Education and Responsibilities

 Half the Sky (2009) by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Chapters 11-14


In Half the Sky (2009) by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, the authors assert that a vital tool in terminating the disparities that women are currently facing is investing in the education of females, and granting them economic responsibilities. They begin by introducing the issue with facts. Men, in several societies currently manage finances, and because of that, very poor families spend approximately “ten times as much on a combination of alcohol, prostitutes, candy, sugary drinks, and lavish feasts as they do with educating their children.” They then support their claim with statistics on impoverished families and the amount of money such families in different countries spend yearly. They found that “4.1 percent of their money on alcohol and tobacco in Papua New Guinea; 5 percent in Udaipur, India; 6 percent in Indonesia; and 8 percent in Mexico.” The authors present a solution by suggest that “there would be a breakthrough in the prospects of poor countries” if families invested in the education of their children through inductive reasoning. The purpose is to reveal the mistakes poor families are making and propose a solution to the problem. Their audiences are members of the poor families they discuss to help them realize their mistakes, and virtually anyone who is willing to assist in the investment in the education of children of these poor families.

Vocabulary:

•Exudes- Discharge (moisture or a smell) slowly and steadily

•Panacea- A solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases

•Reallocate- Distribute (resources or duties) for a particular purpose in a different way

•Impoverished- Reduced to poverty; poverty-stricken

•Execrable- Extremely bad or unpleasant

•Commodity- A raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold, such as copper or coffee

•Feckless- Lacking in efficiency or vitality

•Defer-Put off (an action or event) to a later time; postpone

•Iniquities- Immoral or grossly unfair behavior

•Autonomy- The right or condition of self-government

•Coalitions- An alliance for combined action, especially a temporary alliance of political parties forming a government or of states

•Acquiesce- Accept something reluctantly but without protest

Tones(s):

Informative, Passionate

Rhetorical Strategies:

•Commonly held beliefs- “women are supposed to work from home and look after children at the same time.” (191)

•Facts-“Mortality data show that in famines and droughts, it is mostly girls who die, not boys.”(192) “the poorest families in the world typically spend approximately ten times as much on a combination of alcohol, prostitutes, candy, sugary drinks, and lavish feasts as they do with educating their children.” (192)

•Statistics- “They found that the impoverished families spent 4.1 percent of their money on alcohol and tobacco in Papua New Guinea; 5 percent in Udaipur, India; 6 percent in Indonesia; and 8 percent in Mexico.” (193)

•Telegraphic sentence-“Zainab was horrified.”(218)

•Inductive reasoning-“If poor families spent as only as much on educating their children as they do on beer and prostitutes, there would be a breakthrough in the prospects of poor countries.” (193)

•Rhetorical questions-“What can our good intentions achieve against thousands of years of traditions?” (206) “So was it cultural imperialism for westerners to criticize foot-binding and female infanticide?” (207)

•Imagery-“Zainab Salbi is thin with olive skin and close cropped black hair framing large luminous eyes.” (216)

•Allusion-“Jesus did not address slavery at all in the Gospels; Saint Paul and Aristotle accepted it; and Jewish and Islamic theologians believed in mercy toward slaves but did not question slavery itself.” (234)

Discussion Questions:

•What was the purpose of the author(s) allude to the gospel and others on page 234?

•How do the author(s) narrations at the end of each chapter of people who are contributing to the well-being of women around the world add to their message?

•Will this novel enlighten people on the inequalities women are experiencing today and inspire them to make a difference?

“If we believe firmly in certain vales, such as the equality of all human beings regardless of color or gender, then we should not be afraid to stand up for them; it would be feckless to defer to slavery, torture, foot-binding, honor killings, or genital cutting just because we believe in respecting other faiths or cultures.” (207)

Preventative Factors

Half the Sky by by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Chapters 6-10

In chapters six through ten of Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, the authors focus on the causes of the inhumane outcomes of many women in third-world countries, and preventative factors that can decrease those outcomes. They first introduce the frequency of these outcomes with statistics. They mention that there are“30,000 to 130,000 new cases of fistula,” a passage between an organ and the body surface which are often caused by gang rape “develop each year in Africa alone.”  The authors then discuss the “why” of the conditions of women in third world countries through analogies. They compare women to the idea of war and claim that they “become a weapon of war-meant to be disfigured or tortured to terrorize the rest of the population,” unlike men who are victims of war.  To conclude, they provide a solution to the problem using syllogism. Kristof and WuDunn propose that the solution to the issues is education because education is associated with “lower desired family size, greater use of contraception, and increased use of hospitals.” So with education more women would be less likely to become pregnant, and if they became pregnant, they would be “more likely to likely to deliver in the hospital.” The purpose is to propose factors that can decrease the detrimental events women are undergoing. Their audience is adults and young adults who are willing to make a change for women in developing countries because they mention several ways of improving their circumstances and give several examples of people who have already made a change in those countries, with a sincere and informative tone.

Vocabulary:

•Dissipated- Overindulging in sensual pleasures

•Sanctimonious- Making a show of being morally superior to other people

•Obscenity- An extremely offensive word or expression

•Ostensibly- Apparently or purportedly, but perhaps not actually

•Sadistic- Deriving pleasure or sexual gratification from inflicting pain on another

•Constituency- A body of voters in a specified area who elect a representative to a legislative body

•Galvanizing- Shock or excite (someone), typically into taking action

•Catatonic- Either rigidity or extreme laxness of limbs

•Excoriated- Censure or criticize severely

Tone(s):

 Passionate, Sincere, Informative

Rhetorical Strategies:

•Statistics- “there are 5,000 honor killings a year, almost all in the Muslim world…” (82) “90 percent of girls and women over the age of three were sexually abused in part of Liberia during Civil war there.” (83) “30,000 to 130,000 new cases of fistula develop each year in Africa alone.” (97)

•Facts- “Social psychologists argue that that all this reflects the way our conscious and ethical systems are based on individual stories and are distant from the part of our brains concerned with logic and rationality.” (100)

•Expert opinion- “All militias here rape women, to show their strength and to show your weakness,” said Julienne Chakupewa, a rape counselor in Ghana.” (84)

•Anecdotes- “a tall, genial man who served us dinner in his comfortable mountain lair.” (85) “After interviewing several women who told of having been raped when leaving their camps to get firewood, we asked the obvious question…” (86)

•Rhetorical questions- “If women are raped when they get firewood, then why don’t they stay in the camp?” (86)

•Analogy- “But whereas men are the normal victims of war, women have become a weapon of war-meant to be disfigured or tortured to terrorize the rest of the population.” (87)

•Imagery- “ The family members had no electricity, no running water, no bicycle, no wristwatch, no clock, no radio- virtually no possessions of any kind- and they shared their home with a large pig.”(167)

•Telegraphic sentences- “So we introduced processing equipment.” (177) “We were delighted.”(177)

•Syllogism- “Education is associated with lower desired family size, greater use of contraception, and increased use of hospitals. So with more education, Prudence would have been less likely to have become pregnant, and if she had become pregnant, would have been more likely to deliver in the hospital.” (114)

Discussion Questions:

•What was the purpose of the author(s) criticism of George bush on page 98?

•What is the significance of the author(s) frequent use of statistics?

•Why do many people in society continue to ignore what is happening to women in these poor, developing countries?

“It has probably become more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in an armed conflict.”

“One of the great failings of the American education system, in our view is that young people can graduate from university without any understanding of poverty at home or abroad.”