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Jo Goodwin Parker

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Jo Goodwin Parker
Her life. Jo Goodwin Parker is living poverty. She defines this term based on her life experiences from childhood to adulthood. The evidence that Parker provides is overwhelming, look at any sentence, you will find her evidence. Nonetheless, her evidence is her daily struggle with life. From her underwear to living arrangements, and everything in between, is her life with poverty. Her race has no a factor in her definition of poverty, nowhere throughout the essay did Parker disclose her race. However, her gender has a role in her definition. She fights daily to survive with three kids, even after her husband walked out and provided no support. Parker could have as easily walked out. Placing her kids into the foster system to fend for herself. Instead she did not, she decided to be a mother when she had no ability to provide for her children. Her decisions in life are factors that she uses in her definition, factors that we as individuals can only speculate.
I had an idea of what poverty was, but after reading Parkers essay, my ideals are now shattered into a new realization of the true meaning of poverty. Jo Goodwin Parkers’ definition provides vivid images of what poverty truly means. Adding to her meaning would only degrade the images she so actively descried. Also, I cannot, with confidence, add onto her definition based on my own personal experiences. I do not think any example that I produce or research will compare to what Parker has written.

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