After finishing the first semester of English 3, I accomplished reading The Crucible, parts of The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, American Sketches, The other Wes Moore, and Of Mice and Men. Obviously, The Crucible was not actually read and was an audio tape, Federick Douglass is still being continued, and American Sketches had only four chapters read from it, but besides from that, every other book was read front to back. The total books I finished was 2: The Other Wes Moore, and Of Mice and Men.

After finishing The other Wes Moore, I felt the strongest message it portrayed to me was, “It does not matter a person’s circumstances or the inequality they face, as long as they develop perseverance deep inside of them, they will find success.” What made The Other Wes Moore worth reading and scary at the same time, was its story aspect. As you followed both the Wes’s around their environments and got to examine where their paths kind of diverged, you could see how quickly two innocent kids framed as trouble makers could grow up in two totally different ways.

Although I was forced to read Of Mice and Men, it turned out to be a very interesting, entertaining book to read. What made it worth reading was the layered writing and character development. It’s like the author purposely put a group completely different personalities together in cage to see what would happen. By combining size, stupidity, anger, and subduction into one book, the author wanted something bad to happen. Of Mice and Men was the book I most enjoyed because it was looking to cause chaos unlike most books out today, however, I felt like I was more entertained then schooled by the book. The one thing I did learn however was, “don’t let Lenny pet anything!!”

The most challenging book I came into contact with this 9 weeks was The Crucible because of its complex syntax and its advanced rhetorical strategies. It also was confusing and disturbing to me listening to the convictions of innocent people. What I learned from the book was, “fear can cause humans to be ironically inhumane in with their reactions.”

Compared to other school years, I’m reading just as much, however, this year I’ve retained much more information about books, and have gone more in depth with analysis and understanding, adding more value to my reading. This 9 weeks has taught me and pushed me to find, and develop answers to the reasons behind rhetorical analysis strategies.

My goal for the next 9 weeks is to read atleast 700 pages; nearly double as many pages as I read last 9 weeks covering mainly historical nonfiction as it could help me learn and prepare more for apush. I also hope to try and read a book every 3 weeks.

 

Because this was the last week before spring break I kind of slacked off, and only read about 40 pages; just enough to finish the Other Wes Moore. My semester total pages read is now up to 230 pages (not including the 1000 pages of Apush and Ap Chem) and I still need to strive for 70 pages per week. Like last weeks blog where I discussed the American Education system, this week I want to focus on the United States Military and its Opportunities.

To us biased American citizens, the United States Military is the strongest in the world, capable of protecting its 300 million citizens and being an advocate for world peace. By saying Americans are biased, I don’t mean that the United States Military isn’t strong, it’s just through the eyes of an American, everything American is bigger, better, stronger, faster. But anyways, the American Military is very influential in world affairs, and has a huge influence on the millions of teens that flock to it from high school looking for jobs.

It just so happens that both my Uncle and Wes Moore left for the military after high school to find a better sense of purpose and to serve the country that projected their freedoms since the day they were born. A solider answering a question about the benefits of joining the Army responded with, “The Army will strengthen you for the future through challenging and relevant training, shared values and personal experiences. You will become more mature, you will become stronger, mentally, physically, and emotionally as well.” He summarizes the benefits, experiences, and growth connected with serving.

Like the soldier’s experiences with the Army, Wes Moore enjoys “The camaraderie intensity, and passion for the job, and the sense of duty to something larger than [himself]”(177). However, Wes Moore was not always a motivated, focused young man; He was a troubled teenager with no sense of direction. Wes’s troubled behavior and poor grades led him to be enrolled in Valley Forge Military Academy away from his friends and family. But with the help of the Military and his mother, Wes was able to make something out of nothing by staying at Valley Forge, becoming a platoon sergeant, and eventually entering the Army as a second lieutenant. What motivated Wes to join the Army at of high school was “the notion that life is transient, that it can come and go quickly, unexpectedly”(133). Valley Forge Military Academy added purpose and direction to Wes’s life, and he wanted to pay it back by serving.

Parallel to Wes and the solider, my Uncle enrolled in the Military out of high school because he felt service best fit him and he knew the Military would give him a job and a greater purpose. My Uncle was a teenager who liked to have fun and be active, and the classroom did not serve well as a suitable environment for him; He struggled in school and was lost on what path to take until the military gave him a chance. Learning how to service weapons, drive army tanks, along with the development of a genuine wanting to help people in anyway possible, my Uncle left the Military with the skills and motivation to get a job and work hard for his money, like he does still to this day.

The United States Military serves many purposes to its citizens: a protector, an employer, and a family.

 

 

Looking back on my short term and long term goals for this semester, I’ve realized that I need to step my reading pace up a little bit to meet my 70 page requirement per week. After finishing, I believe, our fifth week of the semester, I’ve only managed 60 pages per week at best with the 70 minutes of in class reading time. With only about 10 pages left in The other Wes Moore, I should knock it out and head on to the next book. Anyways, my focus for this week’s Blog is American Education, and the chances that the American Education system gives to every young man and women enrolled.

Although American students don’t score the highest global test scores(China), or have the highest literary  rates(Russia), or have the most advanced, innovative, and equal schools and programs for teaching in world(probably Finland), Americans have been known to have ingenuity and a drive to make a name for themselves through education. This inalienable right gives each and every student no matter the circumstances the chance to pave their own paths through test scores and hard work.

In recent years however, like the author Wes Moore,  children across America are not nearly as motivated to succeed in school, and take for granted education, mistake priorities for past-times, or do not have access to good education.“When it is time for you to leave this school, leave your job, or even leave this earth, you make sure you have worked hard to make sure it mattered you were even here” symbolizes the American Dream that is slowly being washed away in many 21st century students even with the chances the American school system gives to succeed. Comparing The other Wes Moore to today’s society, parallelism can be seen between Wes, the drug dealer slowly being sucked away from the benefits of education, and a student today entangled in video games,  and the internet, becoming distracted and dropping out.

Like the not so lucky Wes Moore, my brother had an experience of misdirection with his friends, the internet, and video games, and could not focus on education. He, like many other students in America today, nearly dropped out of school for 4 months claiming anxiety and stress led him to not feel suited to go back. It just so happened during his brake down that he spent more time online interacting then doing school work or paying attention in class. He is just one of the many students effected by technology. Luckily, today he has joined online schooling and is planning to return to Hebron to finish High School.

American Education may no be the best, and technology may be a massive distractor in the classroom, but if there is one thing we can all get from reading The other Wes Moore, is that through perseverance to stay focused and a good education, your future is in your hands and not someone else’s.

After making it through almost three fourths of the school year, teachers expect each student to find a comfortable routine of going to class, completing work, and reaching their goals on time, however, in my case its not that simple. Each day seems to get longer as more assignments pile up and motivation is drained. My semester goal was to read a book every three or so weeks and to average a page per minute, but with all the distractions, I have to grind each day  just to reach my smaller goals such as 80 pages per week along with the 30 plus pages of apush reading.

In my book, The other Wes Moore that I’m still not done with, I can sympathize with both Wes Moore’s struggles to stay away from the distractions of living in the hoods of Baltimore. I have no right to complain about school because I have it so good compared to them: A loving supportive family, friends, and motivated teachers determined to give each and every student the chance to succeed. The Wes’s fought the Drug game and poverty as children. I fight the laziness and repetitiveness of school. By comparing my childhood to theirs, I now realize that I should never complain about school because so many people around the world never get that chance to see, taste, feel, comprehend, or even think about the luxury’s that we at Hebron have. In the book, one Wes shoots a man while the other one is stuck at military school, both in worse situations than mine at this point.”The Notion that life is transient, that it can come and go quickly, unexpectedly, had been with me since  I had seen my own father die. In the Bronx, the ideas of life’s impermanence underlined everything for kids my age” symbolizes to me the one and only chance we get to live and that we should never complain about all the privileges we are granted.

 

This week was one of the busiest of the school year. With two tests, a lab, and an essay to write, there was very little time to spend reading at home, with most of it being spent studying. Last week I was only able to accomplish 40 pages while reading in class. This week I hope to accomplish at least 75 pages worth of reading “The other Wes Moore,” and to read around a page per minute.

What intriguid me after reading the beginning chapters of “The other Wes  Moore” was the fact that two very similar boys coming from the exact same background growing up took on completely different paths in life. How is that possible, for one man to end up with a life sentence and the other making millions as a successful author? To be successful, a man must reassess his character, and morality. However, to be able to escape poverty like one of the Wes Moore’s, and still be successful is nothing short of a miracle, “I realized just how similar were the challenges the young boys here and like the ones I grew up with faced. In both places, young men go through the daily struggle trying to navigate their way through the deadly streets, poverty, and the twin legacy of exclusion and low expectations.”(Moore, 170)

One main idea “The other Wes Moore” focuses on is the comparison between Choice verse Fate. Throughout the book, the reader watches as the boys define their fate through the little choices they make. Because their background is so similar and yet their outcomes so different proves that it was the decisions they made in their lives that was their determination.

 

 

After reading the book  “Mice of Men” over the summer, I found myself disliking the book for its surfaces level apperance. George and Lennie came off as the two main characters that complemented each other in the size and smarts, along with Crooks, Candy, Slim, and Carlson; some semi-interesting farm hands with very different personalities. Although the book did not intially teach me much about anything, reading it challenged me to find a deeper meaning in each characters actions and personalities. This level of anaylsis is a quality that I want to develope as it will help with quicker comprehension and creativity when writing essays. In this upcoming semester I hope to read books that challenge me to dig and reason to understand underlying ideas.

What made me more engaged in “Mice of Men” was the approach that Steinbeck took in developing the overall plot that eventually ended with Lennies death. Steinbeck created Lenny as a character based on innocence and vulnerability, and then placed him in a huge powerful body. Steinbeck describes Lennies childlike innocence when interacting with Crooks, “s’pose George went into town tonight and you never heard of him no more.” He pressed foward some kind of private victory. “Just s’pose that,” he repeated. “He won’t do it,” Lennie cried. “George wouldn’t do nothing like that. I been with George a long time. He’ll come back tonight” (73). Stienbeck uses Crooks to expose one of the many vulnerable aspects of Leenie by comparing him to a lost child. By combining size and the innocence of a child, Lennie was doomed from the beginning of the book. His innocence, care for animals, and his positive outlook on life kept me reading to see what could happen when he interacted with Curley and his wifes brute and seductive personalities. What disturbed me was I knew Lennie would die before it ever actually happened and Steinbeck wanted me to become more attached before his death.