The Other Wes Moore––Blog Post Two (up to page 97)
Please respond to each of the questions below. Responses should be at least one paragraph. Number your responses so that it is clear which question you are answering. Please post your responses by Sunday, May 12th @8:00p.m.
1. Outside of his family, who warned author Wes Moore about the bad path he was on? (police officer after he got caught tagging) Did Moore heed this warning? For how long? Why didn’t the change stick?
1. Outside of his family, who warned author Wes Moore about the bad path he was on? (police officer after he got caught tagging) Did Moore heed this warning? For how long? Why didn’t the change stick?
2. Author Wes Moore states, “Later in life I learned that the way many governors projected the numbers of beds they’d need for prison facilities was by examining the reading scores of third graders.” (p. 54) How did reading this make you feel? Why?
3. What allowed author Wes Moore to go to better schools than prisoner Wes Moore? (What kinds of sacrifices did his family make?)
4. How did Tony try to dissuade prisoner Wes Moore from following his illegal path? Why did it work or not work?
5. At the end of this part of the reading, Sargeant Austin gives author Wes Moore a map. Explain what the map is about, and how following the map turns out for the author. Finally, why do you think Sergeant Austin did what he did?
1. After Wes was caught spray painting, the police officers cuffed him and were going to take him to jail. Wes felt terrible and vowed to never do a thing like that again. “All I wanted to do was turn around, go home, and never find myself at this precipice again” (84). The officers ended up letting Wes leave with just a warning, but it didn’t do him much good as he was back making graffiti a week later. I think that the warning did resonate with Wes at first, but like he said earlier, he couldn’t resist it. He “loved throwing [his] name up on a wall” (80).
ReplyDelete2. When I read this I was surprised and definitely appalled. Just because someone at the age of eight or nine is not up to the expected reading level should not determine where they will end up in life. Their lack of education or ability to understand what is being taught does not in anyway mean they will amount to something like being imprisoned.
3. Prisoner Wes Moore’s family only sent him to public schools and I think this is because education was not as valued in their family as it was in author Wes Moore’s. They just wanted to keep him out of the drug game and that’s what they seemed to be focused on. For author Wes Moore, his family and the people all around him made sacrifices to get him the education and discipline he needed to succeed. His mother worked many jobs to send him to Riverdale and when he blew that by not working hard and skipping school, he was sent to military school. His mother kept working harder and harder, friends all over pitched in and his grandparents put a lot of their money from saving and mortgage payments and gave it to Wes’s mother so she could send him to a school that would shape his future.
4. When Tony found out that Wes was involved in the one thing that he had hoped his younger brother wouldn’t explore, dealing drugs, he took quite a physical approach. “Tony unloaded blows, striking his younger brother’s chest, ribs, and face with wild abandon” (70). Tony wanted Wes to lead a better life then he is and will do anything he can to push him on another path. I think this just made Wes more defiant because Tony angered him. Other than that, I think there are two main reasons as to why Wes continued to deal drugs. First of all, the money. “Wes now had more money in his pocket than he’s ever had before” and if he could keep making that money, he would (71). Also, Wes seemed to look up to Tony, so the fact that Tony was making no efforts to stop dealing or at least could not get out of it, Wes didn’t see why he had to try any harder to lead a different life.
5. After less than a week at military camp, Wes was already done with the strict rules and the unfair way he was treated. So, he tried to escape multiple times. With all of his attempts resulting in failure, Sergeant Austin approached him and offered a map with a path to get Wes to the train station to leave. Wes took the map and that night headed out for his escape. However, after walking around aimlessly in the woods for hours, he realized he had been tricked and this was a fake map. Members of his chain of command including Sergeant Austin saw that he had fallen for the trick and took him back inside. I think that Sergeant Austin did this to teach Wes multiple lessons. One being that you don’t always get what you want and you just have to deal with it. And another being that you can’t lead all the time. Sometimes you need to be a follower and listen to the rules.
I agree with what you said about prisons looking at third graders reading scores to see how many beds they will need. I don't think it's right to connect someones education with their future. In question 3 you talked about how prisoner Wes Moore's family focused more on him not getting into the drug game, while author Wes Moore's family made sacrifices for education. This had a lot of similarities to what I wrote, and I also thought that prisoner Wes Moore's family was focusing more on keeping him out of the drug game. In question 5 you said that prisoner Wes Moore learned, that you got to deal with what you get basically. I think he also learned that he wasn't going to be able to leave, so it made have to actually care about military school.
Delete1. When Wes got arrested he was frightened “‘I can’t go to jail man.’ I was almost hyperventilating” (82). When the police officer warned Wes about his behavior he promised to never get caught in a situation like that again. But a week later he was doing graffiti again., I think this is because of his environment. Your actions are influenced by your friends and environment and if you don’t change that then neither will you, this is what I think caused Wes to continue being a troublemaker.
ReplyDelete2. When I read that passage I wasn’t surprised. While there isn’t any real evidence of the State Department of Corrections actually using third or fourth graders reading scores to predict the number of prison beds needed, there is a connection between reading scores and incarceration rates. A student not reading at his or her grade level by the end of the third grade is four times less likely to graduate high school on time–six times less likely for students from low-income families. Take that information and add it to a 2009 study which states that high school dropouts were 63 times more likely to be incarcerated than college graduates. What this says is that poor reading skills can lead to unfortunate outcomes in life. https://readingpartners.org/blog/do-prisons-use-third-grade-reading-scores-to-predict-the-number-of-prison-beds-theyll-need/
3. The authors mother knew about all of Wes’s activity which influenced her to change the school, she asked all of her friends and family for money to get Wes to a better school. While the prisoners mother denied of Wes’s criminal activity at first, she still couldn’t believe that after all that she and Tony did for Wes he was still falling down the wrong path and I think she almost gave up on him.
4. Tony made it seem like the drug game was an awful and ruthless life choice. But Wes was more influenced by money and fancy clothes than what Tony had always said to him. Wes wanted to be the opposite of what Tony wanted, he wanted to be just like Tony.
5. Sargent Austin gives Wes a map of a route to the nearest station to run away. The map ends up taking Wes to the woods where all of the squadron leaders make fun of Wes. Wes accepts defeat and returns to the military school. I think Sargent Austin gave Wes the opportunity to escape to test Wes. I think the Sergeant knew of Wes’s mother’s sacrifices and he wanted to see if Wes would act selfish.
1. One day, the author Wes Moore was with Shea, and Shea asked him if he wanted to tag with him. Wes couldn't refuse, so they began tagging a wall together. Once they finished tagging, they were caught by a police officer. The police officer told Wes, “If you don't get smart, I am certain I will see you again” (83). That idea resonated with Wes, but only for a little while. He explained, “...I swore I would never get caught in a situation like that again. A week later Kid Kupid was on the loose again” (84). I think that Wes did not think of the police as someone who was on his side, so he was not inclined to take their advice seriously.
ReplyDelete2. I was shocked when I read this. The fact that the government looked at the reading scores of third gardes to make a decision that could affect people so much later in life is really hard to hear. In third grade, you are still a child, and you change and develop in so many ways. I felt like, by doing this, the government is saying you are not going to change and if you do badly in third grade, you have no hope in life.
3. Wes Moore's family really valued education, and because of that, they were willing to make many sacrifices to allow Wes to go to a private school. Wes’s mom worked many jobs in order to make enough money to send him to private school. And later his extended family started chipping in, especially his grandparents, who used the money from their mortgage to help him go to military school. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore did not have a family that valued education as much, and because of that he wasn’t given a choice other than going to his local public school.
4. Tony is Wes’s older brother, and Wes has a lot of respect for Tony. Tony has fallen down the path of doing drugs but doesn't want Wes to be like him in this regard. When he finds out Wes has started doing drugs, he tries to get him to stop. But Wes won't listen to what Tony is saying. Tony explains to Wes, “If you wont listen, that’s on you” (71). So while Tony is telling Wes not to do drugs he is contradicting his own advice. And people don't tend to listen to people who are being hypocritical, so Wes continues to do drugs.
5. The author Wes Moore gets sent to military school by his mom. He hates it and really wants to leave, and because of that, he tries many times to escape. After many failed attempts, Sergeant Austin hands Wes a map supposedly telling him how to get to the nearest train station. A very excited Wes leaves school and starts following the map, but it turns out the map was meant to lead him to the middle of the woods. I think Sergeant Austin did this to emphasize his power over Wes and to show him it’s important to follow the rules.
I agree with your second response, I was shocked as well. Also reading the part in the book made me wonder if that is still practiced today. I like how you said "the government is saying you are not going to change." I feel like that sentence really tied up your response. I think you did an excellent job answering the second question. For your fourth question I agree with you that Tony is contradicting himself. I wish Wes had used Tony as an example of what could happen to you in the drug business. But because he was making money he didn't. I feel that our fifth responses are very similar, I like how you included that it is important for him to follow the rules. I strongly agree with you that it is important for him to follow the rules. I also feel like the Sergent did that to show him that he had no way of escaping. And because he had no way of escaping the only way to survive was by following the rules. I really like your responses and think you do a wonderful job answering the questions.
Delete1. Wes was very frightened when he got arrested for spray painting. The police had ended up giving him a warning. Wes had felt bad and said he'd never do something like that again. Although he did not stick to his promise, as he was back spray painting about a week later. I think he didn't stick to his promise because he is so used to this lifestyle. He has been doing it for a little bit now and he doesn't wanna give it up. I think this is why he continued to do bad things despite what the officers had told him.
ReplyDelete2. When I read this I was definitely surprised. I mean, people can't assume where people will end up in life based on reading scores of 8 year old's. Just because someone doesn't read at the average level doesn't mean they will end up in jail. Plus, eight graders have a long ways to go until they are adults. This means they have time to improve. Someone who reads below the average level in third grade can end up being very successful when they grow up. Not all kids will end up bad because of their reading level in the third grade. It's a cruel assumption to make. Maybe if a high school senior has a below average reading level, someone could say they might have it hard in college. But that still doesn't mean they will end up in prison. There is so much more to their story, and people can't assume what their future holds, especially if they are in third grade. To me, that's absurd.
3. Prisoner Wes Moore's family didn't really value education. They sent him to a local public school. They were more focused on keeping him away from drugs, so they didn't make any sacrifices for him to get an education. Author Wes Moore's family valued education very much. His mother worked many jobs to send him to a private school, and when he flunked out for skipping school, he went to military school. And all of that was made possible by people around him giving money to his family, and his grandparents taking out money from their mortgage to pay for it, all so his future would be bright. This shows that Author Wes Moore's family cared more about education than the other Wes Moore's did.
4. Tony took a physical approach to get Wes off of drug dealing. I think that the fact Tony didn't stop dealing drugs, is one of the reasons Wes didn't either. Because Wes looks up to Tony, and the fact he isn't changing his lifestyle, is impacting why Wes hasn't. Tony says he wants Wes to lead a better life, but he's just setting a worse example for him as his older sibling. Wes also loves the money, and that is another reason he continues to sell them.
5. After being in military school for about a week, the Author Wes Moore is already sick of it. He has had multiple failed attempts to escape. Sergeant Austin gives Wes Moore a map leading to the nearest train station, so he can leave. That night he escapes, but after hours of walking in the woods, he finds himself lost. Sergeant Austin was tricking him, and gave him a fake map that led to the middle of no where. I think he did this because he wanted to teach him multiple lessons. One, he wants to teach Wes Moore that he should follow the rules, and not run away. An important one, I think was that he was testing Wes Moore to see what he would do. Would he respect the fact that his mother sent him there, or do the one thing he shouldn't to jeapardize the way his future turns out? Unfortunately, he runs away. But the test taught him, that he needs to not run away from his future. What they are doing there, will make him a man, a man that will grow up to do good things. And he wanted Wes to see that.
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1: A cop warned author Wes Moore about the bad path he was on. The cop told Wes and his friend that if they didn't smarten up then he will most definitely be seeing them again. I think that Author Wes Moore needed this warning. I think he needed the warning because the cop was right. Author Wes Moore needed to smarten up. He needed to get out of the drug business before it was too late. The warning stuck for about a week, I think the warning did not stick with Wes because of peer pressure, and he wanted his street name to be known.
2: Reading this made me feel disappointed that a third graders reading score was used to determine how many beds a prison would need. It made me feel disappointed because a third grade reading score should not be relevant to the number of beds needed in a prison. If a person in third grade was struggling with reading they have a long time before there an adult to learn how to read well.
3: Author Wes Moore was able to go to better schools than prisoner Wes Moore because his mother decided that he would go to private school. His mother graduated from public school and knew it was not a good option for Wes. His mother worked multiple jobs to try to give him the best education he could have. She left early in the morning and got home late at night. To send Wes to military school his grandparents gave his mother thousands of dollars that they had saved up over the years that they were planning on using to return to Jamaica.
4: Since Tony has been in the drug business for a long time Wes knew that if he got into it then he could make enough money to buy what he wanted for school instead of what his mother could afford. When Tony confronted Wes about it he got mad at Wes and started beating him up. Warning Wes about the consequences of the drug world did not help change his mind in any way. He had enough money to buy whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.
5: The map is directions about how to get to the train station in Wayne, there were directions to the train station written on the map. When Wes followed the directions on the map he was lead into the middle of the forest. When wes knew the directions were fake he sat down on a rock feeling defeated. A little while after that he heard Sargeant Austin and other members of his command laughing at him. I think that Sergeant Austin did that to Wes because he wanted to teach Wes that there was no way he was getting out of military school.
1. Author Wes Moore spray painted a wall and was put in handcuffs. The cop let him go, and author Wes Moore said he would never do it again. The cop hoped he would have listened, but a week later he was caught again. Maybe author Wes Moore thought he would be able to get away with it again, but he didn't. I think he still admired Shea, and also I think his altar ego "Kid Kupid" made him feel invulnerable.
ReplyDelete2. After reading what author Wes Moore wrote and how the governors looked at reading scores of 3rd graders to see how many beds they need for the prisons, surprised me. It also shocked me when author Wes Moore said there was a 70% dropout rate. It made me feel like there was only two choices drug dealing or college after high school for where they lived. 3rd grade does seem very early to make assumptions like that. I guess it shows how cultures associated with gangs and crimes affect neighborhoods.
3. Author Wes Moore got to go to private school, and later on went to military school. His mother really wanted him to have a good education, even though the sacrifices she had to make with money. Author Wes Moore still decided to not go to school and got poor grades, so his mother brought him to military school. Prisoner Wes Moore's mother didn't really care enough to keep him in school. She did care about him not getting into drug dealing but basically gave up.
4. Sadly prisoner Wes Moore got into drug dealing and his brother was not happy about it. Tony warned him plenty of times to not do it. I think it didn't work because prisoner Wes Moore saw how easy it would be to make money. It also could have been because Tony seemed hypocritical, but prisoner Wes Moore denied he thought that way. I don't think It was Tony's fault that he got into drug
dealing. I also don't think Tony should have beaten his own brother up. Prisoner Wes Moore just saw
it as a easy, quick way to make a lot of cash
5. Author Wes Moore started to plan an escape right when he got into military school. A few days into military school a guy named Sargeant Austin gave author Wes Moore a map. This map supposedly showed a way to the train station. Author Wes Moore was excited and planned his way to leave the next day. He left in the night and couldn't find the train station. He was lost and scared in the woods. He heard laughter from his friends and realizes that the map was fake. I think Sargeant Austin did this because he wanted to scare author Wes Moore from leaving the camp and make him think he wouldn't be able to leave.
Wes was caught spray painting one day by two police officers. They cuffed Wes and his friend and threw them in back of the police car. Wes remembered the experience when he said, “All I wanted to do was turn around, go home, and never find myself at this precipice again” (84). He said this because he felt unbelievably scared and terrible about what he did and if he was arrested what would happen to him? The officers let Wes and his friend go with a warning and one officer told Wes, “ “If you don't get smart, I am certain I will see you again” (83). That warning stayed with Wes only for a week and then he was back spray painting. I think Wes went back to painting because he couldn’t resist doing it and viewed his scrape with the law as a one time thing.
ReplyDelete2. Reading this made me shocked about how they estimated the number of prison beds they needed. What the governor really means by this is children below the reading level in third grade, don’t have a chance of making it in life. Just because someone doesn’t meet the standard earlier in life doesn’t mean they can’t exceed it later in life.
3. What allowed prisoner Wes Moore to got to better schools was the unbelievable sacrifices his family made. Prisoner Wes Moore went to public school, not because his mother cared about him, but because she didn’t have the support to send Wes anywhere else. Author Wes Moore’s mother had a lot more support. She worked many jobs, Wes’s grandparents gave a lot of their retirement funds and other funds to her, and the neighborhood also pitched in to send Wes to Riverdale. When Wes wasn’t doing well their, his family dug down deeper, worked harder, and sent him to a more expensive military school so h could turn his life around.
4. After Tony found out that Wes was in the drug game, he got quite mad. He got so mad he punched Wes in the face. “Tony unloaded blows, striking his younger brother’s chest, ribs, and face with wild abandon” (70). He did this because he knew any part about being in the drug game was unbelievably dangerous and impossible to quit. He didn’t want Wes to spend most of his young adolescent and young adult life like this. Tony also punched Wes because he had repeatedly told Wes to not get involved with drugs in any way and he did not heed Tony’s warning. Tony’s tirade did not work because Wes was making a lot of money and he could buy the coolest new stuff with it. Also Wes looked up to Tony and he took pride in his tough older brother.
5. Sergeant Austin gives Wes Moore a map to a train station near camp so he can leave. He said to Wes, “Listen Moore, you don’t want to be here, and with honestly we don’t want you here so I have drawn you a map of how to get to the train station.” This map was a supposed route out of military school for Wes, who hates it their. Later that night Wes follows the map to the supposed train station. However Wes ends up in the middle of the woods and realizes the map was a prank. He sits down and starts crying and all of a sudden hears a chorus of laughter aimed at him for Sergeant Anderson and other officers. Sergeant Anderson did this to Wes because he needed to show him that you can’t always do what you want and you need to go through things that you might not like, but will make you a better person
1. The author Wes Moore panicked when he was caught spray painting. The police officer warned him about how he was acting and let him go. Wes originally said he would act better, but soon he was back to his old ways. A week after he was let off with a warning, he was creating graffitti, again. I think that people can't really change who they are, whether that be good or bad, and he loved to create graffiti.He couldn't change that. Not even a run in with the law could change him.
ReplyDelete2. I think this is a very shocking thing to read, but it also reminded me of a Simpsons episode. Bart is in preschool and he adds an extra clap to a song that didn't need it and the teacher writes down that he is not college material. I feel that this is kind of mocking the idea, but nonetheless it's very similar. I just think that is ridiculous because you can't judge someone's future, from where they come from.
3. The author Wes Moore’s mother thought that public school was too dangerous, after she had gone to it herself. His mother worked very hard and had three jobs to support her son and his education. The prisoner Wes Moore didn't really have a choice to go to a private school. As His mother and family did not work for their son and his future.
4. Tony had told Wes that drugs are bad and Wes should never fall down the path of using drugs like he has. But Tony does drugs himself so he was being severly hypocritical. Wes sees that Tony is not following his own advice and Wes ignores him. Wes starts to use drugs because of the environment he grew up in.
5. While at military school, Wes Moore is approached by the sargeant and given a map of escape. This is because Wes Moore is tired of his stay at the school. Once he escapes, Wes realizes that it was a fake map. The map leads him to the woods instead the station were he thought he was going. I think the sargeant did this to teach him a lesson about trusting people and following the rules.
I think our first responses are very similar, mainly because I think that he was use to a certain lifestyle, and that made it harder for him to change. That's why he went back to his ways, not old ways, but the ways he's been use to. I like your reference to a Simpsons episode. I think it is a good connection to make, and very creative. And it is quite a shocking revelation, because of how the government sees this. Your fourth response and mine are also very similar, because yes, I think the environment Wes grew up in also influenced what he did later. And your last response I agree with too because I think that he needs to understand that rules are set in place for a reason, and that was a test to see if he could follow him. I also think it will set him up to do better there because he will have a harder time if he doesn't follow the rules. I think you did a good job responding to all of these.
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