TOWM - Part III

The Other Wes Moore - Part III

In the epilogue of The Other Wes Moore, Wes (the author) gives credit to several mentors who helped him change his behavior and guide him on the right path. These mentors of his include his mom, grandparents, uncles, and aunts (and although not directly mentioned we know that his brother also played an important role). All of these mentors helped him "see the boundless possibilities of the wider world and the unexplored possibilities within [himself]" (179). Although Wes can't pinpoint the exact reason for how he ended up on the path he did, he acknowledges that these mentors are part of the reason that his story did not end up like the other Wes Moore's.

Wes Moore and his mother Joy Moore

Do you have a mentor? How have they helped you this far?

I too have a mentor who has helped me "see the boundless possibilities of the wider world and the unexplored possibilities within myself" (179), and that is my mom. Just like Wes (the author), my mom has also played a significant role in my life's direction. I have had several mentors come and go throughout different points in my life especially when it came to dance and academics. However, my mom has remained my consistent mentor as the others changed. I recognize and consider myself incredibly fortunate to say that my mom is present in my life and is more than an acceptable mother and role model to me.

My mom has been my mentor from the minute I was born, she has always been someone who can give me strong advice for any situation I'm in and has always inspired me to be the best version of myself. would say that the reason I have gotten this far in my schooling and career is because of my mom.

She is the reason I have been a persistent and strong student throughout my years of education. She is the reason I was able to leave home and move to New York City at the young age of fourteen to receive pre-professional training. She is the reason I was successful in achieving my dream and goal of being a professional dancer. She is the reason I was able to turn my passion for dance into my career and make a living off of it. She is the reason I can graduate with my Bachelor of Fine Arts at nineteen. My mom's ability to be more than an incredible mother but also a mentor has led me to the level of success, I wanted to achieve.

She has been my backbone whenever I begin to waver. I am also lucky to know that my mother will never stop being my mentor till the day she passes. She is someone I will always be able to go to when I need guidance or am unsure. Overall, my mom's unwavering support and guidance throughout my journey are the reason I am who I am today and I am where I am today. So thank you to my mom for being the mentor who forever guides me.

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My Literacy History

Headshot: Gary Gold Hello everyone! I'm Kyra Pitts, a senior here at New Jersey City University pursuing my Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a major in Dance in collaboration with the Joffrey Ballet School in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. As you can probably tell from my major, my primary passion is dance, complemented by other art-based hobbies like knitting, drawing, and photography. Balancing both my college education and my job as a professional dancer with the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company, my life is a rather busy one. However, I was interested in taking this Contemporary Literacies class as I enjoy looking critically at the world around us, especially through a lens of media and literacy. Understanding and analyzing the culture in which we exist is crucial for navigating the modern day. Coming from a white middle-class background, literacy became a part of my life at a fairly average age. While not initially interested in reading or writing before preschool, my curiosity grew rapi

TOWM - Part I

The Other Wes Moore - Part I At the end of chapter 2, we discover that Moore (the author) has a love for basketball. After recently moving, he felt homesick and rather antsy, missing his old neighborhood and friends. He quickly realized that his grandparents' house, had more rules than his mother's. This meant that when the street lights turned on, he had to head home and all the chores had to be done before he was able to go outside and play. Moore said his "restlessness was cured only by heading out into these new streets" (42 - 43). After finishing all of his chores for the day he was permitted to go play basketball a couple streets over. He played basketball with some of the guys in the area and says that he "played hard, lost pretty bad, but enjoyed every minute of it" (44). He was playing with guys older, and bigger, and they all knew each other but he managed to still enjoy his time playing ball with them. Then Moore (the author) acknowledges somet

TOWM - Part II

The Other Wes Moore - Part II What music played a special role in the other Wes Moore’s life? In chapter three, we discover that all the other Wes Moore "really wanted to do was either play football professionally or become a rapper" (58). It was one of his dreams to become a rapper and rock a "sold-out crowd in Madison Square" (58). However, in the meantime, he takes up selling drugs to make quick money before achieving one of his goals. So, because of this, we know that rap music played a special role in the other Wes Moore's life. But in the end, did it really end up playing a special role in his life? For Wes Moore (the author) music played a more important role... A little bit into chapter four, we learn that music began to play a special role in Wes' life, specifically, hip-hop. Growing up during the 1980s and 1990s, especially in New York City, culture was extremely vibrant. And hip-hop, a genre of music born in the Bronx, began to take its place on

Kyra's Contemporary Literacies Blog

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