1.+Summary

=Summary =



===The main subject of Barbara Lazear Ascher's "On Compassion" deals with acts of compassion as well as the motives behind them. Ascher witness various moments where someone is confronted with a possible threat and return the threat with a gesture of kindness. Ascher questions the true motives between various gestures of kindness, wondering if they are caused by either fear or compassion.=== ===Throughout the essay as Ascher talks about the poor and homeless and their plight, a situation that most of the middle class and above don't understand. As they lack the necessary experience in adversity to truly empathize and demonstrate compassion she argues that they may be acting through selfish desires or pity.===

Speaker and Audience
===The speaker is Barbara Lazear Ascher who acts as an outside observer witnessing the acts of 'compassion'. Ascher targets her esssay towards middle class society and above as she is curious about their point of view towards the poor and downtraught and wonders whether they have truly experienced adversity and can act compassionate.  ===

Tone
===In Barbara Lazear Ascher's "On Compassion" the tone is very observant and speculative. As she walks down the street and eats at the bakery she takes a mental note of the various events occuring around her. "The man's grin is less the result of circumstance than dreams or madness." She questions the mental stability of the ragged looking man that approaches the women and her baby. She wonders "Was it fear or compassion that motivated the gift" ===