Blog Assignment #5: Speaking on a Memoir

       "Keep pushing into the heart of the circle, toward the sound of taut leather pap-papping against bone, toward the odor of violence, and, as often as not, you'll find two men sparring, their fists stuffed into blue or red or black Everlast gloves, T-shirts matted down by hot per spiration, heavy breaths shushed through mouth pieces moving quick and staccato and with tangible tinges of fear as they bob and weave and flick and fake, searching for a taste of another man's blood." "Boxocracy? Fightocracy? Whatever. I can do whatever I want and be whoever I want to be. All fighters live until the day they die. That's not a thing all men can say. But while he's alive, a fighter lives." "No matter what," Toure said, looking directly at me, "I've got to fight, always fight, even in the face of sure defeat, because no one can hurt me as badly as I can." Toure is a man fighting with himself and its evident in his writing. He is constantly talking about fighting but you can tell by reading his story he is fighting with himself. Along with fighting himself he also has to fight against other people. From growing up and dealing with racism and being a grown up and dealing with racism, fighting is what he knows how to do. He may not be good at fighting but he does it anyway. As much as he fights people, he probably fights with himself the most. He didn't grow up in a predominately black area so he had to fight against being made fun of almost everyday. As he grew up he started to associate with white people until his subconscious started eating at him. Then he realized that no matter what anyone did to him, what he can do to himself is far worse.

#Blog#5,#ENG 274  #Response to a memoir, #my thoughts on Toure, #What's inside you, Brother?

Blog Assignment #4 - Writing on a Photo

      

In this photo taken by Sebastiao Salgado an elderly woman is sitting on her bed with her hands around her face. She looks a little somber and melancholic as if nothing has gone or is going her way.  I’m not quite sure what she is wearing but from the picture the only thing I can see is the blanket wrapped around her head. I can deduce that she is probably from the lower class because she looks as if she has been dealt a great hardship in her life. She seems to have been working her whole life just to get by and it’s seen on her face. From her wrinkly hands to her wrinkly face she seems to have faced a lot in her life.  However, by looking at this picture I can see that she doesn’t give up. Life may have been hard but it didn’t stop her or force her to give up. When we allow problems to overcome us we lose sight of things that are most important to us. She didn’t appear to have given up on life even when she should have. She looks like a fighter to me, and even though she is tough she is a human and she is allowed emotions. She appears to be crying or on the verge of crying and given her age she has a right to feel something and just let go of her pain.

#ENG 274 #Blog Assignement #4 #Sebastiao Salgado Gourma-Rharous Mali