Erik Oakley
Summer Reading Assignment
September 2, 2010
Fallen Angels
By: Walter Dean Myers
1.
Pg. 14-15. Talking about a basketball tournament:
“I wanted to win badly. I knew I was going into the army, but for me that was a kind of defeat. My plans, maybe just my dreams really, had been to go to college and to write like James Baldwin. All the other guys in the neighborhood thought I was going to college. I wasn’t, and the army was the place I was going to get away from all the questions. I wanted to win that tournament, to walk away from the streets I had been raised in with my head high, a winner.”
This part of the story appeals to me because I can relate to Richie. I also play basketball and have felt this same way about a tournament many times. My plans, and dreams, are to go to college and possibly be a writer. I have been told I am an excellent writer if I put my mind to it. A lot of my friends and teammates think I am going to college just like Richie. I might not be going into the army but I do want to get away from all the questions and drama. I have always wanted to win, no matter what I am playing, or doing. I will always walk with my head held high, hopefully as a winner. This part in the story tells us about the main character, Richie Perry, and how he decided to go into the army.
2.
To me, Richie’s most difficult choice was joining the army in the first place. Yea, he was coming from a rough family with not a lot of money but he, at first, wanted to go to college and move on to bigger and better things. There was a way for him though to go to college. Richie wanted to be a writer so if he doesn’t decide to join the army, in a few years he could be a famous writer. He also played basketball. He could have earned a basketball scholarship and move to higher levels of the game. Maybe the army wasn’t the best choice for Richie, but maybe going to college or staying home in that rough neighborhood wouldn’t be a good one either. I believe...