If you lived in the projects would you stay with a risk of dying or try and get out? In the novel If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser the author makes you think that sometimes the only choice you have is no choice at all. Growing up in the projects would be hard for anyone but it is especially hard for DeShawn. He lives with his sister and grandmother is a one bedroom apartment in the Frederick Douglass Project. Living off of food stamps and other government assistance programs still leaves them with financial problems. With screeching car tires and gun shots always echoing through the projects you never know if when you go outside if you will ever come back alive. DeShawn did not have a choice of leaving the projects because of his education, having
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In the book DeShawn and the children at his school don’t get a good education. DeShawn gets offered a chance into a better school called Hewlett Academy. On page 29 it says, “Maybe you’re the one who’ll really do something with his life. But to do that, you’ll need a better education than you’ll get here. So you’ll think about Hewlett, right?” Mr. Brand, DeShawn’s teacher believed that he was smart enough to go to a good school like Hewlett Academy. But on page 89 the author states, “Let’s see your standardized test results.’ … City-wide, your test scores are in the twenty-third percentile.” Therefore, people thought DeShawn was smart, even his teacher thought he was smart enough to go to Hewlett Academy but according to his test scores he fell into the twenty-third percentile and could not apply for Hewlett …show more content…
Between peer pressure and the lack of money most people join the gangs. On page 55 it says, “If you got with us, Marcus might think serious about bringing us into the Disciples.” Terrell, DeShawn’s best friend, had created a junior gang which they called Soon to Shoot and Terrell was trying to get DeShawn to join their junior gang. Terrell believed that if DeShawn were to join their gang then Marcus, the leader of the Disciples, would think about bring them into the Disciples. On page 154 the author states, “You said it couldn’t be kept by a Disciple.’ Marcus stared at me for a moment. ‘You sure?’ Uh-huh.’ ‘All right , but you can keep that.” At this point DeShawn had dealt with poverty many times and decided that it was time to join the Disciples to end his money troubles. He was giving Marcus the envelope of money that he had given him to try and earn Marcus’ loyalty. In the projects if you become a part of the gang there is no way out. If you are a part of the gang you can’t just get up and leave, you are bond to the
In the book DeShawn and the children at his school don’t get a good education. DeShawn gets offered a chance into a better school called Hewlett Academy. On page 29 it says, “Maybe you’re the one who’ll really do something with his life. But to do that, you’ll need a better education than you’ll get here. So you’ll think about Hewlett, right?” Mr. Brand, DeShawn’s teacher believed that he was smart enough to go to a good school like Hewlett Academy. But on page 89 the author states, “Let’s see your standardized test results.’ … City-wide, your test scores are in the twenty-third percentile.” Therefore, people thought DeShawn was smart, even his teacher thought he was smart enough to go to Hewlett Academy but according to his test scores he fell into the twenty-third percentile and could not apply for Hewlett …show more content…
Between peer pressure and the lack of money most people join the gangs. On page 55 it says, “If you got with us, Marcus might think serious about bringing us into the Disciples.” Terrell, DeShawn’s best friend, had created a junior gang which they called Soon to Shoot and Terrell was trying to get DeShawn to join their junior gang. Terrell believed that if DeShawn were to join their gang then Marcus, the leader of the Disciples, would think about bring them into the Disciples. On page 154 the author states, “You said it couldn’t be kept by a Disciple.’ Marcus stared at me for a moment. ‘You sure?’ Uh-huh.’ ‘All right , but you can keep that.” At this point DeShawn had dealt with poverty many times and decided that it was time to join the Disciples to end his money troubles. He was giving Marcus the envelope of money that he had given him to try and earn Marcus’ loyalty. In the projects if you become a part of the gang there is no way out. If you are a part of the gang you can’t just get up and leave, you are bond to the