The Russell Banks “3 Dreams” concepts consist of the El Dorado (city of gold), Fountain of Youth and City upon the Hill. People believed that there was this of city of gold in which people could become rich easily. therefore, many immigrated believing that this city of gold actually existed. Not only did people believe in the city of gold, but others believed in the Fountain of Youth. This meant that people believed that they could have this new start. the other myth is the City upon the Hill which is that people felt that it was the “New Jerusalem”. these 3 dreams affect the way many viewed the American Dream. For example, some probably did not believe in there being a city of gold. However, people may have strongly believed in this idea of a new start. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby becomes a rich man after the war. It is like a new start for him. However, he needs Daisy.

The seminar with the JEP mentors was good because there was this college environment in which everyone was able to give their own views toward the two pieces. I liked the part where someone said that the characters within Black Boy are supposed to represent the whole society. However, Roselyn came back and said that the characters cannot represent the whole society because there are people who actually act differently than the people in the book. This exchange of thoughts is what i think really worked well in the seminar.

1. Elizabeth Eckford Entering Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas. Will Counts 1957
2. In this photograph i see a young African American girl walking alone to school while holding her books in her arms. Also, i see a mob of white female adults  following and screaming at this young African American girl as she passes by. in the background there are also some white male soldiers in uniforms who seem to keep the girl from entering the school. I also notice this one white female adult behind this young girl, who seems to be screaming form the top of her lungs.
3. When i see this photograph, i ask myself the following:

• Why is this young girl all alone?
• How does she feel at that exact moment?
• Is she scared? is she mad?
• Would she be brave enough to show her face the next day?

4.This picture reminds me of the time this one boy at school was ridiculed for peeing on himself. Everyone was laughing at him for doing so. however, he was brave enough to come the next day.

5. This photograph also reminds me of this other piece in CAM. this piece, by Deborah Grant, also has an image of Elizabeth and of the white lady who was screaming loudly at Elizabeth. however, this piece also has images of Martin Luther King jr. and of other people who were important during the civil rights movement.

6. From this photograph, i learned that many African Americans suffered during this time because they were despised by the white people. I realized how mobs would basically attack, either verbally or physically, any African American person.

photograph

my sketch