last paper for english108

8/13/2019 Last Paper for English108

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How does space as an entity, influence our nurture development in todays

society? Are we more prone to becoming less sociable and have problems

developing with adaptation by living in certain environments or will the

probabilities vary by a different phenomenon? These questions intrigue many

people, especially those studying psychosocial behavior, and many questions

remain unanswered. There are many different ways to view this situation and it is

crucial to overview what we have learned from all the passages read in class.


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In Westbury Court, we can see how space affected Danticat being

adapted to living in the city. Danticat was from a Haitian heritage brought up in

the city life. Her family migrated to a relatively bad neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY

where the city life was in full blast. The neighborhood consisted of many people

living bunched up into smaller spaces. Brooklyn is one the many boroughs of New

York City that is known more for its many project complexes and tenements.

Danticat was accustomed to living in this environment and all its perks such as the

noise, sharing a building complex with hundreds of people, and all its other

craziness. This lifestyle has made her less aware of her surroundings because she

was always accustomed to hearing a lot of background noise and it ultimately

prevented her from being able to hear the screaming children across the hall

while their apartment was burning down. After going through this traumatic

experience, she was damaged through her painful memories of watching her

mother crying, watching the childrens corpses get taken away and her feeling

responsible for what happened. This incident made her the person she is today

and shell always carry that in her heart, so shes a product of her environment.

In They All Just Went Away, we see a different scenario and a different

culture. Oates was one of a few children in the house that belonged to a country

environment and a fairly good neighborhood. Oates and her family were a


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domestically easy going family with their few problems. The neighborhood was

quiet and the houses werent formatted like the ones in the city they were more

far apart from one another. Oates couldnt explain her attraction to abandoned

houses and going for lonely walks in the woods and things to that nature. Perhaps

it is a bit complex to understand why she was so intrigued by these strange

behaviors but it is essential to understand where she is coming from and what she

has witnessed in her past. Her neighborhood was very quiet so when her

dysfunctional neighbors moved in next door, Oatess family noticed that they

were bad news. Oatess family constantly hear d chaos next door mainly from the

father and the head of the family and the head of all the terror in that house. One

day, the man of the house of the dysfunctional family lit the house on fire and

miraculously the family survived. Mr. Weidel, the man of the house, was later

reprehended and arrested for arson and the family disappeared and was never

seen again in that neighborhood. The house being partially burned down was still

standing abandoned and right next door from poor Oates. She couldnt help but

to intrude into the burned house after the incident. She felt so strange being in

the same house that nearly housed the dead corpses of her next door neighbors

which in essence intrigued her more in exploring more about the family. She

would check out the house and feel a strange essence and feel a sense of


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fulfillment. Perhaps this can be a description of how someone such as Oates,

being raised in a segregated environment, can be driven into different behaviors

by living in a country lifestyle and going through different experiences. In a way

this correlates with the other stories in the sense that they were traumatized by

experiences in their life that structured the person they are today. This incident

made her the person she is today and shell always car ry that in her heart, so

shes a product of her environment.

In Silent Dancing , we had the Cofer family that lived in Paterson, which is

a city like environment. The particular area that they lived in was relatively

Hispanics for the most part and the mother was content with the way of life that

they were exposed to. All the conveniences that she couldve wished for were at

her disposal and she appreciated the culture being a Puerto Rican woman she was

accustomed a certain way of living. In contrast, the father was a Navy Seal and

was often criticized and ridiculed because of his race, hence, the reason he didnt

feel comfortable with his new house. The mother cant help the sensation of

feeling right at home with her environment reflecting on her heritage day by day.

Her past made her the person she is today and shell always carry that in her

heart, so shes a product of her environment.


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Ultimately, all these stories show some form of pattern because of the

culture, environment and nurture factors that play a major role into the

development of each main character. Human beings are a product of their

environment and reflect in the way they act, dress, speak, and how they are by

the environment they originate from. It is important to understand how essential

nurture is to the development of a persons characteristics. Though nature is the

main development of a human being, it is nurture that forms the structure of a

person and enables that person to have their unique characteristics. Ive come a

long way from living in all sorts of different places, but at the end of the day my

heart is in the city and Im comfortable with the person I am today. My past made

the person I am is today and Ill always carry that in my heart, so Im a product of

my environment.

last paper for english108

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