Monday, April 26, 2010

Criminal Minded Different Perspective

Papa

Man, my grandson kills my other grandson. They used to be real homies too. Since they was in diapers, they been laughin' and messin' around forever. My chest hurts a lot of the time, my back is gettin' worse, and I got a lot of shit to deal with, takin' care of my wife, my kids, and my grandkids. I cant do nothing about my grandkids cause you know them youngsters always goin' 'round sayin' shit like "I already know that Papa! You just tellin' me old news!" or "Why do I gotta know this? It ain't worth anythin'!" My grandson, Lamine, man he had a good thing goin' on. He had a beautiful wife, a good job, and a huge house. He supported the whole family. Until he fucked up. In order for him to get his career, he had to pay for it with drug money he got from dealin' in the streets. And the people he worked with and knew in the streets, came back to bite his ass good. The news kept callin' him a former drug leader, an accomplice in a murder and all that bullshit. And ya'll know in the music business, yo' publicity means everythang. Eventually, all that stress got to his head and he couldnt think no more. His career went down the drain, he married some other bitch and cheated on him, and he can't even see his baby boy no more. How did I raise kids and grandkids so fucked up? One of my daughters is workin' her ass off day and night just to get money for food and rent and to support her grandson who is now dead cause of Lamine. My other daughter is becomin' a slut and even kicked Lamine out for helping her out. My son has been livin' with us for 40 years and he aint ever worked in his life. Man, I just gotta hold on until the sun comes back shinin' on my soul.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Criminal Minded Dynamic Characters

In Criminal Minded, I think that Lamine changes in some ways, but stays the same inside. In the beginning, Lamine was kicked out of his mom's house, and had to make money for himself. He started playing the drug dealing game. He was out on the streets all the time. Then, his friend Zion helped him make more money selling crack cocaine and meth and other drugs. Eventually, Lamine and Zion are making big money, and living the rich life, but Lamine is then one day shot, and Lamine decides to get out of the drug game. He uses the money he got from the drugs to start is own directing/music career. He becomes rich and famous. In the end, Lamine kills his own cousin, who was like his brother, and his fame and publicity goes down the drain. He's going back to where he started. In the beginning, Lamine is shown as tough and doesn't let shit get in his way. When he becomes rich, he starts living it up and in some ways spoils himself and thinks too high of himself and loses his love when he cheats. After he starts losing everything, Lamine is now an alcoholic and does'nt know what to do. He can't think for himself anymore and is always grumpy. So, through out the story, Lamine goes from tough and a good kid, to an alcoholic that fucked up one too many times.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Spy High

I like this book because it brings you straight into the action, and it gives you a mysterious background to the story. The background is like a hook that makes you want to find out whats wrong with the plot, and why its like that. They introduce the main characters and switch to different people to explain the problem. The book keeps me interested and makes me want to keep readin. It shows a little past stories of the characters lives, making them unique in their own way. I predict that the teenagers will have to fight the CHAOS and maybe one of them will risk their lives for the team, and one of the will get the Sherlock Shields medal. They will become one of the best groups in the Deveraux Academy

Friday, April 16, 2010

Criminal Minded Freewrite

Man, my life be outta wack now. In the beginning, I was strugglin' but now I'm just fucked. My moms died from AIDs and I never got to know her, I shot my own cousin who used to be a brother to me, my lil' sister got fucked and had a kid with some drug dealer that I used to work with, and my epic directin' career is falling through the cracks. My grandpa died and my family ain't got much love for me after I killed my cousin. My wife was cheatin' on me with some punk and turns out she was a hoe. Man.. How did I fuck up so bad? I was on fuckin' cloud 9 with my directing career. Alright, now that I reminisced on good times, let me tell you how shit's going on now. My directing company is falling outta wack, and I'm trying hard as hell to keep it up, but them media hoes is always talkin' shit about me and bad publicity means bad business. My wife took custody over my son with some bullshit accusations and now I can only see little Jordan on weekends, granted I have the damn time, what with all the work I have to do. My first true love, Lucky, is datin' some rapper, and that shit infuriates a nigga. I've been trying to get her back, but all the conversations are awkward and very short, since the dude got Lucky on a leash. Man, sometimes I just wanna blast that nigga. I still feel bad about killin' my cousin, Curtis, and his moms, my aunt, ain't talkin' to me cause I took her baby from her. Grandma still gots love for me, but I can tell shes just fakin' trying to be happy. Her husband died, her daughter died, and her grandson got killed. Damn, grandma is one tough lady. My lil' sister, Olivia, is takin' care of her daughter, Adiva, while Zion is trying to quit the crack game. The more he tries to stop that shit, it seems like the more he gets dragged in. I warned my lil' sister about him, but she's infatuated with his ass. I'm slowly turning into an alcoholic cause of all the stress of my work and family and shit. Things can't get any worse than this. I pray that God will hear me and help me get back on my feet, but I ain't sure if he's listenin' to me anymore.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Criminal Minded Connection

I believe that Criminal Minded can be compared to an episode of CSI. In one episode, theres 2 young boys that are big time crack dealers and they have and form a bond because they're cousins, and they always have eachothers backs. Despite the crimes they do, the bond they formed was quite touching. They were like brothers, and always supported eachother when one was in trouble. They even killed for the other person. Every now and then they would argue, but they wouldnt take it personally because they knew they would always be close friends. That story is extremely similar to the story of Criminal Minded. Lamine meets a boy named Zion, and they become close friends. When Lamine gets into the drug dealing business, Zion shows Lamine how to make big money with Crack. They become partners in crime with a bond so tight, a titanium hammer couldnt break it. Like the two boys in CSI, they have eachothers back, and in a few cases, Zion kills a few people and threatened Lamine. Oddly enough, The older boy in both stories get shot, and the other boy gets revenge and kills the shooter. Both stories had both boys grow up in a bad environment with either one or no parents. For all of those reasons, that's why I chose CSI to compare to Criminal Minded.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Respond to Reading: Criminal Minded

Question: What do you like and dislike about the book so far and why?

Personally, I like how they put us into the mind of the children and how is switches points of views and perspectives every now and then, so we know what the characters are thinking about the current situation. I think it spices things up a bit and makes it more interesting. I don't like how Lamine is money crazed and I dont like how Curtis shot someone. They should still have enough common sense to get legit money and I obviously don't agree with what they chose to do. Although I don't agree with their decisions, I have to admit that their decisions make the story what it is, and I wouldnt change one thing about it so far. I think Lamine will end up dead or in prison, but there is a small chance he'll be sucessful, and Olivia will end up pregnant or being abused for playing men like she does.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Book Talk Presentation

Today, I did my book talk. It was about Crossing The Wire by Will Hobbs. In the beginning, I think I stuttered a little too much and I couldnt find the words I needed to say. As my presentation went on, I became a little more comfortable with everybody and decided to relax and just go with the flow. Overall, I think I covered the main requirements pretty well, and I think the class liked my Visual Aid. I think I answered the questions from everybody pretty well. Oh, and throughout my presentation, I tried adding just a little bit of body language and emotion in my voice. Overall, I believe I did pretty well.