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“Wes had his entire operation organized with the precision of a military unit or a division of a Fortune 500 company. The drug game had its own rules, its own structure. He was a lieutenant, the leader of his small crew. Everyone in the crew had a specific job with carefully delineated responsibilities.”(pg 110)

Once Wes gets released from Juvenile detention he soon moves in with his Aunt Nicey who is also a highschool dropout with a criminal record, Wes finds it extremely challenging to try and find an employer who would want to hire his because of his past. Since no one will hire him for more than minimum wage he is left with the only option to join back into the drug game in order to support his family. This quote is significant to the novel because it shows once again how similar their lives are for Wes Moore he was an army officer and the other Wes Moore was also has the skill set to lead people and be able to make sure everyone is always on task and shows how tight of a ship he ran in the drug trade. Although these are two completely different situations there is still many similarities and it shows how if given the same chance as Wes the other Wes would have been able to lead many others into the right direction and be someone who was looked up to. This displays how the juvenile correction centers which are made to help children by putting them on the right paths and help them become responsible adults only fails them. Especially when children grow up in poverty filled areas and are never given a fair chance at life never truly have a shot at redemption because no matter what they do, even pay for there crimes, society will never look at them the way they look at someone without a criminal background leaving most of them stuck in the same cycle of crime.

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“We definitely have our disagreements - and Wes, it should never be forgotten, is in prison for his participation in a heinous crime. But even the worst decisions we make don’t necessarily remove us from the circle of humanity. Wes’s desire to participate in this book as a way to help others learn from his story and choose a different way is proof of that.” (xiii)

This quote is taken from a letter that is written to the other Wes Moore right after the author discovers his existence which started the relationship between the two, which shows without this letter they would have never became friends and this novel would not exist. It is very significant to the novel because it shows the amount of humanity Wes Moore has towards the other Wes Moore despite the “Heinous crime” that he did, no matter what Wes thinks it is very important to treat everyone with respect.  I do not think that the author is trying to excuse his actions but trying to show him that he understands the mistakes he made because he was in the exact same situation as him when he was younger the only thing is he had people around him who didn’t allow him to slip away. Especially for the 1970’s not a lot of people would finish high school, even more so in the areas that had more poverty in it such as the one they grew up in. It also gives insight early on in the Novel to the type of person the other Wes Moore is because he knows he made bad decisions in his life and is now remorseful so he is trying to stop the kids from his community form ending up in the same situation as himself. This quote is also significant because it foreshadows the conversation between Wes and his mother towards the end of the novel when she follows the lead of Nelson Mandela in forgiving crimes.

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“I guess it’s hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last chances.”
Pg. 54/20

This quote is very significant in the novel as it shows the parts of both men's lives where the truly start to differ, this scene takes place in the jail during one of there interviews. They are talking about the part of there lives where they become men and the other Wes thinks the time he truly became a man was when he had to take care and support his kids, even though this is already after a second chance he was given when he was acquitted of an attempted murder charge by the juvenile court. After this second chance he got his GED and entered the job corps in order to help support his family and get his life on track however having a minimum wage job made it very difficult to support his family and he felt the only option he had left was to fall back into old habits and rob a jewelry store which ended up in him shooting and killing an off duty police officer and earning him his life sentence. The author Wes thinks that the time he was given a second chance was when his mother Joy realized that he was starting to get involved with the wrong type of people so she sent him to boarding school with hopes to give him a second chance and for him to be able to turn his life around and set him on the right path for the rest of his life. However Wes was hesitant at first and did not originally like being sent away to a military school and tried to run away but failed and was given another chance to look at his life and have the opportunity to change his life for the better.

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Prompt #5 source connected to the book  

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Prompt #5 source connected to the book  

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In the article titled “Social Justice Book Discussion: ‘The Other Wes Moore’” was written by Hiral Patel in October 2013. This article talks about a discussion, which was led by Scott Curtis, about the book, The Other Wes Moore. The synopsis of the story can be simply explained: two men, one the author and another, both share the same name but have very different fates. One’s fate was a hopeful story and the other’s was a sad reality.  Curtis goes on to describe Wes Moore, and says “it’s like a pile of sand. You take out one little grain of sand, you don’t see a difference, but when you start taking out all of the grains of sand it’s a smaller pile of sand.” In everyone’s lives there are many people influence their choices, some for the good and some for the bad, but at the end of the day we must live with the choices we have decided. Moore, the author, made the decision to listen to his mother attend military school where he become inspired and continued on his educationally path, whereas the other Moore, made the decision that quick money was the only way to make money. Discussions, such as the one in the article, are important to understanding any text or form of media. Through these discussions individuals are able to connect with the stories, understand the background, and question their thoughts on the concepts discussed. Curtis believes that the purpose to these discussions are “in the spirit of sharing and in the spirit of intellectually understanding each other— broadening our communications.”  This book goes through many social justice topics and to have a forum of people to discuss these topics with will allow the reader to get a deeper understanding of the book as well at the same time get a deeper understanding for these social justice issues.

External source: https://info.umkc.edu/unews/social-justice-book-discussion-the-other-wes-moore/

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When I compare the other Wes Moore to The Hate You give I see connections between the Wes Moores and Starr and Khalil and their attitude towards the police in their teens. The other Wes Moore had a bad attitude towards the police in his teens and didn’t respect the police and the many warnings they gave him that ultimately ended up causing problems for him in the future. But for the the author he respected the police and there authority which caused him to do everything he could to avoid altercations with them as people do. This relates to the part of The Hate You Give where Starr and Khalil get pulled over and are asked to stay still as the police officer approaches the car Khalil decided to not stay still and start to comb his hair even though this isn’t necessarily against the law and he did it innocently and did not try to provoke the officer in any way if he just respected his word and stayed still he would have not never shot. Starr was raised to listen to the police and respect there word so she did as they said and stayed still as well as try to tell khalil to stay still too. I feel if both the Wes Moores were in the same situation the outcome would not have been that different the Author Wes Moore would have most likely listen to the police officer and did exactly as he said because that is the way he was taught at military school, but the other Wes Moore was not raised that way and never finished school so never developed respect towards the police and ended up killing one.

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In the book The Other Wes Moore, a very prominent theme that occurs is luck vs. choice. The book focuses on the lives of two men, one being the author, who share the same name but have live completely different lives. One of the Wes Moores (the author) goes to military school whereas the other Wes Moore ends up in jail for life. There are choices made in life based solely on decisions and rational choices and there are other events that happen in life that for lack of better explanation can only be associated with luck. Luck is defined as the success or failure brought on by chance rather than through one’s own actions, whereas choice is defined as an act of making a decision based on possibilities that are in front of you. In the story, Wes (the author) was born into a family with a caring mother who had understood the value of a good future and wanted the best for her son even with all the financial strains around them. So even when the author chose “bad decisions”, his mother would make good decisions for him.  The other Wes was born into a life of crime, drugs and gangs, so his choices in life were quite limited. Though it can be thought that just because you are born in a situation does not mean that situation has to become your life, but unfortunately for the other Wes Moore it did become his. He had no one to help him make good decisions, and guide him in a path as the author had, which lead him to commit a crime that landed him in jail for life. Even though both Wes’ made bad choices, the author was lucky enough to mother to change those choices and guide him into the path of “success”.

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When I compare the novel to my own life I realize the connection between myself and Wes Moore is how both of them in the early teenage years had a bad attitude towards school and never really cared about it. However one of them decided to change his attitude towards school and give it his best effort and try to do better. The other Wes Moore decided he was not going to start to try and ended up choosing to make a few quick bucks by selling drugs to other teenagers. This choice ended up causing him to get arrested for a few minor drug changers which ended up becoming routine for him. Ultimately his choice to start to sell drugs and not try in school set him on the wrong path for life because once he had a record as a minor he knew this was what the rest of his life was going to look like if he didnt change something, which he didn’t. Also at the time in Baltimore the dropout rate for kids in areas such as his were pretty high and it is easy to see how he got caught up in the drug game. In my life I too have not always put my best foot forward when it came to school, this lead into bad habits and started with the little things such as not not doing homework or paying attention in class. However this year I realized I need to change and since I developed those bad habits I see how hard it can be, because I am at villanova it makes it a lot easier because I have access to extra help but i can see how easy it is without help to not want to change or not be able to.

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The Other Wes Moore is a very powerful book as it shows you how different your life could end up if you made a few bad choices. It does this by relating the lives of two boys that grew up not more than a block away from each other both names Wes Moore, without a father, and are put to the test many times from the environment around them. This trials are shown as temptations to join the Drug game at young ages, teen pregnancy and trying to overcome poverty and mistakes they’ve made in the past. One of the boys, the author became a Rhodes scholar, served time in the army and is now a very respected man. The other is currently serving a life sentence after a jewelry store heist gone wrong ended up in the death of an off duty police officer and father of five. It was not till later in life when both mens fates were already sealed that there paths crossed when a local newspaper released two articles one about the author receiving a very high academic award and the other about the other Wes Moore and his life sentence for the horrible thing he did. It was only then was the question raised, How do two kids that were put in very similar circumstances end up on completely different ends of society? To me the answer was simple the amount of help and support the Author was given by his mother. Once Wes Moore's mother realized that he was starting to be tempted by the drug trade and the temporary perks it provided his mother knew the only option she had was to get her son out of this toxic environment no matter what she had to do she did this by sending her son to military school. She did not want her son to be just another story of a bad kid from the Bronx that ended up dead or in jail. The other Wes Moore however did not have a chance to get out of this environment and it was only a matter of time until he was caught up in the drug game and stuck in an endless cycle of violence and mistakes. I recommend this book for any student that is at least in high school because they will be able to understand how important the choices you make early in life are and how big of an impact they have. Overall i do truly think this is a good book that will be able to help kids all the way from growing up in the Bronx too who are facing the same things they are, even to students such as myself who don't necessarily understand the struggle these two men have faced in there lives but is able to understand the message of the novel and it is able to make an impact of my life.

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In the book The Other Wes Moore, one major social justice that is quite present is the idea of race and inequality. In this book two individuals, one the author, are born with the same name Wes Moore, who live very different lives. Social Justice is defined by The Cultural Competency Handbook created by the Department of Public Health Science at U of T as, “a concept based upon the belief that each individual and group within a given society has a right to civil liberties, equal opportunity, fairness, and participation in the educational, economic, institutional, social, and moral freedoms and responsibilities valued by the community.” Both characters in the novel are “black males” but their upbringings were very different, as cliché as it sounds one of the Wes Moores (the author) grew up on the right side of the tracks whereas the other grew up on the wrong side. In Bronx, unfortunately, the crime rate is extremely high and the realities of lack of education, safe housing, and even security is prominent.  This book highlights the hidden truths of the streets, all the topics that are sugar coded on the media and not talked about can be read in this book. From the inequality that these two characters face to the reality of racism it can all read in the book. The author was able to overcome the “typical” and get an education, whereas the other Wes was unable to escape the grasps of the Bronx society.

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This book focuses on two men who are born in Baltimore, specifically the Bronx, and how their lives are so different even though they live a block away from each other, the only similarity they both shared was their name, Wes Moore. One of the Wes, the author, went to military school and go out of the “typical life” of living in a troubled area, whereas the other Wes got caught up in the gangs, drugs and eventually ended up in jail for life for murder of a police officer. This can be seen in the world today with the shameless shooting of Nipsey Hussle. Ermias Asghedom, known as Nipsey Hussle, was an American rapper that got shot in front of his own store. Nipsey was a guy who grew up in a troubled area of Los Angeles, surrounded by guns, gangs, drugs, and unjust living conditions. But even though he was part of the society, his biggest goal was to be better for his community and bring back a better environment to his community. He opened a store in his troubled community, made jobs for those who normally would struggle to hold down a job, was a truly role model in his community even though he grew up in the gang culture. He wanted better and strived for it, unfortunately even when you make the right the decisions the people around you might not causing their bad choices to affect you. Nipsey relates to both Wes Moores, he found a way out of the system, but was dragged back in by the decisions of other in the community. Inequality, racism, and poverty, are all topics that are still sadly scene in our society and though changes are occurring there are a lot of real life connections to this novel.

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Dear, Wes Moore

Hello, I am a Grade 11 student from a private school called Villanova College. We recently had a choice to pick a book to read in class for one of your assignments, I picked your story because i was intrigued to see how two people who were born into very similar circumstances ended living very different lives. However after reading the novel I realized how there were many similarities in both of your lives the truth is the only reason this book was written was because you both have the same name. I do not think your name has a massive impact on your life and both of your households had similarities but were very different. You had a mother who was always there for you and wanted nothing but the best for you and the other Wes Moore had people in his life that cared for him but he was never given the shot at redemption you had. Since I do go to a private school however I do realize how big of an impact that had on your life and i can see how it took a turn for the better once you let it. One part of the novel i really like was how no matter what he did in his life you always treated him with respect and like he was a human being. You saw through his prison sentence and saw him for the man he was, a man who had a rough start to life and even after paying for his crimes was forever financially crippled by the judicial system and his record. Overall i would like to say thank you for this story and how you overcame the difficult situation you were put in from birth.

Sincerely, Steven Saccoccia