http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/24/starting-over-dept-of-social-studies-malcolm-gladwell

Gladwell, Malcolm "Starting Over" The New Yorker , 2015

Malcolm Gladwell explores the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina of 2006 on the residents of the neighborhood in New Orleans, where many poor African Americans resided it in, and how the natural disaster may of had more beneficial effects than expected on the population. Gladwell has previously done work on subjects involving people and focus on individuals that impacted others. A common statistic finds many Africans do not move homes unless there is a cause of concern, such as wiring or change in rent, and not for reasons including better schooling or neighborhoods. As a result, usually they will stay in a poor neighborhood and impact their prospects for their children, at about 48 percent. Hurricane Katrina however, forced many these families to move elsewhere, such as Houston, were their prospects improved substantially. While the article takes a positive spin on the effects of Katrina, there is a large usage of pathos and lesser focus on the logos and the opposite argument that lives have not improved is not brought up or with any evidence backing it. Still, an argument of the crisis involving inter-generational mobility being a local problem is not without merits, that the neighborhood one grows up in can have more impact than other factors.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/12/12/the-ex-con-scholars-of-berkeley
MacFarquhar, Larissa "Building a Prison-to-School Pipeline" The New Yorker, 2016.

MacFarquhar discusses in the anecdotes of various ex-inmates now attending higher education following release a more optimistic side to the prospects of inmates, provided they are willing to work toward it. It also discusses the Underground Scholars, a group consisting of former incarcerated students currently in higher education, made to act as support. The stories of the former incarcerated share themes of struggles in their lives that lead them to prison sentences, and ultimately, through the draw of literature and education, chose to stay out of it and become something more substantial. As Danny Murillo and Steven Czifra, two of such inmates realized, it is indeed possible for someone with a criminal record to still be able to succeed in education, as long as they knew what they needed to do. The article also brings up a criticism of the system and the focus to challenge the system instead of accepting it. It appears MacFarquhar's attempt by writing this article is despite the negativity that stems involving current social problems, there is something some good within society as well, considering her background including writing concerning current US politics. Its publication within The New Yorker adds to the value as a different side to an issue that rarely is brought up in conventional reporting or medium.

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That's actually something I painted for my freshman English 1A class. It was for a presentation relating the topic I wrote about concerning technology and art.