Compare and Contrast

Poverty and paranoia are two states that a human can be in. Poverty is a state of life and paranoia is a state of mind. If you think about it one can lead to the other. Being in a state of both poverty and paranoia can be very upsetting for an individual. These are two states that no one would want to be in. Poverty and paranoia compare in that poverty is when a person is poor, one can be born into it or become poor, and a person in poverty is mentally normal; whereas a person who has paranoia may have decent amount of money, can have paranoia because of anxiety or fear, and a paranoid person is delusional. Poverty and Paranoia contrast in that two different people who are in these states can both be mentally lonely, in dire need of help, and simply can be very afraid.

An obvious contrasting point between poverty and paranoia is that a person who is in a state of poverty lacks money and a person who is in a state of paranoia can possess enough amount of money. When one is in a state of poverty, one lacks money to buy food, materials, and have a decent home. They might be hungry and be walking around in smelly clothes. Poor people might not receive a decent education either. Lacking money can mean that a person might not be able to put through his/her children through school and so would not have an opportunity to get out of the state of poverty through their children. People with paranoia may have plenty of money. People with paranoia can have money for food, material, a house, and other basic human needs that people in poverty are unable to obtain easily. People paranoid can even have enough money to get help.

A poor person can either be born into poverty if the person’s parents were poor or become poor at one point in the person’s life because of a tragic event. A paranoid person could have become paranoid because of anxiety or fear.

A poor person can be mentally normal and not have any psychiatric problems. The person may be thinking straight and is able to make decisions unless the person is so poor that it is too weak. A paranoid person can be mentally abnormal. She/he can be delusional.  Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself. In modern colloquial use, the term "paranoia" is sometimes misused to describe a phobia. The general lack of blame in phobia disorders sharply differentiates the two.

A person who is living in a state of poverty and a person who is paranoid can have similar traits. For example, both persons can feel extremely lonely inside. A poor person can be lonely because he has no family and has no one to share his situation with. Poverty can actually also mean loneliness. Mother Teresa once said, “The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the

feeling of being unloved.” Some even say that one can feel lonely in a room full of people. Paranoid people can also feel a sense of loneliness when people don’t understand what they are going through. Loneliness can also cause paranoia. When a person is lonely they can easily develop fears.
            Both persons can be in desperate need of help. Poor people obviously need people’s assistance to get them out of poverty. They need people to get them food, help them to get a job, and help them to live a decent environment especially if they have a family. Paranoid people need assistance to simply escape from the state of paranoia. Being driven by fear can make one crazy. They need help to overcome fear to escape from their delusional state of mind.
            Both persons can simply be very afraid on either what to do. Poor and paranoid peoples can reach a state where they wouldn’t know what to do. This can be very scary.
            As you can see, Poverty and Paranoia has its comparisons and contrasts. Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Paranoia is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself. Poverty can lead to paranoia. When one is poor, he/she can develop certain fears while living in complete desolation and develop paranoia.

The New York Times and The New York Post

Staicy Matchanickal

There are many obvious differences and similarities between The New York Times and The New York Post. The New York Times is liberal and more serious, whereas The New York Post is conservative and is more of a tabloid. New York Times is more organized and is divided into more sections than the New York Post is. The New York Post is more colorful, meaning it has more pictures that are large in size. In The New York Times there are more words than pictures.  Some of the pages in the Times are lettered, whereas there are no lettered pages in the Post. The Times seems to be more bulky than the Post since each section for the Times is like its own newspaper in a way. The Post is considered to be more opinionated in general towards the end of the newspaper, especially since it has its own opinion section. The New York Times is not known for incorporating a lot of opinion based articles. The New York Post is known for its gossip section; page six, whereas the Times do not put much emphasis on the gossip that circulates around New York. The New York Post puts a lot of emphasis on the gossip in page six by writing articles about them in the beginning of the paper. Sometimes one of the gossip stories can be front page. The New York Times puts more emphasis on news and puts any gossip towards the end of their paper in short articles.

The similarities between the two newspapers are much more noticeable. For example, the two newspapers have similar news-based sections such as the sports, business, and international sections. Both also have non-news related sections like the horoscope, movie clock, food, weather, crosswords, comics, and su doku.

One similar story that both the October 12 New York Times and New Post has is about Joe Girardi and the focus on the Yankees pitching. The article in The New York Times is names, “Yankees’ Off-Season Again Focuses on Hunt for Front-Line Pitching”, wheras the article in the Post is named, “Joe Signals Great pitching not always needed.” Joe Girardi, the Yankees manager, talks about the Yankees failure to make it to the first round of the playoffs and what lies ahead for next year. The main point was that he Yankees would once again be in the market for a frontline pitcher. The article also discussed different players who would be eligible to come to the Yankees and who might be asked to leave or lave because they are free agents. The article in the New York Times was more factual compared to the article in the New York Post. Joel Sherman, the author of the article in the New York Post expressed mostly his opinion on which players should join the Yankees and which players should leave. One can tell the article was very opinionated when Sherman started the article off by saying, “Let’s begin in the most obvious place: It is far better to have great starting pitching than something less than that.” But then again the article seems much more interesting when the author incorporates some of his views and opinions on the topic being written about, like the New York Post does a lot.

The Advance for Covering an Event

On October 22^nd the Knanaya Catholic Community will be conducting their annual Onnam Celebration. The day will start off with mass followed by a general body meeting. After the meeting there will be food and numerous cultural programs that will represent what Onam is all about.

Onam is an ancient festival which still survives even today. It celebrates the homecoming of the legendary Emperor Mahabali of Kerala. Onam is unique since Mahabali has been revered by the people of Kerala since prehistory. According to the legend, Kerala witnessed its golden era during the reign of King Mahabali. Everybody in the state was happy and prosperous and the king was highly regarded by his subjects. The emperor visited his people annually to see how everyone was doing. It is this visit of Mahabali that is celebrated as Onam every year. People celebrate the festival in a grand way and impress upon their dear King that they are happy and wish him well.

In the state of Kerala the festival lasts for ten days and during these ten days Kerala’s cultural heritage comes out in its best form. The courtyards in front of the houses are filled with traditional “pookalam”, multi-colored floral decorations on the floor. Onam Pookkalam is considered as a symbol for secularism. There is a lot of traditional food, music, and dance. Also, during these few days, people wear the color white or wear “setti” clothes. The Vallamkali is the biggest event during Onam. It is a boat race where about 100 oarsmen row huge and graceful snake boats and men and women come from far and near to watch the snake boats skim through the water.

            On October 22^nd we will be seeing a combination of the variety of activities performed during Onam in the state of Kerala. A general body meeting will be conducted after a catholic mass in malayalam is said. The meeting will cover what the Knanaya Community accomplished during the last year and discuss what they hope to accomplish in the next few months. Dinner will be served afterwards. The women of the community will conduct a traditional onam “sadya” (banquet). This is usually a feast served on banana leaves and serves rice along with at least an array of 4 dishes. Traditional pickles and papadam are also served. Dessert is usually “payasam”, a sweet dish made of milk, sugar and other traditional Indian savories. The cultural program, which is the highlight of the day, will follow right after desert. The programs will be performed by the people of the community and will consist of many traditional dances such as Thiruvadhira kali and Thumbi Tullal. Onam songs, which are collectively called Onappaattu, will also be sung by a group of kids. Most of the onam songs are praising Emperor Mahabali.

            Everyone should come out for this grand event to experience the unique celebration of onam and witness the colorful culture of Kerala, India. One can learn about the Knanaya community through attending the general body meeting, taste great traditional Kerala food by attending the onam sadya, and witness the interesting and exciting onam activities during the cultural programs. I would be able to speak to the participants of the cultural program to inquire about what their experience was like preparing for these programs. I would also be able to speak to people of the community and the heads of the community to see what their experience is like attending the event and also ask them what it means to celebrate Onam in the U.S.