The Adam Shepard Project: Homeless Man

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Recommended: The American dream and factors that favor it

The time span this book occurred in is from July 2006 to April 2007 in Charleston, South Carolina. Portraying as a homeless man, Shepard starts off in Crisis Ministries, a homeless shelter that would have “the resources necessary to get him [me] back on his [my] feet,” (Chapter 1, page 9) which was a great kick-starter for his project. Shepard would move into an attic of one of his boss's, George, friend, Mickey, because it was the “best all-around deal that he [I] was going to find,” (Chapter 11, page 137) and because he wanted to leave Crisis Ministries, due to Shepard accepting that the Crisis Ministries was unacceptable to consider to stay in. Afterward, Shepard bought an apartment with his co-worker, Derrick's, cousin, Bubble Gum, because Shepard “wanted something more permanent.” (Chapter 12, page 167) At the end of his story, Shepard ends his project short and moved back to his childhood home of Raleigh, North Carolina because “his [my] mom’s cancer returned and with even greater aggression (Chapter 16, page 203).

Most readers know the basic concept of the American Dream, what the speaker intends for the audience to do is to gain a “you can do better than that. You!” mentality (Epilogue, page 218). During the story, Shepard embraces any type of work he would get because working was key in his objective of gaining enough money to prosper in America. He would say, “any work was better than no work.” (Chapter 4, page 48) because he promote making a difference in lives, either the difference was made in their own life or others' lives. The audience would be described as skeptics who are questioning the American Dream's actuality and anyone looking for guidance, but are unsure of American Dream because Shepard forms many warnin...

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...Pants? $3. Shoes? $3.50,” (Chapter 6, page 74) he carried an informal attitude showing that Goodwill was the store for a homeless man like him. Shepard can be described as ambitious and pertinent through his time as a mover, “This crap ain’t gonna move itself, fellas. Might as well get going.” (Chapter 14, page 186) Shepard is also sought as a caring and generous individual because when his mother's cancer viciously attacked her a second time during his project, he dropped his project altogether to care for her with his brother, Erik; “I was to head home to Raleigh, where Erik and I ... look after my mom.“ (Chapter 16, page 204) Scratch Beginnings is Shepard's first published book, making him unbiased in his story, seeing that Shepard would not have any previous written experiences. Shepard projects himself to be “just a regular guy,” (Introduction Chapter, page ix).

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