Identification and definition of the important words, term concepts or characters
“If you’re doing something wrong, you know it and you’ve got at least one eye peeled
looking for trouble” (par1). Billie Holiday says that some body who do something wrong in purpose is aware of the consequence of his act and is prepared to face or avoid them.
“You’re just a pigeon” (par1). “A person who is easily flooded or cheated; dupe”
(htt//dictionary.infoplease.com).
I met a cat in a 52nd street club where I was working” (par2 ). She says that she met a man.
“He was over the hill form some camp down south” (par2). He has left his military camp for a long time without leave.
“To knock some sense into his head” (par2). To make him to behave in a more sensible
way”(wordReference.com).
“The number of his outfit”(par3). The number of “his military company”
(http//ardictionary.com).
“Tough looking white characters” (par4). She means two aggressive white persons
“ hiding a G.I who was AWOL”(par4). A AWOL is a soldier or other military person who is absent from duty whiteout leave (htt//dictionary.infoplease.com).
"Somebody had set me up" (par5). That means Somebody fooled me.
“I was not using anything and I wasn’t thinking about using anything”(par6). She says that she was not in drug and did not want to take some.
“I’ve got one strike against me I can’t beat it, so let me take the rap”(par12). She says she is in a bad position. And that she will take the blame for the bad thing that happened. (http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com).
It was Joe Tenner, boss of the club, who went to bat and called Jack Ehrich, a famous San Francisco criminal lawyer(par19). She says that Joe “supported or helped her” (http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com).
"Picturesque criminal cases" (par 19). It her criminal case was striking or interesting in an unusual way. (http://www.answer.com).
The clincher that I had a record (par21). “clincher is a point, fact, or remark that settle something conclusively; a decisive factor (http://www.answer.com).
“I guess Mr. Ehrlich figured this would bring me to my sense about John Levy, and it did”(par30). He convince her that John Levy was not a good man.
The summary of the man idea, them, action or event
The thesis of Billie Holiday is to be naïve can be very dangerous, “you can get in just as much trouble by being dumb and innocent as you can by breaking the law… if you are doing something wrong… your in position to protect yourself. The other way, you’re just a pigeon”(par 1). And she illustrate that by two examples coming form her own life. The first one take place during the world war II when she met a musician soldier. Who was a deserter. She locked him in her room and told him that she will helped him “ I told him I’d call his sergeant on the phone and see if I couldn’t fix it up for him to get back without getting in trouble”(par2). when she came back two white person said to her that they knew she was hiding a soldier and that they will denounce. So she bribe them “ I tried offering them money…if they let me alone and let that poor little soldier head back to the camp. They were very big about that”(par5).
Then she realized she get tricked “when I saw them running across the rooftops with my money, I knew I’d been had”(par5).
The in the second story she get caught by the police in possession of the opium her manager told her to throw in the toilet….. She got “Arrested on Narcotics Charges” (par16) later she her lawyer made her realized that her manager Mr. Levy was an informatory of the “the man in charge of the raid the famous Colonel George H. White”(par28) was in fact the a trick made by John levy. “john Levy was an informer on other people and bragged about it. What was there to stop him from informing on me?”(par30).
The question
Billie Holiday was an artist who did not have a good education. She learned by experience that to be innocent can be dangerous. But if she had been to college would she been fool the same way? What is the contribution of the theoretical knowledge to the building of the mid of an individual ? Is it more important than the experience?
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Igor, this is a great, thoughtful question. In my past experiences, a successful person must seek to build himself in both areas, those of study and those of experience. I would say the latter is of greater significance, and especially the way in which one learns from his past experiences, both good and bad, and how he/she incorporates the lessons into daily life. Study works and stimulates the mind allowing us to better understand the world around us. In addition, the hard work in studying teaches discipline. A college education may have changed Billie’s life for the better, mostly by changing the kind of people she had interaction with. But fame and riches can sweep the faint of heart to destruction.
ReplyDelete-Jonathan Lazar-
Well, I certainly do feel that a balance of both theoretical knowledge and field experience is important for any individual. It is important for your daily life, and important for your career. Rather than being more important than the other, both of them work together and balance each other out.
ReplyDeleteNeither can be discounted. She might have been better off because an education would have allowed her to advance in life. However, given the time, her race and her gender this is not guaranteed.
ReplyDeleteKnowledge and college overall helps develop ones ability to think things through. So an education is important.
In the end I agree with Ricky, Knowledge and experience should be used together.