An unknown author says “You’re always one decision away from a totally different life”. In Finding Forrester, Jamal and William Forrester are always making decisions that change their life. Jamal is an African American student who is a good author and basketball player, but he is afraid to show his writing skills because he is afraid of what his friends will think. He is definitely not afraid to show off his basketball skills. Him and his friends will be playing basketball on the outside court and there is, what they believe, a stalker watching them. One day, Jamal's friends dare him to break into the stalkers apartment and steal something. Jamal takes on this dare and decides to go into his apartment through the window. While looking through …show more content…
Jamal is a great student and basketball player, but he is afraid to show his talent of writing. He especially does not want his friends to know because he afraid of what they are going to say. Despite all of this, William and his teachers push him to show he writing talent. Them challenging him transforms him into becoming a better writer. According to Clinton(2001), “But he hides his academic abilities from his friends in fear of being rejected” (p2). This means that Jamal is a great student, but he does not want to show it because he is afraid of losing his friends. This shows that William and his teachers all encourage him to show his talent, by doing this, it transforms him into a better author. His writings are so good Professor Crawford thinks he plagiarized. The significance of this is that Jamal had many people on his side helping him transform into the best author he could be. We also find that William does not like leaving his home. William does not leave his home for many years. Jamal comes into his life to transform him into someone who is willing to go outside. He pushes William into the now outgoing person he is. Holden (2000) states, “Forrester rarely if ever leaves the apartment. Essentials are brought to him by a publishing-house lackey. In fact, Forrester appears to have had no life at all for the past four decades.” This means that Forrester never leaves his home, and everything is brought to …show more content…
Jamal gets offered a full ride scholarship to a private school. He is hesitant to go to this school because he will be an outcast from the rich kids. He transformed by getting to know people and the place. When he goes to this school, it allows him to show off his writing abilities. “Then fate intervenes when Jamal is recruited by an elite Manhattan prep school. He’s been chosen not just for his writing skills, but also also for his prowess on the basketball court”,() This means that, Jamal gets the opportunity to go to a Manhattan prep school for free. They recruit him not only for his writing skills but for his basketball skills too. But will Jamal will be an outcast within the rich kids. He transforms by getting to know people, like Claire. At this Manhattan school, he also gets to show off his writing skills. The significance of this is that Jamal may not fit in with his lifestyle but he can fit in with his writing abilities. This allows him transform into the writer he is. William first opens up to Jamal in the Yankee stadium. William is not only helping Jamal, but he is helping himself. “Of course, the dramatic trade off here is that Forrester helps the boy deal with the academic world, while Jamal brings Forrester back into the world of reality which the author rejected decades before.”#2 This means that while Forrester was helping Jamal become a better author, Jamal was also helping
As the protagonist, Taylor leads a life far from the ordinary, and gains matures and gains worldly knowledge through a journey most couldn't dream of. Deciding to leave her home in Pittman County, Kentucky she was the one to get away, both in mind and body. The culture of where she grew up didn't fit her personality, and she decided she wouldn't let herself fall into the life of the other people in her town. She bought a car and hit the road, with no plan or destination to adhere to. This journey shows the type of personality she possesses, and throughout the journey how it advances. Taylor was already quite an admirable person, and she already possessed many good traits. She was already independent and knew there was more to see in the world than what there was in Pittman County. She knew that there was room for improvement and infinite things to learn in the world, she just didn't know what they were. Sadly, most of what she lea...
The novel Makes Me Wanna Holler discuss the problems of the black Americans from an insider prospective. When I say black Americans, I mean from the cultural issues, fatherhood, family, and how blacks working class families are anything, but lazy. Nathan recalls his troubled childhood, rehabilitation while in prison, and his success with the Washington Post. The novel helped me understand the mindset of black males and why some choose to be affiliated with gangs. Additionally, I learned that bouncing back from a hardship time help you regain strength because Nathan went threw a lot. However, I did not relate to the novel, but I understood the concept of it. The title of this book speaks out loud about the inner struggle that he dealt. I did relate to the racial incidents and wanting to work early to have the best appearance. I actually did enjoy the
The second conflict between Jamal and Mr. Crawford was when Mr. Crawford didn’t believe that Jamal wrote a paper that he was assigned to write . Mr. Crawford told Jamal that he would have to write the whole paper over in his office. Even though Jamal was trying to convince Mr. Crawford that it was his paper, Mr. Crawford still didn’t believe him. Jamal did the essay anyway.
“Why is it sports is the only thing white people see us being successful at? I do not want to play football,’ he said, ‘I want to be a lawyer” (Kidd 120-121). Zach Taylor represents the social conflict of limiting a race and stereotypes, specifically towards African Americans. Sue Monk Kidd responded to these discriminations by creating his aspirations be to become a lawyer, which was extremely difficult in that time period since African American lawyer were unheard of and on top of that, they were still facing prejudice. “Changes were coming, even to South Carolina - you could practically smell them in the air - and Zach would bring them. He would be one of those drum majors for freedom that Martin Luther Jr. talked about” (Kidd 231). In this novel Zach Taylor is the monument for change and civil rights in this novel his character shows racism and prejudice shown towards African Americans. Sue Monk Kidd represented this social issue perfectly by creating Zach’s driven and determined mindset, which in the future would help change occur in South Carolina and because of that specific social issue the author made Zach’s character to overcome those challenges. As an African American man, Zach Taylor still has to go through many hardships to accomplish what he wants in life, but his character’s mentality helps him beat the odds and the discrimination and stereotypes associated with his skin
It also deals with the emotions that this black boy faces because he has been treated unfairly by the white people. Major Characters: Jefferson, black boy who is accused of a crime and sentenced to death; Grant Wiggons, teacher sent to help Jefferson. After he went and obtained a college degree, Grant Wiggins went back to live with his grandmother. Being that he is a very educated person, Grant was elected by his grandmother to try and get Jefferson to realize that he was a man and not an animal like the white people had led him to believe. Throughout the entire novel, Grant is battling this idea in his head because he doesn’t feel that even he knows what it is to be a man.
Not too many people thought of him as being anything more than that, due to the fact that Jamal makes mediocre grades in his school in the Bronx, he does just enough to get by and to maintain a “C” average. Jamal did not push himself any harder in the classroom than he needed to. Jamal’s passion is writing, He meets a famous old writer named William Forrester through a dare, who has been watching him when he plays basketball at the parking lots. Little do they know when they first meet what a great difference they would each eventually make for each other. William is the first to help Jamal by helping him in his writing. Jamal is a great writer but just doesn’t know it yet. William helps Jamal find himself in his writing, and Jamal prospers into quite a good writer. The help didn’t really stop there either. Jamal would tell William all about his day and
A character named Jefferson, an African American male, is wrongly accused when he is in the wrong place at the time during a shoot-out between two African American men and a storeowner. During the shoot-out the storeowner and both men were shot and killed, Jefferson in shock stays at the scene of the crime until authorities arrived and arrested and tried Jefferson for murder. Jefferson being found guilty and compared to a hog fills him with hate and anger. Jefferson has an aunt that reaches out to a creditable teacher at a local school named Grant; she gets Grant to help Jefferson find a purpose. Grant helps Jefferson find a sense of dignity, although it took some time he was successful. Grant later focuses his time and energy on the importance of Jefferson’s death and tries to explain it to him. Jefferson doesn’t really understand it until members of the community come to visit him; young children, old men, strangers, friends, all come to see Jefferson in his cell and speak to him. The onslaught of attention makes Jefferson begin to understand the enormity of his task. He now realizes that he has become much more than an ordinary man and that his death will represent much more than an ordinary death. Gaines emphasizes the worth and dignity of everyday heroes like Jefferson; just as Christ did during his
The gravel clinks on the bottom of your car as you pull into your driveway. You get out of the car, and walk along the path to your house, the sun shining through the green leaves of the trees, casting shadows on your face. You don’t look different, but you have changed. The strong religious views pressed onto you by your aunt, no longer as strong. The naïve boy/girl that left before college, is now an educated man/woman, which is very rare where you come from. Grant Wiggins is an educated black man in the small town of Bayonne, which is a rarity. He teaches at a schoolhouse on the plantation he lives at. He returns home from college with new religious views that differentiate from his aunts, as well as with an increased educational level.
Within his journey he was able to learn a tremendous amount of information about himself as well as the society he lived in. Although in order for this to happen he had to exile from his former hometown. After graduating high school the narrator went off to college and had the honor of driving one of the schools founders. While driving Mr. Norton, one of the school founders, the narrator went on a tangent about different things that has happened on campus. He soon mentioned Trueblood and his actions with his daughter to Mr. Norton, Afterwards the narrator led Mr. Norton to the bar/asylum. This is when the real troubles begin. Mr. Bledsoe, the college’s president, found out about the narrators doings and expelled him. When he expelled the narrator, Mr. Bledsoe sent him to New York with seven letters to get a job. By the narrator being exiled he now has a chance to experience life on his own and use the knowledge from his experience to enrich his life and others. The narrator’s trial and tribulations will speak for the feelings and thoughts of many African Americans in the 1940s
The film, Finding Forrester, characterizes the unlikely relationship formed, between a withdrawn, hermit writer William Forrester, and Jamal Wallace, a basketball star from the Bronx, through their mutual proclivity for the art of writing. The plot of the film revolves around Jamal’s transitions to a highly prestigious private school and the events that led to Forrester becoming a mentor towards Jamal’s writing. Both reclusive in nature, for Jamal his academic endeavors, and Forrester nearly all aspects of his life; together, their shared bond opens them up further to the world. The title, Finding Forrester, refers to the mutualistic beneficial nature of their friendship, in that Jamal helps Forrester find himself, in addition to Forrester
The central ideas of: Racial tensions, racial identity, and systemic oppression, all assist in revealing the author’s purpose. As Malcolm changes throughout the story, his wordhoard and usage of various terms changes as well as the structure of sentences. From half-sentences to long blocks of text, Malcolm’s status also affected the style and structure of his writing; If Malcolm was in a party, the structure would consist of small half sentences as opposed to if Malcolm was telling scenery of a bar in which he would use long descriptive sentences of the setting. Throughout all the chapters, the author was capable of placing vivid images and allowing the reader to experience all the problems and threats Malcolm had to deal
The narrator’s beliefs lie in obedience, while Bledsoe holds to a much more complex interpretation. For example, after being accused of purposely taking Mr. Norton to the slave quarters, the narrator tries to explain his innocence, stating that “‘he asked me to’” (102). However, Bledsoe responds, “‘Damn what he wants… We take these white folks where we want them to go, we show them what we want them to see’” (102). This statement, which clearly illustrates Bledsoe’s conformist ideology, strikes a blow at the core beliefs of the narrator, causing him to question how his obedience to white authority could land him in such a predicament. Despite keeping “unswervingly to the path placed before [him],” (146) the narrator struggles to comprehend how his dutiful actions could lead to the destruction of his future. This shattering of beliefs forces him to adopt an even more stringent policy of conformism as he heads off to New York. However, his attempts at conforming to the expectations of the college fail miserably, furthering him along his path towards individual identity. This act of disenchantment is a step in the right direction on his path towards personal
A person’s attitude is mostly what everyone around him or her will view them as. From this they can tell many things. Whether it is if the person is funny or down to earth or even irresponsible. Many times people change personalities often and they would be classified as being a dynamic type of person. A person who is doesn’t change is classified as being a static character. Willy, from Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller, is a static character for his inability to grasp reality, his poor parenting and his constant lying to his wife.
Although Mrs. Forrester is able to end her life as a happy person, before that the reader witnessed a huge shift in her attitudes toward life. In large part, was due to the difficult transition from the Old World to the New World that Mrs. Forrester endured. At first, Niel finds Marian as the ideal women who represented the Old World but failed to realize it was a false image. With that, he is at a lost when he cannot save the “old” Mrs. Forrester. Mrs. Forrester leads to becoming what the reader knows as the acclaimed lost lady who confronts the realization that times have changed especially as Mr. Forrester passes.
The main protagonist of the story, Elizabeth Bennet (nicknamed both Lizzy and Eliza), is the second daughter in the Bennet family. Second only to her elder sister in beauty, Elizabeth’s figure is said to be “light and pleasing,” with “dark eyes,” and “intelligent…expression” (24). At 20 years old, she is still creating her place in society. Known for her wit and playful nature, “Elizabeth is the soul of Pride and Prejudice, [she] reveals in her own person the very title qualities that she spots so easily” (“Pride and Prejudice”) in others. Her insightfulness often leads her to jump to conclusions and think herself above social demand. These tendencies lead her to be prejudice towards others; this is an essential characteristic of her role