The Beautiful Struggle is about the personal experience of Ta-Nehisi Coates and his brother Bill growing up in West Baltimore. The book takes place in 1980s Baltimore during the Crack Epidemic and explores issues of survival, morals and family. The book is a coming of age story that looks at multiple perspectives. Ta-Nehisi is a boy who isn’t cool, doesn’t understand the rules of the street, and generally doesn’t apply himself in school. His brother Bill on the other hand, is known for being cool, charismatic, and street smart.…
All Married couples hit rough patches in their relationships and it is about whether or not they power through those rough patches that determines the longevity of those relationships. If the relationship crumbles after just one fight or one argument then it’s questionably whether this relationship was real from the very start. In the story Under the Radar written by Richard Ford a married couple hit a rough patch. This rough patch not only destroys their relationship but leads to their inevitable deaths. In my interpretation of this story I came to the conclusion that both people in the relationship…
Brian Blake is the son of Ed and Rose Blake. Before the outbreak Brian was a good man who grew up in Waynesboro, Georgia with his loving family. Brian was described as sickly and frail. He is very intelligent and has an older brother named Philip who protected him and ensured his safety but also was very cruel. His brother’s name was Philip Blake.…
The men of war are not really men. They are boys expected to act like men, in the face of unknown danger. Called up from ROTC to serve in Vietnam, Jimmy Cross was unprepared maturely and did not believe in the war itself. Thus, as a lieutenant in the war, he endangers his men by being easily distracted.…
In this quote, Wes Moore, had decided to start work as a lookout to gain some extra money. Tony his half-brother is furiously asking his younger brother where he got the money to buy so many new pairs of sneakers. Wes informs Tony he’s become a popular neighborhood DJ, which is the same story he’s been telling Mary, their mother. Unlike Mary, Tony doesn’t believe Wes, and he asks Wes again and again. Wes keeps lying until Tony takes a swing at him, punching him in the face.…
Narrator: Dave Smith is on trial for the murder of Todd Nilla. An affair was in the making between Dave Smith and Flow Nilla, Todd Nillas’ Wife. Dave wanted Todd out of the way and eventually with much planning and stalking, while Todd was leaving the gym after a workout, Dave Smith murdered Todd Nilla with a shot to the heart. Weeks later. The trial against Dave Smith has begun.…
You should always make the choice that feels right to you. When you make decisions you should trust your instincts. Eli the main character from, The Compound, written by S.A. Bodeen, did this well. He knew his dad was trying to hide something from him. When he started finding clues in his dad´s office, he started to realize his dad has been keeping secrets from his own family for the last six years while they were in the compound.…
The Two Wes Moore’s and Their Different Choices President Mark Keenums statement about the other Wes Moore was completely true when he said “That’s what [The Other Wes Moore] is all about. Two people with virtually identical lives, the only difference between them being the choices they made. Their choices made all the difference” (Keenum). The Other Wes Moore is a novel about two people that grew up in the same neighborhood, however, had completely different outcomes. The Author, Moore had the better outcome in the story and the other Wes Moore did not turn out so well.…
The line, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his,” beautifully summarizes Wes Moore’s book: The Other Wes Moore. The book is an autobiography for two Wes Moores: the author and the convict. Both men grew up fatherless, grew up in Baltimore, and grew up in difficult circumstances, yet the author is a successful entrepreneur and veteran while the convict is in prison for life. There are many debatable explanations for why the men turned out differently: personalities, personal life choices, environment, etc.…
There is a sickness destroying lives on every surface of the world, which can be eradicated with out spending a single dollar or loosing a single life to any medical trial. That disease is the vitriolic way in which the world treats its citizens. The world has an innate way of tearing down others for the sake of succeeding but success is possible with out the destruction of the individual. The author Wes Moore had a healthy self-image reinforced through strong influential characters in his life and stable relationships. The other Wes Moore however was not as fortunate as the man whose namesake he shares; he was conditioned with a negative image strengthened by the social situations he engaged in.…
Throughout the novel of “The Damage Done” Warren Fellow’s experiences and hardships he finds himself faced with cause on-going anguish both mentally and physically. These aspects of his unjust life in prison and the events preceding convince Warren into believing that his punishment was not justified, or even remotely equal to his crimes that led to his arrest. There are multiple excerpts from book that can confirm and justify his beliefs of unjust incarceration. One of them includes a quote from page 137 that follows, “Suddenly, my punishment seemed way out of proportion and I couldn’t see the lesson that was to be learned. How much suffering was I to go through before the world agreed that I had paid my price?”…
Deepan Patel December 9, 2016 Period: 2 ERWC Mr. Taylor Into the Wild Essay Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer, is about a young man from a rich family who hitchhiked to Alaska and walked all the way into the wilderness. Chris McCandless shows many personality traits. Chris is very intelligent in school, he is very strong willed, he is rebellious in his own ways, he doesn't like it when someone gives him advice or tells him what to do, and he is self involved, he is also very idealistic. He gets all these personality traits from his dad. He wanted to leave society and just be himself.…
Ed Boone, Christopher's father was also a character that showed significant change throughout the book. Ed loved christopher very much but at times was possessive and controlling over christopher, often not including him in important decisions that Christopher deserved to be included in. Because Judy had left him for another man he was feeling broken and damaged so he wanted to get back at Judy for the pain that she had inflicted on him, so he told chrisopher his mother was dead. Ed justified the corrupt act by coming to the conclusion that he was in fact protecting Christopher: “i did it for your good, christopher. Honestly i did.…
A Changing World Could you imagine one of your siblings being banished from your family? In the fictional novel, Under the Bridge by Michael Harmon published in 2012, the main character and narrator Tate experiences this problem with his brother Indy. Tate’s family lives in Spokane, Washington Indy believes he never gets the respect his brother does from his parents. Indy is capable of being a well-rounded person as shown through his writing skills but denies to be that type of person. Because of this, Indy rebels and shows nothing but disrespect to his family.…
The Messenger Essay “In order for a text to be successful, characters must undergo meaningful change” In The Messenger, novelist Markus Zusak records the experiences of Ed Kennedy, the protagonist, as he undergoes changes that enable him to find himself, giving his a life a purpose. As the novel begins, Ed is a lazy and underachieving teenager who drives taxi-cabs for a living. Ed is laid back with little life aspirations.…