The blind side Essay Example for Free

The blind side Essay â€Å"The Blind Side† is based on the remarkable true story of Baltimore Ravens offensive left tackle Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron). Michael grew up in the inner city housing projects with his mother in Memphis, Tennessee aptly named â€Å"Hurt Village†. Michael’s story begins with him being homeless and coming from a broken home with a drug-addicted mother, and an absentee father. Because of his family circumstances, Family Services took control of his life as he was growing up. Unfortunately, he was being bounced around in and out of foster homes, and now as a teenager he has taken it upon himself that he would rather be homeless. By a stroke of luck, and the coach’s wish for a player the size of Michael, he ends up enrolling in a private Christian school where the Tuohy kids go. Michael is a quiet person. He is shown to have a kind of childish personality, because he tries to play with kindergarten children (Rachel St. Gelais) who reject or ignore him. Michael is befriended by S.J. Tuohy (Jae Head), the youngest Tuohy whose connection to Michael starts the ball rolling. One icy winter night, as Michael is walking down the road to the school gym, where he is sleeping, Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) with her husband Sean (Tim McGraw) and children Jae and Collins (Lily Collins) pick Michael up and take him home for the night. However, he stays for the next night, which puzzles Sean, although the children accept Michael matter-of-factly. Soon, Leigh Anne offers him a room and bed. As she starts making him greater and greater favours, he comes to research through Michael’s exams, and the only positive feedback that teachers could ever say about him is that he had big protective instincts. Leigh Anne will use that to explain him how to play in the field. Up to that moment, he wasn’t able to get the hang of the game and its rules, and he wasn’t able to understand what his role in the field was. From that moment, Michael starts to play well and be useful to his team. At the traditional Christmas card photograph of that year, Leigh Anne invites him to appear on the photo. Leigh Anne’s friends Beth (Rhoda Griffs), Elaine (Eaddy Mays) and Sherry (Ashley LeConte Campbell) meet regularly at a local expensive restaurant. The friends laugh about Leigh Anne’s â€Å"project in the projects†, but she cuts it off, saying that if they don’t respect what she does, she will stop seeing them. An opportunity arises for Michael to play at  university level. However, he needs his grades to improve, so the Tuohys hire a private tuition teacher, outspoken and kind Miss Sue (Kathy Bates), who will immediately succeed. During their Geography lesson, she makes a stupid remark about some univerity burying the bodies of dead people in their game field, which Michael seems to believe blindly. There comes a momen when Leigh Anne wants to have a face-to-face conversation with Michael’s mother(Adriane Lenox). Although she seems unresponsive in the beginning, the mother finally wishes Michael the best. She says that social services had branded Michael â€Å"a runner†, and she forecasts that Leigh Anne will find one day that he has run away for good without giving any previous notice. Leigh Anne also faces some guys from the projects which had threatened Michael. They are left speechles when she threatens them and is not afraid of them at all. Three universities want Michael. S. J. talks to the coaches, and leads the negotiations on Michael’s behalf. When Michael gets his grades high enough, he must make a decision, and he does. He chooses the university where Sean had played for, and where Leigh Anne was a cheerleader. That causes Investigator Granger (Sharon Morris) to move onto the matter before Michael arrives there. She questions him as though they were holding interrogatory preceding at a police station. She thinks that the Tuohys and Miss Sue are using Michael to benefit that particular university. After thinking and questioning Leigh Ann on the matter, Michael realises that the Tuohys are now his family, and tells Granger that that’s the reason for him to choose that university. The film ends saying that he’ll succeed and become a professional player later on. S. J went out to the gamefield with Michael before all local games.

Junk :: essays research papers

In my last speech I talked about globalization and more specifically the affect of NAFTA on the Mexican corn farmers. As a result of the removal of tariffs on agricultural products, Mexico, a country once self sufficient in basic grains, today imports 95 percent of its soy, 58 percent of its rice, 49 percent of its wheat, and 40 percent of its meat. This has resulted in Mexican corn farmers being put out of business. More than 80 percent of Mexico's extreme poor live in rural areas, and more than 2 million are corn farmers. There is no way they can compete with subsidized American agribusiness. In my last speech I didn’t mention the affect of globalization on the U.S. In the U.S., a comparison between the 1930s and today tells a similar grim tale. Then, 25 percent of the population lived on the nation's 6 million farms; today, 2 million farms are home to 2 percent of the population. Small family farms have been overwhelmingly replaced by large commercial farms, with 8 percent of farms accounting for 72 percent of sales. Small family farms can’t compete with the large industrialized farms, where the only relevant objective is profit margin. While doing my research for this speech I was trying to find some type of policy that the U.S. carries for globalization, to my surprise there is no actual outlined policy. There are policies on various different topics that all fit into the globalization. I would like to concentrate on our trade policy in terms of agriculture. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) requires that countries open their economies to agricultural products. Due to the low or at times non existent tariffs on importing and exporting we are cutting jobs domestically and abroad. With American markets already saturated, the U.S. is aggressively pushing to open up foreign markets -- with great success. Already, one out of three acres planted in the United States produces food or fiber destined for export, and one quarter of American farm sales are now exports. Though agriculture was the incentive to lure the Third World into the WTO and other trade agreements, it has turned into the most contentious issue as the Third World is devastated by the dumping of cheap and subsidized agricultural products from the United States and the European Union. While beefing up agribusiness with agricultural subsidies (the U.

Obesity: Logic and Marion Nestle

â€Å"Obesity: Who is Responsible for Our Weight? † In the essay, â€Å"Obesity: Who Is Responsible for Our Weight? † Radley Balko explains his argument on obesity; we are responsible for what we eat. Overall, the strengths were clear and persuading in this essay. One strength in his essay was his main point, we are responsible for our own weight. He explains that we are in control of what we consume, and the government should not be responsible for that. This engages the reader to think, should we really blame the government, or is ourselves to blame. This main point validates all his reasoning.Another strength is his ability to explain why government intervention is irrelevant to obesity. For example, he mentions that Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown is conducting to have a Fat Tax on high calorie food, where food restaurants must list their fat, calories, etc. on each meal. And instead they should be promoting personal-sense awareness. Overall this essay had more weaknesses than strengths. Though his side of the argument is completely true, his reasoning weren’t clearly detailed. For example, Radley Balko only targeted the government’s intervention on obesity.But what should have followed that is the food industry businesses that allow this, not just the government. Not only did he lack detail, but also he didn’t consider the point of genetics. Some Americans do not become obese by choice, but by genetics. Those who are affected by genetics may be very conscience of what they eat, but it still does no justice because of their genes. This weakened his essay. Another weakness is that he focuses too much on the government’s intervention on obesity; instead he should have listed more reasons to why obesity is a personal problem.Taken as a whole, the essay was very short, and took a while to get to the point. â€Å"Are You Responsible for Your Own Weight? † I found this to be a very strong, interesting argumentative essay by Kelly Brownell and Marion Nestle. One strength relates to the fulfillment on attention grabbing in their opening sentence. Brownell and Nestle reminds us that the food industry is like any other business: they must grow. This makes a valid point, and grabs the readers attentions which leads to wanting to read more.Mentioning the counter-argument that obesity is a personal responsibility is also a strength. This tells the reader that she is understanding to the opposing argument, while making hers very clear. Another strength is the fact that gives several examples why personal responsibility isn’t to blame which includes; obesity is growing year after year, it’s human biology for humans to be attracted to good food with high calories, the default approach of promotion of eating better and exercising more has failed for multiple years, and how personal responsibility is a trap.Not only did they have multiple examples, they had clear reasoning for each example, which proves they thought out their argument on obesity. Although this was a very strong, convincing essay, there were a couple of weaknesses. The first weakness is the unawareness of government’s real role in business. In America, our policy towards business relies strictly on the concept of Laissez Faire. Laissez Faire means allowing industry to be free from state intervention, especially restrictions in the form of tariffs and government monopolies.This is a very known concept to many Americans, and this weakens her argument. Another weakness is Brownell and Nestle mentioning they’re attentive to personal responsibility, but didn’t clearly give any reasoning to that. Overall, they essay was very well structured and barely had any weaknesses. The essay â€Å"Are You Responsible for Your Own Weight? † gives a more persuading argument. First of all this essay was clearly structured, which made it easier to read. The first essay was not as easy to read, and not as structured.Brownell and Nestle listed their reasoning, which made their points clear reassuring no confusion. Where as to Balko, there were barely any explained points in his essay, which made it hard to follow. Also, Brownell and Nestle are much more persuasive. They provided clear explained examples of why we are not the only ones responsible for obesity while Balko had little to none examples of why we are responsible. Altogether, Marion Nestle and Kelly Brownell provided a more effective argument on obesity and whose responsible for it than Radley Balko.

Personal Narrative My Education Essay - 646 Words

Personal Narrative My Education Public school systems need to be more sensitive to their students. Parents play the major role in determining a child’s academic outcome, but the school system needs to notice children who don’t necessarily acknowledge their gift. These children need guidance -- I believe it is the schools’ responsibility to provide it to them. I have been through a situation that makes me feel strongly about the subject. My example is an indisputable case in point. Math is my forte. By the time I was six or seven, I fully comprehended the concept of variables and algebraic expressions. Its fascinating to me that when I pick up a math text book, as long as I can pick up on a concept that I have already seen, I can†¦show more content†¦I was considered a middle-average student. I only averaged a low C in grade school and middle school math. Why? I was bored with it. Doing long division in your head is stupid. So freshman algebra rolled around and I loved it. After two weeks in the class I was three and one half chapters ahead of the teacher. He would only assign the odd problems for homework, but I’d do them all. Geometry was even cooler. But thinking back, not one of the teachers even commended me for doing so well. My father noticed I was good at it, but I thought he had to tell me I was good; he was my father. The next year, my junior year, I started to become a more social person. Not having the proper guidance to balance my education and social life, I started slacking. I pretty much gave up on school, moved out of my parents’ house at 17, and thought I had the world figured out. Somehow I still managed to graduate with a 3.2, but I never gave college a half a thought. I was busy being an idiot. My father always encouraged me to do well in school, and he was very proud of me. He always told me the importance of math and how being good at it would offer me a good career, but I was a teenager. To me, him telling me to do my math so I can get a good job ranked right next to him telling me to take out the trash. I needed more encouragement. I needed proof that math was actually used for something. Not one teacher ever pulled me aside and said, Hey you’re good at this. ThisShow MoreRelatedMy Family And Education Is Important For Your Future1221 Words   |  5 Pagesthemes in my family’s narrative. The first theme in society that contradicts the values of my family is homosexuality. As mentioned above, religion is a large part of my family, therefore, homosexuality is not part of the catholic religion. With that being said my family has a strong opinion and belief about same sex relationships. The second theme compliments my family’s values and that is gettin g and education. 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Goal 1: Develop and LaunchRead MoreMy Personal History Narrative From The Beginning Of The Semester1183 Words   |  5 Pages After reviewing my personal history narrative from the beginning of the semester, I now see that there are some of my perspectives have been altered. For anyone, it is very easy to stay in their â€Å"bubble† (their safe zone or routine) and only focus on what matters to them without taking into account outside perspectives. People do this, myself included, because it is easy to ignore the realities of others around you and only focus on yourself. Everything from race to religion is very salientRead MoreAnalysis of Hunger of Memory and Self Essay1031 Words   |  5 PagesMemory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez, there were tons of ideas that struck me. It was very interesting because so many of the different parts could relate to my life. Also, given his story, its so interesting to me that he is against bilingual education, having benefited from it in his own life. To me, it places the book in a different light as I read it. This book is a narrative and it is telling in how his opinions were formed because the experiences that he had. In the narrative, the themesRead More Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Essay907 Words   |  4 PagesNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The tone established in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is unusual in that from the beginning to the end the focus has been shifted. In the beginning of the narrative Douglass seems to fulfill every stereotypical slavery theme. He is a young black slave who at first cannot read and is very naà ¯ve in understanding his situation. As a child put into slavery Douglass does not have the knowledge to know about his surroundings and the