For the final assignment I chose to write about the blind side. “The Blind Side” is a true story, the life of Michael Oher, a homeless teenager who was able to defeat great obstacles in order to achieve his goal- to be a first round draft pick in the national football league. Michael Oher had an extremely tough upbringing, as he had an absent father and his mother was hooked on drugs. Oher was in and out of foster homes and sometimes even living on the streets. The head football coach at Wingate, a very exclusive private school, saw the possibilities that lay inside Michael and got him accepted into the highly regarded school. Although Michael was a student at an excellent school he still had major issues such as learning disabilities and …show more content…
not having a permanent home. Leigh Anne Tuohy, one of the major characters in this movie is the mother of two Wingate students, Collins and SJ short for Sean Jr, and wife of the owner of many Taco Bell restaurants, learns about Michael’s difficult situation and asks him to stay the night at their home. Once Michael arrives in the Tuohy home, an extremely close bond forms between him and the Tuohys. After the one night happens, this becomes a permanent solution to Michael's living situation- this is something he is very pleased about. Leigh Anne makes it her duty to make sure Michael has anything he could ever need not only emotionally but academically to graduate from his high school and to get accepted to Ole Miss. This movie has everything. As you see it from beginning to end, you will encounter deep feelings of both sorrow and bliss. Although there were several emotional parts of this movie, one of the saddest parts of this film is where Leigh Anne goes looking for Oher’s mother. You are able to see the awful environment in which he has grown up, including drugs and dirt, one of the happier scenes in the film is when Leigh Anne is having a meal with some of her wealthy white friends. At lunch they are talking about the possibility of the adoption of Michael Oher by the Tuohy family. One of the rude women make comments that Leigh Anne should really be worried about the safety of her beautiful, white daughter Collins. Leigh Anne very hurt tells the women they should be beyond ashamed of themselves for thinking that way at all which shows how racist they were. There are also many scenes that will make you laugh until your stomach hurts.
For example, in one scene, Oher blocks an opposing team’s player all the way off the field. After the whistle, Oher says, “Sorry, Coach. I stopped when I heard the whistle.” The coach asks where Michael was taking the opposing player. He responds, “The bus. It was time for him to go home.” In that same game, the referee throws a flag on Michael. The coach then asks why he threw the flag. The referee says, “excessive blocking.”The many many sacrifices that the Tuohy family were easily able to make for a complete stranger are beyond inspiring.
The Blind Side Written by Michael Lewis, contains two separate stories. One talks about the difficult life of an african american teenager named Michael Oher. The development of the position Michael will eventually play in football. The left tackle position,, is one of the most important if not the most important in the entire sport, for the person playing this position they are responsible for protecting the quarterback's "blind side."
Michael Oher, even though he has never played a single down in the NFL, he is considered the best left tackle in the whole country. Michael Oher is no normal football genius, being a result of one of the poorest cities in the country, He grows up in housing projects, foster homes, and any other place where he can find a spot to lay his tired l
head.. A man named Big Tony takes Michael under his wing to get him admitted in one of Memphis's highly regarded private Christian schools. Sadly, Michael's school transcripts are terrible. Michael seems to be functioning at a grade level below where he should be. Although he has many school problems, the administrators agree to admit Michael and help him get through high school. Big Tony who plays the role as one of Michael's guardian angels notices Michael's athletic abilities and tries to give him the opportunity to change his future. Although both the movie and the book share a lot of similarities they have there fair share of their differences. One major difference between the two is that in the book there was simply no Sj character or anyone that closely resembled him. In the movie Sj was one if not the most influential characters helping Michael through everything. Another major difference was that in the book Sean was the one that noticed all of Michael's issues “When Sean Tuohy first spotted Michael Oher sitting in the stands in the Briarcrest gym”(60 Lewis) and wanted to help him while in the movie Leigh Anne was the one who made it her goal to help him with whatever he could possibly need. One of the most significant alterations is that in the book Michael attended Briarcrest Christian while in the movie he attended Wingate Christian. While in the movie it shows Michael fighting with the other gang members from his old neighborhood, in the book the fight that takes place is between Michael and one of his teammates from the University of Mississippi.
Being bold is crucial when exemplifying heroism. Leigh Anne Tuohy steps out of her comfort zone multiple times in the movie The Blind Side to positively affect Michael Oher. Michael Oher is a homeless African American teenager who grew up in the projects around Memphis, TN. Micheal comes from a drug centered and broken family, which lead him to be controlled by Family Services. SJ Tuohy, the son of Leigh Anne, formed the first relationship with Micheal when they bonded over their grade school habits. One
In the story Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger, a football team in Odessa Texas is held up to a standard of being basically kings in their town. The high school kids are judged on if they are able to win football games or not. The community makes it hard to fail and if they do then the players feel the struggle of their failure. In this journal I will be evaluating self to self, self to community and conflict of self to friend/teammate.
Bissinger creates empathy in the reader by narrating the lives of once Permian heros. Charlie Billingsley, a Permian football player, “was somewhere at the top” while he was playing. It was hard for the football town of Odessa to forget “how that son of a bitch played the game in the late sixties”(80). While in Odessa, Permian players receive praise unmatched by even professional football. This unmatchable praise becomes something Permian players like Billingsley become accustomed to, and when he “found out that...you were a lot more expendable in college(80). This lack of appreciation that is equivalent to the one that they have received their whole life makes them go from “a hero one day to a broken down nobody the next”(81). With the realization of this reality, Billingsley becomes one of the many to spend life as a wastrel, living in his memory of playing for the Permian Panthers. The reader becomes empathetic towards how the once likely to succeed Billingsley, becomes another Odessan wastrel due to the over emphasis and extreme praise the Odessan football team receives. Bissinger does not stop with a classic riches to rags story to spur the reader’s empathy but talks about the effect the Odessan attitude toward football has on the health of its players. Just like in many parts of the world, in Odessa, sports equates to manliness and manliness equates to not showing signs of pain. Philip, an eighth grade boy aspiring to one day be a Permian Panther is lauded by his stepfather as he “broke his arm during the first demonstrative series of a game ...[but] managed to set it back in” and continued playing for the rest of the game. It is noted that Philip’s arm “swelled considerably, to the point the forearm pads...had to be cut off”(43). By adding details such as these, Bissinger
Everyday, there are teens that are putting themselves in unbearable situations. Wether if it is being influenced by others to do drugs or alcohol, both causes are very dangerous. Just as one thinks he is ok, standing away from those situations, is the time when danger will strike, and there will be just a few chances to get out. The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore is written about two boys with the same name growing up in similar situations. Both grow up to be surrounded by crime and substance abuse, and both do in fact have several chances to escape those holdbacks. Crime and substance abuse was common because of the locations that both Wes's grew up, and that was ghettos. In the book, The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, the author explores the
The movie I decided to analyze was Remember the Titans. I examined the dilemmas and ethical choices that were displayed throughout the story. In the early 1970s, two schools in Alexandria Virginia integrate forming T.C. Williams High School. The Caucasian head coach of the Titans is replaced by an African American coach (Denzel Washington) from North Carolina, which causes a fury among white parents and students. Tensions arise quickly among the players and throughout the community when players of different races are forced together on the same football team. Coach Boone is a great example of a leader. He knows he faces a tough year of teaching his hated team. But, instead of listening to the hating town or administrators, Boone pushes his team to their limits and forces good relationships between players, regardless of race. His vision for the team involves getting the players concerned in what the team needs to become, and not what it is supposed to be; a waste. Boone is a convincing leader with a brutal, boot camp approach to coaching. He believes in making the players re-build themselves as a team. When Boone says, You will wear a jacket, shirt, and tie. If you don't have one buy one, can't afford one then borrow one from your old man, if you don't have an old man, then find a drunk, trade him for his. It showed that he was a handy Craftsman and wanted done what he wanted done no matter what it took.During training camp, Boone pairs black players with white players and instructs them to learn about each other. This idea is met with a lot of fighting, but black linebacker Julius Campbell and stubborn white All-American Gerry Bertier. It was difficult for the players to cope with the fact they had to play with and compete with ...
The movie The Blind Side is about a homeless young man named Michael Oher, who was from one the worst
I'd like to read Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man as the odyssey of one man's search for identity. Try this scenario: the narrator is briefly an academic, then a factory worker, and then a socialist politico. None of these "careers" works out for him. Yet the narrator's time with the so-called Brotherhood, the socialist group that recruits him, comprises a good deal of the novel. The narrator thinks he's found himself through the Brotherhood. He's the next Booker T. Washington and the new voice of his people. The work he's doing will finally garner him acceptance. He's home.
Both the films, The Blind Side and Rudy, address many common issues. Two in particular that stand out are education and sports. Both Michael Oher and Daniel Ruettiger (Rudy) pursue their education in order to follow their dreams. In these cases, both dreamed of becoming college football players. The long journeys they take to reach their goals bring out each characters motivation and dedication to get to the top.
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 did they know when they first met what a great difference they would eventually make for each other. William is the first to help Jamal by helping him with his writing. Jamal is a great writer, but just doesn’t know it yet.
In the blockbuster movie The Blind Side, director John Lee Hancock brings to light an emotionally charged and compelling story that describes how a young African American teenager perseveres through the trials, tribulations and hardships that surround his childhood. The themes of class, poverty, and also the love and nurturing of family encapsulate the film mainly through the relationship that Mrs. Tuohy and Michael Oher build during the entirety of the movie. This analysis will bring together these themes with sociological ideas seen throughout the course.
Michael’s life began in Brooklyn, New York, on February 17th, 1963, where his parents James and Delores always stood by his side. His father, known for his unending support, always gave Michael advice on what to do, never letting him down. His mother made sure Michael headed in the right direction with everything he did. As a child he enjoyed athletics, engaging in basketball, baseball and football. He practiced baseball with his dad, persistently playing catch whenever time allowed. Baseball was his favorite. Even at a young age he had already tasted success by being voted Most Valuable Player on his team. “That was the first big accomplishment in my life,” Michael recalled (Harris, Laurie).
Coming of age is essential to the theme of many major novels in the literary world. A characters journey through any route to self-discovery outlines a part of the readers own emotional perception of their own self-awareness. This represents a bridge between the book itself and the reader for the stimulating connection amongst the two. It is seen throughout Paradise of the Blind by Duong Thu Huong, Hang’s coming of age represents her development as a woman, her changing process of thinking, and her ability to connect to the reader on a personal level.
Literary tropes are used by authors as a means of figurative language in literature, i.e. they are a figure of speech in which words are used with a nonliteral meaning (“Trope” 1). With this in mind, readers come across the utilization of literary tropes in certain works of American literature. Specifically, readers encounter tropes in the short stories, “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor, and “A Distant Episode” by Paul Bowles. Within these stories, disability is the literary trope that is explicated. In the literal sense, disability, in most cases, is a physical “restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being” (Lefers 1). However, in reference to the mentioned exemplars of literary trope, the authors of these works indicate that disability is not always physical. Rather, it can be mental, that is to say, one who is “disabled” cannot comprehend a particular conception. In the midst of disability in these stories, a sense of superiority is expressed by the main characters and each has a self-realization of some sort that extinguishes their feeling of arrogance.
Psychological research shows, a witness's memory of details during the commission of a crime, has a high probability of containing significant errors. In response to these findings, the question is should witness testimony still be permissible in a court of law? Obviously, the answer to this question is an important one and is debatable. Consequently, what we know is many innocent people go to jail due to eyewitness misidentification. Therefore, it is imperative that all defense attorneys thoroughly evaluate the validity of eyewitness recollection events. Any defense attorney who does anything less is ignoring the findings of the psychological community and its’ study of how the brain functions. As a result, an intense analysis of an
The Blind Side is a film that follows the life of Michael Oher, an underprivileged high school football player that is supported by an upper class family, the Tuohys, and taken into their home. They provide him with shelter and a bed that he says he has never had. As the Tuohys are driving down the street one night, they see Michael walking alone in the cold. Mrs. Tuohy tells her husband to stop the car and she lets Michael inside. The couple discusses later that night about whether it was a good idea or not to allow Michael into their home. They ultimately decide that they are doing what is best for him and they can sacrifice a little bit of their life to help Michael. They support him in school, on the football field, and when he is