Isaac Swert
Professor Lohre
English 1109 at 01:30, T-Th
21st October, 2020
Takeaways
One and done has many positive messages throughout the text. An important message I took away was “Change is possible”. Looking at Clarett’s life, it is very evident he comes from a rough past and he lets that control him for the first part of his life. But, after he goes to prison, he starts to become a new man and starts to change for the better. Clarett starts to think about businesses he can start outside of prison. He even takes classes to improve himself.
Another thing I took away from the text was “Your past does not define you”. It is very similar to the first takeaway, but it is also different enough to be important. After Clarett starts to change, we see him admit that what he did was wrong but he does not allow it to define him. He even acknowledges his mistakes and uses it to help him move forward, “My mind became acutely aware why I was there, and I had no choice but to take responsibility and grow from that point”(Clarett 227). He does not identify as a criminal and he does not allow his past to affect what he does.
From meeting Mr. Clarett and Mr. Eckhart, the biggest takeaway I had was “Having a positive mindset”. Clarett talked about his daily life and how he would wake up and put himself in a mind set to seize the day. It really resonated with me because it can be that simple to improve your life. A lot of people take that ability for granted and I appreciated the fact that Clarett shared his insight and how it has helped him improve his own life.
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| I chose this image because it ties in with two of my takeaways. It also highlights the "Having a positive mindset" and I think that is very important and is very necessary for life. |
I had a very similar takeaway to your second takeaway. He does take his past and mistakes and learns from them to better himself. Your past is not a death sentence there is so many opportunities in this world you can use them to your advantage.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your first takeaway. I think we put ourselves in a box and tent to stay in that box our whole life’s. Maurice Clarett is a perfect example of how and individual with hard work can change his position in life.
ReplyDeleteI like your second takeaway as well. For me, it is sort of a challenge for me to oversee past things that give a person bad light when you had high hopes for them. Sort of like people you don't except to make certain choices, but I believe there is space for a second chance/ redemption. You are who you hang around with or content you expose yourself to. So in Clarett's case and situation, I see why that quote is fair because he finally found himself.
ReplyDeleteI said he had a growth mindset which is just as powerful as having a positive mindset. Having the right mindset can help you grow and really helped Clarett throughout the novel especially when he went to prison because he viewed it as a time to grow and become a good person.
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