Andrea Hernandez

Mr. Medina
Humanities
1/29/2014
Struggle can be defined as making a forceful effort to get free of restraint.
Some may declare that struggle is acceptable. It is acceptable because everything
that has happened in life, positive or negative, is a lesson. We will learn from them
all. Others may consider that struggle is unfavorable. It is unfavorable because it can
affect life, like Panchito whos life is affected by poverty. Much analysis has been
attended on this topic. This essay will argue against that struggle is
multidimensional and has implications that can harm us.
Struggle is multidimensional. We identify this in Breaking Through. For
example one of the struggles Panchito experienced is immigration status. The
results of Panchitos struggles are fear. Some examples from the text that provide
evidence of this situation is that he feared being caught by the Border Patrol
because he was an illegal immigrant, as soon as Panchito saw the man in the green
uniform he panicked (Jimenez, 3), and lastly he says that As I got older my fear of
being deported grew, I feared being caught by the Border Patrol.(Jimenez, 4)
Along the lines of struggle being multidimensional, we can also inspect its
implications (see figure 2). Once again using Breaking Through Panchito struggles
with poverty. Poverty affects Panchitos education, home, health, and personal life.
There are examples from the book that show the implications of poverty. One
example is Panchito and his brother Roberto missed months of school to help their
parents work in the field (Jimenez, 2) This shows how Panchitoss education was
affected by poverty because he and Roberto were working instead of going to school
and studying and learning. Another example is when Panchito was in the third grade
he had two red spots on his body and he told his mom that the spots itched
(Jimenez, 12) This shows how poverty affected his health because they didnt have
that much money to help take him to a doctor. A third example is when his family
went to the United States they lived in a shack. (Jiemenez,8) This shows how
poverty affected his home because they dont have that much money to afford a
house. The last example is that Panchitos family was going to be separated and
Panchito was sad that they were going to be separated. This shows how poverty
affected his family and his personal life.
In addition to Breaking Through, there are implications of struggle found in
other sources. Poverty affects health; Studies show that diabetes, high blood
pressure, and heart attacks were slightly more likely to afflict those in poverty than
those who are not.(Kurtzleben, Danielle. Jan. 21,2014.) Another example of how
poverty affects health comes from the article Poverty Threatens Health of U.S
Children, Poor children have increased infant mortality; more frequent and severe
chronic diseases such as asthma; poorer nutrition and growth; less access to quality
health care; lower immunization rates; and increased obesity and its complications.
This shows how poverty affects health because there are diseases that are chronic
and how most people in poverty cant afford the health care for them and their
children. Lastly, U.S News shows us another example on how poverty affects health.
In the U.S the population is high. If you relate the poor in America and India they
are relative. In poverty, it can change your whole life because you worry not going
into starvation or dying and not worry about getting a better education. Poverty can
really affect your education, health and many other things. As, an example about
80% of the world makes about $10 a day and this is bad because if you want an
education and helping your family, you, or others it wont work out or it will be
hard. In conclusion, with poverty in your hands, its tough to hold other things in
your hands like your education.
Not only are there implications on health, we also see it with education. An
example on how it affects education is, Children from poverty are more likely to
struggle with engagement in school, seven differences between middle-class and
low-income students show up at school to understand these differences and how to
address them, teachers can help mitigate some of the negative effects of poverty.
This shows how poverty affects education because it tells us how the children are
not engaging into learning at school and if they dont go to school, and then they
cant find a job that pays well to try to help their family out of poverty. (Jensen, Eric.
May,2013). According to the National Center for children in poverty, in the United
States, 21 percent of children live in families with incomes below the federal
poverty line. Although many of these families have working parents, low wages and
unstable employment make it difficult to provide the necessary resources for proper
child hood development. Not only does research indicate that poverty is a threat to a
childs well-being, but it also affects his/her ability to learn. (Ann, Perry. Feb. 18,
2011) This shows us how poverty affects education because families who have low
payment jobs cant afford to pay for their children to go to school.
Not only are there implications on health, and education we also see it with
living conditions. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, the lack of
affordable housing has lead to high rent burdens, overcrowding, and substandard
housing. These phenomena, in turn, havent only forced many people to become
homeless; they have to put a large and growing number of people at risk of
becoming homeless. This shows how poverty affects living conditions because the
lack of housing can lead to high rent, which some people cant afford and turn out to
be homeless. Another example on how poverty affects living conditions come from
the article The Affects of Poverty on Children, Kids who are poor are likely to be
less healthy, both physically and emotionally in poor living conditions. The last
example comes form Nelson Mandela, and it says, If you are poor you are not likely
to live long. This shows how poverty affects living conditions because its saying
that if your poor you cant live long which would mean you cant buy food to eat.
Not only are there implications on health, education, and living conditions we
also see it with treatment. One example comes from Chacoticpen, We work and we
work hard, day in and day that will hopefully pay of the rent. This shows how
poverty affects treatment because they work and work until they get to their goal of
paying their rent.
In conclusion, this essay has shown how struggle, specifically poverty has
implications that affect us. Some may argue that poverty is good for you. It is
acceptable because everything that has happened in life, positive or negative, is a
lesson. This may be true but I believe that poverty is much more multidemeonsial;
because of its affects on health.
In addition to poverty there is also racism. Poverty is not only struggle it has
negative implications; racism is just as damaging. According to Dictionary.com,
racism is defined as a belief that inherent differences among the various human
races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that
ones own race is superior and has the right to rule others. In other words racism is
when an individual thinks that their race is better than others.
Racism also comes up in Breaking Through, it comes up as stereotyping
Mexicans, name calling/bullying, and how some of the parents discriminate. One
way that racism shows up in the book is when Susans parents discriminates
Roberto for being Mexican, But when I told them I was Mexican there was dead
silence. Roberto said to Panchito. Another example of how racism comes up in
Breaking Through is when Panchito used to bring taquitos but then asked his mom if
he could bring something else like a sandwich because they called him names like
tamale wrapper and Chile stomper. A final example on how racism comes up in
Breaking Through is when they stereotype Mexicans like Panchito. When Panchitos
counselor tells him, We also have a program for future farmers. You need to go to
college to be a teacher, it takes five years of study and it can be expensive." All of
these examples show that racism also comes up in the book Breaking Through in
Panchito and even his family.
Racism also comes up in the movie 42; the movie is about Jackie Robison and
how he was the first African American player to play on an American major league
baseball team. Their are implictions of racism that have happened to Jackie Robison.
One example is when a white soldier told Jackie that he had to get off the field. The
implications were that he looked angry and mightve wanted to fight the soldier.
Another example would be when they had to play against the Philadelphia Phillies
their manger kept taunting Jackie. The implications were that he was very angered,
or angry, and sad. Finally, Jackie Robinson has experienced racism and its
implications.
Not only has Jackie Robinson experienced racism and its implications, but also it has
happened to my aunt. The way she experienced racism is when some Mexicans tell
her that she isnt Mexican just because she doesnt really speak Spanish. This is
racism because her own race is judging her and think that theyre more superior to
her. My aunt and Jackie Robinson have experienced racism and its implications
In contrast to all I have shared, Kelly McGonial provides an opposing
perspective. The claim of this ted talk video was that stress good for you. One
example of how she explains how stress is good for you is when she says stress can
make you social, by a hormone called oxytocin and it fine tunes our brains social
instincts, it primes us to do things that strengthen close relationships, and it makes
us crave physical contact with friends and family. Another example would be that
oxytocin regenerates new heart cells, which reduce damage. A third example would
be that people who spent time caring for others showed absolutely no stress related
increase in dying. I believe that all of this is wrong that stress is not your friend.
Why? Because in Breaking Through Panchitos father was all stressed out from
picking the crops and living in poverty.
In conclusion, I hoped you learned about struggle, poverty, and racism as
much as I did. How much poverty and struggle affected Panchito, and how racism
affects Panchito and Jackie Robinson. Also how I believe that stress is bad for you
and how it can affect your life. Struggle is multidemsional, and how poverty and
racism have their implications.