Question

What did you notice about Wes Moore's presentation at the Aspen Ideas Festival? What themes did he stress in the presentation that you notice in chapter 6?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary. Also, you will have to talk about your sixth chapter as I have only talked about the speech in general.

(Answer) At the Aspen Ideas Festival, Wes Moore talks about how he and his namesake from the similar community, age group and background grew up to be very different people. Wes talks about how the other Wes was in incarcerated at the time that he was going on to get his scholarship.

Even though they both had difficult childhoods, the major difference in both of them despite similar “natures” is the factor of “nurture.” This means that even though they had almost similar natures, they were nurtured very differently. Wes talks about how he had people in his life that were unwilling to give up on him, unlike the Wes that was in prison.

Furthermore, Wes analysed how he learnt to recognise the value of opportunities that went to nurture him into the valued citizen he is today. The other Wes claims to have wasted every opportunity that was given to him and eventually was a criminal.

In his book “The Other Wes,” Wes Moore talks about how these social, psychological and emotional disparities went way beyond other factors in making a valued member of society and a criminal. Wes talks about the value of a strong supportive home, a valuable and consistent education and the importance of a higher education. He talks about how the parents are the first and most important teachers that a child has. He talks about how expectations placed on an individual should be disregarded in order to truly achieve one’s potential.