Discussion Questions Other Wes PDF

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The Other Wes Moore Discussion Q. Professor Stanley. Eng 10: Tues/Thurs. 18 Oct 2016. ...

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Alyssa Espinos Professor Stanley English 10/11 18 October 2016 The Other Wes Moore Discussion Questions 1.

The first turning point for Wes 1 was when his mom found out about the dealings he

made with drugs. After his mom found out everything went downhill for his teenage years. She enrolled him into a military academy and it changed his life for good. In the beginning he tried to escape and find a way out but then being there and meeting sergeants and making friends made him start to appreciate it. I think trying to run away and finally having the chance out of the military school that one time with a lower “student” and almost getting killed made him appreciate the safety he had at the school. The turning point for Wes 2 was when, also, his mom and brother found out about him selling drugs. He started young and always looked up to his older brother as a role model and wanted to be exactly like him. As he continued to sell drugs he started to get deeply more involved and started getting caught up. That’s when he began to go in and out of jail. And ended up getting his life sentenced in prison. One of my accomplishments in life was training and completing four marathons before eighteen years old. The experiences made the difference for me to attain the accomplishments because I know just a handful of teens and even adults that have ever even completed a marathon. It is a lot of dedication and determination to complete. What made the difference was that this was my choice and no one pushed me into wanting to do something I did not want to do.

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Instead, I had motivators and my family to help push me to do something good rather than something bad that I’ve done like completing military school like Wes. 3.

Wes 1 had trouble in school because he really didn’t have any kind of motivation

especially with the friends he had. Yes, his family always told him to look into school but he never saw himself going to a school, but when he did he knew he wouldn’t be capable into getting into the school he wanted to get into most. The difficulty with him also was having to move with his grandparents and having to meet knew people hanging out with lower income children but going to a wealthy, private school with wealthy children. He wasn’t able to fit in anywhere, either he was too good for the lower income children or too poor for the wealthier children at his private school. Wes 2 had no kind of motivation compared to Wes 1. Wes 2’s brother was also a drug dealer and got caught up many times but always tried to tell Wes to go to school and not follow his footsteps, which he eventually did. But Wes 2 never had those kind of friends to even have the thought of going to school and getting a good paying job besides selling drugs and getting more caught up in the system. In the book Tony told Wes, “ The choices we make about the lives we live determine the kinds of legacies we leave.” This is because Tony chose the wrong choices when he was his age so he didn’t want Wes to make the same choices. 5.

Moore ends the book contemplating the privileges in his life that he had not been aware

of previously. Growing up, I was raised by a single mother having to support my two sisters and me without the support from my dad. I was very privileged because I now I am going to a four year-college. I would have never thought that my mom would have been able to help me get top where I am now. Without her support both emotionally and physically, I wouldn’t be in a

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university. After the interview with both Wes he said, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” This was one of his experiences of of feeling privileged, sadly, that he lived the better life than Wes 2....