I am about halfway through the book and my motivation to finish the book has increased and i have been enjoying the book more than from a few weeks ago. I’m glad that I took time to get further into the book to see if it would get more interesting. The characters in the book aren’t very complex but the most complex would probably be Throckmorton due to him being a sock monkey. The most recent conflict was between one of the characters getting sick for awhile and everyone else getting worried about them.
Author: EMMETT L.
Tags Argument
In the short story “Tags” the story is about a couple of boys that are into graffiti but they also live in a dangerous area where many of them make illegal deals with people. Many of the people in there town carry guns including them. In tags there is a character named Willie who is a dynamic character. Towards the start he is very relaxed with the lines, “Yeah. This your first wall tonight?” on page 73 showing that they are going to spray paint multiple walls that night. Also in the line, “No, I ain’t scared. You know some dudes just give up, but I ain’t stopping, man. I got to hold on. How about you?” on page 74 shows that even if it starts to get dangerous he won’t stop the graffiti. But, later on in the story he starts to get amped up and started to exert more feelings in the lines, ” On a humble! I went into this bodega to get some cigarettes, and the owner-this old fucking dude-is eyeing me like I’m fixing to steal something. So just out of spite, I put my gun in his face. He panicked and started saying something in Spanish and English about “just take the money.” But he grabs hold of my nine and he’s afraid to let it go.” on page 79 and the lines, “Yeah, and all I want to do is get some cigarettes, let the fool know I could have robbed him, and walk out the damned door! But now I’m struggling with this old man and he’s holding on to my gun and crying and begging and carrying on. I ain’t letting the gun go and he ain’t letting the gun go.Then two sisters come in and see what’s going on and duck right back out. I think they might be calling the cops or something, so I let go of the gun with one hand to punch the old man, and it goes off and hits me in the neck.” also on page 79. In another line it shows that he can’t even finish the story due to him getting emotional, “No! The old man had his finger on the trigger! The shot broke something in my neck and I didn’t feel anything. I know I was on the ground and… (Willie is breathing heavily as he remembers the moment.) I thought I was just hurt bad. When the ambulance guys got there and looked me over, right away they started making nice-nice to the dude who shot me, trying to make him feel better. Then they put me in a bag and started… (Willie can’t continue.)” These lines show the fact that Willie can get very emotional and very heated fast just due to a memory
Mortal Man
“Mortal man” by Kendrick Lamar off of the album To Pimp a Butterfly is a story between Kendrick and Tupac about racism and how Tupac was a voice for the black community similar to how Kendrick believes he is a symbol and a new generation voice for black people while also references Nelson Mandela being a voice for anti-racism similar to how Kendrick views himself. In the first few lines it says,
“The ghost of Mandela, hope my flows they propel it
Let these words be your earth and moon
You consume every message
As I lead this army make room for mistakes and depression
And with that being said my n****, let me ask this question:”
which Kendrick uses “The ghost of Mandela, hope my flow they propel it.” as a metaphor for Kendricks “flows” being his raps and his songs being similar to his own voice for anti-racism like Mandela. Mandela’s views of racism play into Kendricks raps and songs showing that Kendrick is an anti-racism activist like Mandela but with his rap music instead. In the following lines,
“You consume every message
As I lead this army make room for mistakes and depression”
Showing that Kendricks followers and fans consume his music to the fullest extent and with having that many fans and followers it causes him to make mistakes.
The Secrets of Eastercliff by the Sea (update)
So far the book The Secrets of Eastercliff by the Sea is about a family who gets invited to a dinner mysteriously and they must take their sock monkeys. Sock monkeys were given to them by their grandma at birth and she gave every grandchild one. So far the book is kind of slow and I’m starting to lose patience but I am trying to give the book patience to see if it gets better.
Mulan Disney Narrative
In the movie Mulan (1998), Mulan resists the dominant narrative that women are less capable than men. It also defies the dominant narrative of what a traditional woman is supposed to be like. A scene that supports this is the scene towards the end where she fights against the main villain. All the other men who were in the war and were supposed to be strong didn’t want to fight him but Mulan stood up and fought him by herself.
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