Always Running, By Luis J. Rodriguez

Luis was growing up into the life of gang banging, gaining a reputation in San Gabriel by being scouted into bigger gangs in the area. Increasing his involvement in the gang by stealing form stores, to eventually being part of premeditated arson and murders. Luis was well on his way to a life in prison or worse, death. By growing up during a time of racial discrimination, options were limited to becoming a factory worker or gangster. Luis met

Luis had a very rough and unfair childhood. He and his family were constantly moving because they were economically unstable and because of how much involvement he had with gang violence. As Luis gets more involved in the gang life him and his friends began to establish a gang called, “The Impersonations.” On page 41 in the book he says, “The impersonations is how we wove something out of the threads of nothing.” At one point Luis and his gang family thought that was all they could rely on at the time.

Another big point in Prose’s essay is the assignments associated with high school literature. She argues that teachers make students write around the books and not about the books they read. “No wonder students are rarely asked to consider what was actually written by these hopeless racists and sociopaths. Instead, they’re told to write around the book, or, better yet, write their own books,” (430). The assignments that teachers give these days are nto about the book or the story itself. They usually ask the student to rewrite the ending, or ask what the student would do if they were in the same situation as the character. Prose argues that high school students are seen as having the same experience as some of the characters they read about, such as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. “And is it any wonder that

Runner by Carl Deuker is a book written to describe the life of a boy named Chance Taylor and his dad. Chance is close to starvation and homelessness. He worries about paying the bills, having enough food to eat, and keeping his home, a small boat named the Tiny Dancer. While out on his usual run around the marina and beach, a man asks him if he would like a job. The man says all he has to do is run. Chance will have to pick up a package along the beach each day. The package will be hidden in the recesses of a rock buried at the foot of a maple tree. He then has to leave it in a locker. The man says the job pays a lot of money. Even though he suspects that he is smuggling drugs, he always completes the job and now has extra money in his pocket to spend at the café

Have you ever been forced to pick between right and wrong? Sometimes we are forced to choose between two hard choices, despite the consequences. In the book “Runner” by Carl Deuker, a boy named Chance is faced with a rough life, where his father drinks and his mother is no longer present. He lives on a boat with his father, in Seattle. Soon he is faced to with a offer to run packages around for men he doesn’t know, but get paid in the process. His small family needs the money, but who knows what is in those packages? He takes the opportunity for the money and goes through many adventures throughout this book, such as meeting a girl named Melissa, who lives the opposite life of his, privileged and nice.

Yaresi Marroquin Mrs. Mann English IV AP 15.01 September 13, 15 Compare/Contrast Dillard and Rodriguez As humans, varying situations and values learned affect us uniquely. Clearly shown in the excerpts “Always Running” by Luis Rodriguez and “An American Childhood” by Ann Dillard, there are things we can compare and contrast in which the children in the stories grow up to remember vividly due to the situation they had found themselves in. Both children end up running from either an adult or an authority figure. The stories contrast in that one ends scaring a child for their entire life, and the other ending with an unforgettable memory where she is so content she could die and be happy.

I believe that works of fiction should have a place in the school curriculum because they are able to convey a deeper meaning, while entertaining the reader. The stories read by students often influence their perception of the world through the social issues printed in each work of fiction. In addition, some of the most well known works of literature are fictitious. For instance, classics such as “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen, and “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens also broaden the students’ vocabulary and ability to analyze different situations. One may feel that without fiction in the school curriculum, students’ creativity will be suppressed.

On The Run, Alice Goffman focuses on a particular group of young Black men living in a poor neighborhood, segregated from resources that would be found in more economically advanced neighborhoods. A “resource” that they do run into more than often is over policing in their neighborhood. As they are disproportionately targeted for arrest to fill quotas, this constant behavior and events deemed as a norm (either little children have made a game of cops catching and being overly aggressive to Black boys), hinders their process at advancing within American society. Systematic oppression against a minority group slows and puts racial tension progress at a standstill as they are continued victims of larger forces. What truly works against them once locked up and released, is when they were not given a chance based on race, now based on criminal history. People in such situations are left with one option, in order for them to survive and provide for their families, they must do it through illegal activity. Locking people up and returning into the same environment which had limited resources does nothing to solve larger powers at play. Specifically interpreting The Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, oppression 6th street boys experience from race, and class aspects, as well as age and educational background, at different parts in American history, a continued oppression against Blacks remain, and the difference between documents/laws that are

In the article Born to Run by Adam Summers the author presents the idea that we as species evolved from crawling on all 4’s to walking and running on our legs. However, it seems the author may have stumbled into quite an interesting scenario. The idea that we were made to run, the way our muscles look - essentially we’re looking at form following function. While there aren’t that many early fossilized hominids, for example Lucy is said to fit the bill pretty closely with regards to having to constantly run. The author compares our modern day practices of running marathons to our prior days in the deserts and forests of their chosen locality, hunting for food, or avoiding being hunted.

I believe fiction is absolutely necessary in curriculum because, majority of the time, it has real issues that are present in today’s society offering a guide to society in the modern day.

In On The Run, Alice Goffman focuses on a particular group of young Black men living in a poor neighborhood, struggling to live a “good” and “fair” life. These boys from 6th street are segregated from resources that would be found in more economically advanced neighborhoods. A “resource” that they do run into more than often is over policing in their neighborhood. As they are disproportionately targeted for arrest to fill quotas, this constant behavior and events deemed as a norm (even little children play a game about cops catching and being overly aggressive to Black boys), hinders their process at advancing within American society. Systematic oppression against a minority group slows and puts racial tension progress at a standstill, as they are continued victims of larger forces. What truly works against them once locked up and released, is that they were not given a chance based on race, now it becomes based on race plus their criminal history. People in such situations are left with one option, in order for them to survive and provide for their families, they must do it through illegal activity. Locking people up and returning then into the same environment which had limited resources does nothing to solve larger powers at play. Laws and documents may exist that describe an “equal” and “fair” society, but without action, words seem to hold less value. The Declaration of Independence, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are both documents meant to symbolize

Fiction puts readers in the shoes of the characters and helps readers view the world in a different light. Fiction novels allow us to see the world from different perspectives. It sheds a new light and ideas for readers that can be used in their everyday lives. Giving readers perspective on certain situations and how to handle them. Readers are given a new idea on what can happen to the world if it continues to do something. For example, Fahrenheit 451 allows readers to see what could happen if they continue to excessively use technology and ignore what’s in front of them. Thus, making readers have a more open-mind towards certain situations and capable of seeing and understanding different opinions. What we learn from fiction novels can cause

Loneliness isn’t just a fleeting feeling that can be fixed in one day. A novel can give insight on how to overcome obstacles such as isolation. Removing fiction from the curriculum would only severe the connection and understanding that students get from reading such novels. In the book “Where Things Come Back” by John Corey Whaley the main character of the book is Cullen Witter a 17 year old boy that lives in a small town called Lily Arkansas that deals with isolation and depression of his missing brother Gabriel. The School Board should keep fiction books because readers can learn about controversial topics, it is easier to relate to fictional characters, and it helps paint a picture in somebody's mind.

This fictional book depicts important morals that should remain in our school’s curriculum. The school board propose that fictional books should be removed out of the school’s curriculum. Despite the school’s board’s recent sentiments regarding the lack of value that fiction provides, fiction should remain

Fictional stories teach the students valuable lessons about life that nonfiction books might not be able to. Fictional books not only bring creativity to the classroom, but also gives the students a chance to think outside the box. These fictional stories provide a new and different way to comprehend the curriculum. For example, in the story Thirteen Reasons Why written by Jay Asher, it teaches the audience an important lesson about bullying. Most students witness these social issues on a daily basis. So why take away the one thing students can relate to?