November 2, 2015

Kelsey Smith

Page 1

The Other Wes Moore vs. The Road Not Taken

This issue covers:
The similarities
and differences
between The
Other Wes
Moore and The
Road Not Taken
The messages
behind The Other Wes Moore
and The Road
Not Taken
The Other Wes
Moore, a nonfiction novel
The Rhodes
Scholarships

Inside this issue:

The Other Wes 1
Moore vs. The
Road Not Taken
The Other Wes
Moore Review

The Rhodes
Scholarships

The Other Wes Moore is a

nonfiction novel about the
lives of two different people,
and The Road Not Taken is
a poem about making a
choice. These two works
seem different at first, but are
actually very similar. Both
stories contain similar themes
about making choices and
how to change your future,
and can be used as valuable
tools to help when making
decisions.
The Other Wes Moore is
about two men who grew up
similarly, but their lives ended up going in opposite directions. Both grew up in similar
conditions; they both had
single-parent households and
lived in the same urban
neighborhood, but their lives
quickly became very different
as the two moved to different
areas. Wrong and right choices led both Wes Moores
down completely different
paths, changing their lives
completely. The author, one
of the two Wes Moores, uses
his book and the stories from
his and the other Wess lives
to teach how important it is to
make choices and actions that
will affect your future positively, and by using the examples from both of their
lives, Wes Moore shows how
the smallest actions can
change your life forever.
Along with important lessons, he also includes a list of
resources for readers who
need help. Overall, The Other
Wes Moore is meant to show
readers how to make good

choices and improve the outcomes of their lives.

The Road Not Taken by
Robert Frost is a short poem
that describes making a
choice. The poem itself talks
about the narrator coming to
a fork in the road in the
woods. While deciding which
path to take, the narrator notices that one path is more
worn than the other. Instead
of taking the well-worn path,
the narrator decides on taking
the grassy path and saving the
well-worn path for another
day. Looking back on that
choice in the future, the narrator realizes that taking the
less travelled path has made
all the difference in their life.
This story symbolizes a person making a decision in their
life. One of the two choices is
more popular or more used
than the other. Instead of
choosing the more popular
choice, the person takes the
other choice, shaping their
life in a different and better
way. This shows that it is
often better to make your
own path in life instead of
following the crowd.
The Other Wes Moore and
The Road Not Taken both
talk about making choices.
These two stories show how
it is important to make decisions for yourself and not
follow what everyone else is
doing. They also show that
your choices are important
because they will affect the
outcome of your life. The two
stories also have their differ-

ences. The Other W es Moore

focuses on the outcome of
your choices and gives specific examples of options that
impact your life. The Road
Not Taken talks more about
the act of making a choice
than about specific ones, and
gives a bit of advice on decision making. It also has more
of a theme that it is okay to
make your own path in life.
Between The Other W es
Moore and The Road Not
Taken, a reader can learn a
variety of important lessons
about making a brighter future for themselves. The two
stories share a common
theme of making important
decisions that can help a
reader learn how to deal with
making choices and how to
know which is the right one
to take. Overall, both stories
are incredibly influential and
can be easily applied to everyday life.

Page 2

The Other Wes Moore: A Review

The chilling
truth is that
his story
could have
been mine.
The tragedy
is that my
story could
have been
his.
-Wes Moore

The Other Wes Moore is a

very powerful nonfiction novel about life choices. In the
book, two boys with the same
name grow up in similar conditions, but as the story progresses and the boys become
older, their lives end up going
in opposite directions. The
author, one of the two Wes
Moores, includes a variety of
events from his and the other
Wess lives to teach readers
many important life lessons.
Each chapter is well organized and split into two different sections: one for the
author Wess story and one
for the other Wess story.

This creates a good balance

between the two separate
stories included in the novel.
Unfortunately, as the story
progresses, less details are
given about one of the two
Wess lives, and too much is
included about the other. This
makes certain sections of the
later chapters boring and hard
to read.
The end of the book is different from the beginning as it
includes an epilogue, an afterword, a section titled A Call
to Action, and a resource
guide. These sections help the
author complete his story and

teach all of the lessons he

intended for readers to learn.
The resource guide is also
included for readers who are
in need of help. It allows
them to get in touch with different organizations that can
improve different aspects of
their lives. Overall, The Other
Wes Moore was very motivational and could be used by
teens or adults to give them
advice on how to improve
their lives and get on the right
track. I would recommend
this book to anyone who feels
that they would like to improve themselves in some
way.

The Rhodes Scholarships

The cover of The

Other Wes
Moore.

Wes Moore, the

author of The
Other Wes
Moore.

The Rhodes Scholarships are

special postgraduate awards
that support students from all
over the world and allow
them to study at the University of Oxford. Each year, thirty-two Americans are selected as Rhodes Scholars. To be
able to apply for the Scholarship, students must have the
endorsement of their university or college, five to eight
letters of recommendation, a
list of principal activities, a
personal statement that is less
than 1000 words long, proof
of citizenship, a certified transcript, and a passport-sized
photograph of themselves (The Rhodes Trust).
The students picked for the
Scholarship are chosen for
their scholarly achievements,
their commitment to doing
the right thing, their good

characteristics, and for their

potential for leadership.
Also, the Rhodes Scholarships are some of the oldest
international fellowship
awards in the world. The
Scholarships were originally
created because of the will of
Cecil J. Rhodes. Cecil J.
Rhodes wanted to create his
Scholarships to help educate
the future leaders of our
world by allowing them to go
to the University of Oxford.
He wanted exceptional students to be able to help serve
the community. To put these
Scholarships into action, Cecil J. Rhodes appointed Trustees. These Trustees took care
of the funds behind the program and adapted Cecil J.
Rhodess plans to fit any future circumstances.

Thanks to Cecil J. Rhodes,

the Rhodes Scholarships provide a great opportunity for
any student that wants to further their education at the
University of Oxford. Without this program, it would be
very difficult for exceptional
students to get a great education.
Works Cited
"Applying for the Scholarship."
Office of the American Secretary. The Rhodes Trust, 2015.
Web. 2 Nov. 2015. http://
www.rhodesscholar.org/
applying-for-the-scholarship/
"History of the Rhodes Trust."
The Rhodes Scholarships. The
Rhodes Trust, 2015. Web. 2
Nov. 2015. http://
www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/
history
The Rhodes Scholarships. The
Rhodes Trust, 2015. Web. 2
Nov. 2015. http://
www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/