???? Thoroughly Rough Week???>

This week has been hell!!! Aah but still so much fun!!!! SO I guess I should start with English class . Well we read Orson Welles in class and I must say I fairly despise him at this point and I have a right to I mean he has almost close to no respect for anyone or anything. I honestly felt bad for those who wanted to pursue thier dreams and realized the only way was through him because I would have never hahaha nope. Anyways as we continue to read this story I realize that Richard (?) is a sad person I mean seriously I know there are some guys that are sad and desperate but as far as I know this takes the cake. I almost forgot to even do this blog just because this weekend has been soo busy!!! however I would not change this theater experience for nothin !!!! It makes the school year go by so much faster and gives you something to look forward to. I am definitely going to continue this through the rest of high school !!!!

Me Myself and Orson Welles

Soo this week we wrapped up the play "Julius Caesar". I have to say that I think I did well on the unit test , though when we got the study packets for the quotes I was a worried about how if I would understand the meanings for some of them. I still think I did really good but I don't want to really say anything yet because (knock on wood) I would get an even lower grade than I think I got. What I wanna know  is if we're gonna acually see the movie "Citizen Kane in class because it sounds good and just in case people think the book is gonna be boring (just like they thought Caesar would be before we saw the movie) we should watch the movie first so we know that its not as boring as it seems. I guess we're gonna be spending the rest of the year on this unit so might as well enjoy the book cause when its finished, the school year basically is so by all means lets do it!!!!!

21 DAYS AND COUNTING ....

Response to blog for 4/29/11

http://marksawesomeblog-mark.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-cast-of-julius-caesar-class.html?showComment=1304137232009#c1778990882391690841

Grreat Caesar's Ghost !!!

Okay sooo this week we actually finished reading Julius Caesar. I must say the play as a whole was definitely worth reading. One thing I've always admired about Shakepeare's works is that after all the language and the pages and the explanations, its purpose remains clear. For example Romeo and Juliet is of course a tragedy and when I  read the play at first I did not understand how the story is being set up. However once the conflicts were made apparent to me I was like " Well, oh wow this really is a tragedy." As the understanding gets better so does the story and that's what makes it worth reading, realizing that as you read play by play that William Shakespeare wrote, it gets easier. Now would some people say I like these stories a little to much that I legit am a nerd but I mean if you take the events in the story and really just compare and think this is a masterpiece, all the warnings Caesar got and still went to the Senate!!! Seriously??? The fact that most people don't even know that when Brutus "backstabbed" Caesar he thought  it was truly for the good of the people . I mean  I don't know if I'll ever read another Shakespeare piece in school again but I do, I am all for it.

"Julius Caesar" Cast

I really liked all the people that were in the original Julius Caesar movie. =(

The new cast and crew are....

Julius Caesar-Javier Bardem - He has those Caesar features really!!!

Brutus-David Krumholtz- I just saw his picture and went  "Brutus!"

Cassius-George Clooney- He  looks like he could play the creepy manipulative part

Casca- Michael Douglas- I really have no explanation he just looks he could play that kind of role ya know ?

Calpurnia-Angelina Jolie- Come on she would kill that role her acting skills are incredible

Marc Antony-Taylor Lautner- He looks like the jock type what can I say however the original Marc Antony was hot

Portia-Anne Hathaway- She's a good actress and she could really do something with this role

COMMENT POSTING !!!!! #2

http://evren-evrensblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/juliues-caesar-well-under-way.html#comment-form

This Week

This week like the ones before has gone by fast. They go by faster every time which in my case is sooo good. I don't mean to complain but honestly the word tired takes on a whole new meaning every week it seems. With summer literally just around the corner this last quarter just gives even more reason to be lazy and procrastinate. And the weather gets nicer and nicer (with the exception of the rainy days) so you just gotta weigh the options doing a blog , math homework or exercising on a nice sunny day? Just sayying. Anyways we read Act I and partially Act II of  "Julius Caesar" the play. Now the play isn't necessarily that bad  but I mean from time to time there are some phrases that I just can not understand. Still once translated, the play gets pretty interesting, but the delayed reaction time of whats going on at what point in the play is annoying. I feel as though the play gives so much detail on the actual planning of the conspiracy to take Caesar which does make it better to understand. My only issue though, is that Cassius was able to convince Brutus and everyone else that they needed to kill Caesar to prevent something that may or may not happen. I mean the guy is sick in his own mind and it was really for his own jealousy and envy towards Caesar that he took a good man like Brutus and put him against his own friend . Just sick. Nevertheless I guess I should read more before I say more.

COMMENT!!! THERE (throws hands in the air)

http://socerchamp16.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-weekend.html?showComment=1302926277766#c4517062377354817515

Lend Me Your Ears (Well Your Eyes Mostly)

Sooo its the end of the  first week back from break and I honestly have to say I can't remember being so tired at the end of a week. Its like we never had a break, Spring Break, what's that? a whole week out of school? for spring? nahhh. Well anyways it went by fairly quickly as it always does so I guess it was okay. We started talking about the works of William Shakespeare in class and honestly I sorta kinda love his stories. I mean some people in class started whining " Ughhh" "I can't understand what he's saying" "Its so boring, and long " "William Shakespeare was a 'panzy'" lol. I mean the only issues that I had when we read some of his works last year not only were they too long but I just wasn't used to how he wrote/spoke. When we read the stories like were told the meanings of some words and like given a summary but I didn't understand the meaning of the actual story/poem. When we read the story in class I was actually surprised at the true purpose of the poem. It was great and the fact that he used it just to show how great a writer he was well thats just cocky great,  but cocky. The movie we saw in class "Julius Caesar" was great the actors did a great job and I was just shocked I mean by the way they portrayed Brutus' betrayal and Caesar's death. I had heard pieces of the story (et tu brute?) and seen pictures but it was nothing like what I saw today that was just wow. Also Calpurnia, his wife did great, that definitely was a great way for me to understand what was going on, I mean even though you knew Caesar was going to die you just hoped that Calpurnia would make it in time, and I loved how he was able to withstand every stab that the members gave him until he saw his friend Brutus kill him. Epic movie.

What Almost Kills Us ... Makes us Stronger

Dear Reader,

The blog you’re about to read is going to address several themes. The main theme will be about perseverance. In the book “1^st to Die” by James Patterson the main character homicide inspector, Lindsay Boxer faces many situations that challenged her thinking. For example, in the first few chapters the character was diagnosed with a deadly disease that could have killed her in only four weeks. This affected her abilities to help solve the murders that occurred throughout the story. It also affected the relationships that she had with her friends as well as her confidence in finding love again with one of the characters. Still, she was able to come forward and tell her friends and eventually her love interest about the issues she was dealing with. She solved the murders in the end and even found out that her disease had been cured. This theme was shown in more areas of the story than some but it still was expressed enough for me to consider it the main theme.

                                                                                               

                                                                                               Sincerely,
                                                                                            Lauriane Abbey

                                              “Rise up fallen fighters,

                                          Rise and take your stance again,

                                           ‘Tis’ he who fight and run away,

                                                Live to fight another day”                  
                                                        -Bob Marley

Brave Face

What am I supposed to say?

There’s no turning back I have to be strong,

I can only put up a brave face for so long,

My friends, my family they have to find out someday,

And I don’t want them to find out the wrong way,

I can make it through this people there’s worse ways to die,

Whether I make it or not depends on how hard I try,

I don’t really know what the outcomes going to be,

I’m not really sure how much time I have left,

But I know I can’t through this…

At least not by myself                            -Lauriane Abbey

                                             "She says we've gotta hold on to what we've got,

                                                        Cause it doesn't make a difference,

                                                                    If we make it or not,

                                                        We've got each other and that's a lot,

                                                             For love-we'll give it a shot"    
                                                                       -Bon Jovi

   "Anytime you need a friend,

                                                                          I will be here,
                                                              You'll never be alone again,
                                                                     So don't you fear,
                                                                Even if you're miles away,
                                                                       I'm by your side,
                                                             So don't you ever be lonely,
                                                               Love will make it alright" - Mariah Carey

                                    "I've got a hard road to travel and a rough, rough way to go,

  Said it's a hard road to travel and a rough, rough way to go,

  But I can't turn back, my heart is fixed ,

           My mind's made up, I'll never stop, my faith, will see , see me through"

-Jimmy Cliff

So many times, it happens too fast

                                                       You change your passion for glory 
                                             Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
                                                               You must fight just to

keep them alive -Survivor 

             As I look back at this assignment, I honestly can see that it really wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Being creative can be easy in some cases , but choosing four genres that had to represent the theme was difficult. The first genre I chose was a free verse poem that I wrote myself. I chose to do this  because I felt that I write a poem that would relate to the theme and that it would be more creative if I wrote it myself. The second genre I chose was a thank you card written from the perspective of the main character of my choice novel. I chose this genre as the second one because in the story , even though it is surrounded by one main character , Lindsay Boxer with the help and support of her friends , she was able to not only solve a murder case but eventually overcome a deadly disease. The third genre I did was a picture of a highway overhead sign that said things like "Motivation-'This EXIT' or 'PERSEVERANCE-25 miles'. This photos for this caption I thought were self-explanatory and a to me represented a good metaphor for the things that people need on the road to success. The last genre I chose was a top ten list of things needed to be able to persist and achieve anything that anyone wanted to accomplish. I chose to do this because honestly for a theme like mine, there weren't very many options in the genres that i could really find. I know that this theme was probably the most consistent in my novel, which was why I chose it. The only issues I had were trying to find the right genres to support my theme. The timing was okay because I had enough time to finish the book (because it was good) but personally I might have started my project earlier just because that's what kind of person I am.

Works Cited

"The Heathen Lyrics - Bob Marley." Lyrics, Song Lyrics – LyricsFreak.com. 2010. 28 Mar. 2011. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob marley/the heathen_20021679.html.

"JIMMY CLIFF - HARD ROAD TO TRAVEL LYRICS." Lyrics. 2010. 28 Mar. 2011. http://www.metrolyrics.com/hard-road-to-travel-lyrics-jimmy-cliff.html.

"Livin’ On A Prayer Lyrics - Bon Jovi." Lyrics, Song Lyrics – LyricsFreak.com. 2010. 28 Mar. 2011. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bon jovi/livin on a prayer_20022256.html.

"MARIAH CAREY - ANYTIME YOU NEED A FRIEND LYRICS." Lyrics. 2010. 28 Mar. 2011. http://www.metrolyrics.com/anytime-you-need-a-friend-lyrics-mariah-carey.html.

"Perseverance." Color Addict. 7 May 2008. 28 Mar. 2011. <http://www.coloraddict.com/2008/05/perseverance.htm>.

LYRICS. 2010. 28 Mar. 2011. http://www.lyrics007.com/Survivor Lyrics/Eye Of The Tiger Lyrics.html.

                                             

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Okay sooo I forgot to do my blog yesterday =( but only because I thought we were supposed to be reading our choice novel over the weekend which I did. I mean something in my gut was initially telling me to do my blog but I just didn't know!! Okay so let's see last week in English 10 we had to pick a choice novel to read purely for enjoyment. HOWEVER and yet we have a multi-genre project attached to this novel of "enjoyment" that we have to complete by the end of OGT week. Lovely. I have found my choice novel , a mystery as I do love a good one , its called 1st degree by James Patterson and I am lovin it!!! I saw his most recent book that just came out Tick Tock but then I found this one and now I may have to put that one on hold. I think this is my first time reading one of his books, but my brothers read one of his too and says that he's a really good author and I believe him.!!! Because this is high school and I have copious amounts of homework this isn't like middle school where I can just drift off to La-La land. I have limits. I do miss that feeling though when its seems like fantasy is at its highest point taking you to a point so far away from reality and then when the books over , so is the moment but only for a minute.

Poison Envy (whew!! here we go...)

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RATED M: for moronic

So the topic is moronic movies well I've had my fair share those and honestly, if they're not funny enough then it pi**ses me off . Just like old television shows and music there is a quality increase/decrease in some genres. I remember last Halloween Staying up to certain hours of the night watching every single Jason movie there was all week including Michael Myers (who is my personal favorite !!!) and other great scary movies of the past. Granted I had to turn on every light just to get upstairs and look back at every corner but I was still excited to watch everyday because it just seemed so real and the quality was great. Movies these days make us want to predict every single circumstance that the director expects to jump out which really ruins the fun no matter how good or bad the movie. There are some great movies out there that's for sure although off the top of my head I can't remember the last one I've seen. Most of the movies that I watch anyways are from another country, Ghana/Nigerian just because the conflicts drama are almost too relatable. I honestly wish I had more movie experience to rely from, but its kinda for me sometimes it obvious when a movie is going to be one of those pointless ones or not. The ones that really make me angry are the ones that you just know are too different from the book or the show, its just one of the reasons why when I read a book I'm reluctant to ever watch the movie I mean  my point of view is one thing but the director's is another. That doesn't account for all movies based upon book just saying .

Time is an illusion~

We all have our time machines. Some take us take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams~Jeremy Irons

The topic presented for this week's blog's is time wasting.I should say I feel that you have set yourself up for this one Mr.Potter, how many replies you'll get back saying "This whole blog thing" I shouldn't say and " I could make a guess, but I won't." Anyways the person here who is currently blogging used to be a huge time waster. I mean yes as you live and breathe and I type and people read this could be considered wasting time, but I'd like to thing that everything has a purpose to it whether we see it or not, for example like you said you consider playing video games to be a waste of time, when in actuality most of them help with hand-eye coordination , and help game players with problem solving skills and being able to think quick on their. Now after playing for several times and winning for several times one might now consider it to be a waste of time but each and everytime something is changing that either makes us more and more apparent. I can find many ways that off the top of my head I would consider to be time wasters but that may not be necessarily true. I may not see the benefits of just starng out into space, especially in class, and even though its probably suggested that I pay attention in class but still gathering thoughts together, events that may have happened recently still helps my thought process and how to deal with situations for some people. Again NOT saying that you shouldn't pay attention in class GO TO SKOOL AND LEARN  but my point is that they are things that may be considered a waste of time or they just aren't considered as important as other things it is up to us to decide what we think is an obligation or a waste of time but just know that for someone else the two may be flipped.

http://evren-evrensblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/having-siblings-is-such-adventure.html?showComment=1297481857191#c11599228295509841

We Are Family!!!

Sooo siblings is the name of this game!!! Well then lets meet the family...

So that gorgeous dark skinned on the right is me :) and the other one on the left is my bother of a brother William (sometimes he likes to be called Will.I.Am, preferences much)? He looks uncomfortable in this picture but he knows he loves it!!! We were both born in Jamaica,  Queens: New York. This picture was taken on New Years Eve just a few minutes before the New Year (and his 12th birth The most I can remember then was going to the beach every Saturday or so (a lot of my family lived around that area) and we would go to the beach just to play around in the sand. That was just the best!!! We can be seen always laughing or joking about whatever sometimes we just try to out do each others jokes in the process giving family members or random strangers nearby entertainment.

This would also be my brother Robert (we like to call him B.o.B just cause it makes sense).He was born here in O-Hi-O, he's pretty tall for his age (he's 8) I mean its pretty creepy to me but whatever he'll be able to defend me when I grow up he would also be a part of the group that me and my brothers have fromed as being the wisecrackers of the family slow at first but hes learning fast, he's gotta be the most spontaneous one always blurting out the most random things funny, but still oh so random.

Ahh let's see who am I missing..?

Oh yeah!!! There's my little sister Mariane. This picture was also take on New Years Eve (if you ask me someone had too much kool-aid that day). Why she is playing with balloons that look as big as her I do not know but it sure looked hilarious at 1 a.m. She is 3 years old but don't let that fool you she is way too smart sometimes it scares me. I mean kids are witty and clever at times but  for what she does know it makes you wonder if she's been recently recruited to Baby Geniuses I once saw her give the once over to a toddler in the toys section of Wal-Mart don't know what it was for but she did leave with a brand new Dora the Explorer toy that day  hmm? The world may never know ...

Hope you've had a nice time meeting the family well I'm sorry for anything they might have broken on their visit or any people they might have driven crazy, you know what they say you can choose your friends, but not your family!!!!

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Throwbacks Now Throwbacks Foreverrrr!!!

Ha !! Now as I was saying ahh yes, soo many good shows, these shows are something that will just always stay with me. I don't really even try to watch TV now because of the absence of good quality TV if you know what I mean. Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck will always be those characters of which I can draw inspiration (Mel Blanc you are a genius). Who could forget Johnny Bravo one of the original ladie's man who just couldn't get the ladies and seriously sounded just like Elvis. Scooby Doo, don't even get me started , I've seen every version there is from and i still bust out the VHS tapes . Josie and the Pussycats may have been a spin-off or whatever of Scooby-Doo but stilll ahh just as good. Sesame Street and Arthur was school for me and Between the Lions ? Ha ! Mr.Potter you're an English teacher you tell me, how are my reading skills? Dexter was my HERO no joke at all to this day I am trying to figure out and master his accent which I will one day. The Powerpuff Girls ahh now that one takes me back to a time where me and my friends thought we could stray away from our group in kindergarden o help this woman take her kid home from daycare, we thought we were the Powerpuff Girls and split up around the playground to catch that kid lol we got in soo much trouble but still the day was saved !!! There almost wasn't a morning I would miss The Magic School Bus and Captain Planet , please don't even get me started, and hero who cares about the environment and everyone got those really cool rings? Ahh my heart aches for this generation. The superheroes are soo not being excluded from this list. Batman ? Puhleaseee I was born in Queens alright , where the heroe's hometown Gotham City resides and Spiderman can be seen swinging from skyscrapers, have to pay tribute to the crimefighters of my imagination. Sailor Moon was another oh I could watch that show forever another one of my personal favorites to say the least. The Jetson's or The Flintstones , personally The Flintstones are much more hilarious but in a heartbeat I would have The Jetson's lifestyle. I didn't exclude any "guy" shows either cause to me there simply were none I watched everything from Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pokemon , even DragonBall-Z I am not playing. Secret Squirrel , Out of the Box, Zoboomafoo, Caillou, Rolie Polie Olie, Animaniacs, Freakazoid (Ha, did you think of that one I did!), Hey Arnold, Doug, Recess, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Blues Clues, RugRats.I'm so convinced that half  of my personality is stuck in the eighties and beyond. and so I leave you with this and my first (sorry) blog  response URL


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufSYXSK5eiA


http://www.220.ro/desene-animate/Dexter-39-S-Laboratory-Dexter-39-S-Rival/5A9vxulstg/


http://mrpottersclassroomblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/do-you-like-driving-and-listening-to.html#comment-form

Who Dunnit???

So this was the first week back from break =( and  we continued our Mystery and Suspense unit in English we read many stories hopefully most of them will come to mind now. Let's see there was the one story " Man in the South" that we read about and watched a film version of. To me it didn't feel like a mystery story (But oh the suspense was definitely there) because it seemed so typical. I mean how often do people get cheated out of their possessions and come home to find everything gone or end up paying with their lives. Left pinkies and cars are different though and because of that I admit I did find it creepy not mysterious but just plain wrong.One thing I did learn from that story though is that mystery and suspense genres can be looked at through the  eyes of many situations.Another story we read was "Monkey's Paw". This one had all the makings of a classic mystery and suspense, the curiosity of whether the "Monkey's Paw" actually did work was the mystery behind the story. It reminded me of "Jumanji" not even kidding when I think of "Monkey's Paw" and fate and how it can not be changed thats the first thing I think of.  The way the "Monkey's Paw was first seen as nothing more than an ancient trinket with no value, thought of as just a gimmick to frighten people. Then when the paw is given to Mr.White it is seen as a chance to change  his life and all that he thought about life before he found it. That's when they learn that yes it can do what it was meant for but at the same time they knew nothing of it power that it possessed everytime they granted it a wish. The way that the wishes were twisted into ways that most people would consider good really showed how life is just a mystery and that fate can not be changed no matter what decisions we make because we know so little.

Mystery with a Twistery !!!! Hahaha I love Spongebob

This week we have have finished our Human Rights lesson!!! I'm kinda glad in a way because there were just too many ways to go in terms of which groups have human rights and comparing the ones that didn't have any. We have begun what is to be my favorite genres of like all time!!! We started by reading the weirdest 3 page story about some lady who's dog was killed by a psychopath who escaped from a mental institute. The funniest part of that whole story was when she realized that the person who escaped from the institute was the one who was next to her bedside.Hahahahaha and that meant that he licked her hand ewww that is sooooo hilarious to me i don't know why. Anyways we watched this 70/80's version of "When a Stranger Calls" which by the way I have seen the remake and it scared the crap out of me for a while. It was very different considering the way that we view scary movies now but it had all the requirements I should say that a suspenseful story needs. I hope we will be reading more stories cause I am a sucker for this stories!!! I try to figure them out like I was called on to investigate the crime. If we are doing anything like that in class then I can almost promise I won't fall asleep.!!!

Civil Rights, Human Rights

 So this week in class things like human rights were discussed. We read stories in class, one of them had to do with the internment camps that the Japanese were put in during the second world war. There was also a very important question brought up; should what happened to the Japanese during this time be compared to what happened during the holocaust? The answer to that question could be twisted in so many different ways. In my opinion I would not want to consider what happened at the Japanese internment camps of less value than what happened in the holocaust because in both situations there was a large number of lives lost. At the same time the reasons for why each event happened are very different. The Japanese were treated the way they were because the United States did not want to face a threat to the country especially after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The holocaust situation is different because Hitler only had resentment for the Jewish which was why he chose to kill them the way he did ,so there is a lot to consider there. We also watched a movie on Thursday or Wednesday (I forget what its called) and it was about the sacrifice that an immigrant from Italy made to save his son during the holocaust. It was a very sad but interesting movie in the way he made his son believe that the whole situation was a game that he had to win but it also showed  another side to the war, what kind of labor and torture the immigrants went through, some of the guy's friends never made it back from taking a shower because they were taken in  gas chambers. It was a great perspective but at the same time,showed the harshness that people without human rights faced

Stories of Struggle Essay

                      This week in English 10 there werewe studied three stories, the first one was "NightJohn". The story could have taken place around the mid-1800's. The narrator of the story is a girl who worked on the plantations as a slave, she  is later called Sarny. In this story there were many things that stood out that shows the opinions of African-Americans at the time. Mentioned in the book by Sarny slaves were not allowed to address their masters by their first names. They lived on the property of the slave owners and were considered property themselves.Throughout the story as Sarny is describing events she is at the same time sharing the daily life of a slave.The slaves were not allowed to wander off of the property and  their only use of clothing was tarp cloth. They ate out of troughs which were used for horses and only the strong young men were allowed to reproduce or what they called "breeding" while the others worked in the farms, so they were treated like animals and called just "niggers" in general.The most important and influential part of this story though was that they were allowed to read nor write. Anyone caught doing so would face extreme punishment such as being whipped or worse. NightJohn who was a slave that had recently been bought onto the same plantation as Sarny knew how to do both read and write. As the story continues he meets Sarny and manages to make a deal with her that if she gives him tobacco he will teach her all the letters of the alphabet.
           The next story titled "Mascot" is what seems to be an autobiography of the late Malcolm X. In the story Malcolm X  is about 13 years old. He is talking about his older brother Philbert who many in his neighborhood say is a good boxer and who might go on to be the next "Brown Bomber". Malcolm though that if he learned to box as good as his brother than his reputation would go up, and the people in his neighborhood got some kind of racial pride in this because it was really the only legal way of hitting a white person. This is not what happened though, when Malcolm tries to box he learns that it is really not his best way of gaining attention and in fact ends up weakens his reputation when he is beat by a white boy. For the several behavioral problems he faced while in school he is sent to a reform school not far from where he lived in Michigan. While attending the school he stays with Mr.and Mrs. Swerlin a married white couple and meets the state man Mr. Maynard Allen. As he narrates throughout the story he talks about how they seemed to enjoy his company and with the exception of using the word "nigger" he was alright with them. He attends the school where he learns alongside white people and is even allowed to converse with them and he is even respected. Eventually he goes into high school and the same thing follows ,only this time he starts thinking more and more about the way he is looked at by those around him. One thing that sets off a major difference in views is when his teacher Mr. Ostroski asks him what he wants to do with his life.  Malcolm says he would like to become a lawyer his teacher does not take him seriously saying that he needs to be  "realistic about being a nigger" and that a lawyer is no realistic goal that maybe carpentry would suffice. This upsets Malcolm because when his other classmates tell about their ideal careers they are encouraged. When Malcolm goes to visit his family back and forth one day he met his step-sister and went to places like Chicago, Detroit , and New York. There he witnessed a side of his culture that he had not seen in some time. The music, food and atmosphere in general were similar to that of his hometown but it seemed to have a more free existence in the way they acted and talked. there were black-white couples walking down the streets. This seemed to change his views and he now felt as though he needed to be with people of his kind. He leaves Mr. and Mrs. Swerlin and goes on to live with his step -sister Ella and he never really explains to them why he decides to leave but he continues to write letters.
               In both of these stories and in the movie "Great Debaters" there were many similarities and differences some easily pointed out others a little difficult to find. The two stories and the movie each had a different time setting that showed where racism stood in the United States. The story "Mascot" has a closer time period to "The Great Debaters" from the story "NightJohn". "NightJohn" took place in the south when slavery was not yet abolished. African-Americans were slaves and had no civil rights, they were not allowed to read or write whatsoever and they were just treated like animals. This is very different from the story "Mascot" which took place in the late 1930's , at the time where slavery had been abolished and African -Americans had been considered  citizens. They were allowed to live among the whites and go to school to learn but in different Neighborhoods but still considered below the whites. Both of these stories have have a large contrast to the movie "The Great Debaters" which though occurred around the same time as "Mascots" portrayed a slightly different outlook on African-Americans. The movie shows Africans-Americans who not only had the chance to learn but also educate themselves among their own people. One example of this was Wiley College where three African-American debaters went to practice and write their own speeches for debates held against other colleges. Living in their own neighborhood they still educated themselves about the better opportunities they could have for themselves and the things out there in the world that would reach them to higher ground. Samantha Booke for example wanted to be a lawyer and there were at the time only two known female lawyers in Texas. This is very different from "NightJohn" where African -Americans were not even acknowledged as humans and were used no more than for the slave owner's purposes. Never given the opportunity to learn for fear that the slave would one day rise up against their masters and revolt they were not allowed to read nor write. "Mascot and "The Great Debaters" are closer in comparison because they revolve around the same time period. Both take place at a time where African-Americans were segregated from the whites but still able to be recognized by society. They did not have the same jobs or positions that white people held but had industrial jobs that did not require much knowledge. These three stories each have a story to tell about the history of racism in America and where it stood at different times. The  continuous progression towards changing the way others view about people has gotten society where it  is today. Reading "NightJohn" and "Mascot" as well as watching "The Great Debaters" has given some insight on two very different but important points in African-American history.