 Book Report: “Letter From A Slave Boy”
Author of the book: Mary E. Lyons Have you ever read any letter from your grandparents about the slavery times. If you had, how did you feel? What did you learn from it? How did it affect what you have become now, or in the future? Would you think that slavery still exists at the present time? As an individual, I've been asking myself “Am I taking actions to prevent slavery or taking advantage of the weaknesses of other people?” I have been reading this book “Letter From A Slave Boy” by Mary E. Lyons. The slave boy’s name was Joseph Jacobs. He was born into slavery in Edenton, a waterfront town in North Carolina. He lived with his grandmother, Gran Molly and his sister, Lulu(Louisa) in North Carolina. Joseph had not seen his mother for more than seven years. His mother had been hiding in the attic of the same house where Joseph lived! Imagine how heartbreaking it is not to see your own mother and feel her embrace from the time you were born. For Joseph to express his longing to be with his mother and seeking for freedom, he wrote letters to his mama and loved ones. This book captivated my attention because it allows me to see the realities of life in slavery in the 19th century. It is a jaw-dropping book I have ever read in my life!! The theme for “Letters from a Slave Boy” is a very interesting piece of historical fiction. It teaches lessons of growing up, and how to be yourself and as free as you can be. As a young slave boy, Joseph tried so very hard not to think of himself as a slave. He tirelessly kept on finding for a place where he, his mother and sister could truly enjoy life and freedom. I admire Joseph’s strong determination to gain freedom despite the difficulties he faced. The story’s specific setting was during the nineteenth century in Edenton, North Carolina. During that time African people worked as slaves. Once you were born into slavery, you’re slave forever. Your master does not like you to forget you’re his slave. It didn’t matter one of your parents was white. That parent would not acknowledge you as his or her child for fear of getting bad reputation. If the story’s setting would be the opposite-the time when Africans won their freedom through 18th amendment, everyone could have enjoyed life, freedom, and not worked as slaves. Families with parents of different races could have stayed together anytime and anywhere they want. Challenges of childhood could have been handled well and childhood memories could have been happier not devastated. The novel is about a conflict between person and society. This conflict became evident when Harriet courageously decided to run away and hide from her master. The society in the south thinks that it is unacceptable for a slave to run away from their master. If the slave is captured, they are severely punished. Harriet has avoided this type of punishment by hiding in her grandmother’s attic because she wanted to be with her children though they didn’t know that she was in the attic. The other conflict in this book is person vs. self. Since Joseph was born to a white father, he could be easily seen as a white person. His father did not acknowledge Joseph as his child and left him as a slave, but Joseph wanted to stay white. Throughout the whole story, Joseph was fighting with himself to choose whether he should remain black, or white because of the good treatment he was getting. He wanted to remain white whenever he could so he could get into the “White Only” store. There were times also that he acted black so he could continue to work as a miner. However, he stayed as a black person in the end because for him it was the right thing to do. The book structure is written in letter form which looks like a diary. Through these letters, he wrote about how he was growing up and escaping in search for freedom. When he just learned to write, he had spelling and grammar problems but as the story progressed, he improved in his spelling and grammar. In his initial letters, it was as if he was talking in person to his mother about his day to day routine. Joseph wrote about how he missed his mother so much and that he wanted to live with his mother instead of his grandmother. Joseph remembered that he had to learn how to write letters from a white boy Josiah Collins IV as trade for teaching him how to fish. Joseph and Josiah became best friends. At the mid part of the book, Joseph clearly described in his letters his situation as he traveled to find work so he could earn enough money to free his family, but it wasn’t a lot of money. So, he worked and gambled in order to have an enormous amount of money to buy back his family from the slaveholder, Dr. Norcom. As Joseph arrived at San Francisco Bay, he bought a newspaper and it grabbed his attention that in April, California passed its own Fugitive Slave Act in 1850. The Act established commissioners to issue warrants for slaves who had run away and reached Free states. Joseph knew the slaveholder would send a slave hunter to find him and take him to the judge and returned him back to his master. So, Joseph started to act like a “white” man. Cause
Effect: The slaveholder, Dr. Norcom, threatens and hurt Harriet because of her pregnancy.
Effect: Dr. Norcom was enraged so he organized patrols to search for Harriet. He publicly offered a reward of $150 whoever captures her in North Carolina, and $300 for out of state.
Effect: Harriet decided to escape out of North Carolina. Before she escaped, Joseph finally got to see his mother again on the night she fled to the North to escape from the slave hunters who have been told where she was hiding. Harriet escaped to Boston, Massachusetts. To express his longing for his mother, Joseph wrote numerous very personal letters to his Mama. Goodreads.com
I agree with Leslie’s review “It is based on a true story and though fairly simple, gives such a good idea of how it feels to always be looking over your shoulder for someone to capture you and return you to your master. Great book for kids to learn about slavery from the perspective of a child.” It is really interesting to learn about people’s experience during the slavery times. Joseph’s bravery to face life and his fight for freedom makes me realized to appreciate all the more my family, friends, and the things I currently have in life.
In conclusion, I learned the realities of life in slavery in the 19th century through Joseph Jacobs’ experiences in his quest for freedom. It is sad and difficult for Joseph Jacobs not being with his mother especially during his childhood. He tried so very hard to earn money so he could set his family free. I admire Joseph’s strong determination to gain freedom through blood, sweat and tears-just like our ancestors who fought for our freedom. Freedom is a great gift from them because it allows us to do what is best for our family, ourselves, and our country. Let us speak up for those who are not able to speak up for themselves. Let us be mindful of our actions by making sure that we do not enrich ourselves at the expense of other people. After all, this is what freedom is all about!  My family and I are from the Philippines. I was only nine months old when we left the Philippines and migrated to the U.S. My parents introduced me to Philippine music, movies, and food. Filipinos are fond of listening to rock, pop songs, and ballad songs. Philippine music is influenced by Spanish and American that ruled the Philippines for over three centuries. All the popular songs in the U.S. are also popular at the same time in the Philippines. Philippine songs are expressions of thoughts, love, relationships, character, and way of life. Filipinos love to sing and dance solo or together in parties or no parties.
When I was 12 years old, I started to become interested in searching for pop songs that I like. Some people might think I’m crazy because I only just listen to pop music not rap, rock, soft rock, classical, hip-hop, or country. Well, I believe that pop music is a good influence to teenagers and young adults because it usually focuses on love and romantic relationships on dance-oriented rhythm. Every time I listen to a pop song, it makes me want to dance and sing or perform on stage for everybody at school, halftime show, and etc. However, I could hear negative comments from some of my friends in the past saying “That’s a bad performance.” “You are small and audience will not be focusing on you they just turn around and talk to somebody.” I tried to forget these comments, but, these were like a molecule separate from each other into a nuclear explosion crushing my dream like a meteorite straight down into the abyss. About four years later after that abrasive comments, my parents told me that “Don’t listen to the people who said mediocre comment about you. Just be yourself and be happy.” After my parents talked to me, I was ebullient because I realized that I can do what I want to do. One day, when I was searching for new Pop song, I found a song named “Gangnam Style” by a future quintessential artist PSY. This song attracted many teenagers and young adults because it encourages dancing and making a parody music video. It was the best moment of my life when I heard this song. The song lyrics are in Korean but I came to know what it means through the video of PSY interview about the song. I always do the dance moves while singing this song. I was able to perform the dance in front of my friends. My friends made great comments about my dancing. It had changed me a lot like being positive all the time, and inspires me to be the best I can be by getting excellent grades on my subjects. I always dream of performing this song and dance at school and be the next famous Pop artist. In conclusion, it is great to be true to yourself. It is really helpful to learn the culture of where you originally came from and how can it be adapted with the culture in the environment that you currently in. Find what you really love to have or to do. Learn from the culture of other people without forgetting your own culture. This is how we can make ourselves better because, in the future, it will be our turn to share this culture with other people or to your own sons or daughters so as to make them proud of themselves and they will keep that culture alive.  My passion of my life would be playing guitar. Since I was 5 years old, my grandpa let me borrowed his guitar and loved it. I joined a guitar club when I was at eighth grade. Playing guitar inspired me to play guitar, because I wanted to perform on the stage or singing and dancing front of everybody and just want to do it for entertainment. Playing guitar makes me want to sing and it helps me to stay positive for school, test, clubs, activities, etc. Guitar will be my passion forever along with singing and dancing. Those things are really makes me peaceful and hopeful. What is your passion?
 You may have heard, teachers in Chicago were on strike. How would you feel when teachers are having a strike? Will it happen in Chamblee High School and other school? Should we support or oppose the strike?
The Chicago public school teachers began the strike on September 10. This is right after the negotiators failed to reach a contract agreement despite the last ten months of negotiations. On that day, about 350,000 students left without schools to attend and parents hurriedly left work early to find options for their children. That day was very chaotic. Parents exclaimed, “STUDENTS NEED EDUCATION!” The teachers are asking: Ø To keep their existing health benefits Ø To maintain salary increases Ø For job security Ø To change the new job performance evaluation system that puts too much emphasis on students test scores As I watched the news, I asked myself should we support or oppose the strike. I answered, “I oppose teacher strike.” Teachers should not go on strike because it will be chaotic and horrendous for the students who have no knowledge of the issues of teachers. Disruption of school classes could affect the momentum of students to focus on learning. Police or SWAT Teams may be sent and this could cause confusion among young students. Someone could get hurt if the situation will not be put under control. The Chicago Board of Education should expedite the process of reaching contract agreement that is fair with the teachers and the school system. Students need school and the teachers to work together in a peaceful way. For example, if Chamblee High School teachers go on strike for months, how do you feel? My answer is aggravating, because my family will be having a hard time with this situation if they need to look for another school that I can go to. Finding a very good public school like Chamblee High School will be very difficult. With all these disruptions, I might not be able to finish high school on time, my scores in ACT and GPA might be low for colleges I wanted to go. This will prevent me from going to my dream college which is UCLA, Georgia Tech, or CAL Tech. If the strike continues, Chamblee High School might lose their best students, parents, and community support. It might not make another AYP, thus, students might decide not to go this school anymore. In conclusion, I do not support teachers’ strike because this is not the best way to raise issues or demands. It is chaotic. It is possible that the strike will get infiltrated by people (not teachers) whose sole purpose is to cause chaos or confusion. It could become dangerous. Teachers can take up their issues to the leaders of the school system through scheduled meetings after school, or during the weekends. However, the school system must show their commitment to do everything to make teachers feel they are important, and listen to what they are asking for. They need to quickly act on issues concerning compensation, benefits, and job security. Thus, teachers’ strike will be avoided. How would you feel when teachers are having a strike at your school? What is your response to this topic?  My favorite sport is soccer. It is originally first played in England. It is the best sports to play and it is pure adernaline.
If you want to be an elite athlete for soccer, here are the things you must obey or have: be in good shape, report any medical condition, stay away from drugs such as smoking, steroids. getiing enough sleep, eating nutrious food, great skills on handeling on the ball, and a lot of practice. I told my parents that want to join and play soccer for the team. My parents were in shocked, because I have asthma and heart murmur. My parents and I met with cardiovascular doctor to be sure that I can play any sports that I want to join and play. My doctor told me that I have to run on a threadmill to be sure that I am in good shape also not having a hard time breathing and the heart is okay. Finally, I past the test and I can play any kind sports that I want to play. How do you feel when you told your parents about that your favorite sports that you want play? Also, are the skills in order to be an elite athlete? Can you imagine yourself without cell phone? Many people carrying cell phone everywhere. It is near their bed, coffee table, in the bathroom, at the bus stops, airport, anywhere. Cell phone became an important part in our lives because we can communicate quickly, reminds us of our appointments, and send messages or share pictures and videos as you take them. There is a dilemma to this…. Cell phone’s calling and data plans cost a lot of money.
Which mobile communications companies offer the best affordable plan? Currently, T-Mobile, MetroPCS, and Sprint offer unlimited data plans. T-Mobile has a new unlimited nationwide 4G plan for $89.99 a month with free phone. MetroPCS offers unlimited data plan for talk, text, and data; however, it covers only 14 cities including Atlanta for $55 a month. Sprint provides Simply Everything unlimited data plan for $109.99 a month, but you need to be on Sprint network to get connected. According to the PC Magazine review of speed and coverage “T-Mobile has the best balance of speed, a broad selection of smartphones, and nationwide coverage.” In my opinion, having a cell phone is very expensive, but it is an important tool to communicate with each other. So what do you think? SHOULD you or SHOULDN’T you get a cell phone? | Carlo RamosWork hard and be successful in life. ArchivesApril 2013 CategoriesAll  Carlo's cool way by Carlo Ramos is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License. |
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