Run Baby Run, by Nicky Cruz
Run Baby Run is the autobiography of an inspiring Christian, Nicky Cruz, who wasn't always serving the Lord. Nicky grew up in Puerto Rico, where his mother and father were spiritualists. His childhood was hard and lonely and he was convinced no one loved him. Nicky felt alone in the world at a young age and this made a deep hatred begin to grow inside him.
By the time Nicky was 16 his parents could no longer handle him and sent him to live with his brother, Frank, in New York City. When Nicky arrived in New York, he was scared and even lonelier. Speaking limited English, Nicky found his way to his brother's house and stayed there for awhile. Before long, Nicky got into trouble at school and left his brother's house. Nicky was living along on the streets. He soon became active in the gangs and eventually was the most feared gang leader in all of New York.
When things were beginning to seem hopeless for Nicky, a skinny little preacher named David Wilkerson confronted Nicky's gang. David told Nicky that Jesus loved him, No one had ever said that to Nicky before, and it deeply effected him. Nicky decided to live his life for Jesus and leave his gang life.
The next year, Nicky left for California and enrolled in a Bible school. While there, he met a lovely woman named Gloria whom he later married. After finishing his Bible schooling, he started Teen Challenge back where he grew up in Brooklyn. He brought many gang members, drug-dealers and homosexuals off the streets and to Christ. He turned his life around and lived strongly for the Lord.
Love was a major godly principle that deeply effected the characters in Run Baby Run. Nicky Cruz felt like he needed love his whole life. Finally, the love of God was shown to him through David Wilkerson and it changed his life. Nicky was able to pass that love on to others and it effected so many hardened hearts. If this glimmer of love had never entered the life of Nicky, he would never have transformed into such a man of God. Nicky would never have brought so many others to Christ if not for the Love of God.
Another Godly principle that was at work in this story is faith.
Now that we all have this knowledge and have a language to deal with it visually, it’s the time to start dealing with some of the more playful things. We’ve accepted privilege, we’re conscious of all these major issues that the generation before us laid down. — Rashid Johnson
The older brother, the narrator, finds himself struggling at the beginning of the story. While riding the subway, he reads in the paper that Sonny has been arrested for possession of drugs. During his day of teaching, he reflects on prior years with Sonny and their past adventures as young boys. He remembers Sonny's "wonderfully direct brown eyes, and great gentleness and privacy." The narrator sees his brother as a good boy, not "hard or evil or disrespectful." He wonders how many of his algebra students are similar to Sonny in appearance and personality along with his drug habits. This comparison allows the older brother to conclude that Sonny was probably not arrested on his initial use of drugs. It also allows the narrator is see that Sonny may be like most of the other young boys in Harlem.
Miguel Castaneda is the narrator and main character of the story “We Were Here”. Miguel is a young teenager from Stockton, California. He is dark complected because of his Mexican background but he does not have the personality to do the work like that of his Mexican relatives. I know this because in the story it says, “Told us we might be dark on the outside, but inside we were like a couple blonde boys from Hollywood.” He is very different from the rest of his family in terms of being able to handle situations that are put in front of him and completing the task at hand.
As much as generous and honest Nick Carraway is, he still needs a few important improvements in himself. Nick went to Yale, fought in world war one and moved to East of New York to work in finance. After moving to New York, Nick faces tough dilemmas throughout the story such as revealing secrets, and witnessing betrayal. His innocence and malevolence toward others was beyond his control. He did not have the ability or knowledge to know what he should have done in the spots he was set in. He seemed lost and having no control of what went on- almost trapped- but indeed, he had more control than he could have ever known. Because of the situations he has experienced and the people he has met, such as Gatsby, Tom, Jordan and Daisy, his point of view on the world changed dramatically which is very depressing. Trusting the others and caring for them greatly has put him in a disheartening gloomy position.
Martin Luther King once said, "we must live together as brothers or perish as fools." This statement illuminates the importance of the features of concern, compassion, and knowledge. The color of a person’s skin tone would result in harsh and unfair treatment. Even though they would be alienated by their peers and others, many African Americans chose to stand up for their rights. These truths were revealed when the famous little rock nine took their courageous stand regardless of their odds. In the novel, Warriors don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals and a Roundtable discussion facilitated by NBC news, the disturbing truths behind the struggles of integration are brought to life.
The fundamental characteristic of magical realism is its duality, which enables the reader to experience both the character’s past and the present. In the novel, Monkey Beach, Eden Robinson uses this literary device to address the the trauma and mistreatment of the Haisla community in Canada by unveiling the intimate memories of the protagonist, Lisamarie, and the resulting consequences of this oppression. Monkey Beach illustrates how abuse in the past leads to another form of self-medication in the future - a neverending, vicious cycle for the members of the Haisla community. Many characters in Monkey Beach are scarred from childhood sexual abuse and family neglect, and resort to drug and alcohol abuse as a coping mechanism. These appalling memories are an account of the impact of colonization on the Haisla territory which continues to haunt the Aboriginal community throughout generations.
Common dictionary definitions for the word run are “to go rapidly or hurriedly” from Merriam-Webster.com and “to go quickly by moving the legs more rapidly than at a walk…” from dictionary.com. This is what most people think when this word
What do we learn about life in the 18th century and how successfully does the writer convey this information whilst telling us a good story?
Suga Boom Boom (Chasing Dragons) was written and sung by D. L. Downer a.k.a. James Williams and his 16-year-old niece Laleazy. It is a rap and hip-hop song that was released on October 26, 2014. It was produced as a single by MajorEpic music label and is two minutes and fifty-five seconds long. This song is a metaphor for James Williams’ life and it is about a man who was working and living his life like everyone else when he was led to try heroin for the first time. This caused him to lose his job because he was not going to work. One day when he was going through severe withdrawals, he decided to attack and rob a man, even though he was in clear view of the cops because he wanted more heroin. Suga Boom Boom is like a metaphor for James Williams’
Before taking this course, I always looked at films and read books just as the average person does; interesting plot and how long will it hold my interest, but this course gave me an entire different perspective when watching films and reading books. Now that I have taken this course and have watched the required films, the most important thing when watching other movies and reading books, is the meaning behind each scene and how they relate and affect our world. For this paper, I will discuss a book that I read a long time ago, which is She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb and how this book relates to this course.
Justin Torres Novel We the Animals is a story about three brothers who lived a harassed childhood life. There parents are both young and have no permanent jobs to support their family. The narrator and his brothers are delinquents who are mostly outside, causing trouble, causing and getting involved in a lot of problems and barely attending school, which their parents allowed them to do. The narrator and his brothers were physically abused by their father, leading them to become more violent to one another and others, drinking alcohol and dropping out of school. Physical abuse is an abuse involving one person’s intention to cause feelings of pain, injury and other physical suffering and bodily harm to the victim. Children are more sensitive to physical abuse, they show symptoms of physical abuse in short run and more effects in the long run. Children who sustain physical abuse grow up with severely damaged of sense of self and inability. The narrator and his brothers were physically abused by their father and showed long run symptoms of Antisocial behaviors, drinking problems and most importantly they becoming more violent themselves. Many psychological and sociological studies such as “Childhood history of abuse and child abuse potential: role of parent’s gender and timing of childhood abuse” and “school factors as moderators of the relationship between physical child abuse and pathways of antisocial behavior can be used to prove the argument that children who sustain physical abuse grow up with criminal and antisocial behaviors.
Nick graduated from New Haven in 1905, he participated in the great war. Jay decided to go east and learn the bond business. He then rented a home in New York, he was lonely then one day helped a man find West Egg Village. Nick lived near Mr. Gatsby 's mansion, he then drove out to have dinner with Tom Buchanan, and Daisy in Chicago. Nick then spent time with Daisy, Tom, and Miss Baker. Daisy talked to Nick about the
he had nothing to do after school. Both he and G-Ball joined a gang by choice.
A seemingly easy read, The Great Gatsby has won over critics around the world, and rightfully so, has become one of today's greatest classics due to its complex literary content. The narrator of the novel, Nick Carraway, grew up in the Midwestern United States and went to school at Yale University. Returning home after traveling a great deal, he is discontent and decides to move to the East in 1922, renting a house in Long Island's West Egg section. Jay Gatsby is a wealthy neighbor living next door in a lavish mansion where he holds many extravagant weekend parties. His name is mentioned while Nick is visiting a relative, Daisy. As it turns out, Jay Gatsby had met Daisy five years before while in the military. Meanwhile Gatsby spent all of his effort after the war to buy his mansion through shady business dealings in order to be nearer to Daisy in the hope that she would leave her rich husband, Tom, for him. Daisy is impressed by Gatsby's wealth and the two begin spending much time together, raising the suspicions of Tom who had also has his own affair with a gas station owner's wife, Myrtle Wilson.
A person's ability to develop is due to two factors, maturation and learning. Although maturation, or the biological development of genes, is important, it is the learning - the process through which we develop through our experiences, which make us who we are (Shaffer, 8). In pre-modern times, a child was not treated like they are today. The child was dressed like and worked along side adults, in hope that they would become them, yet more modern times the child's need to play and be treated differently than adults has become recognized. Along with these notions of pre-modern children and their developmental skills came the ideas of original sin and innate purity. These philosophical ideas about children were the views that children were either born "good" or "bad" and that these were the basis for what would come of their life.