“For Colored Girls” vs. “Out of Our Fathers’ House”

            For Colored Girls, created by Ntozake Shange, is a poetic play depicting women of color facing struggles and shows them discovering their lives in the 1970’s, a time during remnants of the Vietnam War. The pressures of being African-American female whey down on them as their men face pressures of society. Out of Our Fathers’ House, is a poetic play about women in the 1920’s facing their own struggles in a ‘man’s’ world. The poems were taken from activist women in the suffrage movement. Each of the two poems is similar in goal, meaning they each strive for gender equality, as well as some other similarities. However, they differ as well. Some difference may be minor and others will be major.

The setting is different in each poem. For Colored Girls is in Harlem, around the time the American-Vietnam war was just winding down. Out of Our Fathers’ House took place in Chicago during the 1920’s. So, of course how things were done and the mindsets of the American people were different. The dialect of the women in the two poems were different; one was formal and the other was informal, yet they each spoke in a compelling way, enough to bring their audience to tears.

            Some other differences were their body gestures or body language.  The women of Out of Our

 Fathers’ House were less animated and tended towards the gestures that were proper during their time.

 During some poems, there were little gestures, but more facial and arm movement. On the contrary, the

 women of For Colored Girls had motley actions that suited each poem, and

facial expressions of their own. An example would be that during the poem “I want my stuff back” there was much movement, laughter, and facial gestures. The women, compared to those in Out of Our Fathers’ House, were much more relaxed. 

            In both poems the women were looking for a sense of belonging. They were searching for their identity and discovering who they are as women. Aside from all of them being women, they struggle for gender equality and recognition as an equal.  Even though the women of Out of Our Fathers’ House weren’t too much concerned with race, they were still striving for all gender equality.

            In short, both poems brought something of equal value to the table. The fight for gender equality and recognition from their male counterparts was vivid, yet the time periods and behavior seemed as if they were from far away dimensions.

What Will They Get Us to Eat Next?

Some people think school cafeterias should be required to provide low-fat and/or vegetarian lunch options to accommodate the eating habits of all students. Do you agree or disagree?

            Troubling as it may seem, it is indeed the truth that cafeterias still provide students with low nutrient foods. This is a problem because apparently, in spite of previous efforts, low nutrients must be the majority of what the food is made of and its pure junk— pure junk. What does that mean for the kids who are eating these foods? Let's be frank, students will either become obese or develop health problems. In addition, the kids develop bad eating habits. To help the students out, it is best for cafeterias to serve low-fat and/or vegetarian lunch options.

            Let's think for a moment. Synthetic foods have never done any of us any good. Most of the nation's public is obese, every street corner has a fast-food restaurant, and there are still thousands of people who are not educated about the foods they eat. No one mentioned to read the label! Yet, people still eat it because it tastes good, right? People like what they eat and, it will be a while before they stop, but what if they do not stop? Rather, what if the public cannot? Then it will slip into a habit and keep in mind people, children have trouble with self-control—they're worse off than adults.

            Cafeterias should join in on the movement against obesity. Have the lunch lady or lunch man serve healthier foods instead of slapping two bread buns with hardly any meat on the them. Make it so that the students have no choice other than choose a healthier menu. It would also be a huge bonus for the students if there was a chart listing the sodium content, total carbohydrates, calories, sugars, trans fat. In other words, show the nutritional facts. Instead of just having milks and juice to choose from, cafeterias should have water as a choice, too. School cafeterias need to be consistent with these changes because in order to end a habit a person needs to be persistent with his or her changes.

            It would be interesting if the school cafeteria could grow their own food. You know the type of food where you don’t have to worry about the pesticides or added hormones. The very type of food parents would fall head-over-heels for in their student’s school. If a school were to grow its own food it would save money because it would limit the need to buy. Aside from that they could buy it from the farmers market (the organic foods). By doing this, it reduces pollution and minimizes the unneeded or unnecessary chemicals that go into making the food or making the food taste good.

            Overall, cafeterias need to stop what they are doing and make a turnaround in the kitchen. In layman terms, cafeterias need to provide healthier foods on the menu. Only then can bad food habits be on the verge of nonexistence. Perhaps this method of breaking habits should be applied to other problems too, such as watching too much TV and not getting enough exercise; reducing gang violence in neighborhoods; and top this, getting students to study more—we don’t want an educated fool.

Prompt 9: Reinforcing the Will to Help

            Many junior high and high schools around the country now require students to spend a certain number of hours each term doing volunteer work or community service. Some people believe this is an excellent idea that promotes good citizenship and cultivates compassion. Others feel that forced volunteerism is not volunteerism at all. How do you feel about this issue?

            Farcicality, I say…utter farcicality. Hardly any of the callow youth manifest a firm interest in lending a helpful  hand towards their community. The younger generation is too fixated on trivial matters, functioning as the latest gadget, online interaction, game devices, television, lascivious situations, and drug abuse. It’s a perpetual fling that deviates the young from having the slightest fervor of volunteering or to cogitate volunteerism. It has made this generation idle and remiss; therefore, they should be obligated to bestow their time into performing a community service, ensuring that community service will promote good citizenship and cultivate benevolence.

            First, we must push teens. The modern generation has a list of priorities and, to be frank, serving the community is not one of them. They tend to do what is in their self-interest—in fact, all people do—by means of pleasuring themselves. Usually, there is a dearth in self-motivation, which is the logic behind the demand of school officials making volunteer service mandatory. Consistently, the mature horde leads the way in community activism and it has been that way for quite some time. If the modern generation can't do it themselves, someone will have to tell them that they need some experience helping others and being altruistic.

            Volunteering pushes out selfishness and creates a well-rounded person.  It opens teens' eyes to the poverty this country is tainted with. Then will make them sick to their stomachs to see how worse off someone else can be. The modern generation, I will assume, has an adequate acquaintance with some characteristic of poverty, so they can't entirely ignore it. Once they volunteer, the charming qualities of a human being will emerge and those qualities will avail them throughout life. Usually helping someone makes a person feel good .Studies show people live a happier life when they are positive. Teens are sure to feel the same way when they help.

            Yet, that is just the beginning. There is more to it than simply volunteering and changing one's personality. They will build connections, meaning that when they are in a predicament they will have relationships established to accommodate as recourses to attain what they need. On the contrary, crime abates because the community helps all of its members; thus, people wouldn’t have to resort to dire measures when they are confident that they could rely on their community. Foremost, community service creates a nexus with the larger body and the individual. It gives the individual a sense of belonging—crucial for all people who are on the path to self-identity.

            Ultimately, community service should be a requirement and not something school officials hope for. There are too many things going on for us not to help out; not helping will make us bad Samaritans. Also, it is obvious that we need volunteers and community organizations to care for the basic needs of the worse off, so this is an extremely good help to improving ourselves and everyone around us. Just imagine every six billionth head in the world doing that and this world will be a much different place.

Setting as the world

The Fantastic Four: Smaller Families (Prompt 8)

            A few decades ago, many families had half a dozen or more children. Nowadays, more and more families are choosing to have only one or two children. Are smaller families better than larger ones?

            Attention all parents! With fewer children you will not have to worry about them running up the electricity bill—great isn’t it? And kids, you’ll get more things and extra attention—beats having to deal with seven perturbing brothers and sisters. Well, let’s be realistic. In the times we live in now it seems things are getting better, but it's not—the economy is falling. So with a smaller family, the living expenses won’t be as high as family of twelve; smaller families tend to have more leeway, and their lifestyle seems less hectic, rather than having to keep up with all twelve people!

            Smaller families  perpetually tend to have more leeway  than bigger ones.  That is to say, a smaller family size won't put such a strain on themselves financially—such as paying for college intuition, school supplies, wanted items ( i.e. iPad, iPhone, Linen Boots, etc) and heeding to their cardinal needs.  Their  spending budgets will be smaller. Versus a bigger family, they would have to pay college fees for each child and the money will start to pile up. What parent would want that?

            As a bonus for the kids they will get extra attention and receive more stuff. Think about it. Let's say there is a family with three  older children, five adolescences, and four toddlers. The parent(s) of that family will have to cater to them emotionally and trust me, it is tiring and some siblings will get jealous that their not receive as much attention as the other. However, parents won't enervate themselves trying to give equal attention to two to three kids—less mental problems will ensue, such as depression, cutting themselves, eating disorders, etc.  Moreover, the brothers and sisters will be able to know each other extremely well.

            People say that when having a bigger family, they'll have more personalities to play off of. For example, Rodney has an older brother who is a doctor and an older sister, Simone, who is a singer. Rodney could piggy back off of one of those professions and see what fits him best. Okay, so what is the difference between a child from a smaller family doing the same thing?  He or she could just as easily get help or guidance from anyone they know on their journey of self-identity.

            In the end, I prefer smaller families over bigger families. Because when having a family it's not just yourself that you support. Also, you will have to balance the money, give love and care to your offspring, and be a responsible adult. Worrying about less people won't put much of a strain on a parent and ruin their desired lifestyle