Wes Moore

During a conversation between him and Author Wes Moore in prison, where he serves a life sentence, Other Wes Moore once again displays the fixed mindset that permeated throughout his youth and now into adulthood with this statement; he says: “We will do what is expected of us, if they expect us to graduate, we will graduate. If they expect us to get a job, we will get a job. If they expect us to go to jail, then that’s where we will go too. At some point you lose control” (Moore 126). Other Wes Moore became a sad product of his environment due to his negative disposition, a lack of positive support within his family dynamics.

Wes Moore is the author of a novel that talks about a man with the same name as him and how his life varies from his own. There are three special social factors that set good and bad Wes apart from each other. Also there was a positive impact on the bad Wes when he participated in Job Corps when he was at the campus but it did not last very long when he went back home. Which once Wes headed back down the negative path again it would ultimately lead to his life imprisonment. But it seemed like prison turned out to have a good impact on Wes’ life but it will impact his children’s lives forever.

Wes didn’t start off on the right path initially, due to the friends he surrounded himself with such as shea, a young drug runner, and the low standards he set for himself academically, which Author Wes mentions that he was “disappointed with D’s, pleasantly satisfied with C’s and celebratory about a B I allowed my standards at school to become pathetic” (Moore 54). He allowed a fixed mindset of mediocrity along with his environment to almost determine his life path. Without social capital, Author Wes Moore would’ve been doomed for failure but the intervention by his mother, a few of her friends and his grandparents, he was able to attend Valley Forge Military Academy where he was able to benefit from the effects of social capital from his superiors and peers in the form discipline, comradery and leadership. From there, he totally changed his perspective as he developed a growth mindset which was fairly evident when he realized that basketball wasn’t in his long term plans; Wes states “When you step on the court with players like Kobe Bryant or six foot eight point guards who can dunk from the free throw line, your mind begins to concentrate on other options” (Moore 130), that moment of clarity showed the benefits of social capital and a strong growth mindset. Another instance of social capital being beneficial in Author Wes Moore’s life is when he was granted a scholarship to attend John Hopkins University.

Elie was held captive in concentration camps from 1944-1945. During his time in the concentration camps, he became grateful for what he had, overcame countless obstacles, and more importantly kept fighting until he was free. [The Holocaust is very important to learn about because it can teach you some important life lessons.] You should always be grateful for what you have, no matter what the circumstances are. This lesson can be learned when Elie says, “After my father’s death, nothing could touch me any more”(109).

Despite those who stand firm in their unjust and biased beliefs in Maycomb, Atticus never doubts standing up for what is right, even if it means he could be mocked. Many times, Atticus proves himself worthy of being called a discerning person. When in court, Atticus questions Mayella in a way that one might call odd for a rape investigation while really, it reflects his true discernment. Like Scout concludes, “Surely but slowly I began to see the pattern of Atticus’s questions: from questions that Mr. Gilmer did not deem sufficiently irrelevant or

Clyde started his own problems because he didn’t have anybody to tell him what to do. While Marek and Clyde live their lives involved with similar families and robberies, the outcome of their lives ended different. Although Marek and Clyde seemed successful by themselves, their families live a similar life because they both grew up in a lower class family. Marek had to do a lot of illegal tasks the keep himself and family in good health.

When Maurice is put into Progress he feels that he let a lot of people down and failed them so a majority of the book is Reese attempting to build relationships again. Maurice is in a tough spot, growing up on the streets with bad peers supporting him, but he understands that if he finds himself then he’ll be successful in life after Progress. Forgiveness is the main theme is this book because Reese goes through many dark times throughout his time in the juvenile facility, but with the help of others he grows to a strong man and rebuilds lost friendships with family members, and friends. Walter Dean Myers wrote the novel Lockdown in an emotional, thrilling, intriguing way that always keeps you on your heels and always keeps you thinking.

He has “an overpowering desire to break free from himself and dive into the flow” and not be conscious about where he is from (p. 296). Cedric Jennings is the main subject through whose eyes we see the struggle to get a good education. His story begins in Ballou High School in the black ghetto of southeast Washington D.C. Cedric is the youngest child of Barbara Jennings and Cedric Gilliam, a drug dealer who has spent a good part of his life in jail. Barbara and Cedric live in poverty, moving from one place to another.

In this essay, Hip Hop Stole My Black Boy by Kiese Laymon, is a story about two boys whose dreams was to become a hip hop artist. Even though their parents did not like the idea. Laymon, says that "But as hip hop moved from the boroughs to Compton in late 80's and early 90's, daring west coast soldiers, west coast sensibilities and west of us rappers seemed more in line with our reality" (Laymon 226). I think he was referring to the two boys, because they did not like the idea of living their home town and go to another city at first, but when they move from one city to another they did enjoy it after all. The word "Cipher" was mentioned several times in this essay.

One of the major event that happened in his life was when his history teacher Mr. Ostrowski asked what he wanted to become in his future. He briefly with confidence said “well yes sire, I want to become a lawyer. ”(Pg 38) Mr.Ostrowski looked surprised and said nicely that he couldn’t become a lawyer because of his skin color. That is racial identification, telling him he can’t become something he wants to be, because of his race.

That is only a small portion of what he did and is still a lot to accompish for just a normal man. He made our country better and tried his very best to make the people happy. He was selfless and caring. The final reason why Thomas Jefferson was the strongest President to live was because he made a huge impact on our society. According to the article, He impacted the educational systems of the growing country.

He saw this every day. The people who would line up around the corner for drugs... He knew these people because he was the one who got them what they needed. It was his job. And it pained him to realize that the mother of his children was just like them.”

At this point, Wes knew that he was not going back to school but instead go back to selling drugs again. Due to the other Wes Moore’s setbacks he wasn’t able to continue his education and continued selling drugs. Even though they had the same name and upbringing, they made different choices. The authors Wes Moore’s mother Mary, provided the opportunity for him to be successful. Whereas, the other Wes Moore’s mother Joy didn’t provided an opportunity and Wes continued to sell drugs.

The other Wes was sentenced to lifetime, and the other Wes’ brother sentenced to death. Nevertheless, Wes was still thinking about this story, and he was surprised from the similarity the names, street, and age. He became to imagine the other Wes’ face like his face. Furthermore, Wes uses outside sources to explain his feeling about the other Wes. Also, Wes wrote a

He no longer boasted of himself in crime but took an interest in trying to better himself with knowledge. During his time in Charleston he was greatly influenced by a fellow inmate name Bimbi. Bimbi helped to ease his drug dependency by showing Malcolm that by taking nutmeg (smuggled into the prison), it helped with withdrawal symptoms and cravings. Bimbi was a self-educated man who taught Malcolm the importance of education and self-respect. In the years since Malcolm had left school since grade 8, he had forgotten how to read and write.