Childhood Obesity

In today’s large demand for easy and quick answers, we find that in the long run, many of them backfire and cause catastrophic consequences. Today all one sees on the media are new gimmicks that are supposed to make life better, easier, and faster than before. For example, fast food is one way that makes life for many easier with its easy accessibility and low cost. Unfortunately, these high calorie fast foods are causing a major problem for many young people who now face concerning the problem of childhood obesity. We can see that childhood obesity is a great concern we should look at because it is increasing more and more each year and also because it can cause fatal health consequences along the way when theses obese children grow up. One blame falls on the easy and quick answers like fast food, video games, television, internet, cars, and so many others that make life better, but at the same time they are causing many young people to become obese. The blame also falls on the parents and the kids because they have slipped into the mindset of “taking the easier way out” and have ignored all advice that has been provided concerning this problem Also because the bad use they are giving these things because too much of anything is always bad for you.. To solve this problem, parents and kids should make better healthy choices.

Childhood Obesity is a great concern that should be dealt with because the numbers are increasing greatly. For example, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states, “Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years” (cdc.gov). This shows that childhood obesity is a major problem because it is increasing rapidly through the years. In addition, “The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 20% in 2008” (cdc.gov). This also shows that childhood obesity is a big problem because the number of small children being obese has increased greatly over the years. Additionally, small children are starting out their lives with a problem that is going to affect their healthy indefinitely. Furthermore, “childhood obesity is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year” (justthink.org). This shows that the increasing numbers of childhood obesity is a major problem because it is responsible for a large amount of deaths each year. It is horrible to see parents outlive their children.

Childhood Obesity is a great concern that should be dealt with because it causes immediate health problems. For example, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states, “Obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. In a population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. (cdc.gov). This shows that childhood obesity leads to big health problems because they lead to cardiovascular disease that can affect the rest of their lives. In addition, “Obese adolescents are more likely to have prediabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels indicate a high risk for development of diabetes” (cdc.gov). This show that childhood obesity can also lead to other health problems such as diabetes and this can affect the rest of their lives because they will have to live a life where they have to keep controlling their blood glucose levels. Furthermore, “Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem” (cdc.gov). This shows that childhood obesity can also cause other health problems that can affect the way they go about their lives because they are overweight. Furthermore, this also shows that childhood obesity can also cause social and psychological problems that can cause the child to grow in isolation.

   Childhood obesity is a great concern that should be dealt with because it causes long term health problems. For example, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states, “Children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults and are therefore more at risk for adult health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. One study showed that children who became obese as early as age 2 were more likely to be obese as adults” (cdc.gov). This shows that childhood obesity can have long term affects like diabetes. In addition they state, “Overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk for many types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, thyroid, ovary, cervix, and prostate, as well as multiple myeloma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma” (cdc.gov). This shows that childhood obesity does not only affect them as children, the long term affects can cause them to go through many pains throughout their lives.

            Childhood obesity is a major problem that with the right steps can be prevented. For example, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention gives examples by stating, “Healthy lifestyle habits, including healthy eating and physical activity, can lower the risk of becoming obese and developing related diseases” (cdc.gov). This shows that with easy steps like healthy eating, and physical activity we can reduce the number of children that are obese. This also shows that many of these things can be controlled by the parents, so they have to do their part to help their children make the right healthy choices. In addition, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention continue on  by stating, “The dietary and physical activity behaviors of children and adolescents are influenced by many sectors of society, including families, communities, schools, child care settings, medical care providers, faith-based institutions, government agencies, the media, and the food and beverage industries and entertainment industries” (cdc.gov). This shows that there are many other factors that influence the children so there are many areas in which we can help, not just the parents but everyone else. Schools could help by offering more nutritious meals; the community can help by getting everyone active so children can get the physical activity they need; the media can help by encouraging more for the children to do by way of physical activity, etc. Furthermore, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states, “schools play a particularly critical role by establishing a safe and supportive environment with policies and practices that support healthy behaviors, Schools also provide opportunities for students to learn about and practice healthy eating and physical activity behaviors” (cdc.gov).This shows that schools play a big role in influencing children because that is the place they go to learn most of their week. So would it not be obvious that schools should encourage children to make more healthy choices?  There are many ways in which we can help solve this problem and it all starts with teaching these children how to make the right healthy choices.

            Childhood obesity is a major problem that can cause problems in many ways. The growing numbers show that this is becoming more and more of a problem that has to be dealt with as soon as possible, if we want to see children live older than their parents. Childhood obesity can cause immediate health issues like cardiovascular diseases and long term issues like diabetes which can all be very debilitating. This problem can be solved by encouraging parents and many other factors that influence children to help them make the right healthy choices like eating right and doing physical activity.  

Works Cited

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

15 Sept. 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.

\<http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm>.

"Childhood Obesity In America." Help and Videos about Childhood Obesity. Web. 20 Apr.

2012. <http://justthink.org/about/childhood-obesity-in america/? gclid=CM6zl__t268CFQ1vhwoddFLeDA>.

Poverty & Homelessness

MAJOR CAUSES 

•Drug abuse

•Poor/ lacking Education

•Too many jobs being part-time or low-wage

•Too many single-parent families

•A shortage of jobs

•Too many immigrants

•The welfare system

•Poor people lacking motivation

•A decline in moral values

•Overpopulation

Reasons why people might not help a homeless person

People might think they are lazy and should be working.

       –“Their young enough to work.”

•People might think they are going to use the money for something other than for food.

•People feel that they are sometimes lying about their living conditions.

Ways we are helping

•Government Programs

–Welfare

•Community centers

–Food/clothes donation centers

–Shelters

Ways we can help

•Instead of the Government just handing them money, they should help the people living in those conditions by helping them become independent and changing the way welfare hands out money. They should give incentives to people to go out and find help, not just hand these people money.

•By just handing people living in poverty money they learn to depend on in and feel that if they find a job, that their government aid might be taken away

Poverty and Homelessness

In our society we find that a large percentage of people live in poverty. There might be many reasons why they are living in those conditions, but the fact is that many of the people that live in poverty are receiving some sort of government aid like food stamps and welfare. Nevertheless the government is helping out the people that live in impoverish conditions, but it is helping them in a wrong way. The government is helping in a way that does not give incentives to the people to better themselves. Instead many are taking advantage of the government aid and become dependent on it. Instead of the government providing aid like handing out money, they should help the people living in those conditions by helping them become independent and changing the way welfare hands out money. They should give incentives to people to go out and find help, not just hand these people money so they can continue depending on the government’s aid.

According to the article Poverty in America some of the factors that lead to people living in poverty are the welfare system, drug abuse/addictions, poor/lacking education, too many jobs being part-time or low-wage, too many single-parent families, illnesses, too many immigrants, poor people lacking motivation, a decline in moral values, and overpopulation. The welfare system is not helping improve the living conditions of people living in poverty. On the contrary, many become dependent on government aid and for many, this kills the incentive for them to find a job that will better their living status. Drug abuse and addictions are also something that leads to homelessness and poverty, because the person with the drug addiction will do anything to get his or her hands on the drug. They do not care about anything other than they need the drug. Poor and lacking education is a factor that is causing homelessness and poverty because nowadays many need a higher education to continue operating in their job and finding a good job.  Too many jobs are part-time or low-wage which ties with the poor who lack education because many do not have the education to get jobs that pay more than part time and low wage jobs. Too many single-parent families is a factor that leads to homelessness and poverty because there is only one parent supporting the family, which means that the single parent is going to have to work harder to make enough money to live a normal life. Illness is a factor that leads to homelessness and poverty because medical bills and medicine can be very pricey causing many to go into huge debts which leads many to living in poor living conditions. A shortage of jobs is a factor that ties with too many immigrants and overpopulation which leads to homelessness and poverty because due to the large population in our society it is very hard for each individual to find a job. Poor people lacking motivation and decline in moral values is a factor that leads to homelessness and poverty because many of the people living in poverty have lost hope in bettering themselves due to the fact that they can end up being in the same situation countless of times. These are some of the factors that lead to poverty and homelessness in our society.

The welfare system is a major factor that ties with all other factors in which instead of helping people get out of poverty it is actually keeping them living in poverty. For instance, according to Poverty in America, “The government says that a family of four with an income higher than $17,029 is not poor. However, more than three in five Americans (64%) say that a family of four with an income of $20,000 is poor, and two in five (42%) say a family of four earning $25,000 is poor.” (NPR) This shows that many people think of poverty in different ways but the fact is that the majority of the people are falling below the poverty line because they find themselves in a situation where they make less than what they are supposed to make and cannot make ends meet. In the long run this means that many will try to get welfare to make ends meet while still living in poverty. By the end many find themselves becoming dependent on the government aid and continue to live in poverty. In addition, the article continues on by stating, “About half say poor people today have easy lives because they get government benefits without doing anything in return.” (Poverty in Amer.) This shows that welfare instead of getting people out of poverty, it is making it easy for people to live in it because they are getting government aid for just being poor. The welfare system is not giving people incentives for them to better themselves because instead of struggling to find a stable job and bettering themselves, they would prefer to continue living in poverty and just being handed government aid. Furthermore on the contrary, the article talks about how there is a new welfare law that is improving the conditions of giving aid, it states, “The most important reason they give for why it is working well is that it requires people to go to work. Americans appear to value work so strongly that they support welfare reform even if it leads to jobs that keep people in poverty.” (Poverty in Amer.) This shows that the new welfare laws are actually giving incentives to get people to get and keep a job but the problem is that most of the jobs that these people get are low paying jobs which still keep many in poverty. The reason is that many people stay satisfied with just having a low-wage job as long as they still get government aid. This is why welfare should change the way they hand out aid, they should provide help to the people to help them become independent as a way to better themselves and not depending on government aid.

            There are many ways Organizations are helping people living in poverty better themselves. For example the organization The Heartland family service has “Two major components of this program, Hardship Assistance and Housing, provide immediate as well as long-term survival assistance to residents in specific areas of our community.” This shows that The Heartland family service organization is helping people living in poverty in a way that teaches them to become independent as a way that most of them will not even need the help of government aid. In addition The Heartland family service organization also states, “Housing stability combined with supportive services helps parents gain skills that lead to independence.” Again this shows that The Heartland family service organization is doing what it is suppose to do because they are teaching independence to the people that need it the most. Furthermore they provide, “fixed housing [which] allows them to cope with other financial pressures.” This shows that they are really helping these people to their feet’s and they are doing it in a way that will help them cope with financial problems. The way to really help the homeless and the people living in poverty is by helping them gain independence, tools and knowledge to better themselves and continue improving their life style.

            If one really wants to help someone get out of poverty they need to help them by giving them the tools and the knowledge to become independent. Giving incentives to the poor to find help and get a job does help out but without the tools and knowledge they will never gain independence in where they do not depend on government aid. If one just gives the poor money like welfare does it is killing the motivation for many to become independent because they would rather be handed free money instead of working to earn a decent living.

"Poverty and Homelessness â Heartland Family Service." Poverty and Homelessness â

Heartland Family Service. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.

<http://heartlandfamilyservice.org/programs/poverty-and-homelessness/>.

This organization talks about how there are many families, adults and children that in some point in time they found themselves some form of poverty and homelessness. The Heartland Family Service provide help to those in need in many ways to help bring the family or the person to their feet. The website provides success stories where someone living in the streets got help by this organization and they helped him to his feet and helped him find a stable job to get out of living in poverty. They have donation centers and shelters to help the people during tough times.

"Poverty in America." NPR Online. NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School Poll. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.

<http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/poll/poverty/summary.html>.

The Author of this article talks about the major problems of poverty in America, many do not think homelessness and poverty is a big problem but they are wrong because now a family making below $20,000 is considered poor and that’s what 64% of Americans are making. The article talks about the major factors which are drug abuse/additions, too many jobs being part-time or low-wage, too many single-parent families, illnesses, too many immigrants, the welfare system, poor people lacking motivation, a decline in moral values, overpopulation, and  poor/ lacking education. The article also talks about how the new welfare laws are making and encouraging people to work to continue receiving government aid.

Parenting

What is considered an “unfit parent”? In our society we cannot really explain who is a good parent and who is a bad one because each parent has their own ways and techniques to parent their children. There is a range of parenting that goes from being too strict to being too free, and there are also many other factors to look at which all can affect the way the child grows, like education, financial stability, health, and many others, but people still have not found out which is the best way to parent kids.  Ultimately it all depends on the parents and the child. So considering, Rose Marry and Rex Wall were good parents to some extent. They did not provide their children with financial support, healthy conditions or safety, but they did provide them with love, education and independence which in the end, caused three of the four children to became successful people.

            Jeannette’s parents weren’t the greatest parents but they provided their children with the tools needed and mentality to become successful people. We all know that the Walls lived in great poverty and in harsh living conditions, but that did not stop them from succeeding in life. It also did not help that both parents had a mentality that made it harder to live. For example, in one of Jeannette’s experiences when her dad was teaching her how to swim, she states, “Dad kept telling me that he loved me, that he never would have let me drown, but you can’t cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is ‘If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim’” (Walls 66). Here we see that the Walls have a mentality that if you do not learn at a young age how to do things, you will have trouble later in life. They do have a point not withstanding that the Walls went to extreme measures which sometimes put the life of their children in danger.  In addition, we find out about Jeannette’s mom’s mentality when Jeannette states, “She thought rules and discipline held people back and felt that the best way to let children fulfill their potential was by providing freedom” (Walls 73). Here we see that Rose Mary Walls believes that the best ways for a child to learn from their mistakes was by letting them do whatever they wanted.  This mentality helped the Walls children learn how to become independent and learn from their mistakes.

Furthermore, in the article, “What Makes a Good Parent?” the author  Robert Epstein states, “Parents who focus too much on keeping their children safe may see their efforts backfire, winding up with unhappy kids or a poor parent-child relationship. Kids fare better when parents encourage autonomy”. Here we see that on the contrary, parents who provide their kid’s which the safety and good living conditions will have a harder time becoming independent and will be depending on their parents. The Walls did not provide their children with the safety and the good living conditions a lot of people expect parents to provide but by the end the Walls children grow up and three of the four became successful people.

            The Walls weren’t the greatest parents but they provided their children with the love and support to help them along the way. For example, when Jeannette turned 10 and since the family lived in poverty, Rex asked her what she wanted for her present, Rex stated ,"'You know if it's humanly possible, I'll get it for you. And if it ain't humanly possible, I'll die trying'"(Walls 116). This shows that Rex loved and cared a lot about his children because even though they were poor and had nothing for Jeannette on her birthday, he said he would do anything possible to make her birthday present come true. All throughout the memoir we find that even though Rex Walls was a person that liked to gamble, drink a lot, and keep on moving around, and the mother Rose Mary Wall was a person that liked to paint and did not like to follow rules, they loved and supported their children. In addition, Jeannette states, "Mom and Dad liked to make a big point about never surrendering to fear or to prejudice or to the narrow-minded conformist sticks-in-the-mud who tried to tell everyone else what was proper" (Walls 103). This shows that the parents encouraged their children to never let anyone bring them down. This helped support the children through their lives because many times they were made fun of for being poor but that did stop them from giving up.

Furthermore, Rose Mary states that, "'Life's too short to worry about what other people think,' and 'Anyway, they should accept us for who we are" (Walls 157). This shows that the mom supported her by encouraging her to never let what others think of her bother her. By the end of the memoir, Jeannette states, “I wanted to let the world know that no one had a perfect life, that even the people who seemed to have it all had their secrets" (Walls 270). This shows that she also believes that one should not let what others think of you bring you down, because in the end no one really has the perfect life. Jeannette’s parent’s love and support helped her become the person she is.

Many people believe that children that live in poverty are less likely to become successful according to the article “Children are hidden victims of the economic crisis”. In the article “Children are hidden victims of the economic crisis”, Patrick T. McCarthy, president and chief executive of Annie E. Casey Foundation states, “children caught up in the economic crisis are likely to exhibit behavioral problems, have difficulty in school, are less educated and earn less money, and have more health problems” (Children are). So it is reasonable to think that the Walls Parents were bad parents because they raised their children in impoverished conditions. The walls did live in poverty but they did not exhibit most of the problems that relate with poverty, mainly because the parents taught them everything they needed to know to become independent. Most of the Walls children did very well in school, and most of them grew up to become successful people. So in the end the Walls Parents were good parents to some extent because they managed to raise their children in impoverished conditions and still most of the children ended up successful people. 

The Walls did not provide their children with financial support, good health or safety but they did provide them with love, education and independence which, in the end, resulted in three of the four children to become successful people. Today people categorize good parents as one that will bring forth children that will become responsible citizens and help out in the community, not the other way around where the child is a burden in the community. That is why  Walls are good parents because most of their children became responsible citizens that helped out in the community and became successful. This is also why the Walls Children were better off with their parents than in foster care because the Walls provided them with the tools needed to become successful people. Jeannette states, “But despite all the hell-raising and destruction and chaos he had created in our lives, I could not imagine what my life would be like-what the world would be like-without him in it. As awful as he could be, I always knew he loved me in a way no one else had” (Walls 279). Here Jeannette is talking about her dad and all the challenges the whole family had to face because of him and their mom. The Walls provided the children with love, education, support, and mentalities to survive the real world. I also believe that the challenges the children had to face provided them with the tools needed to become successful because with all the challenges and problems they learned that life is not easy and that they should appreciate it.

Works Cited

"Children Are Hidden Victims of the Economic Crisis, Report Says." - Latimes.com. 17 Aug.

2011.Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/08/new-report-spotlights-hidden-victims-of-the-economic-crisis-children-.html>.

Epstein, Robert. "What Makes a Good Parent?" What Makes a Good Parent? Scientific

American Mind, Nov.-Dec. 2010. Web.

Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle: A Memoir. New York: Scr

Journal Entry #3: The Glass Castle, pp. 155-288

A-1) When the Walls family moves to Little Hobart Street, they quickly descend into impoverished living conditions. How does Jeannette cope with the deficiencies in her life? Discuss at least one specific example.

            Jeannette had many things to cope with the deficiencies in her life. One in particular was that Jeannette and her whole family was always hungry. So what she did was that she would hid in the bathroom during lunch and would find many things in the trash that kids would throw away. Jeannette thought that those kids are ungrateful because they throw away good food.

B) In what way do Jeannette’s job at the jewelry store and her interest in journalism allow her independence?

Jeannette’s job at the jewelry store allows her to gain independence because now she is working and is providing money to make end meet with both her mom Rose Marry and her sister Lori gone. So by her finding a job and providing money she is learning to be independent by herself.

Her interest in journalism allows her independence because now she is thinking by herself without having her parents to reason to. Her job as editor of the school newspaper allows Jeannette to go on different events and gaining a lot out of it. When she moves to New York she interns at a weekly paper called ‘’The Phoenix” and then it turns into a job and the owner encourages Jeannette to attend college which benefits her.

C) How does the move to New York symbolize a second turning point in Jeannette’s life? Is this another “skedaddle” or a more justifiable move for Jeannette?

            The move to New York symbolize a second turning point in Jeannette’s life because now she is on her own and has to find a way to swim or drown without having her parents bothering her. I think that the move to New York is another” skedaddle” because she wants to leave the home she has with her parents but in the long run it turned out to be more justifiable because she gets a job and then goes to college to continue with her career in journalism.     

D) Why do you think Jeannette’s parents choose to continue living on the streets, even after their children are grown?

            I think that Jeannette’s parents choose to continue living on the streets, even after their children are grown up because they are used to living in harsh conditions and cannot seem to follow the rules that are set when living with their children.  They move in with Lori and Maureen but the dad starts drinking and arguing too much so Brian allows the dad to stay with him but then the brakes into the liquor cabinet. Brian tells the dad that he ether had to stop drinking or he had to leave so the dad decides to leave. Rose Mary is also kicked out of her daughter’s home because she has too much stuff and does not clean it or organizes it after Lori tells her many times to do it. I also think that they live in the street because they cannot bear to have their children take care of them when to their ideology they are the ones that are supposed to be providing for them, not the other way around.

E) Why does Maureen stab Rose Mary? Why does Jeannette apologize, “for everything” in her mind (p. 276)?

Maureen stabs Rose Mary because Rose Mary thought “It was time for Maureen to develop a little self sufficiency by moving out and finding a place of her own” (pg 275).  Maureen snapped at the idea of her own mother kicking her out so she stable Rose Mary. Jeannette tells us that all of Maureen’s life she was taken care of “in Welch, the Pentecostal neighbors provided for her, and now in New York, with her long blond hair and wide blue eyes, she found various men who were willing to help out” (pg 274). The father also called Maureen the runt of the litter meaning that she was the littlest and the weakest of all the other children.

Jeannette apologize to Maureen, “for everything” in her mind because she says that, once Maureen arrived at New York, Jeannette was too busy taking care of herself and could not take care of her little sister. I also think that Jeannette apologizes to her little sister because she knew that Maureen had mental problems and needed help but still she did very little to help her out. 

Journal Entry #2: The Glass Castle, pp. 42-154

A) How does the following passage epitomize the Walls’ lifestyle and demonstrate Jeannette’s tolerant and understanding character? How does the swimming event compare to the fire incident on p. 9? “I staggered out of the water and sat on the calcified rocks, my chest heaving. Dad came out of the water, too, and tried to hug me, but I wouldn’t have anything to do with him, or with Mom, who’d been floating on her back as if nothing were happening, or with Brian and Lori, who gathered around and were congratulating me. Dad kept telling me that he loved me, that he never would have let me drown, but you can’t cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is ‘If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim.’ What other reason, he asked, would possibly make him do this? Once I got my breath back, I figured he must be right. There was no other way to explain it” (66).

The Well’s Lifestyle is that kids should learn at an early age how to depend on themselves  and learn from their mistakes even if that meant that the children were at a High risk of getting hurt. Jeanneette learns to tolerate all these behaviors because she trusts so much in her dad and believe everything he says. She also understood that it was for her own good since they never had anything to really compare in to depth with. In the Swimming event she learns how to swim by being thrown into the water every time she reached out for her dads hand and the only way to she started swimming by herself without depending on her father for help. The fire incident also relates to the swimming event because the only way she learned to not be afraid of the fire was to learn how to be with fire and play with it.    

B) How does Jeannette describe her father in the beginning of the memoir? How does she express her trust in her father? Cite specific examples.

            In the Beginning of the memoir she described her father as a person that could be trusted no matter what and that he loved all his children. She trusted her dad when they went to the zoo and they got so close to a cheetah and touched it. She never saw any problems with her dad until after the Christmas tree accident and from there she started seeing that the dad has a drinking problem and even asks him that for her birthday gift she wanted him to stop drinking.

C) How do the Walls siblings show loyalty toward each other? Cite specific examples. Despite her family’s support and loyalty, during which instances does Jeannette feel lonely?

            The Walls Siblings show loyalty toward each other in many occasions, one was when they were living in Battle Mountain and Billy was after Jeanneette because she rejected him after he kept bothering her that he wanted to be his boyfriend. Since Jeannette rejected him he got mad and started shooting at the Wells Children with his bibi gun, so the Wells Children got together and Jeannette got her father’s gun which Lori got first and Jeannette shot back at Billy. Another situation was when they were in Welch at their grandmothers’ house. Erma, their grandmother touched Brian in a wrong way and the well’s children got mad and started fighting with Erma, Jeannette kept complaining to Erma and Lori actually fought back with her fists. Despite Jeannette family’s support and loyalty, during her first few days at Welch Elementary Jeannette feel lonely because she is separated from her brother and she kept getting bullied by a group of girls. Another time Jeannette was lonely was when both their parents left to get the rest of their stuff and Jeannette felt like she could not trust her dad as much 

D) How does the Christmas incident signify a turning point in Jeannette’s life? Does the event change her perspective about her father?

The Christmas incident signified a turning point because the dad’s alcohol problems became worse and the children did not like it when the dad came home drunk. Jeanneette starting seeing her dad in a way she hadn’t before, she saw a problem in her dad which was something new because she always saw her dad as someone she could trust and believe.

 

E) How does the Walls’ life in Welch compare to Battle Mountain and Phoenix? In what way does Jeannette’s life in Welch shape her late childhood/early adolescence?

Live in Battle Mountain and Phoenix was very different than life in Welch because for once in the inter memoir we see that the children are separated from both parents when they stay at Erma, their grandmother’s, house and both parents leave to get things they left back at phoenix. We also seeing that Jeannette starts seeing her father in a different way and she starts talking back to her grandmother Erma. She has to be by herself in school and has to defend herself when she gets bullied at school. 

Journal Entry #1: The Glass Castle Pg. 3-41

A) What impression of Jeannette’s mother do you get in the first section (pp. 3-5)? Why do you think she chooses to begin the memoir with this encounter?

 In the first few pages of the memoir, Jeannette’s mother gives me the impression that she is someone that is self involved. Jeannette asks her mom what she wants so she can help her but she would always ask for the strangest things like perfume, health club membership and electrolysis treatment.  Both Jeannette’s parents live in the streets with dirty rags but they do not seem to care. I think she chose to begin the memoir with this encounter because she is successful while her parents are living in the streets and wants to show that she is in a higher state than her parents.

B) How do Jeannette’s parents explain the “skedaddle?” How do they justify all the moves? What are Jeannette and her siblings’ reactions to constantly moving?

Jeannette’s parents explain the “skedaddle” in different ways. The dad would explain it as a way to escape from the henchmen, bloodsuckers, and gestspo. He would also say that the FBI was after him o they had to keep moving. But the Mom would explain that dad just said those things because it was more interesting having the FBI on their trail than tax collectors. Jeannette and her siblings reaction to the constant moving was that they would never get use to a place and would not make many friends because they would have to keep moving.

C) Describe a memory you have of moving, whether it was moving homes, schools, or even rooms. What kind of impact or significance did the move have on you?
When I was about 5 or 6 I remember that we moved homes and it was all happening so fast, everyone was happy because my parents were moving from an apartment to a house. I was also happy but then I realized that I would not be able to see my friends and this made me very sad. Once we had moved in to our new home I found it very hard to get use to all the changes. I found it hard to sleep because I was use to sleeping in an apartment and I do not really know why but I could not fall asleep.