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Just The Way It Was By Anne W. Viewpoint Of Poverty Essay

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“Just the way it was”. That was Anne W. viewpoint of poverty when she was growing up and going to school. Anne and I met working for the same school district. She was born fifth of eleven children and started her schooling in the 1960s. Although Book’s writes about poverty in a more modern time a lot of what she writes was still true to Anne’s schooling. Her mother stayed at home and her father was a farm cropper, but never owned his own land. Book’s reminds us that poor people are working people. She reminds us to “Consider the role of the working poor in a market economy. Unable to support their own families, they provide a wealth of services to others.(Chamberlin 1999)” (PG. 29) The GI bill payed for her childhood home. She grew up in rural farm town of 1,600. When Book’s wrote about the demographics of poverty in chapter 5 I was surprised to learn that poverty is higher in rural areas.
Growing up Anne admitted to not knowing she was “poor”. She thought her family did the things they did because that is what all the families in her town were doing. Her family had a box that the community would put their hand-me downs in for Anne and her ten siblings. They got to take a bath once and week and shared water with all of her siblings. Wearing the same socks for multiple days was common as long as they turned their socks on inside-out. Anne and her sister’s made their dresses and each had three total - two dresses for school and one dress for church. Anne’s

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