Abstract In this paper the author begins by making a direct comparison to the American Hymn, Amazing Grace, and Jonathan Kozol's profoundly disturbing profile of the lives of the children of Mott Haven, in the South Bronx. The author moves on to examine Kozol's book in depth and his findings regarding the children of the South Bronx. He concludes by comparing the "Children of Plenty" with what he regards as the "throwaways", the children who he considers have nothing and no future.
From the paper:
?Like children everywhere, they vacillate between child-like innocence and alarmingly grown-up insights; but this is not the suburban version of ?growing up too fast;? they have seen junkies shooting up in the hallways of their buildings, gang members bagging dope and loading guns on the fire escape. Death is accepted as the passage to a better place. ?
Abstract This paper describes the Bronx Zoo's history and its purpose. It illustrates today's exhibitions and programs, which is set in the natural setting of the animals. It states the zoo was founded to educate the public and save endangered species by advancing the study of zoology and protecting wildlife.
From the Paper "The Bronx Zoo first opened its gates to the public on November 8, 1899. At the time, the zoo had 22 exhibits and 843 animals" (About). The zoo was actually in the planning stages since 1895, when the New York Zoological Society (NYZS) (now called the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), starting thinking about making a park where the public could learn more about animals, while the society protected animals, and funded wildlife research."
Tags: new, york, zoological, society, protected, animals, wildlife, conservation, nyzs, wcs, research
Abstract This paper provides a community assessment of the New York City borough known as the Bronx, most particularly its predominantly Hispanic population. First, this paper studies the overall demographics of said population. It then reviews the Health Care Status Indicators of the community, such as mortality rates among various age groups, leading causes of death or illness, and tuberculosis infection.
From the Paper "For those studying and serving given populations, such as community health care workers and nurses, there must be certain methods to use for identifying and separating the wanted demographic from the general public. One of the most effective methods to do so is to group a community by its geography. This designation is called a geographic community. First of all, community is a very broad concept and term. A good definition of what a community is might be found in Goeppinger and Shuster (2004) when they write of "a social group determined by geographic boundaries and/or common values and interests" (p. 342). Thus, the initial type of community that we are trying to define is their first definition. A geographic community is one defined by the geography, the borders, where its members live."
An analysis of the representation of the city, ethnicity and violence in the movie, 'A Bronx Tale", produced by Robert De Niro, Jon Kilik, and Jane Rosenthal.
6,840 words (approx. 27.4 pages), 0 sources, 2008, $ 155.95
Abstract This paper provides a synopsis and character analysis of the 1993 movie "A Bronx Tale" produced by Robert De Niro, Jon Kilik and Jane Rosenthal. In particular, the paper examines the theme of crime within the story, how New York is represented, and issues concerning ethnicity and violence. The paper also includes screen shots from the film.
Outline:
Synoptic Sheet
Synopsis
Description of the Main Characters
Representation of the City, Ethnicity and Violence
Analysis of an Extract
Interpretation of Criminality in the FIlm
From the Paper "The movie starts in 1960, in the Bronx, with a nine-year-old child, Calogero. Sitting on his front stoop, he sees Sonny, the local Mafia boss who rules the neighborhood, shoot a man in what looks like a fight over a parking space. When Calogero chooses to keep quiet when questioned by police officers, Sonny takes a liking to him. Indeed, he considers him like his son and tries to teach him life. Sonny gives young Calogero a job at his bar and introduces him to the gangster life, although he makes sure that Calogero is never involved with criminal activities. Thus begins a relationship that becomes increasingly close as the boy grows older. But, Lorenzo, the real father of Calogero and a modest bus driver, doesn't approve it, arguing the virtues of hard work and moral values."
Abstract This paper examines how, in his book, "Amazing Grace", Kozol focuses on the children of the South Bronx, children who struggle to survive, thrive, to find joy and spiritual connections amid the turmoil of the ghetto. It shows how, although nihilism, hopelessness, anger, and violence run rampant through the neighborhood, the children with whom Kozol speaks and befriends exhibit an ?amazing grace.? It looks at how Kozol allows the residents of the South Bronx to speak for themselves through interviews and to demonstrate with their own examples why racial segregation, ghettoization, gang violence, and poverty are symptoms of a national problem rooted in avarice and racism.
From the Paper "Ironically, the "founding father" of the community, Richard Morris, built the South Bronx on profits gleaned from slavery: he had owned a plantation in the Caribbean. The local high school is named after Morris. The South Bronx can?t seem to escape its historical roots: racism pervades the district and there is a sense that its residents still live as slaves. A local teenage girl tells Kozol that the outside, white-dominated world looks toward people in their community as ?obstacles to moving forward,? as disposable and irrelevant. Moreover, Kozol notes that the mass media and the government fails to capture the raw emotionality of this harsh reality. Streets named after Black heroes like Martin Luther King stand basically as mockeries of racial justice and equality. "
Abstract The paper examines the book "Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble and Coming of Age in the Bronx" that describes the problems facing two young women as they mature in the Bronx. The paper focuses on three main problems facing these girls that are drugs, poverty and lack of education. The paper discusses how almost all the residents face these problems and they deal with them in similar self-destructive and defeating ways that do not lead to successful lives. The writer concludes with a personal reflection on this story.
From the Paper "The problem areas are pervasive in the Bronx and in just about every other inner city poverty-stricken area in the country. Low-income people struggle just to survive and have little hope of ever escaping the hopelessness of their lives. The first major problem is drugs. They are everywhere in the Bronx, especially in the area where Jessica lives. About the only way to prosper in this area is to deal drugs, and the rest of the people know it. The drug dealers flaunt their wealth and status, and other residents are drawn to them because of their success and opulence."
An analysis of community-based actions in poor, problem-infested neighborhoods in the U.S., in particular the problems of drug trafficking in the neighborhood of Allerton Avenue in the Bronx, New York.
Abstract This paper focuses on the problems of drug trafficking in the poverty-stricken neighborhood of Allerton Avenue in the Bronx, New York and how drug trafficking is a very common issue in most poverty-ridden neighborhoods in the United States. It evaluates the lack of education and incentives of the youths in these areas who seek refuge in the delusional world of drugs and how drug-curtailing efforts by the police and other law-enforcement agencies are not successful. It discusses how the solution seems to be community involvement through citizen-driven programs which give citizens a chance to participate directly in those government actions, which aim at providing relief to poverty-stricken people of a particular neighborhood.
From the Paper "Recruiting the right community members for the task force may often become a major problem, as people do not want to become part of an active campaign. Therefore the more discreet and low profile a campaign is, the better are the chances of its success. People join action committees when they are certain others would not be able to find out. This is because oft-times news of such an action committee may leak out which alerts the drug-dealers and they stay on the lookout for those who support such committeesillegal activities in poverty-stricken areas. We have seen that usually in more affluent areas, there are social networks that regularly arrange social events for the community. This is done both for recreational as well as educational purposes. People in the community gather at one place and get a chance to discuss various problems. It is here that they can come up with effective solutions to eliminate neighborhood problems."
Abstract This paper examine how AIDS is one of the most hotly debated topics of modern times, whether it is a question of what should be done to help those who have the disease, what may be done to prevent others from contracting it, or of the many moral arguments pro and con the lifestyles that result in its spread. It explores how one newspaper or magazine can cover it as a matter of science, whereas another can describe as a cultural inspiration, or a religious sin and how film, television, radio, and the arts all play their role in constructing what we see as the impact of this dread disease. In particular, it looks at AIDS and how it is depicted in one geographically small urban area, the New York City borough of the Bronx.
From the Paper "Immediately, even before one considers the impact or image of AIDS, one must consider the fact that the Bronx itself conjures up certain mental pictures. For many these consist of visions of dilapidated buildings, graffiti, burnt-out cars, and other signs of urban decay, while for others, there is the daily drama of a vibrant multiracial community, the cultural accents of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, and African Americans. In the case of still others, there may be the scent of the Italian restaurants on Arthur Avenue, or the memories of long past evenings at the Loewe's Paradise, watching movies beneath the stars. Just as which Bronx you have in mind colors your view of today's Bronx, so too does it inform different media's depictions of AIDS in the Bronx."
Abstract This paper examines the philosophical, intellectual, and poetic nature of Tupac Shakur's and Bob Marley's work, as well as the political and social influence of their music. The paper describes each artist's background and illustrates how Marley's music expressed the social unrest and the spiritualism of Jamaica, while Shakur's music expressed the social issues and emotions of ghetto life in the United States.
From the Paper "Music is one of the oldest art forms. Every culture has used music to not only create mood and celebration, but to relate and express feelings and ideas. Most of us can easily strike images of laborers singing while they worked, tribes beating drums before a hunt or battle, bugles sounding as soldiers charge in attack, and love-sick poets declaring their ardor. Music has also been used as an expression of spiritualism, as well as personal ideals. In recent history, beginning in the mid-1960?s, music became a voice and spokesman for many to express political views, especially concerning the United States involvement in Vietnam. Folk and rock musicians wrote music and songs protesting the war and politics of the time."
Abstract This paper discusses David Berkowitz whose reign of murderous terror gripped New York City from 1976 to 1977. David Berkowitz, known as the Son of Sam, was eventually arrested, tried and convicted for the series of gun-attacks that left six people dead, seven wounded and an entire city in fear. The paper shows that when caught, while there existed a potential for his being determined to be insane, Berkowitz pleaded guilty to the six murders and, under the sentencing rules of the time, was given twenty-five years to life. The paper examines how Berkowitz, while in jail, turned his crimes into profit by writing and authorizing books to be written about him. Outrage against this led to the "Son of Sam Law" which now disallows criminals in jail from profiting from their crimes while behind bars. Berkowitz has become an icon in the study of the psychology of murder, of serial killers and of the sociology of fear. This paper examines the life of David Berkowitz, the nature of his crimes and offers an analysis of the serial killer's mind.
From the Paper "People like David Berkowitz have been part of our human society since humanity began. Thomas Hobbes observed that communities form for the purpose of mutual protection and that they are a refuge from the Wild. For people like David Berkowitz, communities are, in essence, the wild and their psychopathology is the protection from that. The problem, however, is that the psychology of murder is one that cannot truly prevent such people from becoming murderers, it can only explain them once the horror has happened. David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam, terrorized a community that he had perceived as rejecting him. He retreated into a world of delusion, of fantasy, and of fear of the supernatural. Once in that world, he rationalized the destruction of human life and carried out his murders with the calmness and purposefulness of a mail carrier delivering a package. "I wasn't going to rob her, or touch her, or rape her. I was just going to kill her" (Berkowitz quoted in Chelser & Robb, 1996). What psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists have determined about people like David Berkowitz, is that they almost universally suffer from significant psychological breaks, traumas often suffered in childhood, that have changed the very nature of their thought process and moral structure."
Abstract Surveys several large fires. Resulting loss of life and social, economic and political impact each had on society. The Cocoanut Grove Lounge fire in Boston, Massachusetts.; The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Southgate, Kentucky; the Happy Land Fire in the Bronx, New York. Causes of the fires. Damage. Fire prevention.
From the Paper "Entertainment Facility Fires
On December 5, 1876, a major fire occurred in the Brooklyn Theater in New York when a stage backdrop ignited and 295 people were killed (Robertson, 1989, p. 8). Unfortunately, the tragedy of the Brooklyn Theater fire was followed by a fire in the Iroquois Theater in 1903, which was considered Chicago's safest theater at the time. A light set a curtain on fire and because there was insufficient planning for egress in case of a fire, human logjams and inadequate venting caused the death of 603 people. The Iroquois Theater fire, however, did provide substantial impetus to the fire prevention movement, especially in the field of public assembly occupancies (Robertson, 1989, p. 8). This paper surveys several fires that have occurred in public assembly occupancies since these earlier fires to review the social, economic and ..."
Abstract This paper looks at the incidences of fires that have occurred in public places and reviews the social, economic and political impact each has had on our society. In particular, the paper surveys those fires that have caused significant loss of life, namely the Cocoanut Grove Lounge fire in Boston, Massachusetts, the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Southgate, Kentucky, and the Happy Land Fire in Bronx, New York. It examines their impact on social and governmental action details and the advancement of our knowledge of fire prevention and safety which often comes at the cost of great loss of life through these fire tragedies.
From the Paper "The Supper Club fire also has a significant impact on the way personal injury claims are litigated for injuries to large numbers of people while in a place of assembly. While attorney Stan Chesley's approach to the case has been criticized for years, there is little doubt that it changed the way major lawsuits are litigated in America (Fisher, 1997a). Chesley became involved after a man who was injured in the blaze came to him for help. However, instead of lining up behind the hundreds of other personal injury lawyers hoping for a small piece of a settlement, Chesley filed the first lawsuit in the case and promptly tried to consolidate the case with the other plaintiffs. Chesley's theory was to share the costs and the risks with the other plaintiffs in the hope that together they could win a much bigger settlement (Horn, 1999)."
Abstract This paper discusses that "Amazing Grace" is focused on accurately depicting the lives of children and adults living in the South Bronx and in Harlem. The author critiques these themes in respect to how Kozol suggests that juvenile delinquency in these communities is a way of life, rather than an ethical decision, based mainly on the conditions of poverty found therein.
Abstract This paper discusses how Sandra Maria Esteves describes herself as a "Puerto Rican-Dominican-Borique"a- Quisqueyana-Taino-African-American,? though she was born and raised in the Bronx. It examines how this description captures the major theme in her poetry, which is about her own culture and, especially, the lack of one clear culture. It considers two of Esteves's poems, "Here" and "Not Neither", starting with an explanation of the theme of the poems, followed by an analysis to determine how they communicate the themes, including a consideration of structure, speaker, and tone.
From the Paper "The second poem that will be considered is titled ?Not Neither.? The theme of the poem is very similar to the first and deals with the problem of combining two cultures to find one clear identity. This theme is introduced in the first four lines: ?Being Puertorriqueסa Dominicana / Born in the Bronx, not really jibara / Not really hablando bien / But yet, not Gringa either.? These opening lines show a sense of confusion with the poet's own identity, with this achieved by the repetition of "not really" and then the ?But yet, not Gringa either.? Like the poet, the reader is left wondering what this person is, since they have only expressed what they are not. This indicates that the poet is not able to easily identify themselves in regards to culture. This repetition of "not" and "not really" continues throughout the next verse. The poem also introduces the Spanish language, with Spanish and English merging into each other. "
Abstract This paper offers a positive review of Jonathan Kozol's book on poverty-ridden ghetto neighborhoods. The paper talks about the accuracy of Kozol's description of those neighborhoods, and the author of the paper compares his own experiences growing up in a ghetto with the experiences described by Kozol.
From the Paper "Gender is a key issue when analyzing the sociological issues that Kozol describes in his book. He begins Chapter Five by outlining the problem with poor women, who find that better health care services and other facilities are available in prison than on the outside. Many of them AIDS victims and drug abusers, these mothers have endured every tragedy imaginable from rape to battering. Women are therefore the worst victims of the class and race conflicts that beset their neighborhoods. As they are entrusted with raising children, the cycle of despair continues endlessly. Far from acting as victims, many women demonstrate remarkable strength and act as bastions of hope for their children. Many of the people Kozol interviews for his study are women, as the author tries to focus on the impact of poverty and race specifically on young people. When he delves into the myth of the "breakdown of the family" on page 180, it becomes clear that family problems are but a symptom of the bigger picture and cannot be blamed for society's ills or looked at in isolation from other problems. When hospitals and schools are in the conditions they are in the Bronx and other poor neighborhoods, how can the family unit be truly to blame? Besides, many white and wealthy families experience divorce."
