"Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned"

“Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned”

REVIEW

Student Review 

Water Mosley use his excellent writing style to create a novel of many stories about an eight year ex-con name  Socrates Fortlow. Through out this novel Socrates tries converting his life and correcting what he did in the future to create a better him. Socrates lives in a very small apartment in Watts where his landlord died and now he lives for free. As the story goes along Mosley shows the ex-cons struggles in trying to be a "Black man in a White world".  Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned  is a novel full of continued drama as Socrates tries to live above his struggle of lust, violence, fear, and a brutal unemotional ethic vision. Through Socrates struggle of getting and continuing to be employed with a  job delivering groceries; takes in strangers from the street a kid named Darryl, who has murdered his friend Billy and has his own murder to hide; and helps drive out the neighborhood crack dealer. Mosley uses his choice of short stories to indicate the heart that lies within his protagonist.

Recommendations:

I really enjoyed Walter Mosley collection of short stories in his novel Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone especially college professors or high school teachers. This is a great book were you and your students will be engaged and excited to read every story. This series of stories is full of drama and you would never get bored or wanna stop reading

Lookout for these stories:

My favorite story is Equal Opportunity this is a story where Socrates goes to get a job at the supermarket. He is rejected the job because he is black however they make up all kinds of excuses. However he doesn't get discourage and he contently call and go to visit the manager about his application. Throughout his dedication he eventually gets a job. Another story I enjoyed was The Black Dog this is were Socrates was going in front of the court. He is in a holding cell where the other guy in the cell is trying to bitch him Socrates is kind of upset because he has to prove his self. So he choked the guy to the wall til he could barley breathe and let him go. When another inmate tells a guard the guy that Socrates had to choke out states he's okay because of fear, everyone in the pin started to look up to him  

Sure Thing by Miguel (Poetry and Song)

   Sure Thing 

By: Miguel

"Sure Thing" Lyrics

Love You Like a Brother
Treat you like a friend
Respect you like a lover

You could bet that
Never gotta sweat that [x4]

If you be the cash
I'll be the rubberband
You be the match
Imma be your fuse
Boom!
Painter baby you
Could be the muse
I'm the reporter baby
You could be the news
Cause your the cigarette
And I'm the smoker
We raise a bet...
Cause you're tha joker
Truth tho...
You are the chalk
And I could be the blackboard
And you can be the talk
And I could be the walk

Even when the sky comes falling
Even when the sun don't shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine
Even when we're down to the wire babe
Even when it's do or die
We can do it baby simple and plain

Cause This Love Is a Sure Thing

You could bet that
Never got to sweat that [x4]

You could be the lover
I'll be the fighter babe
If I'm the blunt
You could be the lighter babe
Fire it up!
Writer babe
You could be the quote
If I'm the lyric baby
You could be the note
Record that!
Saint, I'm a sinner
Prize, I'm a winner
And it's you
What can I do to deserve that
Paper baby
I'll be the pen
Say that I'm the one
Cause you are ten
real and not pretend!

Even when the sky comes fallin
Even when the sun don't shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty lil hand in mine
Even when were down to the wire babe
Even when it's do or die
We can do it babe simple and plain
Cause this love is a sure thing

Rock wit me baby
Let me hold you in my arms
Talk with me baby
[x2]

This love
Between you and I
As simple as pie baby
Such a sure thing
Oh is it a sure thing [x2]

Even when the sky comes fallin
Even when the sun don't shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine
Even when we're down to the wire babe
Even when it's do or die
We can do it baby simple and plain
This love is a sure thing
Love you like a brother
Treat you like a friend
Respect you like a lover 

What is poetry?

Poetry is the flow of words that expresses the thought of what you can not say through words. Poetry is the expression of feeling through tone through, and literary devices to express your thought about a single experience.

-Connected-

     I used Sure Thing  to represent poetry. Through Miguel's poetic diction his lyrics convey a complex set of imagery and literary devices instantly reminded me of a poem. From the first line of his lyrics he states "Love you like a brother" this us a simile that compares the way he loves his girl to a family love. If you close your eye's and imagine you would understand that its no love like a family love because family bonds are held close and its not meant to be broken. This song doesn't not a a rhyme scheme and I love that aspect because every poem doesn't have to rhyme to be a poem. Also through out the poem he uses metaphors which gives the assumption of how close and true his love is with his girl. He explain in his lyrics that "If you be the cash, i'll be the rubberband" that explains how close he wants to be with her. Because when you think of how a rubber-band fits on money its usually tight where as though no money can get lost. In this since the love he has is the cash and he is the rubber-band and he doesn't wanna lose her love.

     I felt like this had to be the best song to use for this assignments because the meaning behind every line in his stanza's are so deep. He uses literary devices to strongly convey the complex meaning of love. Because there is no true definition of love and the way you are suppose to feel when your loving someone. Miguel was able to use a great scene of word choice throughout his poem. The scene of word choice matched and placed things together very well to place these images of what he saying in our minds. 

Who are you Sadie or Maud?

Maud went to college. Sadie stayed home. Sadie scraped life With a fine toothed comb. She didn't leave a tangle in Her comb found every strand. Sadie was one of the livingest chicks In all the land. Sadie bore two babies Under her maiden name. Maud and Ma and Papa Nearly died of shame. When Sadie said her last so-long Her girls struck out from home. (Sadie left as heritage Her fine-toothed comb.) Maud, who went to college, Is a thin brown mouse. She is living all alone In this old house.  Quiz Yourself… 1. There a sale at the mall.. You would (a)shop or (b) save  2. What would you prefer? (a) fruit or (b) snacks  3. With marriage come success... (a)Yay or (b) Nay  4. In life its better to be happy and unsuccesful then miserable and successful... (a) Yay or (b) Nay 5. Children should play to learn... (a) of course that's the best way to learn or (b) why play when children have much to learn in life  Who are You? If you choices... For #1,4,5 if you chose "a" then you officially have a mind like SADIE  For #2,3 if you chose "a" then you officially think as intelligent as Maud  You should do your majority… Because MAJORITY always RULE.

Son to Mother, (Poem)

I said a Mother's prayer for you 

to thank the Lord above 

for blessing me with a lifetime 

of your tenderhearted love. 

I thanked God for the caring 

you've shown me through the years, 

for the closeness we've enjoyed 

in time of laughter and of tears. 

And so, I thank you from the heart 

for all you've done for me 

and I bless the Lord for giving me 

the best mother there could be! 

I know how often I took you for granted 

when I was growing up. 

I always assumed you'd be there 

when I needed you... 

and you always were. 

But I never really thought about what that meant 

till I got older and began to realize 

how often your time and energy were devoted to me. 

So now, for all the times I didn't say it before, 

Thank you, Mom...I love you so very much! 

Dear Diary, (The Black Cat)

My husband such a loving and adoring man is changing. Is it me, I felt that we were inseparable but I seem to be in the way. It is not only me that notice his change it is also Pluto. He used to be fascinated with the site of animals and now he shows dreadful behaviors. Is it my assumption that he is no longer happy with me or our family? These behaviors are startling me, what should I do? I want to talk to him but no one ever see’s what they do wrong as wrong so would I be wasting my time. It’s the drinking of the Rum and Gin that’s possibly changing my love. I don’t want this I’m scared. He’s drinking way too much, how can I stop him? I sit back an observes how he tries to avoid the one he once loved, this needs to stop now before it gets bad.  

We lose everything; does this mean the love that we have are gone.  Do we start over like the first day we met? Or is this a new beginning should I enjoy this moment as I wish that losing everything and just having us well make us better. But wait my love almost like my child was gone. Was it my husband,… no, no it had to be the fire. My husband, butler and I mange to get out the house and its raging flames. No, Pluto a since of depression stimulated. Poor baby let inside to burn, should I be killed on his behave. He couldn’t talk he didn’t know what was going on and he is no longer with us. The man I first married would’ve saved me and Pluto but not this man. It’s like I was divorced and married all over again but why I loved my old husband so kind and nice. A since of bipolar behaviors comes over him in a since. Were we once shared the love of several animals that spreads our delight.

But not one stays with us. Was my husband hurt by the animals he once loved? I hope not, if so it wasn’t purposely I know animals are so pleasant. Would we ever have a pet again? And then one day in his way back home he had a friend with him. He resembled Pluto; however he was missing an eye. This drew me closer to the little fellow and I felt that I may have been over reacting my husband is still there. He constantly rubbed him and mad the cat feels just at home. The cat followed him as if to so appreciation and gracefulness. We were happy again. Then I notice that this cat wasn’t all black like Pluto once was he had a white spot on his breast area. This made me think how it would never be the same. When my husband started to change again, one day I was following him. When I saw him try to attempt to kill our friend, I grabbed his arm and that was all she wrote.

       

         Love,

Yours truly 

Me, Eleven, and Homework

In the article Homework the protagonist of the story Michael is unhappy because his dog was hit by a cart and eventually dies. He skipped school for a week and states how the only thing he misses is homework. His mother then explains to him how he is not the only one that’s unhappy but it doesn’t stop her from going to school. This is when he notices that his mother was aware of him skipping school. Yet it didn’t give the serious impression that what he was doing was bad. Instead his moms insist on if he’s not going to go to school then he could at least clean his room. Michael haves algebra problems that get him through the day. Eventually he wakes up with the perception that he was going to school, and since he was eighteen he is able to write his own excuse for school. His mother couldn’t believe what he wrote. He states “Please excuse my absence from February 17-24. I was unhappy and did not feel able to attend school”. Then he turns it in to school and the guidance counselor approaches him to ask him about the note. He tells her that he wrote the note this morning at breakfast and he knows it may not be acceptable but it’s the truth. She explains to him how she wants him to graduate. Takes his not crumbles it and attempts to throw it in the trash in his face but misses. He is told that he is okay this time but still has to make up the work. Michael leaves and then goes to meet his sister at work.

There are always connections with text to self. Were I take the protagonist feelings or behavior and connect them to behaviors or experiences of my own. In this article Michael isn’t happy because of the lost of his dog. He didn’t attend school because of his depression. The action to losing a love one is always devastating. I recently   lost my father in February and I was overwhelmed with depression. Not only was I unhappy and depressed I couldn’t function. Like, in Homework Michael used homework and algebra problems as his way of coping. When I lost my father I used basketball as my element of coping. Having our coping method made us feel better in the moments where we would usually be unhappy.

However in the short story Eleven the narrator is not too happy about being eleven. Rachel is having the worst eleventh birthday. She explains how it’s really nothing special about being eleven. She gives an explanation about how “when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one." She is really miserable in her because her teacher places an embarrassing sweater on her desk that her peers said was hers. However the sweater was not her and she explains it to the teacher but the teacher still thinks it’s hers. So she talks throughout the story about how she wishes that she was “one hundred and two”. She uses one hundred and two to represent the old and the wise. She believe that if she was older and wiser she would’ve new exactly how to handle the situation with the teacher and the sweater. Even though she wishes to be a hundred and two she expresses some really childish behaviors.

I love the out look of this situation. Because as Rachel felt about her age is the same way I feel about age and life in general. It’s like if your young its nothing and it doesn’t matter because it’s like the adults always through in your face in an argument, that they lived (bluh bluh) years so how can you tell them anything. So in the story she wishes that she was one hundred and two. I only know one man that’s 100 and that’s my grandfather, and because he is so old he gets so much respect and know one really argues with what he say at any point.  So when I’m in an argument with my mother and she tries to blame me for something that is not mines like the “sweater” in Eleven I can flash my age in her face with no question about it. I understand what Rachel is say when she explains being eleven “when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one” because as you get older you are suppose to be maturing however you still have all these ages bottled up inside you. So you have your moments when you don’t get your way and you act three. And the days where you fall and hurt yourself and you cry like a five. Therefore in the story it expresses how with older age it brings you the strength of the wise old man and that brings you happiness.

The Story of An Hour