Question number 11 asks me if the book Heat has helped me in any way. This book has helped me in a way because it taught me a lesson. Heat showed me that even though a situation may seem impossible for you to overcome, but if you keep your head up anything is possible. Michael Arroyo, a 12-year-old pitching phenom from Cuba, is an illegal immigrant as well as an orphan living with his brother. If the Social Services heard of the situation, Michael and his brother, Carlos, will be separated and maybe even sent back to Cuba. Nobody knew that Michael was an orphan. His father died of a heart attack a few months before Michael started becoming a rising star. If authorities found out about the death of his father, Michael and his brother would be sent back to Cuba, where his hopes of becoming a professional baseball player would most likely vanish. Even though Michael was always under the radar of powerful authorities, it didn’t stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a player in the MLB. He continued to work hard and at the end of the story, Yankee’s star pitcher and Michael’s idol, El Grande, locates a copy of his birth certificate, which makes him eligible to compete in games. This story taught me that if Michael can keep his head up through his father’s death and always living under the fact that at any given day he could be sent back to Cuba, I should be able to keep my head held high through any situation as well.…
Taylor is the daughter of Adrian Stokes, an expert in Psychology of persuasion. In the story of Ads R Us, Taylor discovered that she had been lied to about the circumstances of her birth. She is not the natural child of Adrian Stokes and Kara Trent, but is the true daughter of Adrian Stokes. Since Taylor was six or seven, she was implanted with a series of scanning devices- all about her reactions to the world around her. Her parents had used the readings to rank persuasive techniques for her age group, based on how well each ad worked. ‘I’m just a lab rat,’ (Page 161, Taylor). Taylor is a skinny teenager who attends Fysher-Platt Academy. ‘My cousin Taylor was skinny too,’ (Page 10, Barrett). She isn’t happy about her body-wants longer legs-wants plastic surgery to the chin, wishing she could go to the auditions for the Ugly-D to Teen Queen.…
As I read the essay, “Trayvon Martin and I ain't shit” by Questlove, I could already see the inaccurate negative responses pile up in the original posting on facebook. Not for his writing or stance on the case but for his revelation that the world we live in today is still very racist. I felt the pain and inconvenience of a man who lived his life to extreme measures, to protect others while belittling himself. Questloves size, and race prohibited him from living his life to his full potential because he was afraid of the backlash he would have received. Though he tried his hardest, he could not avoid the inevitable scrutiny that people gave him due to his skin color. His particular story about the women in his building complex, really opened…
In Russell Banks novel, Trailerpark, there are many different stories that compare different kinds of people, and their personalities. In almost every story there is always a main character that has a problem. He uses his stories to show the reality of life, and all the bad things that come along with it. In Banks story, Comfort, he says, “ Its not so much that you will say things when drunk that you’d never say when sober, as much as you will try to say things you’d ordinarily know simply could not be said. It’s your judgment about the sayable that goes, not your inhibition”(124). Banks is using this story to show how people sometimes communicate when they’re drinking, and how people use drinking to talk about something that they normally wouldn’t talk about.…
Set in the Australian summer of 1967, Michael Gow’s Away is an elaborate play which explores the ideas of self- discovery and change. Through the war affected nation, three families, each from different social classes, depart on an iconic Australian holiday to the beach. In the play, Gow utilises the characters to demonstrate that going away physically is intrinsically linked to their mental developments. With the help of references to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer night’s Dream, Away uses Gwen and Coral to show the significant psychological changes made by the characters during holidays to the coast. Tom throughout the play acts as a catalyst for the change in other characters and is associated with Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.…
1. Walls opens with the story of burning herself because it shows how she has been dealing with struggles ever since she can remember. The incident when cooking hotdogs showed how Jannette was independent at such a young age and got things done even with no help form others. It reads on page 14 “He pushed open an emergency exit door and sprinted down the stairs and out to the street…’You don’t have to worry anymore baby, ‘dad said ‘you’re safe now’.” By Rex doing this, taking her away from the hospital, is showing that the Wall don’t need help and handouts form anyone will they will do everything to help themselves.…
The video succeeds in making an emotional connection with the viewer, utilizing family, childhood and devotion. The strongest example of this is when the man looks at a photograph of himself with his father, standing by the truck, years ago. The audience can recognizes moments from their own life that mirror what they are watching, and an emotional connection is established.…
In “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power To Alter Public Space,” Brent Staples discusses the development of standard stereotypes that can not just affect the actions of the victim, but the suspect. Throughout the essay, Staples describes himself in a sequence of events, and proceeds to tell the readers how people around him react. Brent Staples was a tall black man and always faced the same reaction when walking the streets during his late night strolls. People that were walking late as well especially white women would avoid Staples either by crossing the street to avoid him or immediately be quiet and walk faster. Staples, being a six-foot two black man, appeared to be dangerous which caused the white women to cross the street or walk faster. When he is telling this story, he states that “it was clear that she thought…
In William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” certain objects function symbolically. One object is blood. The blood symbolizes the unity of the family. Loyalty and family ties are symbolic in the blood as well. Fire is also an important symbol in "Barn Burning,” fire is in almost every section of the story but the fire that counts is the fire Abner builds the night the family camps out before arriving at the de Spain mansion. Another symbol is the wagon on moving day and spring.…
“If i stay” by Gayle Foreman is about a seventeen year old girl named Mia Hall who had everything, a perfect relationship, a loving family and best friend, and a future of becoming a professional cellist with a goal of attending Julliard. One snowy day, when school is out, her family decides to go on a roadtrip to visit friends and there is a tragic accident. That day Mia lost everything, her parents, her brother and almost her own life. From that moment on Mia’s spirit, trapped between life and death, lives amongst the ones she loves the most and she has to decide whether to stay or go. The movie and the book both show this but in different ways, the book has much more detail and more character description, where the movie felt more rushed and kept out a lot of detail that may have been needed.…
We as human beings are all influenced by one thing or another in our lifetime. It’s not necessarily always a bad thing, but when does it become serious enough to cause an epidemic to our society? One such instance is through music, songs, videos, and lyrics, specifically related to the song, “I Love the Way You lie”, by Eminem Ft. Rihanna. This song has become number one on almost all pop charts and has become popularly honored by people of our society, myself included. At first what seemed like a powerful song about tough love, was soon discovered as a parent’s worst nightmare. As I’m replaying the song over and over again trying to decide my opinion on the overall message, I’m beginning to see the reason why people are worrying about the “okaying” message of domestic violence being delivered to our nation’s youth and young adults through its provocative lyrics.…
‘’I have been building my career since I was a little boy, because singing had always been what I wanted to do. At first I thought about playing [professional] football, then I wanted to play basketball, but in the end it was all about the music. It’s my biggest passion and my biggest joy.’’…
Usher continues to focus on his music and produce records instead of getting himself into trouble. He is clean and is not seen every other day in the news committing something illegal or doing something that could jeopardize his success, his music career or allow his fans to look down upon him. He is also providing a chance for a young man (Beiber) to chase his dream and possibly follow in his successful footsteps. Usher is showing Justin the way. By mentoring Justin, Usher can offer advice on what worked for him and reasons as to why he is so successful today. Usher can also show Justin how to handle certain situations that could eventually get Beiber into trouble. Justin Beiber is continuing to produce number one singles that are continuing to wow preteen and teen girls today. Justin said in his biography that he is looking forward to influencing others in a positive way, that you can do anything if you put your mind to it (aceshowbiz). Justin beiber is at the start of his career, and with a big mistake his singing career could be put into jeopardy. My belief is that Usher is being a positive role model and showing him the right ways to handle situations. Usher has already begun and still continues to leave his legacy today. He continues to stay on the right track with his career by being smart with his decisions. For instance, his money and…
Money trees is the perfect place for shade and that's just how I feel, now, now…
With his mother, stepfather and younger brother, Usher, 12, relocates to Atlanta, Ga., where Jonetta hopes to get the aspiring singer more exposure. He enters TV's talent showcase Star Search, where he wins Best Teen Male Vocalist for his rendition of Boyz II Men's "End Of The Road." "I was a competitor for four months. I was doing good," Usher says. "No one could beat me." The following year, he meets producer L.A. Reid, who signs him to LaFace Records. "Usher represents the next generation of R&B soul," Reid tells Billboard…