Stan Journey On The Low Road Analysis

In Randol Contreras’s The Stickup Kids, Contreras explores the South Bronx through the lens of a sociologist. He describes the lives of the stickup kids such as Gus, Pablo, and other teenagers living in the South Bronx. Contreras uses the research method of ethnography to provide a sociological analysis of the drug trade and business in the South Bronx. His research shows how social factors impact the lives of these stickup kids to become active in the drug trade. Through his field notes and interviews with the stickup kids, Contreras examines in depth of how social factors such as, socialization, social class, the thrill of crime, deviance, and culture affect the individual.

Prior to being assigned the reading of the memoir “Always Running”, by Luis Rodriguez, I had never given much thought on juveniles involved in gang life. Rodriguez achieved success as an award-winning poet; sure the streets would no longer haunt him - until his own son joined a gang. Rodriguez fought for his child by telling his own story in the vivid memoir, “Always Running.” “Always Running” is the compilation of events Luis experienced during his youth in San Gabriel. The theme of the book is to always strive for the best things in life and to always take a stand for what you believe. Lured by the seemingly invincible gang culture of East L.A., he witnessed countless shootings and beatings, as well as senseless acts of street crime against his friends and family members. As a Latino in a poor neighborhood, Luis struggled through criticism, stereotypes, and mistreatment. With the help of his mentor, Chente, Luis saw a way out through education and the power of word to successfully break free from years of violence and desperation.

Chapters 1–5 introduce an average boy who would become a remarkable man. Born in 1917, Louie Zamperini was the child of Italian immigrants. Growing up in Torrance amidst poverty and anti-Italian bias, Louie got in the habit of running outside the law. He started smoking when he was 5 years old and drinking when he was 8. He stole anything he wanted—mostly food, money, and whatever else he could find. He ran small scams and vandalized property. Pete, Louie’s older brother, became concerned.

The odds are stacked upon Luis Rodriguez, an upcoming sixteen year old that has found himself in the world of gangs. Luis is a human, and it is expected that he would make many mistakes in his life, however when given choices, he always seems to choose the wrong one and never learns from his mistakes. The theme of Luis Rodriguez’s autobiography, “Always Running,” is that many people feel like they are alone in the world, and that the world is always against them, but there will always be people that will stand in your corner and help them achieve what they were meant for. He proves this by including examples from his childhood and the mistakes he has made and the supports he has had.

Buck is a serious book based on a serious and dangerous lifestyle. MK Asante captured his young life with such love and passion. He was able to give us an insight of how it can be when dealing with someone with major mental health issues. He showed how his brother’s decisions made an impact on his life. Although he knew better, his circumstances at home made him search for the absence he experienced, which was his father. At a younger age, he was impressed and proud of his dad, but as he got older, he was able to see where his

The family of the author expected him to become better, to rise above the bad neighborhood the lived in. They were supportive. They sent him to good schools, taught him the rights from the wrongs. The other Wes did not have that good of a support system. And his problem with his family's expectations was the lack thereof. His brother Tony told him often to not get involved with drugs, but because Tony was involved himself, Wes thought that was what he was supposed to do as well. He looked up to Tony. Wes’s family did want the best for him but did not push him to be better. When his mother found his drug stash, she only flushed them down the toilet, she never punished him, nor talked to him about why he should not sell drugs. She never really encouraged him to be better. She may not have had the resources to show him what life could be like without drugs

This exposed him to violence, drugs and poverty, “Cherry Hill became a breeding ground for poverty, drugs, and despair” (p.29). Wes was exposed to drugs at a young

That’s hurts Doughboy and it seems like he is into the streets because that’s the only thing that is giving him the attention that he wants and needs. Doughboy feeds on the attention that he gets from the streets of L.A. It helps him think he is wanted by people that love him. In his mind it’s a lost relationship with his mother because even if he tries to do stay out of jail, try and do right by her she still wouldn’t care or even notice that he is trying to build a mother-son bond between them. So it gets to the point where he seeks and gets revenge on the guys who killed his brother Ricky. And he doesn’t care if their guys come back in retaliation to kill him. There was a quote he said in the movie saying “either they don’t know, don’t show, or don’t care about what’s going on in the hood.” He has a good point because the people that do care is either scared to say anything or has never lived in the ghetto before so they can only go by what other people say that’s happening in the streets.

The movie Boyz N the Hood is an illustration of how a group of early adolescents’ lives was affected negatively due to the environment they lived in. These adolescents lived in an environment where drugs, gangs, and shootings were the center of their community. Living in a predominantly African American community these adolescents were faced with many misfortunes. Ricky one of the adolescent characters I have decided to evaluate for this particular paper was faced with adversity.

Kurt Vonnegut was a man of disjointed ideas, as is expressed through the eccentric protagonists that dominate his works. Part cynic and part genius, Kurt Vonnegut’s brilliance as a satirist derives from the deranged nature of the atrocities he had witnessed in his life. The reason Vonnegut’s satire is so popular and works so well is because Vonnegut had personal ties to all the elements that he lambasted in his works. Vonnegut’s experience as a soldier in WWII during firebombing of Dresden corrupted his mind and enabled him to express the chaotic reality of war, violence, obsession, sex and government in a raw and personal manner. Through three works specifically, “Welcome to the Monkey House,” “Harrison Bergeron,” and Slaughterhouse-five,

Although Donny academic tutor has tried to help his troubling problem, he never succeeds. “He admitted he’d made no headway with Donny and said it was because Donny was emotionally disturbed.”(Tyler 266) Donny has fixed his bad deeds at school, but he turned into a despondent teenager. “He did his assignments, and he earned average grades, but he gathered no friends, joined no clubs. there was something exhausted and defeated about him.”(Tyler 266) Donny has been fighting through his depression, but he eventually escapes it

The central idea in the story “Sonny’s Blues,” by James Baldwin, is that it is hard to understand someone’s struggles without truly understanding whom he or she is. The narrator learned that his brother, Sonny, was arrested for using heroin. He revealed that they have become very distant, which he then explained with flashbacks. He thought he understood Sonny and falsely assumed his reasons for what seemed to be poor choices only to learn that they saved his life.

According to Sampson and Laub’s theory, a person’s involvement in crime during his/her life course can be explained by two important concepts. First, a trajectory represents the person’s line of development in any life aspect, including crime. Second, transitions or turning points within the life path. A transition can stop a person from engaging in crime because it puts something valuable at risk, i.e. a job. Shaggy was born and raised in a slum with terrible conditions. Even though he formed social bonds with others in his area, these bonds were not beneficial as to steer him away from crime. Crime was quite casual in the City of God .For instance, people opened their door and helped shaggy hide from the police instead of turning him in. This emphasizes that Shaggy’s social network did not stand strongly against criminal acts. Thus, inevitably lead him to grow with the ideology that crime is an acceptable way of elevating one’s status. The structure of this

All three individuals lived in the lower-class, and due to low income, some were faced with crime as an economic motive others took a different course. In the case of Ricky, he chose used football in order to aid him in getting into university. Meanwhile, Doughboy is shown to have little ambition, and a lack of parental support, this caused him to easily assimilate into the environment from the “hood”.

Although basic goals are set forth by our parents at an early age, it is during the time of adolescences that we start to narrow these goals for ourselves. As we start to make decisions for ourselves, we will narrow these goals to fit what we want out of life. In the case with Stan, it will be useful to structure the six sessions in such a way that he gradually feels himself just as normal as everyone else is, so that his feeling of inferiority is terminated. We will need to convenience Stan that his success depends solely on himself; by clear vision of possible future success, Stan will get rid of his inferiority complex. Technically, in order to make Stan feel successful, we will need to capitalize on his strengths and achievements, no matter how scarce they are.