The Castle: Observation Report

Jimmy Santiago Baca’s Self Revelation Through Poetry A man with nothing to lose could be considered more dangerous than a man with everything to gain. The back and forth, up and down, side to side story of Jimmy Santiago Baca’s life shows that a man fighting for survival yearns more than a man fighting for simple possessions. Prison takes a toll on people differently, but those people have to accept the fact that jail is now their home for the time being. Some may continue along the beaten path, consuming themselves with regret, anger, or denial; but, some may seek a smoother path, digging deep and figuring out how to modify their lives for the better.

Famous entrepreneur and animator, Walt Disney, once said and lived by the following: “I don’t believe in playing down to children. Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows.” Similarly, Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, expresses how individuals face the world and such experiences on their own, gaining wisdom, despite their age and an apathetic support system. Facing multiple adverse conditions, Rex and Rose Walls kept their family from amassing happiness, substantial wealth-- wasted in alcoholism, and precious time--in attempts to achieve personal goals that put their children’s successes aside. Yet however, the Walls parents never “treated

Society defines home as “a house, apartment, or other shelter. It is the usual residence of a person, family, or household” (“Home”). In The Glass Castle, Jeannette’s definition of home suggests that it is a place for friends, comfort, love, happiness, and financial security. However, home is a complicated topic that can be interpreted in many ways. The Glass Castle clearly describes the pessimistic attributes of home, such as a lack of support and poor parenting.

In The Farm: Angola, documentary filmmakers Jonathan Stack and Liz Garbus follow the lives of six prisoners in a maximum-security state penitentiary in Louisiana. Known as 'The Farm ' because it has fertile soil for crops and was once a former plantation where slaves worked its 18,000 acres-slaves from Angola, Africa. Of the six prisoners mentioned in the film, I felt the most compassion for Eugene ‘Bishop’ Tannehill, an elderly inmate who preaches eternal salvation as he awaits a parole that never comes. I also felt the least compassion for Vincent Simmons, accused of raping two women, but he says he didn 't commit the crimes. Later down the road, Wilbert Rideau lectured as the advocate for the reform of the criminal justice system and against the death penalty.

Seeking a Future Imagine growing up in a home with a father who can’t succeed to make a better life for you. A mother who isn’t motivated enough to go to a job each day. Putting each harsh and miserable day, and putting it into an endless adventure. This life belonged to Jeannette Walls and every single day of her life.

It pains me to say that I will not have the satisfaction of giving each and every one of those people who escaped or not the credit and appraisal that they so dutifully deserve. No, in this essay I will be focusing on three people, each with their own hardships and their own “imprisonments”, whether those “imprisonments” were literal or not; they deserve to be appraised. All three of these people contrast against each other greatly but, at the same time have immense comparisons.   For example, all three of these people are minorities but, only two of them are male.

How does Hill create a powerfully dramatic sense of fear and tension in this extract? In Susan Hill 's book "I 'm the King of the Castle", some of the main themes are tension and fear. Hill uses many literary techniques to create a heinous and dramatic atmosphere (following the theme of gothic literature), while still keeping a sense of dark excitement. Kingshaw 's fears and feelings are conveyed using a selection of linguistic techniques, letting the reader see deep into his thoughts.

Jeannette Walls depicted an epoch of misfortune and adversity in her memoir, The Glass Castle. Jeannette and her 3 other siblings were all in a constant struggle to survive. Rex and Mary, the parents of Jeannette and her 3 siblings, were often in a constant dichotomy between submitting to self-interest and supporting the family. Having misfit parents, Jeannette and her 3 siblings were often independent and left to fend for themselves and for the family as a whole. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls evolved the theme of ideal versus reality throughout her memoir though her countless anecdotes of her father and his unattainable plans to find gold and to build a home, named The Glass Castle, for his family and her mother’s dream to become a professional and well redound artist.

The scene from The Glass Castle that presented a universal topic was when Jeanette's dad would come to the home drunk and Jeannette would try to clean up after him. In the scene, the father would come home drunk and have a rampage destroying the home. Once he was asleep she would try to clean the mess he had left but her mom would insist because he wouldn't see the mess he caused. A quote to prove this, “He came home in such a drunken fury that Mom usually hid while we kids tried to calm him down. He broke windows and smashed dishes and furniture until he'd spent all his anger; then he'd look around at the mess and at us kids standing there.

The upbringing of a child contains many factors, many of which correlate to where a child grows up. The people, culture, and experiences of someone’s childhood are the greatest determining factor for what kind of person they will become. So how does the nature and nurture of one’s upbringing impact the decisions that they make, and their life in general? Author Wes Moore explores this question in his memoir, The Other Wes Moore, as it relates to two lives in particular. Moore main purpose in this book is to explore the overarching impact that a collection of expectations and decisions, not always one’s own, can have on someone’s life.

The “13th” is a documentary about the American system of incarceration and the economic forces behind racism in America especially in people of color. One of the claims that the author mentioned is that today incarceration is an extension of slavery. It is also mentioned that most of the time in society we are defined by race. In the documentary, we can see how African Americans are sentenced for many years since they are too poor to pay their fines or sometimes most of these people plead guilty to get out of jail fast. However, African Americans are separated from their families and also treated inhumanly in prisons just because they are of a particular race.

I Capture the Castle Picture yourself in an old medieval castle near the coast. This place you call your home, is keeping you from living to the fullest. Do you choose to make the best of your situation or do you run away from your problems? "I Capture the Castle" is the story of the Mortmain family living in a castle in 1930s England. The story is revealed through the journal entries of 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain who writes every day to perfect her writing skills.

It was captivating how the film has transformed lives and how it imparts a provoking thought to

(Opening paragraph) Introductory sentence- life in a medieval castle is not a good place to live due to the serious situations that makes people not want to stay because “the rooms are extremely cold”, “it has a really bad smell” and “the windows are extremely small to look out of.” People would not think it is a safe place to stay overnight due to it being uncomfortable for a living circumstance, and finding a better way to make it more stable for everyone to feel like there at home. Overall back then the Medieval castles was very destructive and dangerous, therefore living in a medieval castle may not be a good place to live. Today when we look at a castles they are a lot bigger, has more windows, a better smell and even shows a reflection of the castle in the water. (Second paragraph)

I have never before visited a prison nor have I met a prisoner in my entire life. Why should I care about someone whom I would rarely see? But these inmates are our brothers and sisters who may have made bad choices, but don’t want their mistakes to hold them back. Throughout my life, my once miserable and hopeless circumstances were transformed by education, and I am certain that the same principle can be applied to anyone, including inmates, despite our differences in how we responded to circumstances. It is true that prison takes nearly everything away from them – even their hopes and dreams.