0 ratings (0.0 avg)
1 review

Blaumathon

Add friend

Blaumathon’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (0)

currently-reading‎ (1)

read‎ (0)

Stats | More…

Blaumathon is Currently Reading

Blaumathon is currently reading

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

by Barack Obama (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Blaumathon said: " First Checkpoint:

In "Dreams from My Father" by Barack Obama, the themes are similar to other books we have read this year. The theme of achieving the American Dream is shown through the entire memoir. The theme of the American Dream was shown in "Th First Checkpoint:

In "Dreams from My Father" by Barack Obama, the themes are similar to other books we have read this year. The theme of achieving the American Dream is shown through the entire memoir. The theme of the American Dream was shown in "The Great Gatsby," however this memoir doesn't display the the corruptness of it, it just displays the dream. Barack Obama Sr. was selected to attend Hawaii University because he was one of the brightest students in his class in Kenya. He graduated from Hawaii in three years at the top of his class where he met Obama's mother and they got married and had him. He left when he was only 2 years old to get his PhD at Harvard and then he would later return to Kenya to fulfill a personal promise. Barack Obama Sr.'s experience really portrayed a positive experience of the American Dream. He came from Kenya and returned there with a PhD from Harvard where he would go to be a successful economist in Kenya.

For his father to go from just being an average Kenyan to having a PhD from Harvard, that was a catalyst for Barack to have a good education. The key to being successful is to get educated. Without any form of education it is very difficult to achieve success. During Barack's rebellious teenage years he got involved with drugs and alcohol and when to Occidental College in L.A. with a girlfriend at the time. He wasn't thinking about his life in a full perspective. He would then transfer to Colombia University two years later when he realized that he was just holding himself back. He knew if he wanted to amount to anything he needed to get serious and work hard, so he went to get his Political Science degree from Colombia University. Education was important to his family, so he knew that he needed to ditch Occidental and start a new, prosperous life.

Second Checkpoint:

Through reading this memoir of Barack Obama, it has enlighted me about how American society was while Barack was growing up. I was also able to see how much Barack went through and see how amazing it is that he became President. Barack's mother was white, while his father was black. Interracial marriages were illegal in many states and it was very abnormal, so for Barack to be the offspring off an interacial couple was rare and looked down upon. Baracks father left him when he was two and then Barack went to live with his mom and his step dad in the Phillipines. He only saw his father once again for about a month, but he was a hardass to Barack the whole time and didn't leave him with any good, fatherly memories.At ten years old he would move back to Hawaii to live with his grand-parents. He never had a permanent father figure in his life. Barack never had a permanent family to really go to. With his family problems, he had many other problems too. In this time period he was heavily looked down upon and this made it difficult for him at home and at school. It is trully amazing that he could persevere through these difficulties and come out as the President of the United States.

Barack eventually arived at college, attending Occidental University mainly just to chase a girl. He spend his time there in a drunken haze just partying and not really caring about anything. This sort of rebellion most definatley came from his unstable family life that he went through. During is time at Occidental he was pretty immature and wasn't sure who he was. This time at Occidental was him pretty much soul searching. He eventually reached the conclusion that he needed to get an education that was suited for him, so he moved to New York to attend Columbia. School was pressed on Barck heavily during his childhood, but he was never mature enough to truly understand why. Through his time at Occidental he finally matured and left to go after his calling at Columbia to attain a degree in Political Science. Due to his not so perfect life up until Comubia, he was able to find the answers that would ultimatley send him on his way to become a Senator and then become the President of the United States. ...more "

May 14, 2012 06:53AM · see review