Alex Grealish

Discourse Analysis (2)




Alden, Anton. "Long Term Effects of Public Housing on Children". Livestrong.com. Web. 23 August 2010


           Anton talks about the "long-term negative effects" (Anton, 1) factors that children face growing up in low income housing. The limited educational opportunities they face living in such areas can then lead to employment difficulties as they move on. The health issues that children face is another problem. These people don't have the adequate amount of money to bring their kids to the doctor as often as needed. It is mentioned by Anton that the cheap lead paints used in this housing if not treated efficiently and promptly can lead to long term issues. The last factor that Anton brings up and the one I feel most closely connects with my question is that of the exposer to crime. The areas low income housing are located in can bring dangerous people and opportunities in things like gangs and crime. Being surrounded and raised in environments that have such things can affect the behaviors of children. There is a lot of pressure to give in to the bad around them and do the wrong things. They have to adapt to there surroundings, and this can be done so in such a way that changes them for the worse.          
         I feel this article has much to do with babysteps in that the families in the programs cannot always afford the best neighborhoods. On such low incomes its hard to be picky and there are more important things such as food and shelter that come first. These children are then more likely to be surrounded by these toxic environments and more susceptible to giving in to the bad behaviors they see. I don't think this article is being bias. There isn't any opinion stated, just facts and possibilities. The authors ideas extended from mine when she states that these effects, "follow children throughout their lives" (Anton, 1). This statement can definitely apply to the behavioral aspect of the children in these situations. A question I have on the article would be what are some specific examples that can support what the article is saying.



Alex Grealish
Draft Research Question- How are low income families children effected behaviorally? 

Alex Grealish

Discourse Analysis (1)

Kaiser, Amy P., and Cathy H. Qi. "Behavior Problems of Preschool Children from Low-income Families: Review of the Literature. - Topics in Early Childhood Special Education | HighBeam Research - FREE Trial." Research - Articles - Journals | Find Research Fast at HighBeam Research. 22 Dec. 2003. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. 

    Volunteering at babysteps we worked directly in the groups with the women and some of the babies themselves. We talked about behaviors they might teach their children as they grow and how they were effected by those behaviors themselves growing up. This interested me to look up the major behavioral issues low income families deal with will raising their children. I found an article, Behavior problems of preschool children from low-income families where authors Qi, and Kaiser, studied almost 3,000 preschool children and their problems with  behavior. Working with the mothers at babysteps we talked alot on how it is you can 'spoil' your child and what it is a spoiled children really means. The group discussed issues children are challenged with and how the mothers can work with that. They gave examples of how they themselves felt spoiled and what it was they would change. Qi and Kaiser found that, "children from behavior clinics (Keenan & Watschlag, 2000) and children with adolescent mothers who were at risk for substance abuse (Elden, 1999) had (higher) rates of problem behavior" (Kaiser, 11).

Alex Grealish

            In my past writings I’ve learned quite a lot about myself and how I think. I have come to the conclusion that I think way faster than I type. My words never come out right on paper, as they seem to do in my head. My writings are always too wordy and confusing. I have a major problem with flow and communication with the reader. Because of this I feel I lose the reader right away in my writings. Academic writings in my past have been very structured with no room for wiggle. They were very rigid and harshly graded, and I never seemed to do well. Because of this I felt the need to add more words to help explain what it was I was trying to say. This did not help the situation. The introduction, body, and concluding paragraphs were all composed of strict guidelines in sentence numbering, content and word usage. My school tried to keep writings strictly academic with no opinions or “voice,” added. This way of writing made it very hard for me to understand what it was to keep your feelings out of your essays.

            I am excited to see that in this class there is a lot of voice and opinion added into our writing. The commentary and assessments we give help me to voice what it is I am trying to say in my own words rather than just using sources from the articles. Hopefully this all will then help with my wording issues in my essays. I used the MLA format in the past, so I am familiar with it, my citations are not always completely accurate but are pretty close.

As for research and source use, I was nowhere as educated about the subject as I am now. Before I was a big “Googler”. The Google search engine was my best friend, I didn’t know of any other research basis to use. Credibility wasn’t a huge issue with my past writings. My sources were mostly online sites with information that could have been completely made up. Articles seemed to be the majority of my citations because they were the most legitimate resources I could find through Google. Citing sources was never a big issue as well. Easybib went hand in hand with Google in my writings. Plugging in the URL and getting the citations out was an easy as copying and pasting it in my bibliography. I’ve now discovered that’s not how it’s done. I’m sad to say Google has now been replaced. The online Albersens Library is my new best friend forever. I now can access articles that are peer reviewed and academically accepted.

            I’ve learned now almost all I have learned is not correct. Luckily I have the help of peer advisers to correct my flaws. Tiana mentions in my first extended bibliography that I should “Use Quote”. This was very helpful to me. I went a whole writing without one quotation! I talked about the authors list of many factors that low income families struggle with” and quoted none of them. I then used the comments to motivate me and quote how it’s the, “low-cost housing, primarily funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (Pratt, 4)” that the people struggle with because, “there are long waiting lists for these programs (Pratt, 4)”

            It was suggested to me that I go “more into detail about whether you thought it was bias or not” in my assessment of the article. I used the, “THREE TOOLS TO IMPROVE YOUR READING (Rossenwasser, 3)” to help me with my improvement of this. My problem with not going into enough depth with the bias issue of the article was because I did not know whether or not it was bias or was not bias. The steps improve my reading helped me to understand what it was the writer was trying portray and then allowed me to assess whether or not I found their opinion to by bias or not. With these readings I then discovered that the author was not being bias in his writings. The document was full of facts and numbers that helped support not just his hypothesis but what really goes on in families with social assistances.

            It is very helpful to have such easy access to the online text to refer back to, to guide us through the process. Having learned to write the way I did, the understanding of the reading was not as important as just getting the quotes you needed to prove the point. In this class we have to understand every aspect of the reading. We are not writing to just prove a point, but to analyze reflect and conclude. If you have problems connecting with the author on what they are writing your going to have problems trying to write the extended bibliography. This has been a very good learning experience for me in that way. By finding whether or not it is bias you have to look at the article from every angle and through different a “lens’” as Rossenwasser explains. This lens idea is that to, “fully explore its usefulness for explaining features of your subject” (Rossenwasser, 9). Your using the whole article when your doing your writings, not just a couple quotes but the mood and tones of the author and readers as well.

            Overall I feel so far I’ve learned to access databases and methods never presented to me before. These will help me to clear up my writing and make it more fluid. The “lens” and “tools to improve reading” focus my thinking on the writing as a whole and making sense of it all. The extended bibliographies really opened up my mind too new ways of analyzing everything I read and incorporating it into my writing.

CITED

Rossenwasser, David, and Jill Stephen. Reading Analytically. Print.

Alex Grealish

Richard Samuelson
English 102
30 January 2011
Extended Bibliography (1)

Raising Rents Challenge Families

1.Pratt, Renee. "Foreclosures, Unemployment Compel Many to Seek Housing Assistance." Rising Rents Challenge Families | The Tennessean | Tennessean.com(12 Jan. 2011). The Tennessean. 12 Jan. 2011. Web. 31 Jan. 2011.

2. Pratt writes about the many factors that low income families struggle with, the main one being housing costs, such as low-housing, primarily funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (Pratt cost, 4)” that the people struggle with because, “there are long waiting lists for these programs (Pratt, 4)” .Metro Social Services is a services that helps them with their basic needs to they can worry less about the small things and focus on more important things. It is thought that the families spend the majority of their income on housing leaving less money for other essential items. With the raising cost of housing people are at higher risk of becoming homeless. Housing that is the decently affordable are mostly located in dangerous areas putting them at risk with dangerous people and toxins. This service has been getting calls to help with, “child care, economic opportunity, food, health, housing, neighborhood development and work-force development”.

3. This article is bias in that it gives you facts from mostly one side. The facts support that the people are spending the majority of their money on housing, the housing costs are rising, and unemployment rates. They are trying to make a point that we need to do something about what’s happening by giving us all the facts but not from both sides. They don’t mention percentages on how the government is helping and what they are doing to try and change this, or if they even are trying. It is an affective website in that they make the information clear and to the point and easy to help by giving lots of information on how the service is helping.

4. This site helps me to see what it is that these low income families have to deal with. The stress of having to worry about such an important thing as a house before you can worry about the small things that matter just as much would be unbelievably scary. Whose to say a bed or food is less important than shelter. That kind of decision would be hard to make. These families have to make those kinds of decisions and that would be awful. If we could help with the smaller things so that they could focus more on housing, that little bit could go along way.

5. This article was very helpful. I felt it coming from a news site and with lots of facts and numbers also made me trust it more. I like the emphasis they place on how much these families have to stress about housing makes me want to take the weight off their shoulders about the little things. Babysteps is definitely something that can help them do just that for them. That’s one less thing for them to stay up at night and worry about. Those are the little things that can help someone tremendously .














Alex Grealish

Richard Samuelson

English 102

7 February 2011

Extended Bibliography (2)

1. Weitoft, Gunilla Ringbäck (2008). "Health and social outcomes among children in low-income families and families receiving social assistance—A Swedish national cohort study.". Social science & medicine (1982) (0277-9536), 66 (1), p. 14.

2. Weitoft states that statistics on children with families in long term social assistances and their future health factors such as abuse with drugs and alcohol, suicides and deaths, as well as their education compared to the rest of the population. It was concluded that the families with the long term assistance were most affected so are then opened too "evidence based prevention programs" in the areas in which they most need help in. Weitoft also discovered that the health and social outcomes of the children growing up in homes with long term social assistances were worse than those in just low income houses. 

3. The credibility of this article is very legitimate. The evidence, statistics and many many observations are listed with reasoning behind every answer. The sources cited are also very long and in lots of detail just like the whole rest of the article. There are multiple tables throughout the article as well organizing the conclusions they have come across.the author was not being bias in his writings. The document was full of facts and numbers that helped support not just his hypothesis but what really goes on in families with social assistances.

4.The author's ideas extend from my thoughts in that I would think people in low income families would do better when in long term social assistances compared to those who were not. But to their conclusions it was the opposite of what i had thought. I thought what they found was very interesting, how it affects not only their social lives when they are older but their physical well being too. The health issues associated to how they were raised extended from my thoughts too. 

5. Questions I have on my source would be the kinds of social assistances were used by the families. I think that is a huge role in why the kids ended up in the ways that they did. How involved were the social assistances too? Were they just meetings once a month or which kinds? The factors are things I would have liked to have been defined for me to more accurately understand why their conclusions were they way they were.

Alex Grealish

Richard Samuelson

English 102

7 February 2011

Extended Bibliography (3)


1. Cobb, Joletha. "Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Becoming Parents Again for Our Children's Children." Suite101.com: Online Magazine and Writers' Network. 04 July 2007. Web. 09 Feb. 2011. <http://www.suite101.com/content/grandparents-raising-grandchildren-a25117>.


2. Cobb's article explains the hardships for grandparents raising children all over again. The reasons for why they have to are among many different reasons, and the difficulties of accepting the responsibilities of another child whether it was their choice or not. These grandparents are sometimes physically not able to assume full care of the grandchild either. They require full attention and dedication and the website gives ideas to help them in joining or starting support groups with other grandparents going through the same situations. 


3. I believe this source is credible. They give challenges and difficulties found in raising children for a second time, and offer ways of help through support groups. On the side bars are links to references, and related articles and topics for people to further research on. The site also offers support by telling feelings or obstacles the grandparents might be having or going through, showing that there are others out there going through the same thing.


4. For the article I question why they don't have more helpful links or support numbers that they could be put into contact with rather than just ideas to get help. Ideas on how to get help are nice but other information that could offer direct help would be better. The author's ideas extend on my thoughts because it must be hard to go though raising children after having been out of that kind of act for years or maybe even decades. The emotional, physical and financial hardships all come back to them for another 18 years. 


5. I feel the article could have gone into more depth and detail with how grandparents are affected. Some numbers and statistics would have been nice to have a starting number in my head to think about. There could have been more background information so that the readers not personally affected by what the article was on could more better understand it. As I had mentioned before, more helpful links would have been great. I don't think it could have been that hard to cite and add into their article for the people reading it who are affected by this, so why didn't they?