September 5

Reponse to Ascher’s “On Compassion”

In 50 Essays, read the essay “On Compassion.”  Once you finish, answer numbers 1 and 2 on page 37.  Submit your response here by clicking the post title, scrolling to the bottom of the page, answering the question, copying your work, entering an email address and typing in the spam filter.  Do not forget to copy your work before you submit it!  Sometimes work gets lost when students don’t take that extra step.  Good luck.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email


Posted September 5, 2012 by tashak38 in category Uncategorized

About the Author

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area--Big Up to the East Bay

88 thoughts on “Reponse to Ascher’s “On Compassion”

  1. Alicia Gonzales

    Alicia Gonzales
    AP English
    Ms. Keeble
    Period 5

    4.) Ascher believes that compassion comes from being learned and developed, that it doesn’t automatically come as a character trait. Ascher also states that it was taught from Ancient Greeks, and somehow compassion must’ve spread as people learned about it.

    Reply
  2. Alicia Gonzales

    Alicia Gonzales
    AP English
    Ms. Keeble
    5th period

    1.) Some examples of encounters with the homeless that Ascher offers was the mother pushing her baby in a stroller, handing a doller bill to the man in need of a shelter, along with the encounter of a French woman offering another man in need some food from her shop.

    2.) Alternative examples of encounters with the homeless that Ascher could have also used in her essay could have been an encounter of a homeless woman rather then man. She could’ve talked about a woman in need, and I feel that that would’ve changed the story because in my opinion women tend to be a lot more thankful to a compassionate act of kindness, which could cause the response in a story to be different. Compassion could be more normal to women, which would make compassion not seem as significant within the essay opposed to a man, when compassion doesn’t seem common.

    Reply
  3. Phuong-My N.

    Phuong-My Nguyen
    Keeble
    AP English, Per. 2
    9 September 2012

    1. In Barbara Lazear Ascher’s essay, “On Compassion”, she offers two examples of encounters with the homeless: on the street corner and in the cafe. The first encounter was with an African American man with dreads and a blond baby on the corner of Madison Avenue. The mother of the baby pulled out a folded dollar for the homeless man as he is heading towards her and hands it to him but he does not move. He is focused on the baby and when the mother was getting tired of waiting, she pushes the dollar and that is when the man decides to take the dollar. The second encounter Ascher explained was one that took place on Ninety-first Street in a French bread shop. Twice, she has witnessed a homeless man come into the shop and the woman that owns the shops does not kick him out even though he smells of urine or looks dirty. Instead, she goes to the kitchen and comes back with a styrofoam cup filled with coffee and a small bag of bread for him.

    2. There are endless examples of encounters that Ascher could have used involving the homeless. For example, if the homeless man stole the mother’s purse while she was pushing her baby, then it could change her essay drastically. We would think that all homeless people want is money and they do not care about anyone other than themselves. Another example is if the homeless man showed up at the French bakery drunk and asking for food and causing a ruckus. If she put that in her essay, then we can say that it seems as if homeless people are drunks or they have problems, and that they are no good. These are some examples of encounters that could change Ascher’s essay.

    Reply
  4. Aaron C

    Aaron Chon

    September 9, 2012

    AP English 11, Period 2

    1. In Ascher’s Essay “On Compassion”, Ascher describes two accounts of homeless encounters that take place in Manhattan. The first example describes a man who was staring at the child of a woman, who offers the man a bill, which he eventually takes. The second example describes how an old man walks into a French bread shop that the author is at, and the owner of the shop appears with food and drink to give to the person. In both scenarios, the author questions whether the people that decided to help did so out of compassion, or for their own benefit.

    2. If Ascher had listed alternative encounters with the homeless population, the tone of the essay would have changed in accordance with the situation. If people were less helpful or not helpful towards the homeless at all, it would provoke animosity towards said people who were not helpful. Were the homeless more concerned with their physical appearance and took care of themselves, the audience might relate and sympathize better therefore. The situation shapes the story, and in the current story, the tone creates an atmosphere of question: Why did the people that decided to help the homeless choose to do so?

    Reply
  5. niauni

    1)Ascher offers to encounters with the homeless. One being, a homeless man approaching a lady with a baby. The lady gives the homeless man a dollar. The second encounter is when the homeless man comes into the shop and the hands the man a hot cup of coffee and a bag of croissants.

    2) Many encounters could have changed the dynamic of the essay. For example; if the lady who was pushing the stroller was to be rude to the homeless man by saying negative things or running away from the homeless man. For instance; in the coffee shop, what if the store owner would have kicked the homeless man out of the shop? How would we feel about the store owner? We would feel that she has no heart. That would also change the tone of the essay.

    Reply
  6. Niauni Hill

    1)Ascher offers to encounters with the homeless. One being, a homeless man approaching a lady with a baby. The lady gives the homeless man a dollar. The second encounter is when the homeless man comes into the shop and the hands the man a hot cup of coffee and a bag of croissants.

    2) Many encounters could have changed the dynamic of the essay. For example; if the lady who was pushing the stroller was to be rude to the homeless man by saying negative things or running away from the homeless man. For instance; in the coffee shop, what if the store owner would have kicked the homeless man out of the shop? How would we feel about the store owner? We would feel that she has no heart. That would change the tone of the essay as well.

    Reply
  7. Trhas B

    Trhas Bairu
    September, 9 2012
    AP English 11, period 2

    1. In the following passage, Barbara Lazear Ascher recalls a couple of brief encounters with homeless people in
    New York City that inform her views “on compassion.” One of the examples include a lady and her baby in a stroller waiting for a light to cross and an homeless man staring at the baby so she gave the man a dollar though he didn’t ask for anything. Another example is the owner of a small French bread shop giving a homeless guy a paper bag that has food most likely in it. Given these examples Ascher questions the true motives between various gestures of kindness, wondering if they are caused by either fear or compassion.

    2. There are plenty of examples that could have changed her essay. One example being if the two men actually asked/begged for money or food. The man staring at the baby maybe could have been staring at it because it reminded him of someone or something, or maybe he thought the baby was cute and the man that walked in the French bread store could have had money of his own but the owner naturally thought he was homeless by simply looking at him and his clothes.

    Reply
  8. Ryan Chu

    Ryan C.
    September 8, 2012
    Ap English, Period 1

    1. Ascher gives three encounters with the homeless which all take place in New York. In one encounter Ascher describes the appearance of a homeless mans clothes, movements, and clothes and how he sees a women and her baby waiting at a stop light. She describes how the man locked eyes onto the baby and how he walked toward her along with the women’s reaction of him coming. In the end the women gives him a dollar. Another encounter is when a man comes into a French cafe, with him the stench of urine and cigarettes fill the cafe. In the cafe the owner of the cafe gets up, hands him a cup of coffee and a baked good, and the homeless man leaves. Finally is the encounter of when the mayor wants to move all the homeless into a hospital, but the York Civil Liberties question the violation of their rights.

    2. Ascher could have used different scenarios of examples, all of which may have different feelings, outcomes, and opinion. These can change the whole perspective of Ascher’s essay.

    Reply
  9. Andrea O

    Andrea O.
    AP English Per.2
    9 September 2012
    1. Two examples of encounters with homeless that Ascher offers are the encounter between a mother and a baby in a stroller on the corner of Madison Ave in which the woman decides to give the homeless man a dollar while waiting for the light to change and the second one was when a homeless man went into a French Café and the owner gave him a bag full of something unknown to the author and a Styrofoam cup.
    2. One possible encounter that could have changed her essay would have been if she had described how a homeless person had stolen from somebody who was waiting for the light to change. This would have changed her essay because the reader would have seen the homeless person as someone bad instead of the way the reader currently see the homeless person in the essay. Another possible encounter that might have changed her essay would have been if the homeless person had been begging for money while drinking because then the reader would see him as a lazy person who choose to be in that situation and wasn’t doing anything to fix it.

    Reply
  10. Bilguun B.

    Bilguun Batdorj

    Ms. Keeble

    AP English Language & Composition

    Sunday, Sept 9, 2012

    1. In Ascher’s essay she gives two examples of the homeless people she witnessed in New York. One of the examples includes a homeless man with dreadlocks staring into the eyes of a woman’s baby. The woman,as a natural response, tries to hand the homeless man a old, folded dollar bill. The other example Ascher gave is when one day she was sitting in a small French bread shop when out of the blue a old homeless man smelling of urine walks in. Instead of the shop owner kicking out the intruder she happily hands him a hot steaming coffee with a small bag of croissants.

    2. If Ascher were to have a alternate encounter with the homeless people then her work would have most likely changed into a more postive or negative essay. Perhaps even her thesis for the essay would be changed based on her alternate encounters. The baby in the stroller might of been attacked by the homeless man. That kind of experience should have a negative impact on Ascher’s essay and thus she would speak out against the compassion for the homeless. Or maybe instead of the homeless man attacking the baby he breaks down and starts crying. He then later tells his story on how his wife and his baby was killed in a tragic car accident. As a result he fell into a long depression and eventually lost his job. This kind of alternate example would improve Ascher’s point and she will go out of her way to show the more humane side of the homeless community.

    Reply
  11. dartise jones

    1)This example of the encounter with the homeless was when the homeless man is close to womens baby.The women went into her purse and gave the homless man some money.

    The second encounter with the homeles is is at a french restauraunt. A moody lady gave the homeless man food and she did this more then once

    2) she could of use plenty of examples. One of the examples Archer could of used is when you see homeless people holding a cup asking for money, and food. It’s compassion when people give the homelss people money. This would changed her essay by giving a more common example which people can relate to more. Another example is when you see a homeless man going through some trash and you go up to them and give them some food. These would of changed her story because it would of been a more caring examples and showed way more compassion

    Reply
  12. Jasmine Johnson

    Jasmine Johnson
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English 11
    9 September 2012

    1) Ascher offered two detailed examples of encounters with the homeless. First she describes this man traveling the streets of Manhattan. Everyone is hurrying past him, trying to avoid looking at him but a baby catches his eye and he stares. The mother then gives him a dollar. Probably out of fear rather than compassion. Next, Ascher discusses a homeless man whom, on two separate occasions, received free food from a pricey French shop on Ninety-First. Ascher isn’t sure if that was out of fear of him scaring off the clientele or compassion for a man who’s hungry.

    2) In Barbara Lazear Ascher’s essay “On Compassion” she describes encounters where people did something kind for the homeless. However the question that was asked was, were those kind acts done out of pure kindness and compassion or out of fear? Ascher’s responses to the question always leaned towards fear instead of compassion. Had Ascher had chosen different encounters; this essay could have gone two different ways. One way it could have gone is a negative. She could’ve given examples of people ignoring the homeless as they lay dying on the streets of New York. That shows that there wasn’t a lick of compassion in the hearts of those people. On the other hand, she could have described cases where random people just showed up and gave a homeless person a week worth of canned food and socks. There was no reason for that person to be afraid meaning that the act was done out of sympathy, empathy, compassion, and kindness. Either change of examples would have changed the complete thesis of the essay.

    Reply
  13. Johan Ocegueda

    Johan Ocegueda
    Ms. Keeble
    Ap Eng. & Composition
    Sunday September 9 2012

    1. Barbara Lazear Ascher uses two different encounters with homeless people as examples in “On Compassion.” The first encounter would be when the mom is waiting to cross the street and see’s the homeless person. She ends up giving him money but we are not sure if it was out of fear or just because she wanted to. The second encounter is outside of a french cafe of a “moody owner”. But this time the owner actually gives bread to the homeless. kind of makes you think if he just wants the homeless to leave or he just felt bad.

    2. I feel like the examples of the book were all favoring the homeless. One example that could have had changed the whole meaning of the story would be the type of person the homeless is. What if he just got the money supposedly for “food” and just ends up going to buy beer or a little bit of drugs. then he would not deserve anything because he is just going back to what got him to be homeless in the first place. Or what if the homeless was one of those crazy people that start screaming things at people or try to fight them? I have seen this a couple of times already and they leave us just scared. We have no compassion for them, we don’t give them money because we start to get fear towards them. But I sincerely feel like this story just favored the homeless a little too much. Don’t get me wrong, there are good people out there that need help, but we should not forget those who do not deserve the help.

    Reply
  14. Angel Munoz

    Angel Munoz
    Ms.Keeble
    Ap English, Period 1

    1. In “On Compassion”, Ascher offers the homeless two encounters. The first being the homeless man staring into the baby’s stroller and the mother getting worried so hands out a dollar. The second is the homeless standing out the bakery and the moody french woman giving coffee and what seems to be bread because she feels like he might scare away costomers.

    2. Some examples that Ascher could’ve used to change the story is like if the woman yelled for help because a dirty homeles man was approching the baby. It shows that the woman wanted no part of the homeles. Another example could be if the homeless was standing out the bakery and the moody woman just yelled to get away because he isnt presentable to the world. It would change because it shows what are the real consequences of being homeless and taking the wrong path.

    Reply
  15. david j.

    1. IN the chapter on “compassion” by barbara lazear ascer shows two situations with homeless man. The first example was when a homeless man started walking down the street towards a gruop of people and, The lady with the baby griped her stroller tighter and the others tryed to look the other way. example number two was when every one was eating peacfully in a coffe shop and a homeless man walks in quite goes to the wokers quietly gets food and walks out.

    2. If Ascher would have used differnt encounters with the homeless it would have changed her story alot. For example when the homless man walked up to the lady with the stroller the other people could have attaced him. This would have made me feel like people have no respect for the homeless so why should i respect the homeless turning the encounter bad. Anouther example is if the homeless man would of walked into the store and tryed to rob it. This would have made everyone jump to the conclussion that the homeless are thugs fourcing no homeless person to be trusted.

    Reply
  16. David Martinez

    David Martinez
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English 11
    9 September 2012

    1) When Barbara Lazaer Ascher wrote “On Compassion” she gave two specific examples of homeless encounters. The first encounter was on the street as a homeless man stared at a baby in a stroller. During this awkward stare down between a baby and a homeless man, the mother pulled out a dollar to ward off the man from getting closer to her child. The second encounter that was depicted involved a French bread shop. A homeless man came into the shop and the owner, a “moody French woman,” came out and handed the man gifts of food. What her intentions for giving the food away is unclear, much like the first encounter, in which this charity is out of pity, compassion or to make the man leave.
    2) Alternate examples that could have changed Ascher’s essay vary greatly. The homeless men she talks always portray a man who says nothing and because of some annoyance gets money or food. She could have talked about the homeless men begging for money on the streets or men with missing limbs who are asking for money. Even the homeless men cleaning the windshields of passing cars for money. Perhaps Ascher’s views on these homeless men would be different. Her questions would not stem on whether the gifts were out of compassion or fear. And question the people who did not give any money or even gave notice to the man asking for money. She could have been investigating the compassion of those people instead. To see if we as human really do have compassion or a sense of caring to look the man in the eyes instead of ignoring him. Perhaps her idea of Empathy could be exemplified greatly by these encounters rather than the one’s she used. Maybe the idea of humanity would be better off with an example of a man begging for money instead of a man staring at a baby.

    Reply
  17. Kiloni D.

    Kiloni Driskell
    September 8, 2012
    AP English, Ms.Keeble
    Period 2

    1) Ascher offered two examples of encounters with the homeless. One example Ascher used was when she was at a stop light on Madison Avenue and she seen a homeless guy approaching a mother and her baby. As the homeless guy stares at the baby and wait for the light to change, the mother rattles through her purse and she finally finds a dollar. The mother reaches her hand out over her baby’s head to pass the dollar to the homeless man. Through hesitation, the man finally takes the dollar without showing any graditude or appreciation. The second encounter Ascher used was when she was at a French bread shop on Ninety-first street. There was an old man who walked in and stayed in front of the entrance of the shop and the aroma of cigarettes and urine dispersed throughout the room. Then suddenly a moody french women walks over to the guy with a styrofoam cup and a paper bag containing food as if she didn’t want her business to be ruined. The old man accepts the offering and walks out peacefully.

    2) Ascher could have the mother see the homeless guy aproaching her and her baby. When she notice the homeless guy is coming closer to her, she distance herself and the baby from the man because she feels that he is a threat to her and her baby. Another way is she could have had the homeless guy begging for money and harrassing the mother. Another example she could have used in her essay was the old man going crazy causing choas in the French shop or the old man could be hovering over people’s food and the lady gets furious and calls the police. All these example showed that the mother did not care and the French lady did not care. And the homeless are a complete threat, showing no empathy. Ascher wants us to think about how we treat others and why we do it. Is it out of fear or compassion?

    Reply
  18. Adria Watson

    Adria Watson
    Ms.Keeble
    AP English
    September 8, 2012

    1.Ascher offers examples of encouters with the homeless in her essay “On Compassion”. The first example being a homeless man staring at a baby in a stroller and the mother giving him a dollar to keep him from getting any closer to her child. The second example is a homeless man walking into a french bakery and the “moody” french owner giving him food and coffee, which seemed as is she only did so to keep him away from her clientele.

    2.Alternative examples of encounters with the homeless Ascher could have used would be the people not being compassionate towards the homeless. Another example could have been the homeless coming off as rude and begging. These alternative examples could have changed Ascher’s essay by giving the reader a realistic view on the situation. Some people are compassionate towards the homeless but most people would have just ignored a homeless man or woman if they were to be approached. Also some homeless people would not just walk into shop quietly but instead beg.

    Reply
  19. Diana Larios

    Diana Larios
    September 8, 2012
    AP English
    Period: 1

    1. In the essay “On Compassion”, by Barbara Lazaer Ascher, examples are given of her encounters with the homeless. First encounter was when a frantic mother urgently gives a man a dollar to prevent him from getting too close to her child in the stroller, which he was looking at in a way that would naturally make a mother become cautious and try to get her child away from the stranger who can possible cause danger. The second encounter was a personal experience that Ascher witnessed herself, when a woman who owned a bakery would hurriedly gather up a cup of coffee and a bag of unknown items that would she would give to a homeless man that would come into the bakery on a regular basis without charge.

    2. The main idea of “On Compassion”, by Barbara Lazear Ascher was to show how pathos leads to the general public to sense empathy for others, in this case, the homeless. Beside the fact that there are numerous other examples or choices she could have selected to give a different interpretation of her essay she could for example, instead of showing how compassion and empathy is built and created by everyday scenarios she could also have’d focused on the lack of empathy and compassion. She could have given examples of how the homeless is ignored by a larger percentage of the general public. In that form and use the essay would have to points of view of how society works in everyday life.

    Reply
  20. Maria Martinez

    Maria Martinez
    Ms.Keeble
    AP English 11
    9 September 2012

    1. In Barbara Lazear Ascher’s essay on “Compassion,” she gives two different types of encounter towards the homeless. The first encounter that she mentioned in her essay was when a homeless was approaching a women and her baby and the women gave a dollar to the homeless. The second encounter was when a homeless was standing outside the bakery and the owner of the bakery gave him some food. These two types of encounter were really different from each other.
    2. Some alternative examples that Ascher might have used and could have changed the essay could have been if the lady would not have given the homeless some money. This would have changed everything because now you would not know if the lady was acting frightened towards him or if she just was going to be compassionate. There would have been no need of bringing up compassion, when she would not be showing any at all. Another example would have been if the owner of the bakery shop would not give the homeless food because then she would not show any form of compassion towards the homeless or maybe she just wanted to get rid of the homeless. If these events would of occurred this way, compassion would not been brought up in this essay because no one would be showing signs of it.

    Reply
  21. Hannah R.

    Hannah Reddy
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English 11, Period 2
    9 September 2012
    Response to Ascher’s “On Compassion”
    1. Ascher provides her readers from “On Compassion” with two examples dealing with a homeless man. The first example takes place on the street in Manhattan, specifically on the corner of Madison Ave. He stops in front of a mother with a stroller, as he arrives she grips the stroller tighter. However, she still hands the homeless guy money. The second example takes place in Manhattan, at a French bread shop. The author explains how she is sitting down at the shop, when a homeless guy walks in. The room is immediately filled with the odor of the man, suddenly the owner of the shop hurries out from the kitchen to give the man a paper bag with some type of food in it, and a hot cup of coffee. The homeless man acceptingly took the gifts and left.

    2. Ascher gives one more example of somehow being involved with the homeless, and that is when she explains how as winter comes nearer, the mayor of New York is moving the homeless to Bellevue Hospital. As she continues to write, she gives her opinion on the mayor’s notion as humane. From here it is where she begins her process of stating her opinion. In the end, if she didn’t talk about that last example, all of her thoughts probably wouldn’t have come together like it is here.

    Reply
  22. Johanna G.

    Johanna G.
    September 7, 2012
    AP English 11, Period 5

    1.) Ascher, the author of the essay, “On Compassion”, offers two examples of encounters with the homeless. The first example the author describes is of a woman waiting for the light to change so she and her baby could cross the street. As she waits, a homeless man approaches her and she grips the handles of her child’s stroller tighter. The man gazes at her child and she responses quickly by rummaging through her purse to get out a dollar bill. She hands the homeless man the dollar but he slowly struggles to take it. However, her patience is coming to an end and she walks away, but the man is quick enough to grab the dollar. The second example given is of another homeless man entering a French bakery. His bad odor lingers in the shop as he stands there, almost as if waiting for someone to notice him. The owner of the bakery, a French woman, walks out of the kitchen carrying a Styrofoam cup of coffee and a bag(most likely with contents from the shop). She hands the items to him and he quietly leaves the bakery without any disturbance.

    2.) An alternative example of encounters with the homeless that Ascher might have used in her essay could have been if the woman with her child in the stroller didn’t give the homeless man a dollar, but instead ignored him. By ignoring the homeless man, it shows that the woman didn’t care about the man and that she didn’t feel empathy towards him. Another alternative example the author could have used was if the owner of the French bakery acted in a violent or inappropriate behavior towards the homeless man. Instead of offering the man food and coffee from her shop, she could have forced him to leave. These alternative examples might have changed her essay drastically because the characters acted in a negative way and they did not display any empathy towards the homeless.

    Reply
  23. Joelynn D.

    Joelynn Deng

    Ms. Keeble

    AP English Lang & Composition

    08 September 2012

    Response to Ascher’s “On Compassion” Essay

    1) One example of an encounter with the homeless is on Madison Avenue where a homeless man stands with five other men and women to cross the street. One of the women who was waiting had a baby with her as well and before leaving, she pulled a dollar out of her wallet and gave it to him. Another encounter was inside a small bread shop. Twice, she encountered the homeless man when he walked in to the small shop and silently, the store owner handed him a steaming cup of coffee and a bag of some food.

    2) One possible alternative of the encounter with the homeless would be if the woman did not give the man a dollar, but instead, shooed him away. Another would have been if the shop owner did not give the homeless man food, but kicked him out of the shop. Either of these alternatives would have changed the essay from being about compassion to fear of the homeless or to the uncompassionate nature of people.

    Reply
  24. Joelynn D.

    Joelynn D.

    Ms. Keeble

    AP English Lang & Composition

    08 September 2012

    Response to Ascher’s “On Compassion” essay

    1) One example of an encounter with the homeless is on Madison Avenue where a homeless man stands with five other men and women to cross the street. One of the women who was waiting had a baby with her as well and before leaving, she pulled a dollar out of her wallet and gave it to him. Another encounter was inside a small bread shop. Twice, she encountered the homeless man when he walked in to the small shop and silently, the store owner handed him a steaming cup of coffee and a bag of some food.

    2) One possible alternative of the encounter with the homeless would be if the woman did not give the man a dollar, but instead, shooed him away. Another would have been if the shop owner did not give the homeless man food, but kicked him out of the shop. Either of these alternatives would have changed the essay from being about compassion to fear of the homeless or to the uncompassionate nature of people.

    Reply
  25. Amacalli Duran

    Amacalli Duran
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English & Composition
    8 September 2012

    1. In “On Compassion”, Ascher offers two examples of typical encounters with the homeless. Her first encounter, includes a homeless man, who was searching for shelter in Grand Central or Pennsylvania Station. In his attempt to find shelter, the homeless man came across a baby in a stroller. For reasons unknown to the reader, the homeless man stared at the child for a lengthy period of time. The mother of the child, either feeling threatened, pity, or compassionate, offered the man a dollar. The man simply took the dollar and left.
    Ascher’s second encounter, takes place in a local New York bakery. Ascher describes how she witnessed a “strange” man walk in to the bakery, stand by the entrance, and moments later the “moody French woman” emerged from the back carrying a hot Styrofoam cup filled with coffee and a plastic bag. The exchange was done rapidly, with no form of conversation. In other words, the man came as quickly as he left.
    2. Through her descriptions of encounters with the homeless, Ascher questions the motives of the bystanders who give the homeless money or food. Ascher questions if their actions were out of compassion, fear, or pity. Or possibly a mixture of each. Ascher’s essay revolves around the how the homeless present themselves to the bystanders and how the bystanders react. In her encounters, feelings of empathy were extracted, however, if the author presented different scenarios, her essay would change entirely. For example, a homeless man, by the name of Blithe, sits on the pavement near Pier 39 in San Francisco. Instead, of pestering and badgering others for money using emotional and persuasive stories, he sits on the ground with a sign that states, “I slept with Hilary Clinton last night, now look where I’m at.” Due to the humor of Blithe, bystanders continued to give him money. Since Blithe offered the bystanders a “good laugh” they gave him what he wanted. On the other hand, take Maria, a homeless woman who hides in the alley. As pedestrians walk by, she begins to harass them for money. The pedestrians feeling threatened and scared comply to her demands. The scenarios I presented, would change Ascher’s essay because they present different motives to why bystanders comply to the wants of the homeless. Overall, Ascher’s essay would change by the motivation and reaction of the bystanders.

    Reply
  26. Jhoann B.

    Jhoann Batac
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English 11 Period 2
    8 September 2012

    1. Ascher provides two examples of encounters with the homeless. The first example exhibits a mother’s encounter with a homeless man crossing Manhattan’s Seventy-ninth Street. The second example describes a shop owner’s reaction towards the presence of a homeless man in her small French bread shop.

    2. There are several alternative examples of encounters with the homeless that Ascher could’ve used. Ascher could’ve offered examples in which the mother didn’t offer the homeless man a dollar or where the shop owner chased the homeless visitor out of her little business establishment. These alternative examples would convey the self-centered side of society. Ascher could also have provided examples of encounters with the homeless where she includes the reactions of the homeless towards acts of kindness/ generosity. Reading Ascher’s “On Compassion” stimulated feelings of sympathy towards the homeless community because of their unfortunate circumstances, however, if Ascher wrote about how homeless people spend their money on unnecessary things like liquor or drugs, her essay would reveal the negative aspects of human society.

    Reply
  27. Heather H.

    Heather H.
    September 8, 2012
    AP English 11, period 2

    1) In her essay “On Compassion”, Barbara Lazear Ascher offers a couple of examples on encounters she has seen people have with the homeless. The first encounter was when a mother offered a homeless man a dollar; the second when she has twice seen a shop owner give a homeless man coffee and a bag presumably containing food.

    2) Ascher using examples such as a homeless person harassing an innocent pedestrian, or a small child mocking the homeless would have completely changed the premise of her essay. These examples would have given off vibes of cruelty and of an uncaring society. In the examples she did list in her essays, the interactions were positive and highlighted the good nature of people. The mother’s and the shop owner’s motives cannot be pinpointed, as Ascher asserts, but one would like to think that it was out of generosity and caring that they acted. Giving examples of negative interactions of the general public with the homeless would have had a much more critical tone, and a very negative one at that.

    Reply
  28. Angelica N. Garcia

    Angelica N. Garcia
    Ms. Keeble
    AP Language and Composition, 1st
    9 September 2012

    1) Ascher offers examples of encounters with homeless people such as when a homeless man crosses Manhattan’s Seventy-ninth Street, and stops before a blonde baby and it’s mother. The mother being a bit terrified, right away rummages through her purse to find money to donate to the man, so he can go away. A second encounter is on Ninety-fifth Street at a small French bread shop where, twice, there has been an old man who is given some hot coffee and a bag of an unknown substance, that gets him to depart immediately. Another example used, that is not a direct encounter, is when Ascher mentions how the New York city mayor moves all the homeless off the streets into a hospital, she winter approaches.
    2) Some alternative examples that could have been used is a homeless person agressively approaching someone for money or a food donation. Ascher could have also used an example of a homeless person who approaches in a kind manner, such as with a smile, or a joke that makes someone laugh. This might have changed Ascher’s essay to either making the characters be in fear, or on the other hand, being comfortable in an encounter with a homeless person.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *