The other Wes Moore: Brief Summary and Arrangement

The book “The Other Wes Moore” is structured as a chronological story of two African-American boys named Wes Moore who both grew up a couple blocks away from each other in Baltimore. The book is organized in chapters there are a total of eight chapters in the book each telling a different experience for both Wes Moores.The first couple of chapters start with how both of their fathers became absent from their lives. The father of one Wes Moore died due to respiratory issues the other father left his family early in Wes Moore’s childhood.

The Wes Moore in the Bronx starts to attend a private school with his friend Justin, he is also the only other black kid in the school. The other Wes Moore soon gets involved in the drug game he mother soon discovers the drugs in his room and promptly throws them away. The Wes in the Bronx starts to preform badly in school and soon has an encounter with the police for tagging. Wes continues to perform badly in school and his mom sends him to military school. The other Wes Moore has gotten his girlfriend pregnant, despite this Wes continues to see other girls and soon gets into a fight with one of their boyfriends and this altercation turns into a shoot were Ray is shot. Wes is then arrested for Ray’s attempted murder and sentenced in juvenile court for 6 months. Wes has changed since his initial entrance in military school and has become an accomplished scholar, he also started working on his degree. Wes wanted out of the drug game, so he earned his GED and enrolled in a Work Corp. This didn’t provide enough money for Wes and his four children, so he soon returned to selling drugs. Wes’ mother learns that Wes and his brother are wanted for murder and that the police are looking for them both. He is soon found and arrested, Tony narrowly avoids the death penalty and Wes is sentenced to life in prison. Meanwhile, the other Wes Moore has found success and is awarded the Rhodes’ scholarship he then travels to Africa to study abroad it there that he learns of the other Wes Moore.

Rhetorical Analysis:

The Other Wes Moore uses exigence by describing the incident of Wes hitting his sister. This shows urgency because as soon as he did it his mom instantly became furious with him and sent him to his room. Wes’ mom was previously in an abusive relationship so seeing him hit his sister gave her flashbacks. The book appeals to the audience of young men especially young black men who grew up in poverty. The book serves as a guide to let the reader kno that despite your circumstances there is still a way to make it in life, it is also easy to end up on the wrong side which is also detailed in the book. The appeals to this audience because the book can be relating to people in similar circumstances. The purpose of “The Other Wes Moore” is to detail the story of these young black men and how even though they were from the same neighborhood they ended in two completely different places. The book is a description of both Wes Moore’s life choices and the effects. It gives them a sense of self-realization on both of their lives and how they could have been easily switched around. Wes Moore uses logos when he described the statistics of the neighborhood he was from. He wrote how Baltimore city had a 70% drop out rate when he wrote how Wes’s brother Tony had already been a part of that stat. He also detailed how the overall graduation rate for Baltimore was high 85 percent, but Baltimore City had a 38 percent graduation rate. He uses these numbers to emphasize the number of kids who don’t make it, and how graduating was a big accomplishment. Moore uses pathos throughout the book by using his firsthand account. The details about the experience of growing up a poverty-stricken neighborhood are coming from experience. He appeals to emotions because he went through the things he writes about. The description of Wes’ mother after his father died remind the reader that this was a real-life event and you can both sympathize and empathize with Wes. The ethos in this story comes from the author (Wes Moore) being an accomplished scholar. Wes has become a decorated veteran and a Rhodes Scholar this gives him credibility in his story. These awards also give the kids who are going through what he went through hope and proof that you can make it out the struggle. The tone of this a gentle one but it changes based on the situation that is being described. When Wes is talking about going to school and hanging with his friends he uses a soft gentle tone to describe how he felt with them. When he describes Wes being wanted by the police or Wes being involved in a shootout he changes tone to describe the severity of the moment. This change of tone helps the reader to understand how the author wants to portray each moment. The book has an interesting delivery the cover has the title “The Other Wes Moore” in big bold letters. The top gives the book credibility by crediting the book as being a New York Times best seller. It has the quote “one name, two fates” which is a basic synopsis of the story. The book included photos of both men at different events and with different family members. The photos include them during their childhood and when they grew up. The back cover includes a summary of the book with quotes from the author and other credited readers. A significant quote from the author is highlighted at the top “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.”

Use of Outside Sources:

The author uses the other Wes Moore as an outside to help write this book. Wes frequently uses the other during the story to help him give a firsthand account on his story. This source has a major effect on the story because to truly compare their childhoods it’s better to hear from the source. He also uses different family member to also give their point of view on some of the things they don’t remember. These sources are authoritative because they were apart of Wes’s childhood. Wes also uses the account of different people throughout his childhood who he encountered.

Personal Response

I personally enjoyed the booked it was relatable in many ways and served as an inspiration in that there are different ways to make it. The book also gives you a insight in the life of someone who made it out of the struggle and became a good, respectable man, It also gives you a look at how easy it is to get involved in the wrong things and end up in jail. The book showed me how the choices you make can have severe consequence and how you should think before you act. I also believe that the book could have given more insight on the interaction between both men. I do recommend we keep this book on the list for the class, because it is a real life account on what happens when you make bad decisions and it can relate to young black men of this generation.

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