The Other Wes Moore Analysis

When a student is in school, the options for what the student can do in their free time can impact them for the rest of their life. The choices to partake in an extracurricular activity, such as a sport could benefit one in many ways. They can create core values inside a person which then impacts other aspects of their life as well. Sports are able to give one a standard for the way their life should be spent. The ways a sport could influence a person are seen in The Other Wes Moore, giving both sides of the spectrum.

Carol Dweck’s Brainology sets forth the “growth mindset” as the only factor in a student’s success. However, Alfie Kohn’s The Perils of ‘Growth Mindset’ Education: Why We’re Trying to Fix our Kids When We Should Be Fixing the System, proposes another view. Also, Home Life is a third factor that impacts a student’s success. I believe all three of these are integral to a student’s accomplishments.

“One name, two fates,” that what the author of the Other Wes Moore stated on the cover of his book. Two boys that were born in the same neighborhood in Baltimore, and had a difficult childhood since they both grew up fatherless. The coincidence was that the two boys were called Wes. They both shared a lot of similarities from living in a poor neighborhood and growing up in Baltimore street corners with their squads. However, their futures were completely different as one achieved the impossible and the other was a convicted murderer serving a life sentence. People may think that how could this happen since they both were living the same circumstances. However, in the book Wes Moore, the boys did not have equal opportunities in terms of parenting, education, and environment.

Every single event or incident a person commits is driven by some kind of motivation whether good or bad. Regardless of the intention there are two types of motivation: Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation, intrinsic is being motivated by self-satisfaction and extrinsic is motivated by en external reward. In the memoir The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, there are a series of events or incidents in the second half of the book that display that variety of motivation that exists. Having read the book one may argue that the author Wes Moore was motivated by more intrinsic drive whereas the other Wes was motivated more by extrinsic drive.

When most people hear the name Wes Moore, they think of the Wes Moore that is a decorated veteran and author, but when Wes Moore hears his name, he thinks about not himself, but the Wes Moore serving life in prison for first-degree felony murder. They both grew up in similar settings and both had trouble with the police, but there lives are the complete opposite now. Most people wonder how that could happen. Each Wes ended up on totally different paths as evidenced by actions and events that took place in each of their lives. Throughout the following paragraphs, how each Wes’s life slowly became different will become clear.

In the novel The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates it tells the story of two boys with the same name but two very different mindsets in life. “Life and death, freedom and bondage, hang in the balance of every action we take” (xiv). Wes Moore (1), the author, has had many things that impacted to his mindset that led to good and evil choices thought-out his life. Wes Moore (2) had made decisions that set a wrong mindset that would leave him in one place for the rest of his life. The mindsets of Wes Moore (1) and Wes (2) impacted their chances with the law, their choices with education and their opportunities with employment.

Choices, whether small or large, play an important factor in the paths people take in life. In The Other Wes Moore, there are two men with the same name who turn out very differently; today, one is an accomplished scholar and decorated veteran, while the other is a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in prison. But they grew up in very similar circumstances; both grew up fatherless in heavily drug influenced neighborhoods and often ran into trouble with the police. In the search of finding what led him and the other man down such different paths, Wes Moore finds and shows in The Other Wes Moore that it is the choices a person makes that determines their fate in life.

In Wes Moore's book, The Other Wes Moore, he describes both his childhood and the early life of another boy of the same name who grew up near the author in the same Baltimore neighborhood. Moore's book explores the reasons why one boy, the author, succeeded in life while the other Wes Moore was overwhelmed by his struggles and will spend his life in prison. The author Wes Moore addresses different topics for the reader to take from the book.The ideas that are presented by him and should be recognised are the environment the boys grew up in, the motivation they got from family, and the influence from not having a father. The author Wes Moore has always had a supportive family while on the other hand the other Wes Moore had no one besides Tony, who even then was a big factor on why Wes is where he is at today. Their environment plays a big role in both of the boy’s life since they both were around the same things. The only difference is that one had a family who got him out of there to an environment that shaped him up to be the man that he is today and the one that never left will be the one that will never leave prison for the rest of his life.

Role models play a huge role in shaping an individual and the paths that they go down in their lifetime. Whether it is a good or bad influence, it will depend which path they will take that will determine their fate. Often family members, especially parents, act as the most influential factor in a person’s life. Coincedientaly, The Other Wes Moore, is about two boys who have the same name and who have lived in the same city. One went on to become a Rhodes Scholar, combat veteran and a White House Fellow. Whereas, the other Wes Moore is sentenced to life a in prison for robbery, which led to the death of a police officer. In this book, both Wes Moores’ are influenced by at least one significant other that has influenced them to become the people

“Children learn more from who you are than what you teach,” stated W.E.B DuBois. As illustrated by the quote, the people and the environment that an individual surrounds themselves with affects their future. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore, is a narrative that tells the story of two males, who share the same name but take two different paths in life. The two Moores experience similar situations, however surround themselves with different types of people, resulting in different paths. One Moore is successful while the other is incarcerated, proving an individual’s environment influences ones future. Ultimately, after analyzing Wes Moore’s novel and Terry Pratchets quote in the excerpt, it is evident that the

The other Wes Moore deals with many situations of public humiliation which are explained in detail by author Wes Moore through the use of tone and imagery. After being caught and arrested by police officers in Philadelphia, the other Wes Moore faces criminal charges for murder. When Moore was put into prison, Baltimore City police officers were overjoyed after the arrest of the man who murdered their colleague. Author Wes Moore describes the contrasting feelings of the police officers and Mary Moore’s feelings after the other Wes Moore was arrested. While newspapers and news networks ran coverage of the arrest “civic leaders held press conferences praising the work of the police officers” (Moore 155) whereas “at home, Mary wept” (Moore 155). The tone of this situation is solemn due to the serious situation that is present, and author Wes’s use of sad emotions. By showcasing the two varying emotions of Mary and the police community, author Wes Moore uses tone to approach

The book, “ The Other Wes Moore” by Wes Moore is about two young boys who were brought up in Baltimore with the same name and alike struggles. Throughout the book, the author is trying to get the readers to find an understanding of why him and the other Wes outcomes were so different of him being an accomplished author ,and the other Wes having life in jail. The author is trying to argue that the Wes Moores have similar lives, but in my opinion they are completely different. The Wes moores had different aspects such as roles models, resources and motivation that prevented them from having similar histories.

According to Marian Erickson, “Most of life is choices, and the rest is pure dumb luck.” Real people’s lives depend on this quote everyday, which leads to the outcome of each problem individuals face. In the passages, characterization of the main personas helps one understand the theme. Conflict and symbolism also help lead to the overall idea that life is not always guaranteed to be full of success. The book The Other Wes Moore, the poem “If,” and the informational text “The Art of Resilience” all share a common theme of how choices and luck contribute to the success of life.

The Other Wes Moore tells a story of two young men growing up in similar situations. No father, kipping class, drug influence some situations the Wes Moore’s have to deal with, however one ends up a road scholar and influential author the other ends up in prison serving life. This book is a prime example of how certain choices can determine the rest of one’s life.

The Other Wes Moore The Other Wes Moore is a book about two children with similar lifestyles when they were growing up and the same names, but ending up in different places in their lives. The story is about the other Wes Moore, who was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment and Wes Moore, the author, who faces poverty and has an ambition of receiving proper education (Moore, 2012).