Life can be difficult to handle when poverty, crime, and drugs are the norm. In the book The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, the story takes place in Baltimore, and in145th Street Short Stories by Walter Dean Myers, the stories take place in Harlem. In both of these books, we are shown that things can become quite chaotic. These two books show us how life is in these two places. In these books, we can see the issues that these two books share, and how the issues that are present in the book are still relevant in our world to this day. In Baltimore and Harlem, many people have to deal with issues like the one I stated earlier. In The Other Wes Moore, we looked into the lives of two Wes Moores who lived in the same city and just a couple blocks apart. In this book, we saw how the two boys were starting off similar getting involved in drugs and dealing with family issues, and how …show more content…
In 145th Street, the author Walter Dean Myers based his ten stories off of his experiences in Harlem. Issues like domestic violence, drugs, death, and poverty are present in both of these books. An example of one of those issues from each book is that in The Other Wes Moore, Tony, the other Wes’ brother beats up his brother because he began getting involved in selling drugs and was making money off of it. Tony was trying to prevent Wes from falling into this trap like he did. but he became so overwhelmed with anger after spending so much time and effort in trying to keep Wes from getting into the drug business and failing that he began beating him up. In 145th Street, the chapter Fighter is about a man named Billy Giles who sneaks out of his house to wrestle. He wrestles so he can make money for his family. Though his wife Johnnie Mae doesn’t like that he does this, he lets him do it because Johnnie Mae wouldn’t be
Where we’re from, who we know, and how our mental makeup is, is very important in our lives. It can be the deciding factor between life in prison and a life dedicated to giving back to others. In The Other Wes Moore, The lives of two young men are examined through three distinct lenses, how the role our environment, social capital (How we get ahead by helping each other) and how our mindset can dictate who we become later on in life. Both of these young men grew up in roughly the same environment, the ghettos of Baltimore, Maryland and the Bronx, New York, respectively.
When school teacher Erin Gruwell moves to Long Beach, California to teach at a school in a district that struggles with extreme racism, gang violence, and segregation, she is presented with extreme difficulties in circumstances where students are split in hatred by their race, have all been affected by gang violence, and fear for their lives every day. However, despite these dire circumstances, Gruwell helps the students understand each other and break down barriers of predisposed hate and discrimination in order to connect by writing their stories in diaries, participating in group activities and charitable events to bond with one another, and empathize with each other’s hardships. Likewise in the book, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, although
Chapter 2 is called Harlem. Walter moved to Harlem, New York when he was little. Walter loved the music that played along the streets. Walter loved talking to his mama.
“The other Wes Moore” book report The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore is a book that uncovers two different stories of two people with the same name. However, the book does not simply tell you two different stories, but it also gives implications to the application of different criminology theories to understand reasons why people do commit crimes and why they do not. The story of two men named Wes Moore can be viewed from different perspective. For instance, it is possible to view their story from a biological type of way, according to which individual choices are the result of inherited behavior of individuals. On the other hand, it is possible to view their story from an environmental type of view.
He speaks about his life in Harlem and the community of people around him such as family and friends. While reading this book I am able to see the change in Walter from chapter to chapter. The memoir displays Walter growth, physical and mental. The story explains how Walter came to be the kindhearted person and loved author he was. So far I have truly enjoyed reading about Walter’s life experiences.
Wes Moore The other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore is about two boys with the same last name who take two very different paths. Wes Moores grow up without a father figure, however, the author Wes Moore’s father Westley passed away due to acute epiglottitis whereas other Wes Moore’s father Bernard was an alcoholic and never around. (Both of the Wes Moores also lived in the Bronx, which had a heavy influence for drugs and crime.) In spite of several setbacks, the author Wes Moore was able to become successful, the other Wes Moore was a failure and spent the rest of his life behind bars.
During the time that the narrator began his work with the organization he successfully gave the people of Harlem the justice he believed they desired. During his time of success the narrator learns that his definition of justice is teaching the people how to unify together and work against their oppressors. Unfortunately the narrator’s stretch of justice was soon cut short. After upsetting some brotherhood members the narrator was shipped off to work in a different part of town.
How is it that two men that come from identical backgrounds end up being completely opposites? Wes Moore takes us back to his childhood growing up, and also introduces us to a character sharing the same name as him, and similarly, the same lifestyle. Both of the young men shared the absence of a father figure, living in poor neighborhoods, bad influences, and lack of education. While reading, we question “how?” and “why?”
As Johnny goes through this difficult stage in life he decides to run away not thinking about where he’s going to stay or how he’s going to get food. He decides to join a gang of orphans with his best friend Billy in order to survive. This novel is still widely read today because it provides an inhuman image of brutal conditions African Americans faced in Harlem of 1940’s. In the Rite of Passage, the main character Johnny is hit with some really bad news that his family that he’s been living with throughout his entire life is not really his own.
Which correlates with the short stories, further showing that kids pay the consequences of society, many of them raising them selves on the streets, either from losing parent(s) to violence or prison, or parents working three jobs to make ends meet. Both stories show how children are affected, and how their attitude or view on life can be changed. While some preserver their challenges others fall victims to circumstances. Both Stories have a Strong female character, which is appropriate since women are at times paid less than men and fall victims to glass ceiling; and women of color are given even less opportunities. In “House of Mango Street” we see the struggles of Immigrant families, while in “The lesson” we see the struggles of black kids in Ghetto neighborhoods.
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates is a New York Times Bestseller by none other than, Wes Moore. This novel features an intriguing tale of two boys who grew up under the same circumstances, under the same names, and with the same chances; and yet one manages to become a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader while the other grew up heisting and selling drugs until he received a life sentence for felony murder after shooting a police officer. The more successful Wes Moore, Wes Moore, began to visit the less successful Wes Moore, the other Wes Moore, during his prison sentence in order to write the book. Furthermore, the book turned out to be great.
The Wes Moore’s Success Can a person's successfulness really depend on on the way they were raised and environment they live in? Many argue that a person’s nature, other wise known as their physical surroundings, could affect how successful someone could become in their future. Others argue that it is a person's nurture that determine their successfulness. In “The Other Wes Moore,” Wes Moore, the author, and the other Wes Moore share the same name and similar lives, but only one manifested himself into a successful life. How did only one Wes Moore manage to make his life successful?
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin both describe the life of African American families in major cities following World War II. In both stories the two families are put at odds against one another because of the environment that surrounds them. In “Sonny’s Blues”, Sonny and his older brother, the narrator, are at odds because Sonny has fallen victim to the chaos of the Harlem streets. In A Raisin in the Sun, the Youngers’ are against one another because the family believes that they can escape the crowded space of their Southside apartment in their own ways. Through both stories the settings cause the characters to react in ways that fit their surroundings.
In James Baldwin's short story, Sonny’s Blues, the reader should understand and visualize the historical context in order to understand the world being presented. The reader has to comprehend the harsh life of a male African-American who struggles with his dreams and drug addiction sometime around early 1957. I will discuss Baldwin's writing style, the life/value of an african american's life during this time, and the relationship between Sonny and his brother. Baldwin’s short story illustrates the hardships a person faces while searching for themselves in a world full of people or obstacles that stand in their way. Some of these obstacles are self inflicted, present from the beginning of their existence or appear as though they are random.
Imagine having to leave childhood behind and grow up quicker than most people. This was the case for Cassie and the Logan children in Roll of Thunder; Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor, and Squeaky and her brother Raymond in Raymond’s Run, by Toni Cade Bambara. Cassie and her family are African-American and are living in the South, during the time of segregation. They are still not treated equally and have a much harder life than a white family living near them. The children have to understand how things are and how they have to act in order to cause less trouble.