Exploration Two: Amal

Exploration Two

1)      In response to Holding On: One profiled person that i really admire the most so in the book is Lawrence W. "Happy" Davis. I chose this profile, because it teaches people a good lesson. Mr. Davis shows us how back in the day where racism existed it took a lot of courage not to say something back. Mostly because majority of the workers were African American there was a little bit of racism portrayed in the profile. An example from the passage is “Anybody could charge you with anything reprimand you or do anything to you. A passenger would say, "He didn't smile at me." "He didn't shine my shoes last night." and that Pullman conductor, he'd make it rough for you if he didn't like you (Page 25). Mr. Davis demonstrated the theme of creativity, by having worked at the Pullman Company and being able to provide for all of his seven children. It is said in this profile that even doctors, lawyers worked for the company because they couldn’t make a living out there. It was harder for an African American to make a little so most of them just worked for the company.

2)      What really surprised me in reading “Under the influence: paying the price of My Father’s Booze, was that after watching his father go through something so horrible and also died from it. He started showing signs of him also becoming an alcoholic like his father. I learned that having a parent or someone who is an alcoholic in your family can sometimes means that someone else will inherent the same problem. A passage from the essay that I chose is “I took my first drink at the age of twenty-one, half a glass of burgundy. I knew the odds of my becoming an alcoholic were four times higher than the children of nonalcoholic fathers. So I sipped warily. I still do––––once a week, perhaps, a glass of wine. A can of beer, nothing stronger, nothing more. I listen for the turning of a key in my brain.”

3)      How does it feel going through memories of the past?