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Showing posts from September, 2026

Troy’s complaint about the unfair job system shows his frustration with racial discrimination. How did this conversation make you think about fairness and opportunity in society today? If you were in Troy’s position, what would you do?

 I think the fairness and opportunity has just changed a little bit over the years. Back then in Troy’s time, opportunity was heavily altered by a person’s race and status. We can see the same in some areas of today, but a little more different. Today, there will be some discrimination out there, but the people today have more opportunity to get jobs and maintain those jobs. Even thought the world revolved around racial suppression at this time, if I was in Troy’s feet, I would keep fighting. I wouldn’t let the fact that people who view me a certain way that’s different from the person I am stop me from getting a job and taking care of me and my family. With the strength and perseverance God has bless me with, I would keep on moving with the most confidence, knowing that no matter what people think of me, I’m going to do my job and do it properly. 

Now that we have finished reading Fences and you are completing your final project, reflect on your overall understanding of the play. Which character, conflict, or theme has stood out to you the most, and why? Explain how your project represents what you learned about the play.

 The character that stood out the most for me in fences is Jim bono(the same person I did a project on). Bono is someone who just enjoys being around people, creating bonds with them, loving them, and just being a great friend. I like the way he lives his life and understand how his ways of life works. My project represents this by just the character bono is. Listing 10 items that would be on his trash can, really allowed me to fully learn more thongs about the character as I go through the plays.

At the end of Fences, forgiveness becomes an important part of the characters moving forward. Do you think forgiving someone means you also have to forget what they did? Why or why not? Connect your response to your own experiences or observations.

 No, you do not necessarily have to forget what a person did to forgive them. My whole entire life, every time I forgive someone for what they did, I left it as that but I did not forget it. For example, one time in 2nd grade, one of my friends threw a pencil at my eye causing an injury to it. In that moment I was hurt and could not forgot what they have done, but because of my job as a follower of Christ, I forgave them and contained to love them

Before watching the movie clips, you probably formed your own picture of the characters, their personalities, and how certain scenes would look. Choose one character or scene that appeared differently in the movie than you imagined while reading. What was different, and did the movie change how you understood that character or scene?

 The character that appeared differently for me in the movie is bono. When reading the book, I expected bono to be someone with more brown skin, wears a hat, and is the most calm and sincere in the movie. When watching Denzel Washington’s film, bono was more the person who enjoyed being around Troy and his family. Reading the book, I did know that bono like to make jokes, but I just thought he was someone who would crack those jokes randomly.

Troy’s revelation changes his relationship with Rose. Do you think one major lie or betrayal can permanently change how you see someone, even if you have known and trusted that person for years? Explain your reasoning and how trust can or cannot be rebuilt.

 I do believe one lie/betrayal can change the way you view someone. Even if you love someone so much to the point you have the most trust in them, one lie can give you a new perspective on that person. One lie or betrayal can show you a side you never seen of them or actions they may have hid. Even if they betray you, I openly believe trust can be rebuild. If the person shows you and acts everyday on changing their ways, that’s how you can build the trust back in them if you lost it. A situation where trust can not be rebuild is if that person won’t change. If that person is not self aware of what they are doing and they keep running back, I don’t blame you if your trust for them drops. Yes have strong faith in that person, but at some point ask yourself, how much times are they going to keep doing this and are they going to change?

In Scene 4, Troy explains his beliefs about his responsibilities as a father. Beyond providing food, clothing, and shelter, what do you believe a parent owes their child emotionally? Should love, encouragement, friendship, and support be expected, or are those things separate from a parent’s responsibilities? Explain your perspective.

 No I do not believe support your child emotionally should be separate from their responsibility. Along with providing for your child with clothes, food and shelter, your second role should also be their personal therapist and their #1 fan in their life. When things are not going as planned in the child’s life, it doesn’t matter if you have to explain in a tough or more sympathetic way, you should always be there for them and explain to them how life goes on. When they feel like they can’t push through, no matter your tone, you should be the one to encourage them. Now I don’t believe in a friendship with your kids because you’re not your kids friends, but at the end of the day you should be their first love before anything.

In Scene 4, Troy talks about his past, his responsibilities, and the choices he has made in life. Have you ever had to choose between something you wanted to do and something you needed to do? What influenced your decision, and were you satisfied with your choice?

 There’s multiple things I’ve wanted to do but did something I didn’t want to or something that would benefit me, but this one time was a very important choose for me. One day I felt like turning on my console and playing video games. But as I lay there in my bed I also thought to myself that I haven’t read my Bible in a minute. So that day and multiple days, I was faced with playing virtual games or building and strengthening my faith and also my relationship with God. As a teenager this was a hard decision for me at the time, but in my mind I knew how much peace I would feel with just spending time with God for a hour. So I decided to pick up my Bible and I read for an hour. Before and after I was done reading, I said a prayer that made my mind so clear and help me find peace. I not only felt glad, I felt like that very decision was the best decision I’ve made with my time.

In Fences, Lyons asks his father, Troy, to lend him money. Do you think adult children should ask their parents to borrow money, or should they be expected to handle their financial problems on their own? Explain your opinion and connect it to your own experiences, observations, or beliefs about family and money.

 My belief is adult children should be able to handle on their own but ask parents for money for the smallest help. In my experiences, I’ve seen countless of times of people who stand strong on their own, but may ask their parents for the smallest help. One of my cousins who is wealthy and have their own family, one day just asked my uncle for a small amount of money to help buy something for their newborn child. Even though my uncle knows my cousin is wealthy, he still sent just the amount of money my cousin needed for their newborn child. In the end, it’s ok to ask your parents for money unless it’s some big thing or you’re going to run away and unwisely spend it.

In Fences, the fence is a physical object, but it can also represent the emotional or personal barriers people create. Think about a “fence” you have built in your own life. What were you trying to keep out or protect yourself from? Did that fence help you or hold you back? Explain.

The fence I built was to keep sin out my life. At a young age I was taught to avoid sin and live for Christ and his kingdom everyday, but also understand that as humans we’re going to sin everyday and the only way we can be saved is through the Love of Jesus Christ. Even though we sin, I built a fence in my life to avoid sin and not yearn for sinning. So far in my life, the fence has helped me live the way I am supposed to. Even though I sin, I may not live in sin and yearn to do it willingly.

Prompt: In Fences, Troy makes it clear that he believes his main responsibility as a father is to provide for Cory, not necessarily to like him or make him happy. Do you think parents have to like their children, or is it enough for them to love, provide for, and take care of them? Explain the difference between loving someone and liking someone. Do you agree or disagree with Troy's view of parenting? Explain your response and make a personal or real-world connection.

 No parents do not have to like their children. The parents role is to be the ultimate provider and to love and show them how to love while also to survive in the world. Just liking someone is enjoying their presence and being comfortable around us. Parents are not suppose to like us but, love us by protecting us, teaching us, and providing for us until it’s our time to leave the nest. In conclusion, I agree with Troy, as parents you should not like your children, but love them and support them up until their time to go into the world.

After watching your classmates present their identity masks, think about how people are often more complex than what we see on the outside. What did the presentations teach you about looking beyond the surface when getting to know someone?

 The masks presentations taught me the coolest features of people. When spectating the mask presentations, I got to learn so much about people that I didn’t know about them. Some people carried cool traditions, some had the same beliefs as me, and some had unique qualities found deep in themselves. I live life by never judging someone I don’t know, but after seeing the masks presentations, I’ll still strongly love life by this because of the features of people you don’t know.

In “Missing Your People,” Tracy Brower explains the importance of belonging. Describe a time when you felt like you truly belonged. What created that feeling?

 The time I felt i truly belonged is where I started going to church more. My mom has always wanted me to interact more and learn more from Gods word and people around to support me. My 6th grade year my mom got me into a. Children’s church group, and for the first time I never realized how much other followers of Christ are similar to you. The people around me didn’t judge me for everything, but taught me what honors God and what doesn’t and Loved me at the same time. Till this day I thank my mom for getting me into that group.

Write about a fear you have overcome.

 The fear I’ve overcame the most is the fear of caring about what others think of me. During my grade school years, whether I was new or have been at the school, I was always embarrassed to do stuff because I thought, “what would people think of me?” Stuff that I enjoyed, loved I always held myself back because I thought I was going to be judged for it. It was not until I got a therapist that I learned that I shouldn’t let the thought of people having an opinion on me stop me from doing the things I love. This fear kind of carried into my 6th grade years, but after a while I fully removed it from my thought process.

Reflect on a time when you discovered a new perspective that completely changed how you viewed a person, group, or place. How did your previous “single story” shape your thoughts or actions?

 A perspective that changed my view on a person is the time I stopped listening to single stories about southern whites. My whole life since 2012, I’ve always seen on the news on southern Caucasian Americans being racist, and preforming terrorists acts against African Americans. It was not until 2015 that I learned not all Caucasian Americans are the same. One day, at my middle school in Alabama, I came across someone trying to trick me into doing something. I was new so at the time I didn’t understand what they were asking me to do, so I was going to probably do it out of curiosity. If it wasn’t for the fact that my one of the administrators stopped me and held the boys who tried to get me to trick myself, I would’ve had a public embarrassment story in my memory. I thank that administrator till this day, that he pulled them away from me and took me somewhere more safe with better people.