100 Miles per Hour, Upside Down and Sideways by Rick Bragg

 Summary:
In this essay the author expresses his feelings regarding his 1969 General Motors convertible. He describes the power and magnitude his car had, as well as the music he would play while driving in it (The Eagels Gretest Hits). He also mentions the struggle and sacrifice it required in order to obtain his vehicle like working with his uncle in the summers under the heat and only getting payed minimum wage.  As an average teenager he liked to drive fast and feel the rush of stamina throughout his body. On his way back home, he is tempted to race against another boy who he described as ridding a "loud running Chevrolet." He gives into his temptation and stepped down the gas pedal to 100 miles per hour. His lost of control left him upside-down against a ditch, oddly enough completely unharmed and completely saint. His car was not as lucky, he described the scene of his car as a shiny piece of paper crumbled and completely disregarded. He did however kept a few words from a wrecker operator who said, "The Lord was ridding with that boy." From that day on he learned to value the things he had weather it was his car or his life.

Analysis of writing techniques:
Bragg's essay is written in first person to give the reader a better understanding of the point of view in the book. His use of vocabulary and emotions he used when he described his 1969 car provides the reader with understanding of how much he cared for his first car. Also the message that Bragg transmits through his writing is a positive and not at all blunt. He uses the plot line to deliver his story telling that directs the reader to the climax of the story. His explicit ditails also build up suspense in the reader's head and ultimately maintains the readers attention.

Opinion:
In my opinion this essay was  very interesting and powerful. The authors vocabulary and use of suspense kept me wanting to read more.  I can relate with the main character in this essay, being immature and inexperienced with responsibilities is something I identify with. It fallowed a climatic plot and was also a pleasurable reading piece. My favorite part of the essay was when he described the labor he had to endure and the sacrifices he had to make in order to obtain what he wanted.

   Looking at my past, I was never a true individual. I would always let the things or the people around me influence on my decisions; although, when you are five, you're really out of your mind if you think anyone cares what you think. Growing up was a true struggle.  I am the product of a single mother and multiple growing pains. I guess I should start from the beginning, I was born in Oxnard California in the year of 1992. My mother decided to return to her native land where she had developed as a well known and respected dentist. She took my older brother and I back to our small town in Michoacan Mexico where we lived a modest but prosperous life. After I had turned 7, my mother gave my brother and I the news that she was pregnant with our younger sister. The reaction she received from my brother made he rethink the opportunities that we where being deprived from being citizens of the United States. Ironically enough right before my baby sister turned 1, my mother decided to move back to the Oxnard where my father lived. A few years passed and my house hold became a broken home. My father revealed his drug addiction and affair. He and my mother soon after parted ways and she received full custody of my siblings and myself. From then on we became poor with minimum expectations, low self-steam, and a whole lot of worries. Through the struggles we faced my mother always maintained herself calmed with a positive outlook and a stronger determination to become a role model to her children and a respected member of the working world. While my brother and I where attending grade school she pushed herself to earn a degree in child development at Oxnard College. I know that it is because of her example that I find myself to be so dedicated and so focus in succeeding in school.

                           

   My present now is very stable and I like that it is so. I am now attending Oxnard College, this is my second semester here and I am very excited about my classes. Last semester I decided on what I want to major in and that is Biology. I love the subject so much I received an A in the class. I am a a different place in my life, I want to succeed and become a role model just how my mother was to me. I am able to face obstacles and not be intimidated by them, but rather faced them with a strong sense of accomplishment. I am now enrolled in Chemistry 110, Biology Lab 101, English 101, and Math 014 and I am determine to receive an A in all of my classes. I also began working at the Oxnard Library's tutoring center were I specialize in the English department. My present seems to have been well shaped by my past and has also become more open had I not being exposed to what I did.

   The future is never as how  one tries to plan it to be. however, my academic plans are to graduate form Oxnard College with an A.S. degree in Biology and to transfer out to the University of California: San Diego where I will work to attend its medical school and become a medical doctor. I would also like to travel abroad like Paris, France or Sao Paulo, Brazil where I can become more exposed to culture. My future plan is to work in a location where I can raise a family and also be able to offer my family a privilege life. I also plan to move out of California, maybe out to the north of the country. Whatever may happen in the unpredictable future I know it will be determine by what I do today.