Two Brothers From The Watts Rhetorical Devices

This book is made up of two cycles of poems, each confronting the same subject: the characterization of a black man in white America. In this book, I plan to focus mainly on the first cycle and touch briefly on the second. The first cycle includes four different sections. In section one of cycle one, Eady writes about Susan Smith and Charles Stuart, two murderers who blamed their crimes on nonexistent black attackers. The first poem is called “How I Got Born” (Eady 5), in this poem the fictional young African American man is conjured up. In the upper right-hand corner of the page, Eady writes a note that explains who and what the speaker is: “The speaker is the young black man Susan Smith claimed kidnapped her children” (Eady 5). In the first few lines of the poem he says, “Susan Smith willed me alive/ At the moment/ Her babies sank into the lake” (l. 1-40). So right away he gives us a pretty straightforward explanation for what this poem is about and what this section will be about. In the next few poems, the narrator discusses his “existence” and reason for being created. Eady uses a lot of metaphors, similes and imagery in his poems, and he does a phenomenal job with imagery.

“‘Race Politics” by Luis J. Rodriguez was about him and his brother living in a place called Watts. They journey over the tracks, trying to get the “good food” for their family. They go to the store, and find themselves face to face with five teenagers who knock the food out of their hands, and beat up the main character’s older brother, causing him to vomit. The teenagers leave, with them on the floor. The purpose for writing this essay is to identify syntax, connotation, and imagery within this poem, and decide what makes it important to the overall poem. The overall impression that Luis conveys within his work is the feeling of separation.

Founding Brothers, written by Joseph Ellis, is an outstanding read for anyone interested in learning more about the United States Founding Fathers. Published in 2000 by Alfred A. Knopf, many have recommended the novel. This great book takes the reader through the time where the United States developed the government that is similar to the one used today. One is able to visualize and perceive what it was like for all of the Founding Fathers to interact with one another. Founding Brothers hit key points as well as gave personal information on the Founding Fathers of the United States. By doing that, it made the reader feel more involved. When Joseph Ellis had written Founding Brothers, he kept in mind rhetorical appeals such as ethos, pathos,

The main theme of the book was racial tension. The white folks treated the black folks like they were dirt. Even older white folks treated the younger black children like dirt. I do not understand how any adult could hit a child, especially because of their color. One instance that really bothered me was when a white man almost raped Melba because she was black. It was in 1954, immediately after Brown vs. the Board of Education decision had came down. After that she said she was going to read the newspaper because she wanted to know when white men got angry. And sometimes she had to spend her own nickel for it. Another theme throughout the book could be determination. The nine children were determined to carry out integration. They did not give up. Some older black folks in the neighborhood faulted the nine children for the actual attempt of integration. They claimed that it made it harder than it already was to be black and living in Little Rock. For example, Melba’s neighbor Mrs. Floyd said to her after the first day at Central, “ Now You’ve had your lesson. You don’t have to go back to that awful school anymore.” Not only were they catching hell from the whites, they were catching just as much from the blacks as well. After the first day in the school being taunted and mistreated they could have not gone back. They put up a fight, as far as integration goes- they would not take no for an

The two most obvious one’s are the music and drug symbols. Two that one might not catch are the light and darkness symbols. Light being the good, while dark being the bad. When the narrator found out that Sonny got busted and put in jail, he started to think to himself, “I didn’t want to believe that I’d ever see my brother going down, coming to nothing, all that light in his face gone out,” (Baldwin 122). He references the light to a bright and young Sonny. After hearing the news, it reminded him that there were also shadows where there was once light that shined. This vision of his younger brother makes him realize that Sonny was once like the boys he now teaches. Some of his students share and face some of the same darkness’s that Sonny does. “All they really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their lives, which was now closing in on them, and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness, and in which they now, vindictively, dreamed, at once more together than they were at any other time, and more alone,” (Baldwin 122) The narrator explains how the boys are immersing in darkness and they don’t even know it. Darkness here represents the chances the boys don’t take advantage of and the lack of opportunity they are presented. This darkness that casts over them doesn’t give them hope to want to attempt anything positive. Fate has brought them together but because nothing will ever come their way, they are alone in suffering. This dark reality of living in Harlem leaves no light of hope for these young boys. The narrator now begins to understand the pain and suffering that his students and Sonny go through. Between prejudices towards African American’s in Harlem during the 1950’s and living in severe poverty decreases the chances of them ever escaping the dark reality of life. This setting and darkness make is easy to turn to drugs, crime, and violence

In the beginning chapters of the book, we get a glimpse of the typical home and community of an African American during segregation. Many Africans Americans were too adjusted to the way of living, that they felt

Upon finishing the week, on Friday Troy and his friend Bono talk about what they witnessed during the week. While arriving home, Bono brings up the subject of how he knew that Troy was not going to get fired from work. Upon entering Troy comes face to face with his son, Lyon, who is there to give Troy back the money he borrowed from him. After, seeing this Bono and Lyons greet each other and Bono talks about the promotion Troy got at his job.  He states, “ your daddy got a promotion on the rubbish. He gonna be the first colored driver. Ain't got to do nothing but sit up there and read the paper like them white fellows "( Wilson, 1168). In this quote it is clear that a black man getting a promotion is not an everyday thing. This can be observed in the way Bono talks about the incident. The idea of race is seen impacting Troy’s opportunity and type of work. This is seen through the fact that there are societal roles which have been placed upon each race and the type of job he or she is supposed to pursuit. In this case, the author characterizes that the job for whites is to be the drivers, who drive a truck and “read papers”. In comparison, the job for blacks like Troy are labor intensive work, which do not pay a significant amount needed for survival. The author through this quote shows how the topic of race effects Troy day to day life which includes his job. Troy’s race has a major impact on his job, due to the fact that based on his color Troy was not allowed the job of being a driver for a long time. This leads to a lack of funding from Troy to support his family, which in turn leads to conflicts between Troy and other members of the family. This impact race has on Troy’s job also, affected the way Troy feels about himself.  This is due to the fact that when not being able to provide his family's needs, he begins to question his masculinity. In

Blindly, our nation’s black population fought, not always knowing what for, just as the boys in this story fought. The segregation of schools, restaurants, and other public facilities were issues that were fiercely fought over.

Segregation had had many effects on the black nation, to the point that it started building up ones character, “See the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness towards white people”, King shows readers that segregation is even affecting little children, that it is starting to build up a young girls character and is contributing to the child developing hatred “bitterness” towards the white Americans. King makes readers imagine a black cloud settling in a young girls brain mentally, when instead she should have an image of a colorful blue sky with a rainbow, isn’t that suppose to be part of a 6 year-old’s imagination? King gives readers an image of destruction civil disobedience had created in the black community, especially in the young innocent little children.

To show first hand to the whites the inequality’s and hardships that the blacks face, the entire first section is in a narrative and a descriptive format. The use of these types of essays lets the readers feel more involved in the story and feel things for themselves. Split into two sections within itself, this first paragraph juxtaposes two stories — one about a “young Negro boy” living in Harlem, and the other about a “young Negro girl” living in Birmingham. The parallelism in the sentence structures of introducing the children likens them even more — despite the differences between them — whether it be their far away location, or their differing, yet still awful, situations. Since this section is focused more towards his white audience, King goes into a description of what it was like living as an African American in those times— a situation the black audience knew all too well. His intense word choice of describing the boy’s house as “vermin-infested” provokes a very negative reaction due to the bad

Many tragic events happen in this short story that allows the reader to create an assumption for an underlying theme of racism. John Baldwin has a way of telling the story of Sonny’s drug problem as a tragic reality of the African American experience. The reader has to depict textual evidence to prove how the lifestyle and Harlem has affected almost everything. The narrator describes Harlem as “... some place I didn’t want to go. I certainly didn’t want to know how it felt. It filled everything, the people, the houses, the music, the dark, quicksilver barmaid, with menace; and this menace was their reality” (Baldwin 60). Another key part in this story is when the narrator and Sonny’s mother is telling the story of a deceased uncle. The mother explains how dad’s brother was drunk crossing the road and got hit by a car full of drunk white men. Baldwin specifically puts emphasis on the word “white” to describe the men for a comparison to the culture of dad and his brother.

To begin, Langston Hughes uses nature to demonstrate a distinct relationship amongst blacks and whites. The writing shows the relationship between the different races amongst the men and women. Langston Hughes use of snow and night express a point simple enough, but through the use of these metaphors, he enables the story to be less invasive and more appealing. Langston Hughes ' main character, Sargeant, is left doubting the goodness of life. Hughes wrote, "Sargeant didn 't see the snow, not even under the bright lights of the main street, falling white and flaky against the night. He was too hungry, too sleepy, too tired". Langston Hughes

The story, for the most part, centers upon an African-American family, their dreams for the future and an insurance check coming in for death of the eldest man. Stirring into the mix later is the hugely oppressive,

Naturally, the narrator feels the pressure of being a minority. At first, he wants to be like everyone else, to be a part of white society. Then, he realizes that such society is not what he imagines it to be. As a result, he wants to reconnect with his family, this time appreciating them as his own. Nevertheless, the narrator is afraid of what his father

This part of book is when the narrator questions a troubled black woman and gets thrown out of her house. This woman had kids from her white master, whom she loved and hated, then ends up killing that man before her sons do. Now the song “Black and Blue” is all about how blacks are always on the short end of the stick. Blacks are perceived to “lack,” so they are “denied” rights that are given to whites. Since blacks are born into this life, they all wonder “why” they were chosen to live this life.