The article I picked to show a representation of Bildungsroman, was from the Journal of American Culture, by Josephine Metcalf. The article by Metcalf, Josephine “Monster, Dreams, and Cultural Studies: Exploring Gang Memoir and Political Autobiography”. This article deals with two different, but yet similar individuals that took different paths to where they ended up at. The Journal of American Culture, 34: 391-401 article deals with presidents Barack Obama and convicted gang member Sanyika Shakur.

This article shows how both individuals had to deal with issues facing the minority communities like feminism, gay activism, AIDS awareness, anti-racism, and multiculturalism. In the book “Dreams From my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance”, by Barack Obama, he used the negative issues he face as a child and tried to make a difference by reading, and learning new words that expanded his learning. He also used his personal experiences from going to school as a child in Indonesia, and back in the state. He was an outside in his schools, and was always asked silly questions about his African father. he used these negative experiences to motivate himself to strive for something better. So he used what learned as a child, and went to Chicago and started helping the minority groups for better services, and education.

Sanyika Shakur’s Monster: The Autobiography of an LA Gang Member, writes a book explaining the reason why he fell into the gang life. While growing up in the 1980’s, Shakur a young youth  had to deal with the budget cuts of the later president Reagan. Shakur was suspended from elementary school for throwing a gang sign durning the picture. During this time Shakur starts to see the easy life of drugs and hanging out with friends. So he starts leaving school and starts to hangout with crip gang members. Even though his mother would scream at him to go to school and learn. But the only thing that he learned was the rough life of being a gang member durning the early 1980-1990’s, with the increase of gang membership and the increased used of a new drug call crack. So this shows up how his  bildungsroman was shaped durning his time as a gang member and as a incarcerated individual in the prison system.

Both individuals faced the same social and economical issues during this time. But as you can see the bildungsroman for both individuals took different turns. Obama went on to learn from the issues he faced, learned by reading books, and went to college where he went on to help the minority communities of Chicago, and later to help the country as our President. Where as Sanyika Shakur, took his childhood experences and took a turn for the worst. Shakur’s bildungsroman took him on a path that would lead him to prison. A life of easy money, drugs, and gang banging shaped him to become a notorious gang member in Los Angeles.

Monster, Dreams, and Cultural Studies: Exploring Gang Memoir and Political Autobiography.