Liam O'Brien

May 18, 2015

Embracing a Cruel World with the Perseverance to heal it
Before reading Half the Sky I was unaware of the treatment that women go
through in the world that I live in. The book awakened me to the twisted reality I live
in, where some of the most barbaric traditions ever known to the human race still
exist. I was almost completely unaware that rape, forced prostitution, honor killings,
and genital mutilation are everyday ritual in some parts of the world that we live in.
Half the Sky will shatter the world of any unlearned reader. But it also opens our
minds to philanthropy, and compels us to work until we have eliminated this
violence. Half the Sky gives its readers inspiring examples to look up to of people
who have already transformed entire communities and regions. Half the Sky teaches
its readers about the current relevance of human rights. It reminds us that no
matter how incredibly flawed the world is, we must always fight to change it and
that we must.
Much of the violence that has occurred in the world was committed by
individuals consumed by greed. This is because when we only think of ourselves
and what we want we lose our care for others and instead of seeing people we see
objects, either obstacles or tools, to obtain our selfish desires. Greed starts with the
fear of not having enough and therefore often starts its journey in the most poverty
stricken parts of the world. This is happening in the world today in such places as
the eastern Congo. Explained in Half the Sky is this regions situation which to many
is unimaginable. This region of the world is under the control of militias. The leaders
of these Militias gain control of land by recruiting and/or brainwashing teenage boys
to fight for them in order to wreak havoc and horror in villages. These attacks keep

people too fearful to fight back, leaving the regional militias in power to take or do
whatever they want to anyone under their control. Militias teach their adolescent
warriors to believe that they have the right to women as property. In Half the Sky a
boy of sixteen is quoted while being asked about rape, If we see girls, its our
right We can violate them. These boys have seen such terror that it has become
normal to them, and the only other conceivable path in life for them is to starve or
be killed. With these constraints on anyones mind, it would become very easy to be
used by greedy men such as these militia leaders. If we are to stop this type of
problem from recurring we must be sensitive to the poor, because as we can see
from this situation if we are fighting for survival, who knows what we might do to
others.
One example of a woman who turned her life around against possible odds
and after years of being a sex slave is the cam, a girl Rath Srey. Rath, hoping to
earn her impoverished family money, agreed to be taken to a restaurant in Thailand
with a group of her friends in order to become dish cleaners. But the people who
had said they would take the girls to their new jobs had another plan in mind.
Instead of taking her to Thailand she was taken to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and sold
to a brothel. While working in the brothel she was permitted no clothing at any time
and would be beaten to a pulp, drugged or raped by her pimps if she were to deny a
customer sex. After risking her life to escape she reported the brothel to the police.
But, instead of helping, the police arrested her for illegal immigration and kept her
in custody for a year. Rath went through all of this only to have the police sell her to
another brothel in Thailand, but still she was not going to break. After going through
years of unimaginable abuse Rath finally returned home. From there, she was able
to start a business of her own which grew and with which she was able to feed her

family. Half the Sky reminds the reader that it is possible to change the world and
gives the reader many opportunities to start this journey.
Half the Sky has a chapter written specifically to encourage the reader to take
action by encouraging the reader to visit websites where you can lend money to
parents trying to a specific mother, farmer, aspiring university student, etc. to
achieve their goals in life. These sites, including www.globalgiving.org and
www.kiva.org are inspiring and simple ways that allow the fortunate to give back to
the world.
Many people living in the quote-on-quote developed world, including myself
before having read this book, have only a vague idea of the reality of developing
world problems. What problems we do know of, we hardly ever consider to face
ourselves. This may be because most of us do not realize that we are capable of
changing the lives of others. Evidence in Half the Sky of someone who has
dedicated her life to philanthropy quite successfully is Ann Cotton. Ann started out
her humanitarian life with just a three-week visit to one of the poorest parts of
Zimbabwe to research the shockingly low attendance rate of girls in schools. Ann
found that many families resisted sending their daughters to school, She (Ann)
realized that families didnt have the money to buy books and pay school fees for all
their children, so they gave preference to their sons because it was more likely that
the boys could use the education to get good jobs afterward. Ann could not
imagine her own children being deprived of education and was driven to get these
girls into high school. After returning visits to the village she was able to send thirtytwo girls to high school, a breakthrough, and expand her program to Zambia,
Tanzania, and Ghana. Her organization has continued to grow and has changed the

lives of many girls and communities in southeastern Africa. We must be reminded

by her example that we to can change lives.
The lesson that Half the Sky has to teach us is a brutal yet hopeful one. The
book tells the truth of the world and does not euphemize reality. Because of this, it a
treasure of modern day, because it helps us to believe that we can change the
world. This book has made me realize that I can do more, and that when I am
struggling that the world needs more. This thought helps me to realize that I can
push through. For those who are fortunate enough to not know poverty, this book
awakens us to what we can do and what we must do to help others. For those who
do know or live in poverty, this book gives hope that the chain of hatred towards
women can be destroyed through examples of those who already have. This book
may fragment ones image of the world but it constantly invites its reader to take
action and gives us hope that we can create a better world.

Literary Analysis Rubric

10
Brilliant
execution of
the standard;
exceeds
expectations

9
Strong
execution with
some room to
improve

8
Meets the
standard

7
Approaching
the standard

5
Below the
standard

0
Standard is not
present in the
paper

Perspective/Claim ___________10 Points

______ Does the paper make a solid interpretive claim that is focused, reasonable, debatable, and
clearly stated?
______ Is the essay written in the third person using the literary present?
I think that this will be the hardest requirement. It is hard to make an argument that is debatable
over this book because its issue is such an obvious necessity it seems it should not need any more
evidence or interpretation to support it.

Organization___________x2____________15 points
______ Are your paragraphs focused around clear ideas that are anchored in topic sentences?
______ Do your ideas and paragraphs logically flow in a TEA paragraph format?
______ Is the overall perspective of the paper supported in every paragraph?
______ Is the essay properly framed in with an introduction and conclusion?

Development ___________x2______________25 points

______ Do you make specific and clear connections between the textual evidence and the
perspective of the paragraph or paper?
______ Are you making commentary and connections between your ideas for your reader?
______ Are your arguments well-supported, without vague generalizations or misinterpretations?
______ Do you avoid plot summary except to clarify and give context for your evidence?

Evidence___________x3 _______________30 Points

______ Does every paragraph contain evidence from the text?
______ Does your evidence make sense in the context of your argument?
______ Is all evidence cited parenthetically with page numbers?
______ Are all direct quotes set up correctly?
This book is overflowing with evidence to support my argument.

Sentence Craft___________10 points

______ Are you writing sentences that are grammatically correct?
______ Is the meaning of your sentences clear and easy to follow?
______ Do you use simple and complex sentences for a varied effect?

Proofreading and formatting___________10 points

______ Are there errors in your paper that spellcheck could catch?
______ Did you carefully read through your paper for proofreading errors?
______ Is your essay 5 paragraphs in length in 11 or 12 point font?
______ Does it have a title that is cleverer than Montana 1948 Literary Analysis?
______ Is your name on it?

Final Grade: ________________/100