My Lost and Found Life 220-312

Summary


Wright now things seem to be okay for Ashely her job is going great, and she likes some one at work. His name is Patrick he is 25 and from Ireland. At first I did not agree with her decision to get involved with a older guy, but Patrick proved me wrong he turned out to be a really nice guy he cared for Ashely and only wanted the best for her. But at the end, his visa expired and he had to move back to Ireland. Ashely was hart broken but she had to go on. Ashely's life is just one but thing after another, one day while she was at work a crazy guy came and set the place on fire with everyone inside. A boy name Jerry got killed in the fire. Jerry was a very close friend sad when he died Ashely was every sad, the fire also caused Ashely to end up in the hospital because she inhaled too much smoke. After she got out of the Hospital she stayed with her mom's best friend Gloria for a few months she then moved into a small apartment with two other girls. Just when Ashely thought the worst part of her life was over Officer Ted knocked on her door, he told her they found her mother's car. He said there was a body inside, but it was hard to tell if it was her mother because the body had been there for a year. It turned out her mother had a car accident her car ended up in the riven it was hard to spot because it was hided by all the tress. After Ashely laid her mother to rest she finally felt at peace because her mother's name was cleared and since no one could prove that her mom took the money Ashely was given her mother's life insurance money she used it to go to college she majored in Comparative Literature in her second year she took a lot of elective theater classes she then applied to Yale School of Drama. Even thought she now has all this money and she finally got a chance to go to college the only thing she wants is her mom's forgiveness.

Quotation

"Ah, experience is always the best teacher, he said. If you survive it." "I have so far. I've changed so much in the last few months that my own mother probably wouldn't recognize me" (Bowsher 251).



"I'm no longer Ashely the stuck-up homecoming queen or the girl Phil described as pouty, sulky, and sullen. I hardly even remember that girl. Even though my life didn't turn out the way I planned, I'm happy with the person I've become and the new life I've found" (Bowsher 311).

Reaction

In the beginning of the book Ashely was a spoiled brat she had no idea how life worked or what it took to be on her own. But know she has learned so many things from her experiences, in my opinion I think that her mother leaving her was the best thing for her. It made her open her eyes. It took her mother's death to make her grow up. In class we talked about how a child does not leave their childhood until they have experience death. Ashely's mom death allowed her to leave her childhood behind and become a women.

My Lost and Found Life 160-220

Summary

life for Ashely is not getting any easier. She no longer lives in her house she lives in a camper behind a gas station. But on the bright side she has a job at a coffee house its not great and the pay is little but its better than nothing. while staying in the camper Ashely mate Earl, a seventy year old men that works at the gas station he is a very good friend to Ashely his like the father she never had. But one late night Ashely woke up to a loud bang on her door it was the most frighting night of her life. It turned out that someone was trying to get inside her camper, the person was unsuccessful and left. Ashely got up to go check on Earl, she found him on the floor bleeding from his head. It turned out that the gas station was robed.This was really hard for Ashely because she lost her mom and her life, she couldn't possibly imagine losing Earl. Never the less Earl got out of the hospital with a head concussion. One thing that Ashley learned from all the things that have happened in her life is that every thing can disappear in a blink of an eye, and that she should stop felling sorry for her self and stop blaming her mother. She should try to get a hold of her life and start thinking about the future and not the past.

Quotation

''I use to think I knew everything, and now I don't understand one damn thing about life or people, even my mother, the one person I thought I knew better than anyone. It scares me" (184 Bowsher).

Reaction

Many adults can agree that teenagers think they know everything, but the truth is we are far from knowing everything. It took Ashely a little under 18 years to realize that she does not know everything and some times it okay to ask for help. One of her major problems is that she does not know when to ask for help she goes to life pretending everything is great when in reality it is far from great. It seem like she takes two steps forward and one step backwards. But little by little she is trying to make her new life her own.

My Lost and Found Life 100-160

Summary


With fall just around the corner and everyone getting ready for college Ashley feels lost and out of place. She wants her old life back, but we all know that's not going to happen, so Ashley is doing her best to live day by day. To make some money she had a yard seal, she made 3,500 dollars and now she needs to find a place to live and a job. One thing that hurts Ashley is when she hears her friends talking about their mothers in a bad way. For example her friend Tattie wanted to get away from her mother and her other friend Nicole wanted her mother to fall down a mine shaft. But all Ashley wanted was to see her mother. In addition, the day of her yard seal a man name Curtis Davidson came to see her and wanted to talk, it turned out that Curtis was a friend of her mother's. Ashley thought that her mother was hiding at his house, but it turned out to be false. It turned out that Curtis and her mother was dating and he wanted to get in touch with her, and he thought that Ashley knew where she was. Just when Ashley thought she was close to finding her mom, she's back to square one.


Quotation

"Again, I had to fight back tears. It used to take a lot to make me cry, but circumstances had changed me into a rive of tears" (Bowsher 101).

Reaction

Ashley is slowly getting use to the idea that she is alone. She went from having everything handed to her to having no one by her side. the transition is hard for her, but it's part of growing up and becoming an adult. She is learning about the sacrifices that her mother did for her and how hard it was to take care of her and the house. It took her a while to realize it but she did to bad its to late.

My Lost and Found Life 62- 100

Summary


With Ashley's mother out of the picture, she is left to pick up the broken peaces. She has never been alone before, so she does not know how things work. the bills are piling up on the table and the bank wants the house, she has no where to go and no one to turn to. So she starts looking for a place to live, it was not as easy as she thought it was, she had no money and no job so no one would rent her a place to stay. To make her situation a little easier she decide to have a yard seal to make some money. Things started out great and she made some money. One thing that Ashley can't stop thinking about is what her friends will think of her, she does not want to get a job in a store because she fears that one of her friends will come in and she would have to serve them. She does not want anyone feeling sorry for her. Even though all of this had happened and it's been more then a month since her mom left she still think that her mom will come back and straight every thing out. It seems like Ashley's life is just filled with one bad news after the other, the night after her yard seal she found out that one of her friends is in jail. It turns out that the police found drugs in her car. With her mother gone and her friend in jail Ashley is truly all alone.



Quotation

" Don't expect me to feel sorry for you. You're a loser just like that drunk you call my father. The minute I can, I'm moving away and never coming back. You'll never see me again"(Bowsher 69).


Reaction

The night before Ashley's mother ran off they had a fight. Her mother was trying to tell her that they need to cut off on the way they are living. But all Ashley could think about was her self and how her mother was not thinking about her needs. Ashley was being very selfish she said some pretty nasty thing to her mother. But now that her mother is gone she wish she had never said such things and now she would do anything just to have her mother back in her life. You never know what you have until it's gone.

My Lost and Found Life By: Melodie Bowsher page 1-62

Summary

Ashley Mitchell is one lucky girl. She has the perfect life she's popular, she has the cutest boyfriend, also she has a great fashion sense. But little did she know that her perfect life would become a nightmare. It all started one day when she came home after school to find a police officer at her door. Ashley was very puzzled because when she left for school that morning everything was fine and now she was being questioned by the police about her mother whereabouts. At first she did not take it seriously but the more questions she was asked she began to worry about her mother. She had no idea what the police wanted with her mother. She has never wanted her mother so bad in her life. Her perfect life was now turned upside down, her mom was accused of embezzling a million dollars and was no where to be found. With her mother out of her life Ashley felt alone and unwanted, this year was supposes to be the best year of her life she was graduating in five days, going to Hawaii for the summer, and of to university in the fall. But now that her mother was gone she had no future she had no one to turn to, she started hanging around with the wrong crowd. Ashley's life was going no where and fast.

quotation

"My heart was pounding and my face was hot with humiliation, but I maintained my icy control and survived the ceremony"(Bowsher 37).


Reaction

The whole school use to be her friend, the guys wanted to date her and the girls wanted to be her. She had all the friends she could ever want in the world, or so she thought. Now that Ashley needed them the most they all deserted her. They talked about her behind her back and pretend to not know her. This just shows that one must know who your true friends are. When the story of her mother came out no one bothered to asked her for her side of the story they all believed the roomers. This book teaches you that your true friends are the ones that stick with you through thick and thin.

T o Be Young Gifted ahd Black (157

Introduction by James Baldwin
Adapted by Robert Nemirof



Summary

This book as shown that Lorraine Hansberry is a very strong women. She sets goals for herself and she does not stop until she reaches them. When she was diagnosed with ulcers and anemia, she till continued writing her stories, she was unable to type it her self so her husband helped. In one winter she was able to write three different pieces of writing including her first musical Laughing Boy. After she finished she already started thinking about her next book.
author a very good roll One of the things that she always wanted to do is move to Europe. the book didn't really say if she did or not. After reading this book i can truly say that Lorraine Hansberry is inspiringmodel.

Quote

As she said "If anything should happen before 'tis done-may I trust that all commas and periods will be placed and someone will complete my thoughts"(Nemiroff 261).

Reaction

I think this quote is saying that Lorraine Hansberry wants people to follow her footsteps. She wants her glory to continue on in the future. she wants people to think as her. she might of wanted another African American woman to take her spot after she's gone. Maybe she wants to be a legend and one way to do that is to be a model for other authors and people of her race.

To Be Young Gifted and Black (117-157)

Summary


Toussaint L'Ouverture was a Haitian liberator and also Lorraine Hansberry hero she was obsessed with the idea of writing a play or a novel about him. two years latter she started working on a play about Toussaint L'Ouverture. she tried to write a men and not lose the wonder of his magnitude.
At the time when she was writing this play Lorraine Hansberry was very lonely. she spend most of her days at home writing. but all of her work paid off, because she was an incredible writer and had a very successful play.
Lorraine Hansberry has faced many set backs in her life time from going to an all black school to living in a all white neighborhood all of her life experiences helped write all her stories and shape her into becoming an excellent author.

Quote

As she said "Have torn up another twenty pages-open another ream-sharpened another dozen pencils... and now? what? They say that one should set a schedule and keep to it no matter what"( Hansberry 171).

Reaction

This quote shows that everyone struggles in life, and the best thing to do is not give up. You have to keep going no matter and eventually your dreams will come true. If Lorraine Hansberry had given up every time something was to hard she would have never become such an incredible writer.

To Be Young Gifted and Black (92-117)

Summary

Lorraine Hansbury won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the best American play of the season for the play A Raisin in the Sun. It was loved by many, the play allowed people to see what a wonderful writer she was. One question that people always ask her is "Why did you write the play?" Her answer was to show that African Americans are people too. She wanted people to see what an African American's life is on a day to day base. A Raisin in the Sun was her most successful play it was also her first one to go to Broadway, she was the first African America women to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the best American play.

Quotation

She stated that "It probably is the most fulfilling experience a human-being can have to try and create something and to have it received with any measure of recognition for the effort" (Hansberry 111).

Reaction

I think that Lorraine Hansberry was referring more to African Americans when she said this quote. This is because she had just written her play A Raisin in the Sun and it was a fulfilling experience for her especially being African American. She was trying to tell us that we can do anything if we put our minds to it.

To Be Young Gifted And Black

Adapted by Robert Nemiroff

Introduction by James Baldwin

( pg. 52-92)

SUMMARY

Lorraine Hansberry move to New York City when she was 20 years old, which was the jump start of her writing career. She got her first job working for the new "Negro paper,'' FREEDOM. life in New York was not easy she lived with tree other girls, she was away from home and was expected to make a life of her own. while living in New York she meet her husband Bobby, and she also wrote her play A Raisin in the Sun which was the triumph of her success
While reading the book I learned that she wrote the play to show the truth about an African American's life at the time, she wanted people to realize that we are all equal, she wanted people to know the straggles that African Americans had to over come on a day to day bases.

QUOTATION

As he said ''The white boys in the streets, they look at me and think of sex. They look at me and that's all they think .... Baby, you could be Jesus in drag-but if you're brown they're sure you're selling" ( Nemiroff 78).

REACTION


When I read this quote I thought that African American women were not treated with respect, also they were judged basted on their skin. People labeled them and did not give them any credit.
African American women had to over come a lot of obstacles due to jaundiced people.

To Be Young, Gifted and Black (3-52)

Adapted by Robert Nemiroff
Introduction by James Baldwin

summary

To Be Young, Gifted and Black follows the life of Lorraine Hansberry recording her childhood and life accomplishments.
The foundation of the autobiography brings us back to her early days as a African American girl living in Chicago. Lorraine Hansberry went to a segregated school she only obtained one-half of the education given by the Board of Education in her city. As a result she was unable to count properly. in school she would often get beat up; due to her class in society. She was known as a rich girl because her father was a middle class businessman. this experience made her become a rebel. Her High school career was no different it was filled with violence and hate. When she started college she describes it as being unspeakably dull and irrelevant. Her days consisted of note-taking, lectures and lads. Her least favorite class was physical geography. Thus, it is with no dough that Lorraine Hansbery had rough life where she was judged and ridiculed, she overcame many challenges from going to a segregated school to just being African American. It is with no dough that Lorraine Hansberry is a very gifted women

Quote

She stated ''This is what is meant when we speak of the scars,that marks that the ghettoized child carries through life. To be imprisoned in the ghetto is to be forgotten-or deliberately cheated of one's birthright-at best"(Hansberry 36).

Reaction

when I read this quote the words that jumped out at me was "Deliberately cheated of one's birthright". Witch means that African Americans were not given any chance of accomplishing anything in their lives. At the start of their childhood society let them know where their place was, and what they would become. They were not given a fair chance of being successful. They were bound to fail.