Story Analysis: Honky By Dalton Conley

This story is mostly about a ten year old girl named Opal. she wants friends because she is new in Naomi, Florida. She also wants her mama, who left her when Opal was only 3 years old. In the book, Opal learned that she can’t hold onto something that wants to go.

To begin, three brothers, Lafayette, Charlie, and Ty’ree were orphaned due to the tragic death of their parents. Over the course of two days, Lafayette (the narrator) includes flashbacks to earlier events. After spending over two years in Rahway Home for Boys, a juvenile detention center, Charlie recently returned home. Watching Charlie get ready to leave the apartment with his new friend Aaron, Lafayette laments the changes that have become apparent in his brothers actions since he came home. Once, Charlie was the kind of kid who would stay up late telling stories to his younger brother. And who had cried over a wounded dog, he saw on the street. Now, he barely even looks at or speaks to Lafayette, and he usually denies feeling anything at all. Charlie seems to prefer spending time with tough characters such as Aaron and acting tough in the streets. Lafayette has even taken to

“In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson Mcandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself.” Into The Wild is a book about a young man who travels across some of the most unforgiving terrain to find his place in life. He travels through the tough Alaskan landscape running from Christopher Johnson Mcandless, and embracing the new life that is slowly coming to him. As Chris runs away from his family, and travels along vast areas of terrain, he makes a

This book is about two black children, Layfette and Pharaoh, who grow up in inner city Chicago. They are faced with racism and hardships because of their race and social class. They have different ways of coping, but are better at facing the worst the city has to offer than are many of the other young black children who live around them. During the story the boys are faced with many adversities that stem from the social system. They are faced with gangs, drugs and Chicago housing. However, they also must face their own inner demons that may lead to either of them giving up and giving in to the corruption of the inner city. One of the major turning points in the story is when Layfette gets arrested for vandalizing a car, even though he says he did not. He gets released and is gets off with probation and 100 hours of community service. After this incident the author gets both kids in to a private school where Pharaoh thrives and starts to make good grades instead of daydreaming. Unfortunately Layfette could not handle the pressure and returns to public school. During this time Rickey starts running drugs for one of the local gangs. He is later arrested for carrying a butcher knife. The CHA finally cleans out the horrendous mess in the Henry Horner basements and reclaims the buildings from the gangs. Dawn and Demetrius finally get an

A lack of self-awareness tended the narrator’s life to seem frustrating and compelling to the reader. This lack often led him to offer generalizations about ““colored” people” without seeing them as human beings. He would often forget his own “colored” roots when doing so. He vacillated between intelligence and naivete, weak and strong will, identification with other African-Americans and a complete disavowal of them. He had a very difficult time making a decision for his life without hesitating and wondering if it would be the right one.

For this paper, I chose to read the memoir “Honky” by Dalton Conley. Honky is an interesting read that dives into the life on Dalton Conley himself as he recollects the memories from his childhood and teenage

A small family of four, living in the Tory town of Redding. Life was great Mr. and Mrs. Meeker owned a small tavern that supplies their town with food, rum, and supplies. Their son Timmy helped around the tavern and did chores, because his older brother Sam was off at college. Everyone in Redding was close and knew the Meeker family, they all admired how they had raised Sam and Timmy. Every year after college was over, Sam would come home and visit, except one.

Since its first publication in 1884, Mark Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has proven to be one of history’s most controversial novels; especially recently, the novel has often been banned by schools and censored by libraries. Characters in the book are constantly using disparaging language toward slaves, and the repeated use of the word “nigger” makes many sensitive and offended. Critics denounce the novel and Mark Twain as racist for this word being insulting and politically incorrect and for its depiction of black people and how they are treated. However, Twain was not attempting to perpetuate racism; on the contrary, he used satire to expose the ignorance and paradoxical views held by many in America at that time.

Author and sociologist, Dalton Conley, is a Caucasian boy who grows up in a predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhood in the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the 1970’s and 80’s. In his book, Honky, he tells us a unique view through a young boy’s eyes uncovering the way in which individuals are perceived in social reality, and how some groups of people are classified. He also speaks about how some groups get better opportunities and privileges then others. This book is a very powerful autobiography, according to his book, written by, “not your typical middle class white male.” (prologue, p. xiii) He goes on to say that he is middle class, even though his parents didn’t have any money and that he is a white boy, even though he grew up in an inner city housing project where mostly everyone was Black or Hispanic. Dalton speaks about his experience as a white boy exploring his definition of race and class and saying that, “race and class are nothing more than a set of stories we tell ourselves to get through the world, to organize our reality.” (prologue, p. xiv) He describes his childhood as a “social science experiment, Find out what being middle class really means by raising a kid from a so-called good family in a so-called bad neighborhood.” (prologue, p. xiii)

Tom discovers his real identity which changes his life drastically. He is finally aware of the fact that he is not white and it become noticeable in various ways. “It was the ‘nigger’ in him asserting its humility, and he blushed and was abashed. And the ‘nigger’ in him was surprised when the white friend put out his hand for a shake with him” P.56 Tom’s behavior is innate and raises the question of nature and nurture, and racial heritage.

In the beginning, when Bigger started working for the Dalton’s, he had to drive Mary Dalton, the daughter, to the University of Chicago. However, she wanted him to pick up her boyfriend, Jan, and head to a restaurant. When Bigger was in the car with Jan and Mary, “he was very conscious of his black skin...Jan and men like him” made Bigger feel insecure of who he was. (Wright 67) Even though Jan and Mary did not say anything that would insult his race, the presence of white people made him self-conscious. Being

To start,“John Dalton was born in Eaglesfield, England on September 6, 1766.” (“John Dalton”) “John Dalton’s dad owned a small amount of land, plus a house.”(“John Dalton”) John Dalton’s family believed in a Christian religion called Quakers. (“John Dalton”) “At the age of eleven years old John Dalton was smart enough to be the teacher’s assistant.” (“John Dalton”) “When John Dalton was 15 he quit school because he wanted to help his older brother run a boarding school.” (“John Dalton”) Dalton became the principal of the school and stayed in that position for seven years. (“John Dalton”)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, is a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe which originally was published on March 20, 1852. Under the background that the country had been divided over the issue over slavery, the south states of the country are slaves states, and the north states of the country are slave free states. Different sides of the country have distinct views over slavery system in south. The north, specially abolitionist, views slavery system is villainous and immoral, it takes away the basic right of human which is freedom, and it againsts God which is Christian believes. The theme of the novel based on the abolitionist views. The purpose of the novel is that tell the world what is slave life like, especially for those northerners never been to the south.Their life will be strenuous or comfortable is depend on what kind of slave owner they meet. The book is appeal people to face and deal with the issue of slavery which lasted in the history for a long time.

Courage is the quality of mind that enables one to face danger with confidence, resolution, and gain a firm control of oneself. Many of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird showed courage in their own way. Courage can come in many different forms: physical, mental, emotional and moral. Courage is not the only main theme displayed in To Kill a Mockingbird; prejudice and education are also very important themes exhibited throughout the progression of the novel. Through the eyes of Scout Finch, a bright, sensitive and intelligent little girl, these themes of the novel are explored in great depth.