From Malcolm Little comes Malcolm X to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz; this man has journeyed far. Growing up in his ordinary world; one of that American black ghetto, life was rough for this boy. His father: brutally murdered by whites. His mother, locked up in an institution by the white man. He was too young when his family became distant and split. Malcolm survived by fending for himself on the streets anyway he could. His real adventure began when he entered prison, even though he was yet to recon. A true hero’s journey worth documentation, Malcolm X proves as an extraordinary example of change, to the deepest of inner-emotional/psychosocial levels.
While Malcolm was in prison he felt obligated to hold up this “bad ass” reputation. Instead of recognizing his mistakes, Malcolm refused to akwowledge the lesson set out for him. He even took it to such extremes that his nickname became Satan. It was his brother Philbert who finally shinned as his true hero. He had shed the light of Islam upon Malcolm. He finds what appears to be meaning in life, so our hero, Malcolm commits to begin his journey. He quits all of his dirty ways and accepts Islam. In return, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm’s main mentor, teaches him, shows him the truth and changes him forever. Malcolm swears to this man saving him, opening his blind eyes to this new bright world, welcoming him into the Nation of Islam.
While Malcolm served for the Nation of Islam he became the main spokesman and Muhammad’s most prized Minster. He was the second most influential man in the Nation of Islam next to Elijah himself. Malcolm single handedly increased memberships from 500, to nearly 25,000, in about a decade. Malcolm gained more allies in this time then most men do in their entire lives. Also with fame comes severe wrath. Enimes were always lurking everywhere, mostly in press form. Anywhere he went he was running from ringing phones. As faithful as he was to the nation, one would claim Malcolm had already passed the ultimate test, but wrong.
I believe his supreme ordeal came when he was suspended from the nation of Islam. Malcolm accepted quietly, never questioned Muhammad, even though he didn’t deserve it. If anybody did it was Elijah for his mass adultery, but no this is just prophecy. No its corruption! Little did Malcolm see how much of a fool he had been. Forced out of his beliefs by cruel human nature, Malcolm revisited he true mentor, Allah. Where previously his knowledge was almost right, he is wrong. Traveling to Mecca was the best thing that ever happened to Malcolm. There he found true Islam, not the nation of Islam’s glorified version. Its was in the mystical desert land where he completely understands, it’s as if he was reborn, in belief. Returning with his knew knowledge; Malcolm expresses his newfound understanding first in letters, then more publicly. He finds all men to be of equal stature. There are evil and good of all colors. This concept was difficult for Malcolm, and everyone, to grasp onto because it goes against his whole life’s teaching and beliefs. None the less Malcolm seizes the sword and spreads his word. America barely seemed to acknowledge his sudden shift, until it was too late to listen.
Resurrecting and accepting the new Malcolm spreads his words. Preaching Islam in its true form, just as eastern high courts had hoped. Also calling himself out and apologizing to whites and black leaders he previously critized. Insists he is not a racist; joins together with other civil rights accovists. Malcolm even establishes an organization to help Afro Americans in their struggle for human rights. Before his assinisation Malcolm’s elixir did come as truth. What he dedicated his entire life to, his destiny. He knew the magic potion to America’s race crisis, unfortunately the genie died before the dust settled. As fast as it begins it must end but Malcolm’s journey is unforgettable. A true American hero, whose struggle is admired by millions.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
final writing project
English 8-final writing project
I picked Good Will Hunting because it’s an amazing movie. It symbolizes a lot about the connection into an American dream. I think wills American dream was a couple different things. The main American dream is that will is known to be very smart and an outgoing person. All he wants is to be a normal person like every one else is.
Wills American dream was to become normal and not stand out of the crowd like a sore thumb. He is a very smart kid, in fact very few people cant measure up to his skills. He had to take counseling because he keeps getting in trouble. A professor enters him into a contest in order to keep out of trouble.
Wills American dream is just like Malcolm x in a good way. They stand out of the crowd, have people looking up to them and work hard at what they do. Malcolm x American dream was to make all people be treated the same and to all races be the same equality as all the other races. He means a lot to people and he still does.
Malcolm had a dream and no one in the world didn’t know about it. Will and Malcolm are both very strong willed and there not going to stop doing what they do till they pass on there American dream. It will probably take them there whole life maybe even cost them there life’s but they don’t care what is going to happen.
Malcolm had a plan to become a person that people can look up to and if anything’s wrong they can follow his advice. People will try and be like him, and try to use his knowledge to teach other Americans. The knowledge of becoming a smarter and more helpful person. That was Malcolm’s American dream. I now know how hard it is to accomplish an American dream but if you keep at it one day you will succeed
I picked Good Will Hunting because it’s an amazing movie. It symbolizes a lot about the connection into an American dream. I think wills American dream was a couple different things. The main American dream is that will is known to be very smart and an outgoing person. All he wants is to be a normal person like every one else is.
Wills American dream was to become normal and not stand out of the crowd like a sore thumb. He is a very smart kid, in fact very few people cant measure up to his skills. He had to take counseling because he keeps getting in trouble. A professor enters him into a contest in order to keep out of trouble.
Wills American dream is just like Malcolm x in a good way. They stand out of the crowd, have people looking up to them and work hard at what they do. Malcolm x American dream was to make all people be treated the same and to all races be the same equality as all the other races. He means a lot to people and he still does.
Malcolm had a dream and no one in the world didn’t know about it. Will and Malcolm are both very strong willed and there not going to stop doing what they do till they pass on there American dream. It will probably take them there whole life maybe even cost them there life’s but they don’t care what is going to happen.
Malcolm had a plan to become a person that people can look up to and if anything’s wrong they can follow his advice. People will try and be like him, and try to use his knowledge to teach other Americans. The knowledge of becoming a smarter and more helpful person. That was Malcolm’s American dream. I now know how hard it is to accomplish an American dream but if you keep at it one day you will succeed
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Final writing project Stephen M
The value that struck me the most about Of Mice and Men is the value of friendship in the novella. George and Lennie’s bond connects them in a way to where neither of them could live the same without the other. The relation between the two is very much a love/hate relationship. George’s life would be way easier without Lennie, but it also would be a lot sadder and reckless. I also don’t think Lennie could survive without George or his Aunt Clara. George chose to kill Lennie at the end of the novella Of Mice and Men, because it was the only thing he could do, his actions were meant with the best intentions. I think George’s decision shows the love he had for Lennie, these are my reasons why George made the better choice.
First, Lennie has no idea how strong he is, nor does he know how fragile living things are. George understands that these things will continue to happen, no matter what he says or does to help Lennie. For George there is really no other option for Lennie that would help him. If he were to keep going on and running away with Lennie, these kinds of incidences will always follow. In the novella George said to Lennie “you can’t keep a job and you loss me every job I get. Just keep me shoveling all over the country all the time. And that aint the worst, you get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out.”(11). This implies that Lennie has done things like this before. And what if George ran away with Lennie again, on page 7 it shows that Lennie remembered what happened in weed, so what if he remembered killing Curley’s wife? Lennie knows killing Curley’s wife was wrong, he even says so on page 91, so what if they ran again, who can say that Lennie won’t think it was okay to do bad things, because every time he gets in trouble they leave and Lennie gets away without any punishment. And what if George had turned Lennie in? People would look at him no differently than murderers or criminals, regardless of his handicap. Mental institutions were very different back then, they would have just locked him away and Lennie would never get the help he needed. This would have been no good for Lennie.
There are a lot of present day branches of this, things that are similar in theory and intention. Things such as euthanasia (mercy killing), war, the use of cops. So if you still think the killing of Lennie was wrong, even with the good intended, think about your grandma/grandpa or someone very close to you in the hospital and there in a coma, the doctor is telling you that they are in serious pain everyday and are never going to recover. They are only living on a life support machine, should it not be okay to pull the plug and let them die painlessly, or should they have to live out the rest of there lives never going to do anything but lay in bed as a vegetable? And if it’s still not okay to kill anyone, what if some random person decides to go and shoot people at there school or job? Should the police not be allowed to shoot them to stop the killings or should they just wait for them to run out of bullets so they can arrest them? This is why killing Lennie was a good thing, it saved everyone from trouble and pain down the road and it stopped any more killings from happening, even if they were accidental.
And what about capital punishment, abortion and suicide? Who should be allowed to decide who dies? The government, parents, yourself? If a women gets raped and she can’t afford to raise a child or if she’s too young to have a child, should she be forced to have the child anyways? Did you know that in the United States of America it is against the law to commit suicide, which means if you try to commit suicide and you fail it can be a felony. And if you do succeed you can still face legal matters, as of how you get buried, what happens with all of your property, and things your family have to face, like if they can collect life insurance or be granted money from the court. So should people not be allowed to make these decisions, I think they should. So killing Lennie was right, sometimes people can’t see how they are a problem or understand there a problem, even if they mean no harm. People who can see these things should be allowed to act to help them, even if the solution isn’t one that seems very pretty or right at the time.
George chose to kill Lennie for the better of everyone; some times you just can’t save everyone, an it might be hard to make decisions like these an to someone standing at a different perspective it might look wrong, but if you do it with good intentions it will always be right. George made a good choice because no one would have understood Lennie; people would be very unforgiving to his actions. In the time and age we live in people like Lennie can get the help they need, but sometimes they cant, like candy’s dog, there pain can’t be fixed. There are people right now in hospitals who will never get better, people who have to carry out the rest of there lives hooked up to a machine to keep them alive and to easy the pain. So what I’m saying is that George killing Lennie might not be something you like but it was the right choice because all the resources we have today, were either hugely different back then or they were not there at all. There was no help, no understanding Lennie could get, people would have been very unkind to him. All together the novella Of Mice and Men is largely based around values, and I think that value is friendship and how much it really means to people, how precious it is, and of how some choices, as wrong as they might seem, are for the better because you love them.
First, Lennie has no idea how strong he is, nor does he know how fragile living things are. George understands that these things will continue to happen, no matter what he says or does to help Lennie. For George there is really no other option for Lennie that would help him. If he were to keep going on and running away with Lennie, these kinds of incidences will always follow. In the novella George said to Lennie “you can’t keep a job and you loss me every job I get. Just keep me shoveling all over the country all the time. And that aint the worst, you get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out.”(11). This implies that Lennie has done things like this before. And what if George ran away with Lennie again, on page 7 it shows that Lennie remembered what happened in weed, so what if he remembered killing Curley’s wife? Lennie knows killing Curley’s wife was wrong, he even says so on page 91, so what if they ran again, who can say that Lennie won’t think it was okay to do bad things, because every time he gets in trouble they leave and Lennie gets away without any punishment. And what if George had turned Lennie in? People would look at him no differently than murderers or criminals, regardless of his handicap. Mental institutions were very different back then, they would have just locked him away and Lennie would never get the help he needed. This would have been no good for Lennie.
There are a lot of present day branches of this, things that are similar in theory and intention. Things such as euthanasia (mercy killing), war, the use of cops. So if you still think the killing of Lennie was wrong, even with the good intended, think about your grandma/grandpa or someone very close to you in the hospital and there in a coma, the doctor is telling you that they are in serious pain everyday and are never going to recover. They are only living on a life support machine, should it not be okay to pull the plug and let them die painlessly, or should they have to live out the rest of there lives never going to do anything but lay in bed as a vegetable? And if it’s still not okay to kill anyone, what if some random person decides to go and shoot people at there school or job? Should the police not be allowed to shoot them to stop the killings or should they just wait for them to run out of bullets so they can arrest them? This is why killing Lennie was a good thing, it saved everyone from trouble and pain down the road and it stopped any more killings from happening, even if they were accidental.
And what about capital punishment, abortion and suicide? Who should be allowed to decide who dies? The government, parents, yourself? If a women gets raped and she can’t afford to raise a child or if she’s too young to have a child, should she be forced to have the child anyways? Did you know that in the United States of America it is against the law to commit suicide, which means if you try to commit suicide and you fail it can be a felony. And if you do succeed you can still face legal matters, as of how you get buried, what happens with all of your property, and things your family have to face, like if they can collect life insurance or be granted money from the court. So should people not be allowed to make these decisions, I think they should. So killing Lennie was right, sometimes people can’t see how they are a problem or understand there a problem, even if they mean no harm. People who can see these things should be allowed to act to help them, even if the solution isn’t one that seems very pretty or right at the time.
George chose to kill Lennie for the better of everyone; some times you just can’t save everyone, an it might be hard to make decisions like these an to someone standing at a different perspective it might look wrong, but if you do it with good intentions it will always be right. George made a good choice because no one would have understood Lennie; people would be very unforgiving to his actions. In the time and age we live in people like Lennie can get the help they need, but sometimes they cant, like candy’s dog, there pain can’t be fixed. There are people right now in hospitals who will never get better, people who have to carry out the rest of there lives hooked up to a machine to keep them alive and to easy the pain. So what I’m saying is that George killing Lennie might not be something you like but it was the right choice because all the resources we have today, were either hugely different back then or they were not there at all. There was no help, no understanding Lennie could get, people would have been very unkind to him. All together the novella Of Mice and Men is largely based around values, and I think that value is friendship and how much it really means to people, how precious it is, and of how some choices, as wrong as they might seem, are for the better because you love them.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Values Alicia Barba
i think one value i would want to teach would probably be to love your self beacause if you dont love your self then you cant reallly truly love somebody else. But to love your self more than anything and to love your life and to think positive because life is beautiful and it is worth the effort. Happiness is probably what everybody wants to persuit in life so just dont give up.
Euthanasia Alicia Barba
i think its a personal choice if they do want to pull the plug on them selfs. Personaly I wouldnt do it but people who are sick and dont want to keep going with the pain then they should be allowed to if they want to do that. A person should have the right to do what they want with there life even if it is suicide.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Alicia Barba-Social/Political
I think one of the biggest political issues right now is immigration reform. If they can let them be here it would help the economy because they will have to pay taxes on all the time they have been here and they have to get insurance and pay for all of these things. I think it wluld be good There going to be there either way might as well right?
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