Finding A Label By Charles Blow

Have you ever wondered if Adam Shepard or Chris McCandless journey was superior to each other? Well, they both are white, they were in the middle class, and they both used to live with their family; however, they both had a different perspective on their journey. During Shepard’s journey, he wanted to prove Barbara Ehrenreich’s book that the American Dream was not dead. Therefore, he decided to take the challenge for one year in Charleston to reveal that you can start from poverty and work your way up to the middle class. Nevertheless, throughout Chris McCandless’s Journey, he gave up his former life to discover a new purpose in the wild. Adam Shepard and Chris McCandless show many extraordinary actions through their journey; however, Adam

Everyone has different qualities and interests that make them unique individuals. After interviewing a fellow classmate of mine, Ruedi Kasabach, I have learned why he is the person he is today. Ruedi has lived with his family in Trenton New Jersey, his entire life. He is currently a boarder at Peddie. In his free time, Ruedi often watches tv, plays soccer, or spends quality time with his brother. In the future, Ruedi plans to take on a career focusing on sports. Ruedi’s hobbies, aspirations, and values demonstrate his active lifestyle and express his distinctive personality.

The short story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin has many relations to the semester’s theme. Some people believe a personality is formed based on experiences, and others believe genetics are to blame. “Sonny’s Blues” challenges the question of how a person’s personality is formed. Sonny and his brother had similar major life events growing up. They both grew up in Harlem, had the same parents, lost them in the same way, and decided to join the army.

No matter the circumstance, people will always be able to learn something to improve their lifestyle. It might be dire and serious, or light-hearted and fun. Whatever the case, the experience people gain from that situation is what aids to develop their persona. In “What Football Taught Me” by Donald Murray and “Suicide’s Forgotten Victims” by Lisa Keiski, both writers learn life lessons from their experiences. Despite emotional and physical exhaustion, Murray and Keiski learned life lessons through society, authority figures, and self-awareness.

Accomplished writer Andrew Solomon reflects on his own adversities and experiences to explore his own defining moments, leading to the discovery of personal growth; ultimately providing meaning to life. Through his speech the audience is immediately introduced to the concept of “Forge meaning, build identity”. The strategic repetition allows the audience to relate his examples to “Forge meaning, build identity” as they begin to build an understanding of the concept. Solomon states that during his childhood he was perceived as “a boy who should sit with the girls”. Drawing from his own life events allows a personal connection to form between audience and speaker. Such a connection intrigues and captivates the audience’s attention as they become

We all want to become someone and we all want to become something. Our whole lives we strive to reach our dreams, whether that be wanting to make a difference in the world or trying to become a basketball player. Although our ultimate goal is to reach our dreams, what happens when your dream gets taken away from you against your will? In Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover, there was a character named Charles “Da Man” Bell. When he got diagnosed with Patella tendonitis, his life went spiraling downhill. Eventually, he became more and more problematic. Mr. Bell is proud, supportive, nostalgic, stubborn, and avoiding. Sometimes there is more than meets the eye.

Today, everybody is seeking success. Success comes from different factors. Some of those factors are individual which can be decided by people, such as dedicating ten thousand hours of practice or having a growth mindset. But some of those factors cannot be controlled. Those factors cannot be decided by the people, or predicted by them in anyway. The Other Wes Moore is a story about two boys with similar backgrounds and similar situations, growing up in similar neighborhoods. .Wes Moore offers his readers a clear insights into how success can be affected by both individual and uncontrollable factors such as culture legacy, growth, fixed mindset, and meaning of life.

In Ernest J. Gaines’ novel, “A Lesson Before Dying,” there are several characters that learn valuable life lessons. This story tells the tale of a black man named Grant, and his efforts to convince Jefferson, a fellow black man who believes he is a hog, that he is a man. However, it is not just Jefferson that learns valuable life lessons in this novel. In his novel, “A Lesson Before Dying,” Ernest J. Gaines is showing that the most important lesson to take away from life is to never give up. The first character that exemplifies this is Jefferson, someone who truly redefines his life by gaining emotional strength and appreciation for others. Additionally, Grant shows this as well, as he goes from a man who wants to run away to someone who appreciates

He impressed his father when he was little by kite fighting, but when he grew older he stopped conforming and focused on his true passion: writing. Even though he had been a victim of conformity, he was able to stand up for himself and take a hold of what he wanted to do in life. This shows that even if peer pressure dominates a person’s life, they can still turn things around and head in the right direction.

Unlike many of my peers, my identity comes through not a singular talent or belief I possess, or an experience I’ve been through. The best way to describe me is with my name. Wilfrid. It’s a name whose implications don’t quite fit my background. The name Wilfrid implies aristocracy or British to most people. Despite most people assuming that I’m ashamed of my name, I’ve always taken pride in it because it sets me apart. Wilfrid is a family name passed down from my Dad’s side of the family from first born son to first born son. My great-grandfather owned a cheese factory in the miniscule town of Tescott, Kansas (Population: 312). My grandfather became a very successful patent lawyer. My father didn’t complete college but managed to start his own telecommunications business. I’m the 4th Wilfrid in my family and despite the success of my predecessors in business, they failed in key areas I want to succeed in. None of the previous Wilfrids in my family were particularly known for their compassion, service, or changing the world in an impactful way other than having other sons to continue the family line. I’m motivated every day by my predecessors to be more

Douglas Stone is presented to the reader as a “remarkable man” who was “born to be

In the documentary Crime After Crime, Deborah Peagler suffered abuse from her intimate partner through her life. The abuse started in High School. When her mother introduced her to Oliver Wilson, his charming personality fooled everyone. Oliver forced her into prostitution to make money for him. When she refused, he beat her until she promised to sell herself. The beating gradationally evolved to bull whipping. In addition, all of this occurred during her junior and senior year in high school. Oliver felt it was his right to have ultimate control over Deborah, this fact is generally accepted in the society (Belknap 247). The male dominance, male authority over women is something taught to young children. It is sought to be the place of

“A person’s a person, no matter how small” said Dr. Suess, an award winning children's books writer. Everyone wants to be accepted, some people at all costs. But would we like to see these people struggle to work there way up and

As I look back on my journal from the first week of this class I notice how different yet the same my answers to the question “who are you” are. In the first week, I still talked about how I identify as a hard-working college student that strives to meet her goals. I think, still do this day I identify as that. However, now I like to go in-depth with that question. Not only am I hard working but I am hard working because I strive to get my homework done on time, ask questions when I am confused, and participate in class discussions when I have something to input instead of sitting quietly like I typically would. I think that after studying identity for a whole semester I can grasp and identify who I think I

Sometimes I wonder of how goddamn undeserving I am of the position I’m currently in. I mean, here me out. I’m only in my early twenties, failed college student with a less than 3.0 GPA. People have worked for this moment for their entire lives. Some people don’t even get to it. And I’m that privileged kid who works for a year then immediately gets it the opportunity. But don’t get me wrong, I worked for this a large amount of time, but I just can’t help to think I’m closing a door on people’s dream that they’ve worked for, for a very long time. But you know what goddamn it, this is my redemption. I have had zero step forwards in my life, but this is my first one and I’m gonna take it. So if there’s any sonuvabitch who doubts me, watch me win the whole thing. “Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats, the 1956 New York City Mayoral Debate is about to commence.”