The Soloist Assignment #3

Biography of Nathaniel Ayers most important character in the book "The Soloist."

Nathaniel Ayers born on January 22, 1951 is a well-known musician all over the world thanks to the book entitled "The Soloist." Starting out as a child Ayers played the double bass and continued this while studying at Julliard. Being at Julliard was of a great significance for Ayers because he was one of the very few people of African American race there. While at Julliard he suffered from a mental breakdown in his sophomore year and was later place in an institution. As he continued his life at the institution he received electro-shock therapy for his illness. After being released from the institution he was sent home and continued living his life with his mother in Chicago, whom died not to long afterword in 2000. After his mother dies, Nathaniel moved to Los Angelos, California with the belief that his father lived there. When he arrived in Los Angelos his could not find his father no matter where he looked and he was forced to live homeless and with the illness schizophrenia. Living life on the streets as a homeless person was very hard and stressful for Ayers but he was able to make a living playing either a violin or a cello, either for pay, enjoyment for passbyers, or personal pleasure. Ayers had one sibling who was able to be contacted and that was his sister Jennifer Ayers-Moore and she now serves as the chairwoman and the founder of the national Nathaniel Ayers Foundation. This organization was started in 2008 and its aim is to help others with illnesses similar to what Nathaniel has. 

The Sololist

What message and/or theme is The Soloist conveying? Through out the book i constantly think of this question and try to figure out what Steve Lopez is trying to tell us, meaning the readers of his book? One theme i began to think of was "Don't judge a book by its cover." This came to me as a theme as Nathaniel's character is revealed to us as readers. At first I'm sure we thought Nathaniel was just a bum who just so happened to own a violin and played a random selection of notes, but as i read on i came to realize Nathaniel is a great person who posses a great talent. I had already pictured Nathaniel as some run down beat up smelly bum but after progressing through the book my picture of him changed. This theme illustrates clearly the potential that lies within each and every one of us. This beautiful theme remind us not to move to judgment quickly, but rather to seek potential even in those many others have given up on just as Lopez did with Nathaniel. By using this as one of the themes i've gotten from the book i am trying to get people to be more open and look into things before they make an assumption about a thing or a person. Another message/theme i got from The Soloist is the idea that all people are capable of doing something great! A great example is one of our main characters in the story Nathaniel Ayers. Nathaniel has a horrible disorder and this prevents him from acting and performing as other humans would, but when it comes to music it is the total opposite Nathaniel is a wonderful and amazing musician who is capable of performing wonderful works of music from a variety of composers. It helps me to appreciate those with disorders because i now know that deep down inside they are all capable of something great. I know a person who i went to Church with and he suffers from a similar disorder but he is a wonderful singer. He has perfect pitch and can sing his can off. From reading The Soloist it helps me to appreciate the wonders of music!! My overall opinion for those reading this book is don't condemn a person in a bad way until you have got to know them just as i was able to do with Nathaniel!

I would like you guys to comment on my approach at this particular assignment was it unique or different? Why or why not?

The Catcher In The Rye

A very interesting and truly amazing story! What made this an interesting book was the fact that the book is written as if Holden is speaking out loud, sort of like a recording of him telling the story to another person. It's amazing how the book flows quite smoothly even though the ideas and topics stated by Holden are not in order or coherence. The book also is written using language of the time in which the book was published. One thing that tells me that this is a good book is the face that i was on the verge of crying when i got finished reading.

The Catcher in the Rye is a book that was published in the early 1950's approximately 1951 and its almost like a personal journal written by Holden Caulfield who is currently going through a lot in his life and is in the midst of seeking medical attention and help from a psychiatric hospital mind you he's only sixteen years of age.. The book follows his life for only a few days and it starts off with him being kicked out of school at the end of the term and it ends sometime around the end of December somewhere close to Christmas. As the book opens its a few days after Holden is told he has felled four out of five classes and he will no longer be able to attend the school he is at and we come to find out this is one of many schools he has been kicked out of due to bad grades. He then goes to talk to a old teacher of his at his apartment and after a short while he grows annoyed and leaves. After leaving his old teachers place he heads back to his dorm and later on gets into a fight with his roommate over a girl he used to date, but his roommate currently dates. The fight leads to Holden getting his nosed busted and leaving Pency.

When he leaves Pency he goes to Manhattan where he checks into a hotel and phones a girl who he hasn't met before and tries to get her to meet with him tonight so that they could possibly have sex, but that doesn't work out. He sits in his room and from where his room is he can see other people's rooms and he sees quite a few interesting scenes. Later he goes down to the hotel's restaurant and makes conversation with two girls who end up joking about his age leaving him to pay for their tabs. Later in the story, which happens to be thee best part well my favorite part, he goes to a park to look for his little sister, but runs into one of her friends who tells him that she may be at a museum, he goes to the museum but doesn't go in, instead he goes to a hotel and meets up with a girl named Sally. After going on a date with Sally he pisses her off causing her to leave, because of this he meets up with an old colleague and goes out to a bar and drinks till he can barely walk. Later that night he sneaks in his apartment building and decides to wake his sister and in doing so he's forced to tell her he's been kicked out of school. Drunk as ever he calls an old teacher of his who allows him to come to his house. Holden sleeps there for a matter of hours and wakes to find his old teacher rubbing his forehead, but this creeps Holden out so he gets up and leaves and heads to his Grand Central Station where he stays and sleeps for a few hours. When he leaves Grand Central Station he goes to his sister's school and leaves her a note stating that he will be leaving school and they should meet up soon at a museum. When he meets his sister at the museum she is carrying a suitcase full of close and she pleads with Holden to take her, but he refuses and tells her he is not gonna go either. He takes her to a park and puts her on a carousel and as it begins to pour he is filled with such happiness watching his sister on the carousel that he almost starts to cry. This is where he ends the book and we are told that he has entered a psychiatric hospital and he is seeking help, he also tells us that he will be attending school soon and he warns us that the same things that happened to him could happen to us!

Through out the story it seems as if he had an internal problem that haunted him every single second of his life. It almost seemed as if he was battling with a mental problem and he was in a no win situation, which made me feel bad for him thought out the entire story. I enjoyed the book from start to finish and it left me about to cry. I almost hate the ending (how could u almost hate something right) of the story because of how it ends i just wanted to keep reading and know that he was gonna be ok.

Please grade me on my focus and ideas as a writer!

Gatsby the Great!

The Great Gatsby is by far one of the best books i have read since i been in high school. This book took me on a ride and kept me anxiously turning the pages as i went on an epic journey. This book was capable of grabbing my attention, holding my attention, and it was able to keep me reading day after day. Their were many points that i really enjoyed  but by far my favorite part was when Mrytle got hit but Gatsby's cars. Strange right? I don't know exactly know why this was my favorite part of the book but it was! But the saddest part that really hurt me (LOL) was when Gatsby is murdered. My heart sank when i read my favorite character was murdered. While reading the book my emotions constantly changed i was angry when I learned of Tom's affair, mysterious of Gatsby, and hopeful when i thought that Jordan and Nick would become an item. I could right all day about this book, but ill bring it to a close here. 

The Great Gatsby is a great book and i recommend it to all!!

Death of A Salesman

For my post for Death of A Salesman i choose to find a bunch of quotes that i found uninteresting and quite funny! I'm also going to write a review of it.

• "He's liked, but he's not well liked."
• "The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want."
• "The man knew what he wanted and went out and got it! Walked into a jungle and comes out, the age of twenty-one, and he's rich!"
  
• "A small man can be just as exhausted as a great man."
  
• "I've always made a point of not wasting my life, and every time I come back here I know that all I've done is to waste my life."
  
•  "After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive."
  
• "Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!"
  
• "I'm gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It's the only dream you can have - to come out number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I'm gonna win it for him."
  

Death of A Salesman was a quite interesting book, from the time i read the book till the time i finished i always seemed to be confused. (Seriously) The book was quite interesting yet confusing on my behalf. At times my mind was going on one journey and the book was going in the total opposite direction. When i first started reading the book i asked my self what could possible be this man's problem, referring to the dad. I first assumed he was just crazy and had anger issues, but as i read on i assumed he had a mild case of tourette. While reading i tried to figure out a few themes that could possibly fit this book but as i thought of one it was quickly pushed out of my head by actions, words, and thought by either the characters or the author.

Although this was a challenging book to digest and interpret i enjoyed it from the very first page to the very last one.

I would like you guys to comment on the idea i decided to use for this post. Did you enjoy my post?

Reflections

Using blogger for the third quarter has been valuable in numerous ways and has been a great help. It helped me to think, write, and post in ways different then before. I believe i have grown as a writer since the beginning of the school year. 

From posting my assignments via blogger i have been able to take other people's opinions, process them and reflect them through my work. 

I feel this is an exciting and different way to do work. Its exciting because anybody can read your work and see what a great job you may have or may have not done. I think the idea that anybody in the world can access our work makes us write better. 

Suggestions i have for you are as follows; make sure people actually read somebodies else's work and not just post a comment saying what a wonderful job. Also we would like to see how you grade us.

I think we should be graded as if we were writing an essay for the PSSA's or the ACT's it would make us do a much better job. 

Because of blogger i think it has brought the two classes 11-1 and 11-2 together and has helped our relationships that much better.

The Great Gatsby

The first chapter of the book opens and introduces us to a character by the name of Nick Carraway. He seems to be the narrator and the book is told through his eyes and point of view. He gives us a brief synopsis of his life, previously and presently. The timeline in this story is approximately the summer of 1822 and Nick has just arrived and is starting to begin his new life in West Egg, a small part of Long island. He goes on to tell us about what he learned from growing up and also what he learned from his father. He introduces us to and describes a character to us who goes by the name of Gatsby. Gatsby lives in a nice large mansion and is described as a gorgeous person. Nick also helps us distinguish between West Egg and East Egg, but later goes on to tell us about a trip he takes to visit his cousin Daisy who lives with her husband Tom. Tom receives a phone call from a woman. Later Jordan tells Nick that the woman is Tom's girlfriend. Soon after Tom and Daisy try to persuade Nick into hooking up with or asking Jordan out, but Tom leaves and when he arrives home he finally sees Gatsby for the first time.

American Poetry Supermarket

The poem i choose was, Bury Me in a Free Land by Frances Ellen Watkins. (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bury-me-in-a-free-land-2/)
The author was born in Maryland which was a free state during the time she was born and attend the Academy for Negro Youth, which i believe gave her some inspiration on the poems she wrote and the topics she wrote about. During her life Frances also acted as an activist and while living in a underground railroad station and this may have also gave her some kind of inspiration for her poem.

Kate Chopin

The ideals of Kate Chopin do not compare with those of other authors of the American Romantics we have read about. The American Romantics focused on ones connection with nature, visual arts, music, and literature. Instead Kate focuses on the issues women face such as a oppression. Kate is unable to connect with other authors because of the topics and ideas she focuses on and chose to write about. She does hint a bit of Romanticism in the images she creates through detail and descriptive language. Although she doesn't really talk about Romanticism we can see a progression toward realism because the two stories i read that she wrote both focus on real life issues revolving around women.

In both stories Kate sides with women and write about the hardships and issues they face. In one story a lady by the name of Mrs.Sommers is poor and oppressed she finds $15 and decides to spend it on her kids but when she goes shopping she does the exact opposite. She spends the money on her self and makes her self feel good. Kate also seems to write from a feminist point of few. She writes about women and there struggles, their struggles to find a name for themselves and show the world who they really are.

I think that Kate Chopin writes for the world surrounding her, but mainly women. I think she wants the world to realize women are unique individuals with unique wants and needs. She seems to mainly write to all those women out there who face oppression and face issues which she can relate to. Her stories can also be a source of advice and help women over come many fears issues and hardships.

The fact that she wants to help other women facing problems similar to hers. I admire the fact that she wants to help people and let them know they are not alone they can get help. She also holds me to her writing because it is so true and helpful.

"Little Mrs Sommers one day found herself the unexpected possessor of fifteen dollars.  It seemed to her a very large amount of money, and the way in which it stuffed and bulged her worn old porte-monnaie gave her a feeling of importance such as she had not enjoyed for years." This shows how $15.00 gave this women such pride and joy. It makes me smile and feel good inside just like Mrs.Sommer. I like the fact that the $15 makes Mrs.Sommer feel special, i love to see other people happy and full of joy.

Social Change

Writing does indeed have the power to enact social change. There are many forms of writing that can enact social change, such as poem, short stories, epics, essays, and speeches. Pieces of writing i find to have the greatest impact on social change are speeches. Speeches can move a person, a group, a nation, or even a whole world which is why i believe that speeches have the greatest enact impact on social change.

Obama's victory speech given on, November 4, 2008 made a major impact on my life and my generation. He set the standard for all African Americans of all ages. Children were able to believe that one day they could be something great, maybe even the President. It gave a lot of people hope that there will be a better tomorrow. As i watched him give the speech i felt a feeling of joy and pride overcome my body. His famous words from his speech will forever ring in my head, "Yes We Can!"

Another form of writing that helps enact social change is poetry. There are many forms of poetry out there some that will make you laugh and some that will even make you cry, but the one i find to have the greatest impact are those one in which somebody expresses there love for something or someone. A poem i have always been fond of is entitled, "Mother to Son." In this poem he writes about a mother speaking to her son about life's experiences. In this poem he capture our perspective on life, our hopes for the future, and our dream that every child’s life will be fulfilled and lived happily. This poem moved a lot of people. It helps to show people that they need to treat their parents with the respect they deserve and need.


So think about it! Writing is a powerful thing and it has the ability to change a person, a group, a nation, better yet this whole entire earth. In closing writing has the power to do a lot most importantly enact social change!

Price of A Child

What Am I Worth?

What am i worth?
What is the price of a child?
Am i worth $200.00, maybe $500.00.
No! No!
Try $25.89!
Is the price of a child worth risking a life?
I come with a receipt and even a bar code,
I come with a stamp saying, "Best If Used By....,"
and a date follows.
My life was sold and so was my soul.
I work endless days
and i cant sleep through the endless nights?
Moving to a new place with a man i really hate,
Trying to escape but i cant find the strength!
Afraid to run, yet i can taste the freedom.
I put my trust in a man who's skin color is the same as mine!
Until i see the day i finally receive my freedom I'll never know,
the price of a life, a soul, but most importantly a child!