Armando Valadez

Critical Thinking and Writing 1

Mr. Lasley

15 November 2017

Lens Essay Draft

In Its Time for Class: Toward a More Complex Pedagogy of Narrative Robillard

argues that students of different backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses see the world in

different ways than those students who have an advantage in regards to economic status. She also

emphasizes the relevance of the personal narrative and frames it as being vital to understanding

our past. Robillard argues that by understanding our past we can better prepare for our future and

understand our present. This is evident in the other Wes Moore because both Wess have

different perspectives, while having lived in the same neighborhood. However, despite suffering

from similar hardships, fate interferes and takes one on a path of scholasticism and success and

drives the other to crime and, eventually, prison. This leads the more successful Wes to

document the story of the other Wes. However, along the way this takes the successful Wes on a

journey of self discovery and self examination.

Some differences in regards to narrative between the author Wes Moore and the other

Wes Moore is that they both lost their dad. The author Wes Moores father unfortunately died

abruptly and relatively unexpectedly while the other Wes Moores father choose to be absent in

his life. Despite the fact that they both did not have a father there is a difference in narrative

regarding the reasons for their absence. This speaks the to the theme of fate vs choice because

the author Wes Moores father died as a result of fate but the other Wes Moores father was

negligent by choice.
 There is also a difference between the two Wes Moores in respect to their scholastic

paths. Despite the fact that the author Wes was hesitant to apply in school but he was always

pushed to do well and he was eventually receptive to that. On the other hand, the other Wes had

personal struggles that interfered with his academics and with a lack of support he delved deeper

into issues that could not be resolved. Another example of chance is when the author Wes is

given a mentor in Ty who is able to relate to the author Wes and helps Wes find his identity and

is completely transformed in the military school system. Overall this theme is emphasized

perfectly when the author Wes Moore says The chilling truth is that his story could have been

mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his. (Moore). Wes Moore speaks to the

uncertainties life brings and marks a point where he personally realizes how lucky he really is to

be in the position hes in because at any moment along time he could have went on the inmate

Wes path. He realizes that its hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last

chances. (Moore). The author Wes Moore realizes that the odds were in his favor when he says

I found myself surrounded by people--starting with my mom, grandparents, uncles, and aunts,

and leading to a string of wonderful role models and mentors--who kept pushing me to see more

than what was directly in front of me, to see the boundless possibilities of the wider world and

the unexplored possibilities within myself.(Moore). The author Wes is now cognizant of the

advantages he had over the inmate Wes which was not fate at work but chance. They both were

raised in similar geographic and socioeconomic households however, one had more support than

the other leading to two distinctively different paths.

Time is of importance to Robillard because in regards to education Robillard focuses on

how socio-economic class affects education. Robillard says that as a result This desire for

closure is a characteristic of a workingclass life filled with uncertainty and instability

(Robillard) which is evident in the Other Wes Moore because the author Wes Moore states that

time changes people. Time shows how time changes people whether its choice or fate. In

addition depending on how time is viewed also contributes to the successes and downfalls a

person has. This is why both Wes Moores acted out in the beginning of their lives as a result of

the instability and uncertainty that Robillard references. As the author Wes progresses to

understand these concepts he finally begins to appreciate time the same way Robillard does when

he notes that Lifes impermanence, I realized, is what makes every single day so precious. Its

what shapes our time here. Its what makes it so important that not a single moment be wasted.

(Moore). He finally understands the effects time has on a person whether the effect is positive or

detrimental to a person.

In addition, the idea of self-definition runs in cahoots with the theme of chance or fate

because as we notice throughout the whole book the author Wes and the other Wes are on a

journey to discover who they are and what their purpose is in life. Their lack of identity allows

for outside influences, most of which were negative, to decide the actions they make. For

example, the author Wes is out causing trouble tagging while the other Wes begins to get heavily

involved with drug dealing. One of the most conflicting points that the other Wes makes in this

book is when he states his belief in the idea that people are products of their environment. That

concept is very subjective because it is understandable for the other Wes to believe that he is a

product of an environment surrounded by turmoil and disappointment.

However, you can argue that certain people who are in similar environments to himself

can notice the problems within their environment and then adjust their personal inclinations in

order to create a new environment where they can thrive. For example, Robillard brilliant

addresses this topic and she believes that we can change our future if we analyze our past and
come to terms with it. She writes because the working class student struggles with the

relationship between his or her past and his or her present, it becomes critical that we recognize

the ways students rely on their past experiences to understand new knowledge(Robillard). She

embodies her own process because she was able to accomplish so much in regards to academia

despite the rather unflattering environment she was in. She embodies a success story that is

antithetical to the ideas that the other Wes voices.

Another point that the other Wes attached to the previous statement regarding our

environment was that success or failure is determined by the expectations other people have of

us. To an extent, you can see why this statement has some validity because for some people the

support of others is extremely beneficial to their mental state towards success. For example, in

Robillards piece she emphasizes on the effects that negligent teachers have on students of

different socio-economic standing. Robillard proves that teachers preconceived biases regarding

a necessity to conform to attributes society has attributed to a typical college student is

unhealthy and hinders progress for both the teacher and the student. However, you can say that

there are people who notice that they have no support, the odds are stacked against them, and

they still manage to analyze their situation and be their own support system towards success.

This story definitely supports the insights that the other Wes has because in regards to

environment they both had relatively bad environments but the author Wes always moved in

order to have the best opportunity to succeed. In addition, his family never gave up on him and

always pushed him towards academic excellence. On the other hand, you have the other Wes

who stayed in the same destructive environment with an unstable support system.

Furthermore, a topic in The other Wes Moore and Robillards piece that intersects is

the effect socio-economic class has on the way we and others interpret our past. For example, in
The Other Wes Moore the socio-economic status of both Wes is working class. They struggle

to get buy but still you see the difference come in how they analyze and let the past affect them.

For the author Wes, it is evident that he struggled to analyze his past in order to propel his future.

All he needed was a mentor to get him there. Robillards view is embodied through the author

Wes who is able to find himself and accomplish everything he wants. On the other hand, the

other Wes struggles to find himself and begins to involve himself in illegal activity.

Unfortunately, it takes a life sentence for him to finally understand what he should have done.

The difference between the two was the amount of struggle it took for the two Wes to

understand their purpose.

To conclude, The Other Wes Moore emphasizes the uncertainties that life brings, while

also recognizing that sometimes certain aspects of life are in your control and some are not.

However, even when life throws you an abundance of obstacles you should never give up and

instead adapt to them in order to achieve something bigger than yourself, which is something that

Robillard promotes in her article Its Time for Class: Toward a More Complex Pedagogy of

Narrative. She believes that you can change your life as long as you analyze the effects that

your past experiences have on your interpretation of the present which can positively utilized to

improve your future. Overall, both pieces show contrasting and similar views on the effects of

time, socio-economic status, and chance versus. fate.