Guilty or Not There's One in All of Us: Monster

Bibliographic Details
           Monster, Walter Dean Myers, 21 April 1999, HarperCollins Publisher

Summary
            Steve is talking about him being in jail. And how people say you get used to jail but, he never does. He then goes on trial and is being defended by Obrien, a lady who truly wants to help him. He is being prosecuted by Petrocelli. Osvaldo is set to testify and tells the jury that he was scared of Bobo and Steve so he joined their robbery. Obrien says to Steve that he might get 25 to life and that was discouraging for him. While in jail, Steve is growing to be more tough and less scared of people, which is a good thing for him since he doesn’t want to make seem like he is vulnerable. Osvaldo is brought in to the court room to testify against Steve. Osvaldo talks about who he knows was in the whole mess and he mentioned Steve as being one of the people in it. His father goes to see him in jail and Steve sees his father crying, since his dad has a dream of him playing football and not in jail charged for murder. His mother came to see him for the first time, and she told him that she couldn't believe he's been there so long. Bobo is on stand and says that Steve's role in the stickup was to check if the store was clear of any cops. Bobo’s testimony hurt Steve's case since it gave him more connection to them. Obrien tells him that he should testify since King won't testify and it would help his own case. Steve's testifies and denies ever being at the drugstore the day of the robbery.
            The closing statements are said and Obrien reminds the jury of Steve's character and the character of Bobo and how different the two characters are. And how Bobo can see a man dead in a drugstore and still go out to eat, while Steve wasn't nervous on stand since he didn't have anything to hide. But Petrocelli says that the testimony isn't about the character of the people, but of what happened on December 22 at the drugstore. Steve is back in his cell waiting for the jury to choose a verdict. He thinks about how in the beginning he didn't know why the prisoners talked so much about appeals and now he knows. He starts planning his appeal and really wants to get out. In the morning they are told that a verdict was found. King was sentenced to 25 to life, Osvaldo was arrested for stealing a car and was sent to a reformatory, Bobo was sent to jail, and Steve was found not guilty! 5 months later Steve is trying to figure out exactly who he is, so he films himself with a camera a lot now.

Quote
"The movie is more real in so many ways than the life I am leading. No, that's not true. I just desperately wish this was only a movie" (Myers 159)

Reaction
           Since Steve is documenting this while he is in jail. He documents it as a movie, and he shows how the movie makes his situation more emotional to the reader. He hates where he is and how he can't see his brother, since he is too young to go into the visitors room.  He says he can't last there for 25 years because he will never get used to living there.

From First Base to First Place: Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits

Bibliographic Details

Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits, David Ortiz, 17 April 2007, St. Martin’s Press

Summary

Big Papi was born in the Dominican Republic and is the son of Angela Rosa Arias and Americo Enrique Ortiz. He talks about how when he was growing up in the Dominican Republic that they didn't have bats or real baseballs to play with.  If they were lucky they found bottle caps and broomsticks to play with. Ortiz says that baseball always brought them together. He was then signed with the Seattle Mariners and played Class A baseball, he then met this girl and lived with her and her mom during the season, this girl became his wife Tiff. He says that while you are young and from a different country in the major leagues it hard to feel like you belong. Especially when he played in Minnesota and his manager Tom Kelly didn't really treat him well. Big Papi also talks about how in 2002 he heard about the day his mother died, and where he was at the time. His mother was driving to Haina from Santo Domingo and she was in the car, and crashed into a dump truck. He talks about how his teammates were his family and how they helped him go through his mother’s death.

Thanks to Pedro Martinez he was signed by the Boston Red Sox. He didn't get that much playing time until mid season, when they took Jeremy Giambi out and put Ortiz instead. The 2004 season started and for the first month of the year doing really good, but then the next three months they were playing average which wasn't good enough for the division they were playing in. Finally the Red Sox were playing better and had made it to the Playoffs as the Wild Card. They wanted to play the Yankees in the American League Championship Series, to get pay back for the Yankees eliminating them the year before. The Red Sox got what they wanted and were going up against the Yankees in the next series. The first 3 games were hectic for the Red Sox they lost all three and if they were too lost another they would be eliminated by the Yankees once again. But because of some clutch hits by David Ortiz they were able to win the next four, eliminate the Yankees, and go on to the World Series. They were playing the Cardinals and beat them in four straight games to become the World Series Champions!

Quote

“That doesn’t even get into the fact that you speak a different language, are used to eating different food, are away from your family and your friends. That’s a lot to overcome” (Ortiz 87).

Reaction

Many people who come from a different country have a lot of obstacles to face. You also don’t know if the people are going to treat you a different way, because of the way you speak or act. Just like the short story by Junot Diaz, The Money, where the main character is in United States and his family all the way in Dominican Republic and they are depressed because they can’t see them.