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Environmental influences on human behavior
Environmental influences on human behavior
Environmental influences on human behavior
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Wes Moore did many things to prove that he was a thinker in “The Other Wes Moore”. Wes Moore faced problems and thought of solutions. Wes Moore based his actions off of his experiences and he didn’t continuously make the same mistakes. In chapter four of the book, Moore made a bad decision to “tag” or put graffiti on the walls of a building with one of his friends named Shea. Soon after the young men finished tagging the walls they were caught by two police officers. Moore feared the consequences of his actions and in the book he states “In that moment, I became aware of how I had put myself in this unimaginably dire situation – this man now had control of my body; even my own hands had become useless to me. More than that, he had control of
The Other Wes Moore is a book talking about two different men with the same name,Wes Moore. They were both raised up by a single mother and live in the same decaying city, Baltimore, where there are surrounded by drug and alcohol. However, the author Wes Moore’s parents completed their education and have a good job while his grandparents also were well-educated. But the other Wes Moore’s parents didn’t graduate from college, his mother tried to get the scholarship but failed, and his father left high school and don’t have a job either. This two Wes Moores both grew up with their mother. The author Wes’s father died for disease while the other Wes’s father left his family. With this situation, they went to the same direction, being absent from
1. Briefly describe each of the Wes Moore’s. Include information you believe is important to their life path (community, family life, big decisions, etc.).
Wes was abandoned by his father soon after he was born and Tony, Wes’s brother, who was often at the Murphy Home Projects left Wes to be the “man of the house”. The absence of an older male figure made Wes more independent and, with Mary’s low paying job, made him have to provide for himself. Having to equip himself for day to day life built the base for Wes to experiment with the drug trade and, eventually, got him arrested multiple times. Tony wanted to keep Wes from the drug trade, in one instant he beat Wes up for being involved, but he knew that “his mission as a big brother was to toughen him up for the battles [he] knew Wes would have to fight as he got older”. As a young boy, Wes wanted to be exactly like his older brother, but as a hypocrite, Tony wanted Wes to stay out of the drug trade while he, himself, was deeply involved in the trade. The older Tony got, the more he realized how inevitable it was that Wes would engage in the drug trade. Once he realized Wes would become involved, he began to prepare him through fights and him protective advice. By being a drug dealer, Tony injured Wes’s future, and when Tony associated Wes with the jewelry store robbery, he destroyed Wes’s future. The men that influenced Wes Moore throughout his lifetime were the ones that made him the human destined to spend the rest of his life in
It’s in these subtle differences that one can identify where it went wrong for the Other Wes Moore. The reason that there was no father figure is drastically different, the author's father died when Moore was
A child will not change their behavior if their parent does not show disapproval and does something about their behavior we they act out. With both of these combine, it made Wes’s opportunities starting from a young age, very slim of being successful. Growing up, Wes Moore had his mom and family around him to support him and when things got bad, his mom sent him to military school as a disciplinary action. This saved Wes from further becoming a bad kid because there, he learned discipline and respect. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore was off selling drugs and doing other bad things while his only influence was his brother. The other Wes Moore was so involved in his profits from selling drugs that he even sold to a cop even though he knew that he was undercover (Moore 112). Wes took this chance because he was so desperate for the twenty dollars he was going to receive, he didn 't care what the consequences were. I believe that if the author Wes Moore never went to military school, that he would have turned out just like the other Wes Moore. Weich from Lincoln County Jail stated that when investigating the jail, inmate were forced to garden as their “hardwork” this was supposed to change them. The inmates just had to be on good behavior and they were then able to garden while in jail (Weich). The point of going to jail is to be disciplined and learn and grow as a
In “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates,” written by Wes Moore the author writes about two boys growing up in Baltimore that share the same name and similar backgrounds but end up taking drastically different paths in life due to many varying factors. The author goes on to earn a college degree, become a Rhodes Scholar, a veteran and more while the “other” Wes cannot avoid the inevitable fate of dealing drugs and ultimately spends his life running from the police and in prison. This reflects how both Wes Moore’s became products of their environment as the way a person is shaped and guided in their developmental years does unquestionably play a large role in the type of person they will become as adults. A lot of elements come into play that help to determine a person’s success or failure, but at the end of the day the most important factors are family, education and opportunities.
In The Other Wes Moore, the author discusses the importance of parents and activity in their children’s lives by revealing how expectations from his family influenced his self-motivation and goal-setting. “With our mother working so much, and our grandparents obviously slowing in energy, my sisters and I were supposed to look after one another. Nikki was older, so she was always the one looking after me, and it was my responsibility to look after Shani” (77). Here, Wes discusses how Nikki was someone he wanted to emulate. Despite Nikki’s “turbulent” high school experience, she was always there to look after Wes and guide him. In addition to his mother, Wes’s sister was also a role model for him. When he didn’t have his mother around to ask for advice, he was always able to talk to Nikki and receive thoughtful advice. Additionally, Wes was responsible and accountable for his sister, Shani, which resulted in character growth and an understanding of what was expected of him. Throughout the book and in interviews, Wes Moore states that expectations are crucial.“Do you think that we 're products of our environments? I think so, or maybe products of our expectations. Others ' expectations of us or our expectations. I mean others ' expectations that you take on as your own. I realize how difficult it is to separate the two. The expectations that others place on us
In their respective life journey, both Wes Moores often found them facing with some hard choices or decision to make or standing at a crossroads of life change without knowing which way to turn. Therefore, “for all of us who live in the most precarious places in this country, our destinies can be determined by a single stumble down the wrong path or a tentative step down the right one” (Moore xiv). During their early childhood, both Wes Moores struggle at school and had troubles with the law. However, for the author Wes Moore, attending the military school was the biggest turning point in his life. Aware of his mother’s determination, his family’s sacrifice, and encouragement from classmates and instructors as well as the influence of role models, the author Wes Moore finally made up his mind that he wanted to succeed in the military school. At the end, the author Wes Moore fulfilled his dream and did well academically from then on. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore had tumbled on a series of missteps along the road: dropping out of school, getting involved with drug trade, committing violent crimes, and being a father of four when he was so young and immature. Even though there was a time when he tried to reinvent himself: joining the Job Corp, getting a high school diploma, and finding some decent jobs, the reality and his making-quick-money mentality eventually brought him back to the original path with no return. At last, by committing an armed robbery that left a police officer dead, the other Wes Moore irreversibly drove himself to the dead end of life. Obviously, based on their early life experiences, both Wes Moores would have gone the same route to failure. Nevertheless, at some critical points of their lives, the author Wes Moore made some good choices with intervention and guidance of good people while the other Wes Moore lost his footing under undue
They both grow up in a similar environment and was raised by a single mother. Author Wes can see how the other Wes 's life went and saw that there were Decisions and actions that were taken that made them made them into the people they become. American people are always talking about “keeping up with the Jones 's” and “the grass is greener on the other side”, and most people don 't ever know about a person who shared their name and grew up in the same environment. So it makes sense that if a person becomes aware of a person like that, who shared a name and grew up in the same environment, they want to know more about what that person 's life was
Wes Moore, a kid growing up in the worst neighborhood in the us. He has no one to look up to and he follows the best role model he can find. His brother tony. Tony, being a pretty well non drug dealer kinda leads west into that lifestyle. Fast forward 8 years and Wes has his own big operation going like machine. He's walking out of a store and a guy walk up to him asking if ”he knows where he can get some rocks”(112). Wes sees all the hints that he's a cop. He's clean and everyone knows where to get drugs. Wes says no and walks away but he thinks of the money he could have made from the guy. Wes turns around and gives the guy the drugs and starts walking fast the other way. As soon as Wes got 5 feet from the guy, Was heard freeze. He kept walking acting like they weren't talking to him. All of a sudden Wes is tackled and cuffed. As he is being arrested he continues to state the he was innocent.
Moore quote including said, “It was a different psychological environment, where my normal expectations inverted, where leadership was honored and class clowns ostracized” (96). The quote The (author) Wes Moore seen in his Military School that the lower freshmen was respects the higher ranking. The (author) was very amazed that in his military school the students were respect their superior and follow their command and their honor code rules to obey by. At the Military School teaches (author) Wes Moore about learn the discipline, leadership, and teamwork. The military do care about the (Author) Wes Moore successes. The (author) Wes Moore have the stronger mentor giving him the responsibility of their trust on him to force him to change his bad behavior that impact his teenage and adulthood
In The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, many people were able to grasp ahold of the author Wes’s life and help him get steered into the right direction. I feel that his mother, Joy, had the biggest impact on his life and meant the most for him. “When we moved to New York, she worked multiple jobs, from a freelance writer for magazines and television to a furrier’s assistant- whatever she could do to help cover her growing expenses (47).” Joy was a very hardworking woman. She worked not one but two jobs to cover her expenses, her kids expenses, and to help her parents out. She did this because she wanted what was best for her children. This later comes back to make Wes respect his mother for all that she has provided and sacrificed for him to get all that he did.
“I guess it’s hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last chances” (Moore 67). This is a powerfully central theme to the book The Other Wes Moore, written by Wes Moore. For the two men this book is about, it all begins with a wide-open future. The mothers that gave birth to them and the influences they had, along with their own powerful choices, sealed their fate . People don’t ever stop growing or improving and the two Wes Moore’s are no different. Throughout their lives, they are constantly changing and in some places calling the shots. One chose correctly, and one did not.
Not taking action upon the chance that is given to one in a way defeats the purpose of why the chance was given to that person. Wes had wanted to have a fresh start. So he left Cheryl, and went over to a friend who had recommended the Job Corps, and soon after that, Wes went for an interview. It states, "Two weeks after his conversation with Levy, Wes stood in the parking lot on the corner of Saratoga and Greene streets, waiting for the bus that would take him to the Woodland Job Corps Center in Laurel" (Moore 140). This situation perfectly supports the quote that in which, it shows that the Other Wes Moore was given a chance to act on changing his life, and he did in fact do that. This proves that acting on a chance can lead one to success. One cannot lose anything in a situation similar to this, so acting upon it is very important. Therefore, act upon a chance that is given, it may lead one to extreme
The other Wes’s father was not a good father because he was a drunk, and cannot guide his son better. The author Wes’s father gave positive influence to him, although they lived together just a short amount of time. The author Wes writes “I tried to copy his walk, his expression. I was his main man. He was my protector” (11). After the Wes did not know why his mother mad at him, his father patiently explained that Wes could not hit people especially women and you should defend them rather than fight them. Later, his father also led the Wes apologize to his sister and mother. As a matter of fact, the series of behaviors have deeply affected the Wes. Therefore he wanted to copy his father and become a good man. For the other Wes Moore, The author writes, “Finally, after some more jostling, his father’s eyes cracked open. He saw Wes standing over him. Still squinting, he looked his son in the eyes. “Who are you?” (102). When he met his father on his aunt’s house, his father was sleeping on the couch. At that time, the Wes had not seen his father in years. Therefore, his father did not care about his life. Although the other Wes considered leaving the house, he still intended to say hello to him. As a result, his father said that who was Wes when he woke up. Obviously, the other Wes did not feel any love from his father, and he was not responsible for the Wes’