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Jazmin TuckerA.J. VerdelleEnglish 101-004December 8, 2015Buck by M.K. Asante Book ReviewBuck by M.K. Asante was about a young African-American male named Malo trying to find an expressive outlet. M.K. Asante, referred to as Malo throughout the memoir, lived in Philadelphia. He writes a memoir that tells of his life there; the hard times, the good times, and how he overcame it all through education. This book review will cover my expectations and opinions while summarizing the book. Overall, Buck was a great book because I would recommend it to people who are in need of inspiration.As I read Buck, I expected to find a lot of inspirational quotes or phrases, a lot of pain and suffering, and of course the typical “happily ever after” ending. Although the book did include all of those characteristics, it also included other elements of figurative language that were not commonly used in memoirs. Like the use of song lyrics, diary entries, dialogue, and characterization. All of the figurative language used contributed to the overall theme of finding your purpose in life through an expressive outlet; thanks to the use of dialogue and characterization, I was able to see how each character overcame their own personal suffering. For example, Amina expressed herself through writing in her dairy and those diary entries provided an insight into her perspective on life. Furthermore, the diary entries also provided another angle in which to view Malo and other characters within the memoir. In a like manner, Malo’s outlet happened to be education. When Malo discovered the power of education, it changed him for the better. He was able to express himself; everything he has been holding in flowed out when he was writing in Miss Stacey’s class. See, Miss Stacey would sit a blank sheet of paper in front of her students and tell them to write anything that came to mind. Malo wrote “fuck school,” but Miss Stacey told him to “…keep writing…keep going” (Page 200). Malo thought the assignment was a trick; saying, “Teachers always tell you to express yourself, then when you really do, you get in trouble” (Page 200). However, Miss Stacey saw his pain, his anger, and his depression. This is what led to Malo’s thirst for education, for knowledge, and; ultimately, a way for him to truly express himself because she provided him with an opportunity to be expressive. This is the turning point that leads over to the “happily ever after” ending that I somewhat expected from the book. However, I did not expect for Malo to run back to something that he constantly shied away from. It was interesting to see the affect that education had on Malo because not only did he improve but so did everything and everyone around him. The pain and suffering within this memoir also contributed to the overall theme; without it Malo would not have discovered the power of education, Miss Stacey, and the effect of a blank sheet of paper. Along with the pain and suffering came dialogue, characterization, the use of song lyrics and diary entries. All of which not only referred to Malo’s pain but the pain and suffering of his friends, his dad, his brother, his mom, and; ultimately, every other young buck in Philadelphia just trying to make it somewhere. Every character had their own story, their own pain, but somehow it all tied back to Malo. Now, I expected there would be pain and suffering but only with the main character. I expected the main character to be on some sort of downward spiral; which he was, and overcome that by leaving the environment he was in. However, Buck depicts so much more than that, it goes so much more in depth when depicting the pain of others. Being as though each person has their own story, the memoir becomes more relatable for the reader. Thus, resulting in inspiration, inspiring the reader to find an expressive outlet; perhaps the way Miss Stacey inspired Malo.Overall, this book did meet my expectations but not in the way I expected. Buck by M.K. Asante is not your average memoir, but it served its purpose. It thoroughly depicted the life of a young African-American male who was struggling due to lack of expression and how he overcame that by finding an expressive outlet. Again, I would recommend this book to those in need of inspiration, to those in search of an outlet because the book is very relatable, in my opinion. ................
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