becomes clear when Lee encourages Adam by saying, â€Å"What your wife is doing is neither good nor bad. There’s no springboard to philanthropy like a bad conscience. †3 Additionally, there is another similarity between them also in their manners of describing such relativity. Both Steinbeck and Lao Tzu clarify the interdependence between the weak and the strong by emphasizing the predominance of the former over the latter. This is because they think that the weak is more closely related to the natural processes of the universe than the strong is. That is to say, in the philosophy of Lao Tzu there is nothing like water that follows the way that the tao is and on the other hand, according to Steinbecks non-teleological thinking, Lee occupies an ideal position in life. Based on the assumption that the Lees view of life involves such relativity in itself as a main factor, it is quite convincing that the word â€Å"timshel,† which means â€Å"thou mayest† in English, is introduced through the mouth of Lee in the novel. Probably one of the most impressive scenes in the novel is where Lee, Samuel, and Adam meet together to decide on names for the twins. Located almost in the center of this long novel, this naming scene actually shows the reader a certain turning point from which East of Eden meanders between good and evil all the way to the final scene. In this scene Samuel reads a long passage from the Old Testament. This passage includes the Cain-Abel story, and they eagerly talk about the views of the original sin which Cain committed by killing Abel. Lee is so strongly struck by this story that he feels that â€Å"it is a chart of our souls. † Though he never refers to them on this scene, deep in his mind remains the Lords word to Cain after rejecting his sacrifice: â€Å"And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. † This naming scene, where Lee is exposed to the Cain-Abel story, effectively leads to the scene in chapter 24 where he puts a new interpretation on words of the above passage. 4. â€Å"Timshel† interpreted from the Oriental viewpoint Chapter 24 in East of Eden warrants the most careful attention: first because it develops the motif of the Cain-Abel story discussed in the previous scene, and also because it crucially affects the direction of this work. This chapter reveals that Lee has given his thought to the story for almost ten years since his serious discussion he had with Adam and Samuel. A certain part of the Lords words to Cain has bothered this Chinese for such a long period. It is â€Å"thou shalt over him. † In the course of these years he went to the head quarters of his family association and asked for Chinese scholars to take on the study of Hebrew, in order to find the more appropriate reading of the part. And finally in this scene he excitedly explains the importance of his finding in the presence of Samuel: Lees hand shook as he filled the delicate cups. He drank his down in one gulp. â€Å"Dont you see? † he cried. â€Å"The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in ‘Thou Shalt’, meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word the timshel – ‘Thou mayest’ that gives a choice. It might be the most important word. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’, it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not. ’ Don’t you see? †4. The above-quoted revelation made by Lee vividly reflects his idea of relativity between good and evil. To begin with, Lee, who has been bothered long by â€Å"Thou shalt,† reaches the conclusion that it never lightens the burden imposed on the shoulders of a man who suffers sense of sin. The chief reason why Lee turns his back to â€Å"Thou shalt† lies in the assumption that eventually it is not completely free from a human-centered viewpoint. When the Lord says, â€Å"Thou shalt† to Cain, the most fundamental idea that strongly supports the words on the back is that of love. But the love, though it is thought to be more universal and crucially different than human love in quality, is not entirely free from mans viewpoint as far as the Lord in Christianity is a personified god. Basically such love, like one side of a coin, is inevitably sustained by hatred on the other side. Therefore, it follows that even when â€Å"thou shalt† is thrown to man through the mouth of Lord, his conduct has been already judged evil, more or less, by the artificially contrived standard of value which unavoidably lacks in the idea of relativity. When seen from another different angle, such conduct may appear to be good, because there might be good in it. After all, â€Å"thou shalt† works the salvation of man only in the teleological manner. On the other hand, Lee’s new interpretation shows an utter indifference of the Lord to human conduct. It does not definitely order man to overcome evil nor involve any promise in it. Actually such characteristic of his interpretation may perhaps plunge man into desperation because superficially it seems to lack love and intention to guide him to emancipation from the sin that he has committed. But Lee thinks that it is such an indifferent attitude that leads him to real salvation of his soul. â€Å"Timshel,† which is evidently a product of Lee’s assiduous study of the Cain-Abel story, is based on the idea of relativity just as are non-teleological thinking and Lao Tzu’s philosophy. This is clearly exemplified by the fact that â€Å"thou mayest† is always supported by the opposite prerequisite, â€Å"thou mayest not. † In other words it means that there is neither good nor evil in every human conduct, and at the same time, what is more important, it also means that there is both good and evil involved in it. â€Å"Thou mayest† only allows man to say, â€Å"This is relatively good and that is relatively evil. † In this way Lee, as a Steinbeck’s spokesman, ‘non-teleologically’ thinks that â€Å"timshel† unites good and evil into one body. Steinbeck’s notion of good and evil shown in East of Eden begins with the idea that both of them fundamentally derive from the same state, and, no doubt, it is a product of his favorite non-teleological thinking. He never believes in a logical theory such as laws of the excluded middle where good and evil are orderly and clearly distinguished from each other. He usually places his main viewpoint in a chaotic place where there is neither good nor evil, and applies such a viewpoint to human conducts, with the ultimate result that an evil person should be saved in the same way a good person is saved. Though the optimistic attitude of his indigenous thinking has been repeatedly attacked for its lack of serious consideration toward evil, Steinbeck thinks that good and evil are relative, and, as a result, evil is nothing but a negative state which is lacking in good; it is more appropriate to say that it is merely a paradoxical state which is devoid of a strong consciousness of good. When employed as the framework of East of Eden, his non-teleological idea of good and evil crystallizes into the new interpretation of the Cain-Abel story, and the word â€Å"timshel,† on one hand, thoroughly awakens Adam, an allegorical figure of Abel, from his vain dream to sober reality, and, on the other hand, it emancipates Caleb, an allegorical figure of Cain, from the thralldom of sin. This manner of treating good and evil, needless to say, has great similarity to the philosophy of Lao Tzu, who writes â€Å"the good man is the teacher that the bad learns from; And the bad man is the material the good works on. †5 As Steinbeck views the world from the detached standpoint of â€Å"the infinite whole,† so Lao Tzu has created the notion of the tao to eradicate a human-centered view of the world out of his philosophy. This attempt has brought about the same result as Steinbeck has achieved. That is to say, they have both reached the same conception of man’s true place in the universe, and his relation to the world about him, which enables both of them to place an emphasis on the relation of individuals to the whole and treat individuals for their own sake. Such treatment of individuals is summarized by saying that â€Å"everything is an index of everything else†6 and that â€Å"The heavy is the root of the light. †7 Finally, the quintessence of Steinbeck as a novelist undoubtedly lies in the employment of non-teleological thinking as the frameworks of his novels. The adoption of this method does not allow him to achieve invariable success in his literary works, but, at least, it can be said that it enables him to view human conduct from the broadest and highest standpoint possible, which Lao Tzu paradoxically describes by adopting negative terms such as â€Å"Nothing† and â€Å"The Nameless. † Notes 1. John Steinbeck, East of Eden, p. 190. (Penguin Books, 1976), All citations from Steinbeck are from Penguin editions and will be noted by page numbers following the citations. 2. D. C. Lau, Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching, p. 140. (Penguin Books, 1963), All citations from Steinbeck are from Penguin editions and will be noted by page numbers following the citations. 3. John Steinbeck, East of Eden, p. 434 4. John Steinbeck, East of Eden, p. 349 5. D. C. Lau, Tao Te Ching, p. 84. 6. John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez, p. 259 7. D. C. Lau, Tao Te Ching, p. 83 . Works Cited Fukunaga, Mituji. Roshi (On Lao Tzu ), Tokyo: Asahishinbun-sha, 1968 Hachiya, Kunio. Ro-So wo yomu (A Study of Lao Tzu and Zhuang Tzu). Tokyo: Kodansha, 1987. John Steinbeck. The Log from the â€Å"Sea of Cortez†, Penguin Books. 1976 -. East of Eden, NewYork: Penguin Books. 1976 Lau, D. C. , trans. Lao Tzu :Tao Te Ching,New York: Penguin Books, 1963. Shimomura, Noboru. A Study of John Steinbeck: Mysticism in His Novel . Tokyo: The Hokuseido Press, 1982. Takahashi, Susumu. Roshi (On Lao Tzu ), Tokyo: Shimizu-shoin, 1970.

Monday, January 20, 2020

In Defense of the Study of Cryonics Essay -- Healthcare, Science

Ferraris, Corvettes, large estates, gold dusted ice creams, or even hundred dollar socks all have something in common: they are all luxurious desires. However is cryonics, the process of preserving one's body for the hopes of future medical treatments to save, a mere luxury? Can no one find a real need to utilize cryonics? Does cryonics have any intrinsic value to society as a whole? Many believe that cryonics is just an â€Å"indulgence [for] rich people† (Alcor). Cryonics, in fact, can do much more than fulfill one's self interest. Cryonics is the process in which anti-freeze like liquid is circulated through the body and then frozen in order to preserve a human body at low temperatures for an indefinite amount of time. The frozen body can then be brought back and worked on if medicine advances to the point of reviving a dead body. Cryonics, including the money and research gained through it, can help beyond the individual and all the way to the advancement of the field of medicine. The problem with cryonics, however, is not cryonics itself but the lack of knowledge of the benefits of it. Due to this lack of knowledge, many people develop negative views on cryonics which include the assumption that cryonics is primarily self-indulgent, as stated above. These negative views, which have been around since the very beginning, allow for the dismissal of cryonics as a luxury that can be defined simply as â€Å"the preservation of dead bodies† and, as a result, many are turned off by it and its principles (Alcor). If this problem persists, not only does the field of cryonics suffer, the medical field does to. By utilizing techniques found in cryonics, certain aspects of the medical field can advance at the same rate as cryonics. The solut... ...l, the public will gain knowledge that is often neglected when the opposition talks against cryonics: that of the benefits of cryonics. Additionally, negative views on cryonics will be amended through an increase of knowledge in cryonics and, ultimately, cryonics will gain more supporters. If a gain in supporters of cryonics occurs, more research and money can be put into advancing the techniques of cryonics. As a result of this, other disciplines of medicine, such as organ transplanting, can utilize techniques in cryonics and further develop their own methods to benefit society. Nothing should be judged without having all the information about it presented, cryonics is no exception. Make this education available, and much more comprehensive views will be gained. Don't you think it's time to stop focusing on the negativity and start learning about the benefits?

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Explain the Sequence and Rate of Each Aspect of Development Essay

Holistic development: The first month Physical development The gross motor skills that the baby of 0-1 month old will develop is that the baby lies supine (on his or her back) and the fine motor skills will be the baby turns his or her head towards the light and stares at bright or shiny objects. Communication and language development Babies need to respond to sounds, especially familiar voices. And babies need to share language experiences and cooperate with others from birth onwards. From the start babies need other people. Intellectual development Babies explore through their senses and through their own activity and movement. Touch From the beginning babies feel pain. Sound Even a new born baby will turn to a sound. The baby might become still and listen to a low sound, or quicken his or her movements when he or she hears a high sound. Taste The baby likes sweet tastes, e. g. breast milk. Smell The baby turns to the smell of the breast. Sight The baby can focus on objects 20cm away. Emotional and social development A baby’s first smile in definite response to carer is usually around 3-6 weeks. Also the baby often imitates certain facial expressions. This is showing that the baby is starting to develop being able to respond to different things. Holistic development: from one to four months Physical development Some of the gross motor skills that the babies develop from four to eight weeks are: the baby can now turn from side to back, and can also lift its head briefly from the prone position. Some of the fine motor skills that the babies develop from four to eight weeks are; the baby turns its head towards the light and stares at bright or shiny objects. Some of the gross motor skills the baby develops form eight to twelve weeks are; when lying supine, the baby’s head is in a central position and it can also lift its head and chest off a bed in prone position, supported on forearms. Some of the fine motor skills the baby develops from eight to twelve weeks are; the baby moves his or her head to follow adult movements and the baby watches his or her hands and plays with his or her fingers. Communication and language development From four to eight weeks the baby recognises the carer and familiar objects, makes non-crying noises such as cooing and gargling and then moves on to often sucking or licking its lips when he or she hears the sound of food in preparation. From eight to twelve weeks the baby is still distressed by sudden loud noises and often sucks or licks its lips when he or she hears the sound of food in preparation. Intellectual development The baby recognises differing speech sounds and by three months the baby can even imitate low or high pitched sounds. Emotional and social development The baby will smile in response to an adult and the baby enjoys sucking. Then the baby shows enjoyment at caring routines such as bath time. Holistic development from four to six months Physical development Some of the gross motor skills; the baby is beginning to use a palmar grasp and can transfer objects from hand to hand. It is very interested in all activity and everything is taken to the mouth. Some of the fine motor skills; the baby now has good head control and is beginning to sit with support. It can roll over from back to side and is beginning to reach for objects. And when supine the baby plays with his or her own feet. Communication and language development The baby becomes more aware of others so he or she communicates more and more. As the baby listens, he or she imitates sounds he or she can her and reacts to the tone of someone’s voice. For example, the baby might become upset by an angry tone, or cheered by a happy tone. Intellectual development By four months the baby reaches for objects, which suggest they recognise and judge the distance in relation to the size of the object. The baby prefers complicated things to look at from five to six months and enjoys bright colours. The baby also knows that he or she has one mother. The baby is disturbed if he or she is shown several images of his or her mother at the same time. The baby realises that people are permanent before they realise that objects are. Emotional and social development The baby shows trust and security and has recognisable sleep patterns. Holistic development from six to nine months Some of the gross motor skills; the baby can roll from front to back. He or she may attempt to crawl but will often end up sliding backwards. Also the baby may grasp their feet and place them in his or her mouth. Some of the fine motor skills; the baby is very alert to people and objects. The baby is beginning to use a pincer grasp with thumb and finger, and can transfer toys from one hand to the other and looks for fallen objects. Communication and language development Babble becomes tuneful, like the lilt of the language the baby can hear. They become to understand words like ‘up’ and ‘down’, raising their arms to be lifted up and using appropriate gestures. The baby may also be able to repeat sounds. Intellectual development The baby understands signs, e. g. the bib means that food is coming. From eight to nine months the baby shows that he or she knows objects exist when they have gone out of sight, even under test conditions. This is called the concept of object constancy, or the object permanence test (Piaget). The baby is also fascinated by the way objects move. Emotional and social development The baby can manage to feed him- or herself using his or her fingers. They are now more wary of strangers, sometimes showing stranger fear. For example if a stranger comes close to the baby and it moves away towards another person, this shows that the baby is fearful of strangers and gains security from the person it moves to. Also the baby might show distress when his or her mother leaves. For example if the mother leaves the room and the baby starts crying, then this shows that the baby feels insecure when the mother is out of sight. Holistic development from nine to twelve months Physical development Gross motor skills; the baby will now be mobile- may be crawling, bear-walking, bottom shuffling or even walking. The baby can sit up on his or her own and lean forward to pick things up. Also the baby may crawl upstairs and onto low items of furniture and may even bounce in rhythm to music. Fine motor skills; the baby’s pincer grasp is now well developed and he or she can pick things up and pull them towards him or her. The baby can poke with one finger and will point to desired objects. They can also clasp hands and imitate adults’ actions. Communication and language development The baby can follow simple instructions e. g. kiss teddy. Word approximations appear e. g. ‘hee haw’ to indicate a donkey, or more typically ‘mumma’, ‘dadda’ and ‘bye-bye’ in English speaking contexts. Also the tuneful babble develops into ‘jargon’ and the baby makes his or her voice go up and down just as people do when they talk to each other. Intellectual development The baby is beginning to develop images. Memory develops and the baby and remember the past. The baby can anticipate the future. This give it some understanding of routine daily sequences, e. g. after a feed, changing, and a sleep with teddy. Also the baby imitates actions, sounds, gestures and moods after an event is finished, e. g. imitate a temper tantrum he or she saw a friend have the previous day, wave bye-bye remembering Grandma has gone to the shops. Emotional and social development The baby enjoys songs and action rhymes, still likes to be near to a familiar adult but will also play alone for long periods of time. Spiritual aspects of a baby’s development Even a tiny baby experiences a sense of self, and values people who are loved by them. Spiritually is about the developing sense of relationship with self, relating to others ethically, morally and humanly and a relationship with the universe. The baby can drink from a cup with help, and shows definite likes and dislikes at mealtimes and bedtimes. Also the baby will start to cooperate when being dressed and likes to look at him- or herself in a mirror (plastic safety mirror). Holistic development from one to two years Physical development Gross motor skills (15 months); the baby probably walks alone now, with feet wide apart and arms raised to maintain balance. He or she is likely to fall over and often sit down suddenly. The baby can also probably manage stairs and steps, but will need supervision. Gross motor skills (18 months); the child walks confidently and is able to stop without falling. The child can also kneel, squat, climb and carry things around with him or her. Fine motor skills (15months); the baby can build with a few bricks and arrange toys on the floor, can hold a crayon in palmar grasp and turns several pages of a book at once, and can also point to a desired object. Fine motor skills (18 months); the child can thread large beads, build a tower of several cubes and uses a pincer grasp to pick up small objects. Communication and language development The child begins to talk with words or sign language, and by 18 months, the child enjoys trying to sing as well as to listen to songs and rhymes. Action songs (e. g. ‘pat-a-cake’) are much loved. Intellectual development The child understands the names of objects and can follow simple instructions, the child also learns about other things through trial and error. Emotional and social development The child begins to have a longer memory and develops a sense of identity (I am me). Also the child expresses his or her needs in words and gestures and enjoys being able to walk, and is eager to try to get dressed – ‘Me do it! ’ Holistic development from two to three years Physical development Gross motor skills; the child is very mobile, can run safely and can climb up onto furniture. The child can walk up and downstairs, usually two feet to a step. The child then moves on to being able to jump from a low step, walk backwards and sideways and can stand and walk on his or her tiptoes and stand on one foot. In my workplace all of the children this age are able to do all of these things. But the girls are all more developed than the boys. For example, with have a boy that is three years of age, and a girl that’s the same. The girl is able to write her name, speak fluently, help other children who aren’t as well developed as her and she even tells me when someone is doing something wrong. Whereas the boy can hardly speak yet, and when he does no one can understand what he’s saying. Michael Gurian, a noted educator and author, has shown through research that â€Å"hard-wiring and socialized gender differences affect how boys and girls learn. † Simply put, male and female brains are equal but different. â€Å"Boys use the right hemisphere more, and girls the left,† (Gurian, M. 2007) Fine motor skills; the child can draw circles, lines and dots using preferred hand. The child can pick up tiny objects using a fine pincer grasp. The child then moves on to being able to build tall towers of bricks or blocks and can control a pencil using thumb and first two fingers (a dynamic tripod grasp).

Saturday, January 4, 2020

`` Fist, Stick Knife, And Gun `` - 1266 Words

In every city there are neighborhoods that struggle with the issue of violence, crime and aggression. These neighborhoods have also taken on the names of slums and ghettos. The same areas where children are faced with growing up too fast because of the violence, crime and drug trafficking that has taken over these communities. Not only do these children and young adult face with these issues, they are also faced with the reality that in these disorganized neighborhoods, there is a breakdown of the traditional family therefore they must learn and master the code of conduct and or the rules of the streets in order to survive. Not to mention learning the demands of socially regarding displaying appropriate behavior when they are outside of the disorganized community. In the book, Fist, stick knife, gun, the author shared his experience of growing up in a society in which he needed to learn the code of conduct that regulated what was fair and unfair when it came to surviving and protecting himself throughout his childhood. Not only did Canada learn how to fight mentally and physically and where there is no social control. Early on in Canada’s life, he had come to realize that because he had lived in an area that consisted of poverty and crime. Through Canada’s encounter with the police regarding someone stealing $10.00 from the family, and the fact the police had done nothing to protect his family. At that time he had learned that if you do the right thingShow MoreRelatedFist Stick Knife Gun Essay1524 Words   |  7 PagesJen Jeffrey Juvenile Justice and Delinquency October 21, 2001 Critique of Fist Stick Knife Gun The Book Fist Stick Knife Gun by Geoffrey Canada is a biographical account of his childhood in the south Bronx. 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His Book Fist Stick Knife Gun, is a great explanation of violence and poverty in late 20th century here in America’s inner cities. Of how he changed from a timid and frightened child into a young man who could hold his own in a fight in the streets, is written in a believable way. Canada actually learned the way of the streets because he grew up in the streets. All of his experiences first started when he was a child when he and his friends used their fists to settle disputes and toRead MoreThe Importance Of Teaching A Past Lesson836 Words   |  4 Pagesand students alike to understand how classroom interactions can become more meaningful. In addition to my lesson analysis, I have also included a lesson plan and its subsequent reflection. The lesson provided was an opening lesson for my Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun Unit. The intention was to lead with high levels of engagement in order for students to buy in to the upcoming Unit. In the past, my principal and new teacher mentor has suggested videos and co-operative learning strategies that will allowRead MoreI Am An Active Participant898 Words   |  4 Pagesstudents witnessed uproar after the death of Freddy Gray. While coming up with a Unit Plan, I knew it had to be relevant to what my students are currently experiencing. After conferencing with several teachers, I finally decided to teach Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun. Our Essential Q uestion for the Unit is, Where does violence come from and how can we stop it? Acknowledging what my students are going through rather than sweeping it under the rug appeals to the part of the standard that requires teachingRead MoreA Very Thoughtful Look Into Inner City Violence And The Rules Surrounding It1718 Words   |  7 Pagesis thoroughly convincing. His Book Fist Stick Knife Gun, is a great explanation of violence and poverty in late 20th century here in America. His story of how he changed from a timid and frightened child into a young man who could hold his own in a fight in the streets is written in a believable way. Canada actually learned the way of the streets because he grew up in the streets It first started when he was a child when he and his friends used their fists to settle disputes and to gain a reputationRead MoreEnding Of Huck783 Words   |  4 Pagesinto the forest, the boys had found a huge stick pile. Huck then took out his pocket knife and said â€Å"well?... Let’s get to carving.† So then all the boys proceeded to carve out wooden knifes, spears, rings, and small animals while singing. That’s when Tom said â€Å"hey, we could carve wooden guns and play cowboys and Indians!† All the boys agreed to this proposition, and so that’s exactly what the boys did for the next 45 minutes. All boys had their own wooden guns that they all made individually, and thenRead MoreRacial Profiling by Police Essay1669 Words   |  7 Pages Brent Staples’ essay, â€Å"When the Paranoids Turn Out to be Right,† acknowledges the issues of racism and racial profiling committed by police. In â€Å"Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun,† Geoffrey Canada also expresses views on this issue when he asserts that police fail to protect and serve individuals in poor neighborhoods. Staples contends, â€Å"Among the day-to-day acts of discrimination that shadow African Americans, none are more stressful or dangerous than those committed by police, some of whom treat black peopleRead MoreGeoffrey Canada and the Harlem Childrens Zone Essay1672 Words   |  7 Pagesand kept them privy to the civil rights struggles that their community was facing (AE, 2011). Growing up in Harlem was challenging. Early on, Canada knew that there was a ranking order in the South Bronx. He highlights this in his book, Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America (1995). Canada tells a story about how his two older brothers were playing at the park one day. The younger of the two boys, took off his jacket. A boy at the playground threatened the Geoffrey’sRead MoreEssay on Freedom Riders1426 Words   |  6 Pagesbut the bus got away until about six miles down the road. The mob caught up to the bus and surrounded it until Ell Cowling, a police officer, pulled out his gun and badge and the Klansman backed away. Someone from the mob had thrown a flaming device into a bus window and the bus went up in flames (Garrow 2). Two highway patrolmen fired their guns to scare the crowd and make them leave so the passengers could safely get off the bus. Only twelve riders were taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke