My book, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs, details the titular individual’s journey from the impoverished streets of Newark to the prestigious corridors of Yale University as a result of his academic brilliance. Born in East Orange, New Jersey, Robert Peace, the protagonist and subject of the story, had displayed an aptitude for education at an early age, a trait fostered by his father, Skeet, who had often attended his child as he completed his assignments. Robert’s mother, Jackie, had been aware of his extensive knowledge, prompting her to remove him the public schools of East Orange, which functioned as a method of restraining, rather than educating, children, and placing him in a private Catholic school in the vicinity
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Among these passages include one present on the 139th page of the novel, in which Hobbs describes, “Im certain that, if presented with this question, he would have argued very precisely that what he did growing up - what he still did when he went home - had not been fronting at all” (Hobbs 139). Directly preceding Hobbs’s penning of this remark, he had overheard a conversation between Robert and his girlfriend, Zina, in which he had revealed his disdain for the false nature of his classmates, who had often adopted guises in order to mask their true intentions or beliefs in order to appease their peers. Such an individual was Robert’s roommate, Ty, who, attempting to appear courageous in the presence of his companion, had remarked that he would strike the man that had pilfered his possessions, which contrasted greatly with is benevolent nature. I had chosen to annotate this passage because it revealed that though poverty is often detrimental to an individual, it may, in actuality, be beneficial, as it can strengthen one’s integrity. This is due to the fact that Rob, a man who had lived in destitution for the majority of his life, had resisted all urges to conceal his true morals or beliefs, while his affluent classmates often adopted false sentiments solely to gain the respect of their companions. An additional passage that I had annotated appeared on the sixth page of the novel, in which Hobbs stated, “The towers also served to segregate the urban problems of drugs, violence, and extreme poverty” (Hobbs 6). In this introductory portion of the novel, Hobbs is merely describing the state of the Peace residence, situated on Chapman Street in East Orange, New Jersey, and its surroundings at the time of Robert’s birth in 1980. This served primarily to demonstrate the impoverished nature of the
Among these passages include one present on the 139th page of the novel, in which Hobbs describes, “Im certain that, if presented with this question, he would have argued very precisely that what he did growing up - what he still did when he went home - had not been fronting at all” (Hobbs 139). Directly preceding Hobbs’s penning of this remark, he had overheard a conversation between Robert and his girlfriend, Zina, in which he had revealed his disdain for the false nature of his classmates, who had often adopted guises in order to mask their true intentions or beliefs in order to appease their peers. Such an individual was Robert’s roommate, Ty, who, attempting to appear courageous in the presence of his companion, had remarked that he would strike the man that had pilfered his possessions, which contrasted greatly with is benevolent nature. I had chosen to annotate this passage because it revealed that though poverty is often detrimental to an individual, it may, in actuality, be beneficial, as it can strengthen one’s integrity. This is due to the fact that Rob, a man who had lived in destitution for the majority of his life, had resisted all urges to conceal his true morals or beliefs, while his affluent classmates often adopted false sentiments solely to gain the respect of their companions. An additional passage that I had annotated appeared on the sixth page of the novel, in which Hobbs stated, “The towers also served to segregate the urban problems of drugs, violence, and extreme poverty” (Hobbs 6). In this introductory portion of the novel, Hobbs is merely describing the state of the Peace residence, situated on Chapman Street in East Orange, New Jersey, and its surroundings at the time of Robert’s birth in 1980. This served primarily to demonstrate the impoverished nature of the