All-American Autobiography

“[A] recent author and public figure…[Colin Powell, wrote a] book, My American Journey, [that] helped me harmonize my understanding of America’s history and my aspiration to serve her in uniform…Powell gave me another way to think about the American dilemma and, more than that, another way to think about my own life” (Moore 131-2). Author Wes Moore wrote the book The Other Wes Moore, both an autobiography and a biography about a man who shares his name and has a similar backstory, to demonstrate how people’s destinies are primarily influenced by the environment into which they are born. Examining stories including and similar to those of both Wes Moores, as well as reflecting on one’s own personal experience, can provide insight into

I was born in Dallas, Texas but when I was 3 years old I was taken to my parents’ home country, Mexico. My mother took my younger sister and me to Mexico while my father stayed in the United States and worked to provide for us. I spend 6 years in Mexico and I went to school there. I had an amazing childhood in the place my parents were born and had the opportunity to grow up around my family and culture. I became a fond lover of the traditions and the peaceful life of what I consider my country. I have many amazing memories from living in Mexico. The way everything called for a celebration where everyone was invited. The dedication that every festival I attended showed. Simply all the traditions that even when I live miles away from Mexico have stuck with me, things I still celebrate with my family every year. I love to be able to call myself Mexican American and to be able to share my parents. My love for Mexican culture plays a role in my decision to want to go to Spain. I want to see where some of the customs I know originated from and see where my ancestors came from.

Mikayla has been bullied since she was young. She got punched by a second grader at her first day of kindergarten. Her school life became worse and worse, and she was called “Big Fat Loser” because she was fatter than other students. It was difficult for her to accept the abuses, and she attempted to hurt herself. Bullying is someone uses threats, coercion or force to maltreat or humiliate others. The harmful effect of bullying is it can destroy a person’s life, or even make a person die. In the book, “The Book of Unknown Americans” we see that how Garrett abused Mayor and Maribel and the different views and ways of dealing with the problem of bullying by their parents, and I think the way their parents used to solve the problem is not effective.

From “The Other America,” in Major Problems by Michael Harrington is a document that tells of the poverty present in America that is often skillfully and unintentionally concealed and also speaks of Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty and briefly of how poverty rose during the Reagan administration. After Johnson’s declaration of war on poverty, there was significant change regarding the climate of the social, economic, and political in the America of those times. And while Johnson’s countless social programs helped decrease poverty immensely, it also left a huge number drowning in it still. Later Reagan’s administration would cite George Gilder on the fact that welfare did not reduce poverty but increase it to explain why the levels of poverty rose during the first few months of Reagan’s administration. Democrats and liberals would argue against this and say that poverty

I was born on January 6, 1878 in Galesburg,Illinois. My wife was born on May, in Hancock,Michigan. I left school after the eighth grade to help my family and I left Galesburg for the first time to see Chicago. It was hot as a Jalapeno in June. When I was 19 I left home in June, I went to work on farms and railroads as a laborer. I was a walking freight train. I rode a freight train then I became a hobo. I sharpened my interest in labor laws and the plight of working people.

The United States was full of prosperity in the 1950s. The standard of living was higher that it had been in years, and many people were living in luxury. Although there were many who were enjoying the lives they lived, there were also many Americans who were trapped living well below the standard of living. Michael Harrington shed light on this situation when he published The Other America in 1962. In his expose’, Harrington exposed how 40 to 50 million American citizens were living in poverty, and that to most Americans these people were invisible. He expressed how the lifestyle of people living in poverty was so different from those who were not that it created a “culture” of poverty. Harrington believed

On November 2, 2015, in Chicago, Il, a 9 year old boy named Tyshawn Lee who was said to be a “fun-loving child that enjoyed video games and basketball” (Christina Coleman) was lured into an alley where he was murdered. Tyshawn had been shot multiple times in the upper back and head”. It looked as though it had been just another random spray of bullets, or another missed target, however after some investigation; Authorities released information that the death of Tyshawn Lee was no accident. On the contrary this senseless murder was an act of retaliation of rival gang members. According to police Tyshawn Lee’s father was gang affiliated which consequently lead to the death of the young boy.

When I first saw in the syllabus the type of paper we would be writing for this course I thought about what culture means to me. What was the culture of my family? Where did we come from? How did we end up in Virginia? How did we end up believing some of the things we believe? To me culture was basically how I was raised—my behaviors, beliefs, values, and ideas cultivated during my youth and its evolvement as I grew into an adult. This truly was to be a very interesting and involved quest for information. Though I attempted to use websites such as www.genealogy.com and www.ancestry.com, I found most of the information from a couple of the adults in my family. Adults? I, too, am an adult, but in my family, age comes

The enormous support of all wrestling fans is being heard and the sound level is so loud that it feels as though the building is shaking.Your name is being announced on college wrestling biggest stage. Sweat and tears of accomplishment are rolling down your face. All the suffering this sport brings the hard practices extra runs and lifts the cutting weight it all paid off. You are a NCAA all-American, every wrestlers dream.

We made it to America finally although the trip he was hard I am honored to finally be in an important country.

Jim Blatt, who recently moved back to Boston after living in Charlotte for 12 years, joined TIAA-CREF in 2012 from Bain Capital. Before Charlotte, the Senior Director of Enterprise Platform Delivery Team spent 15 years in Boston where he received his MBA from Boston College. As he proclaims it is “the best city in America,” there is no question as to his favorite sports teams. “Anything Boston,” Jim exclaimed. And aside from watching sports in his spare time, Jim enjoys listening to a number of different podcasts. His tastes have a broad range across news, sports, and pop culture. “This American Life is probably my ultimate favorite. It takes an in-depth look across very diverse topics and tells the story in a long narrative format. It’s

Style, language, structure, and technique all contribute to the understanding of any piece of literature. James Baldwin’s memoir, a type of autobiography recounts the emotional details of his father’s funeral. The overall theme shows how people may behave in a reckless manner in a lifetime, but a poison will take over and kill people. The theme also gives examples of how many people suffer while neighbors remain clueless and should not judge. Baldwin’s style and language, contribute to the understanding of the text because the adjectives capture the attention of the readers, and the long sentences reveal the tone and mood of the narrative.

“The Legend” by Garrett Hongo was written in 1951 and “Mexicans Begin Jogging” by Gary Soto was written in 1995. For a short background, in the 1950’s, America is at its peak. The economy is booming larger than ever before. This was the time where the American dream starts to grow for the American people, and also for immigrants that tries to make a better living in a great country. A few decades later, in the early 1990’s, America was starting to enter one of the greatest economic recession ever, but immigrants still rushing into the United States in the hope of achieving the great American dream, to go after the wealth that the United States promised to give for those who work hard for it. These two poems does complement each other. Both of these poems, and poets, tries to resemble the view of the American society of those who try to pursue the American dream, as an immigrant or the son of immigrants that lived in the United States, but no one cares about their identity and hard work to achieve the American dream. Both scenarios reveals the view of the dark side of the American dream, of how difficult it is to have the opportunity to achieve the American dream, as well as alienation.

How does a person begin to write a narrative of their own life, relating events and ideas back to their own culture? Well, first, I’d like to give some baseline information about myself. I am a white, middle-class, educated, mid-western, Christian female athlete. I come from a traditional family with a mother, father, one brother, and two sisters. Taking those characteristics into account, I would say that I am a privileged member of society, and being privileged has been part of my culture. In addition, the largest influences on my life and worldview were my family, school, church, and the area I grew up.

I was born and raised into a hardworking family that are the complete opposite of culture alienators. My siblings and I are all first generation in America on my mom's side and second generation on my dad's side. Life was very hard for my parents to raise all seven of us and depended on my grandparents for most of their help. Being that my grandparents brought all nine of their kids to America from Belize it was also very hard for them so survive and find stability. Most families that come to America from a third world country usually find it very difficult to keep up family traditions and sometimes lose all contact. My family found a way to stay very close and keep the Belizean culture very alive still to this day. As you can tell by now