This is a fan made sequel to the story Touching Spirit Bear, in continuation of the original story. Cole Matthews, the protagonist of the original story, was a young fifteen year old boy who had anger issues, and was also a convict. He assaulted one of his fellow students in a school parking lot and was later taken into custody, that’s when the Circle of Justice, an alternative form of justice, took over Cole’s case and sent him away to Alaskan Island for rehabitive purposes. On the island, Cole learns forgiveness, patience, and anger management. Cole also had an abusive father who Cole would sometimes blame for his own actions. In this fan-made sequel to Touching Spirit, Bear Cole learns about his father's past and gains a greater understanding …show more content…
Cole felt a sense of closure as he left the prison facility. His therapist was right, this visit did take away the guilt he felt from not visiting his father for so long, but now he has so many questions for him. As soon as Cole got home, he went straight up to his office to schedule his next visit to his father. “Next time I want to be more prepared for the visit.” Cole thought to himself. After a few minutes of thinking, he picked up his notebook and wrote down questions he wanted to ask his father the next time he saw him. While brainstorming, Cole realized that he never really knew what his father did for work before he was incarcerated. Of course, he knew his father was the CEO of a couple of businesses, but what is it that made him famous? Cole put his notebook to the side and opened up his laptop, he then typed in the search bar, “William Matthews”, the name of his father, and the results he saw surprised him. “My dad was a boxer?” Cole said aloud in amazement. As the night continued Cole continued to watch highlights of his father’s boxing matches, astonished by his
This book is Touching Spirit Bear By Ben Mikaelsen. Touching Spirit Bear is about a 15 year old boy who has been abused and is into crime. The books starts right before he beats up a kid. He then goes to circle justice and is sent to an island to change his ways then he almost dies and goes back later and wants to get rid of his anger problem and change. In the book there is three types of conflict Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, and Man vs Self. In the beginning Cole beat up a kid named Peter and Cole then had to try to heal himself by learning how to forgive, get over his anger ,and learn to have a clean mind.
“Another source of greatness is difficulty. When any work seems to have required immense force and labour to effect it, the idea is grand” (Edmund Burke).We may not enjoy tremendous obstacles while we’re experiencing them, but when they’re over, we can definitely see the benefits. In Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, the protagonist, Cole, has had to face many obstacles in his life, such as his abusive father, his neglectful mother and his anger. Many people can relate to Cole because they, too, have had many obstacles in their life. Overcoming obstacles makes Cole more empathetic and emotionally stable. Empathy is important because it is what allows humans to be human. Being mentally
After reading the story, Touching Spirit Bear, I learned that the main character, Cole Matthews, is a stubborn, ill-tempered, bully that enjoys watching others suffer and or go through pain. Infact, it is is stubborn, ill-tempered, bullying ways that lands him in his very own jail cell at the age of fifteen. “He was an innocent-looking, baby-faced fifteen-year-old from Minneapolis who had been in trouble with the law half his life.” (pg. 5 Touching Spirit Bear) This piece of information is very important because this leads up to his proper punishment, but if I am correct that quote states that he has been in trouble with the law since he was seven and a half. Finally at the age of fifteen they figured out how to get through
It is an emotional and heart-rending chronicle about raising in the dirt-poor of the Alabama hills--and all about moving on with the life but never actually being capable to leave (Bragg, 1997, p. 183). The exceptional blessing for evocation and thoughtful insight and the dramatic voice for the account--notifying readers that author has gained a Pulitzer Award for this featured writing. It is a wrenching account of his own upbringing and family. The story moves around a war haunted, alcoholic person (Bragg's father) and a determined and loving mother who made hard efforts to safeguard her children from the harsh effects of poverty and ignorance, which has constricted her own living standard. In this account, author was talented enough to create for himself on the strength of his mother's support and strong conviction. He left house only to follow his dreams and pursue a respectable career in life, however he is strongly linked to his ancestry. In addition, the memoir shows the efforts of Bragg in which he has both compensated and took revenge from the cruelties of his early childhood. Author's approach towards his past seems quite ambivalent and
The path of Wes, the felon, was a life filled with drugs, anger, and reckless choices. His mother and brother were the major
In this memoir, James gives the reader a view into his and his mother's past, and how truly similar they were. Throughout his life, he showed the reader that there were monumental events that impacted his life forever, even if he
Since the beginning of the year we have been reading a book by Ben Mikaelsen named Touching Spirit Bear. Cole starts out as a devious miscreant who never forgave or forgot. Cole soon gets banished to an island for a year. Throughout his experience he learns to start caring and forgiving after being mauled by a bear. To add to that he makes totem faces for everything he encounters such as sparrows, wolves, mice and bears. Each teaching him how he was and what they represented. This project is about how I can be like Cole and make a totem about my life and each animal face symbolizes every part of my life.
In their respective life journey, both Wes Moores often found them facing with some hard choices or decision to make or standing at a crossroads of life change without knowing which way to turn. Therefore, “for all of us who live in the most precarious places in this country, our destinies can be determined by a single stumble down the wrong path or a tentative step down the right one” (Moore xiv). During their early childhood, both Wes Moores struggle at school and had troubles with the law. However, for the author Wes Moore, attending the military school was the biggest turning point in his life. Aware of his mother’s determination, his family’s sacrifice, and encouragement from classmates and instructors as well as the influence of role models, the author Wes Moore finally made up his mind that he wanted to succeed in the military school. At the end, the author Wes Moore fulfilled his dream and did well academically from then on. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore had tumbled on a series of missteps along the road: dropping out of school, getting involved with drug trade, committing violent crimes, and being a father of four when he was so young and immature. Even though there was a time when he tried to reinvent himself: joining the Job Corp, getting a high school diploma, and finding some decent jobs, the reality and his making-quick-money mentality eventually brought him back to the original path with no return. At last, by committing an armed robbery that left a police officer dead, the other Wes Moore irreversibly drove himself to the dead end of life. Obviously, based on their early life experiences, both Wes Moores would have gone the same route to failure. Nevertheless, at some critical points of their lives, the author Wes Moore made some good choices with intervention and guidance of good people while the other Wes Moore lost his footing under undue
In a compelling story of forgiveness and moving on, Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton shared their journey with the Ferris community. Thompson took the audience to a setting in July 29, 1984, by recounting the night of her rape and the measures she went to memorize the face of evil. Thompson, with utmost certainty, declared Cotton her rapist after hours of police interrogations, forming sketches, and a lineup. Cotton was sentenced to life in prison but was at Ferris to share his side of the story and how DNA testing changed his life (Picking Cotton). The events of 1984 were told from two separate accounts, with distinguished parallels discussing the importance of DNA, misidentification, and coercion from police. The rape of Thompson not only affected herself, but Cotton as well.
discusses his life as a kid, and how he was accidentally placed in a vocational program in his
J Cole’s fourth studio album tries to break away from the typical rap sounding album into something that transcends just a piece of artwork. Instead, it is a piece of artwork. At its core, the meaning challenges the idea of glorifying a life of crime. Using imagery and strong word play, J Cole reveals the consequences of living in this life. However, he empathizes
The author and Wes Moore faced very similar environmental changes and challenges. The differences that resulted these two on opposite ends of the spectrum was their family’s influence upon their decisions. The actions of each Wes Moore’s mothers had a great effect in their lives. The author Wes’s mother, as well as his grandparents, played a key role in his success as an adult. The sacrifices of time and the minimal amount of extra money she made went towards the author and his other siblings which ensured him the best educational environment. Without his mother, Joy, a college graduate herself, who “raised all of her children together, and she worked multiple jobs to send all of her children to private school” Wes could not have aspired to be where he is today (Moore 48). She persisted with him by laying down her expectations for him to excel in ...
This has shaped me to be who I am today, because I greatly appreciate what I have and take advantage of the opportunities I am given because not everyone is lucky enough to have what one has family plays and will always play a big influence in our lives and in this novel, we are given a great example of how it does. Although Wes didn’t know his father for long, the two memories he had of him and the endless stories his mother would share with him, helped guide him through the right path. His mother, made one of the biggest changes in Wes’s life when she decided to send him to military, after seeing he was going down the wrong path. Perhaps, the other Wes’s mother tried her best to make sure he grew up to be a good person, but unfortunately Wes never listened.
At a young age the narrator thrives off the excitement of wrestling with his father, not only from the thrill of competition but pride for having such a strong father figure. “This ritual of father-son competition in fact had started early in my life” (Kennedy 139). The author develops the narrator at a young age, showing his naivety and excitement in little things such as wrestling. Although the narrator would lose at arm wrestling he would: “…only giggle, happy to have such a strong father” (Kennedy 139). The narrator did not put much thought into wrestling with his father, he only saw it as bonding time. Since the narrator is still young, he accepts that this is the only level from which he would connect with his father, slowly though, his feelings begin to change. As the narrator beings to grow older he wouldn’t “…giggle anymore, at least not around my father” (Kennedy 139). The same activity that the narrator found enjoyment in was getting dull. He was expecting more from his father. The narrator and his father had reached a point in their relationship where the narrator was beginning to surpass his father. “Now my father is
Chris a sixteen year old African male enter into therapy seeking professional help. Chris grew up in an urban neighborhood in New York, together with his mother and father. Chris develop problems due to longing attention. He begins to act out, hang around with the incorrect crowd, and get into fights.