Fatima Alshahari
Professor Bentley
English 102 26 February 2023 The Unlawful Act: Rhetorical Strategies in “Born a Crime: stories from childhood” Can a child be proof of their parent’s criminality? Trevor Noah is a mixed-race child, born to a South African mother and Swiss-German father. He was born during Apartheid, a time when one of the worst crimes a person could commit is to fall in love with a person of a different race. Noah’s mother, Patrica Nombuyiselo Noah, gave birth to him on February 20, 1984. In 1948, the all-white government of South Africa created a law called Apartheid and enforced it on the majority of people who were black
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Upon doing research on the author of this book, it is learned that Noah is a South African comedian, writer, political commentator, actor, and former television host. This is important in establishing the author's credibility. Noah’s main message is to educate young non-South Africans on the history of South Africa and get them to understand and empathize with his story. Noah uses anthropomorphization, emotive language, dark humor, and informative tones, in order to make it easier for the audience to understand and engage with his message. In this essay, we will first talk about historical events and how Noah uses them in his book to make his audience believe what he's telling them is true. Then, we will address the different ways Noah uses emotions to get his young audience to empathize with his …show more content…
Apart-hate, is what it was. You separate people into groups and make them hate one another so you can run them all. (Noah 4) In the quote mentioned above, Noah uses anthropomorphization, which is when an author attributes human characteristics to something non-human. Noah uses the word “genius" to refer to Apartheid in order to provide his audience with a clear understanding of how intelligent that system was. He wants his audience to understand the seriousness of this systemic racism and using anthropomorphization helps the reader create vivid, imaginative characters that they can relate to because they are more human. This helps make Noah's arguments stronger and sound intelligent to his
Susan Griffin is a fascinating activist whose unique utilization of rhetorical concepts both deeply emotionally engages and politically activates her audience. Born during the height of World War II, 1943, Griffin’s work has been dramatically molded by her experiences growing up in Los Angeles, California post-war. Griffin has written numerous books as well as plays, poems, and screenplays; all demonstrating and voicing her passion for ecology, gender, feminism, religion, racism, trauma, war, climate change, colonialism, history. Through her text, Griffin is able to manipulate rhetorical tools to her liking, engaging the audience in an immersive narrative that blends the personal, political, and historical. The story being told and the devices
Pitt began his article with a powerful anecdote, “I am thinking of a 10-year old white boy I met in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1995... disgusted, he said, “No fair you have to do this because you’re this color and you have to do that because you’re that color. No fair.” He was speaking about his personal experience with this young boy that he met on a vacation. The reason that he used this anecdote was to support his claim of “Sometimes, the directness of children is eye-opening.”
The National party supported and enforced Apartheid, because it provided them with absolute power and political dominance in South African society. The National Party and whites who supported them believed in white superiority, and utilized apartheid laws as physical evidence that they were “superior”. In March of 1948 the National party released a statement which explained that Apartheid was necessary as it would be in the best interest of every race, and it was the only way to prevent a national suicide for whites (Doc 1). Because the National Party was white, and prioritized white superiority, they wanted to retain their power using Apartheid laws. For example, one discriminatory law the government imposed were pass laws, which stated Black South Africans had to carry passes which authorized their presence in white areas.
From 1948-1994, apartheid raged across South Africa. The people of South Africa were split into four different social groups based on race. The top of the social hierarchy at the time were the white South Africans. They held control from the government and kept the other groups in a constant state of oppression. These other groups included Indian people, “colored” people, and black people.
In this quote, Wright uses the language of superiority and inferiority to show racism. The contrast that Wright makes between the "white folks" who act as if they are superior and the "black folks" who acknowledge their inferiority shows the ways in which racism can divide people into categories of "us" and "them". Using diction, Wright allows readers to understand the ways that racism continues systems of oppression and inequalities in society. This quote furthers the central idea that it is a struggle to find oneself in a world of racism by highlighting the pressure that racism puts on people to conform to its expectations. Later in the text, Wright uses diction when he says "The white people of the South had created a system of oppression so rigid, so all-encompassing, that it touched every aspect of life" (Wright 25).
Johnnie Cochran's closing argument during the O.J Simpson uses all three rhetorical appeals to try and convince the jury of O.J Simpson's innocence. To begin with, he uses Ethos by bring up a quote by Frederick Douglas that discusses the equality of all men and implying that if they vote O.J Simpson guilty it would be unethical because of his race. Next he appeals to pathos by using the statement "We haven't reached this goal yet, but certainly in this great county of ours, we're trying" to give a sense of both disappointment and pride first by showing that we haven't overcome discrimination yet but then that we still live in a great place that is striving.
Music all over the world has been shaping generations for many years now. The rock n roll of the 70’s and 80’s, pop and hip-hop of the 90’s and early 2000’s and finally, many different popular genres of the generation we now live in. Music provides a means of expression for all types of individuals. Some music even goes against the social norm and tries to bring attention to social injustices. The song “Crooked Smile” by rapper J. Cole tackles the issue of unrealistic expectations of women with the songs exceptional lyrics, broad metaphors, and positive tone.
The most difficult thing an author can do when telling a story, is attracting an audience, and maintaining the audience’s engagement. In Serial, while telling the story of Adnan Syed, Sarah Koenigs attracts the audience with her purpose which is proving that Adnan Syed was wrongfully convicted and isn't completely guilty. Sarah maintains the attention of her audience by using emotional, and logical appeal, while also establishing credibility. In other words she uses the rhetoric made up of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos.
It hurt their economy and many Africans suffered greatly. Imperialism also created a new racist system called Apartheid, which lasted for about 50 years. In the article, South Africa - The Story of Gold and Diamonds, it states, “In 1950, the Population Registration Act further divided the citizens of the country into “white” and “nonwhite” categories... The 1953 Education Act forced Africans out of white mission school and into state-run schools, where students were taught the significance of the ethnic differences separating the nonwhite communities. Other laws sought to limit contact between white and nonwhite communities by reserving employment for white workers and making provisions for separate public facilities for the different races” (Zrenda).
In Basil Davidson’s video, “Different but Equal”, Davidson examines ancient Africa, and how Africans were perceived in ancient and modern times. Davidson discusses pre-colonized Africa and its history, and how racism prevailed in the past and in modern day. By discussing early civilizations, as well as modern day perspectives, Davidson allows the viewer to have expansive information on how individuals view Africans and their culture. In Davidson’s video, he discusses how people in the past have viewed Africa and African culture, and how that relates to our perception of Africa in modern times.
Taylor Scuorzo d Rhetorical Analysis 3/20/23 Rhetorical Analysis Doing benevolent and selfless things for others can occasionally lead to adverse results. In his enlightening and illuminating commencement address given at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 19, 2018, Jason Reynolds emotionally persuades and informs the graduates at the college through the use of anecdotes and metaphors to show that ignoring the significant problems of the world will not help us fix them. To strengthen his speech, Reynolds uses past personal experiences and the comparison of objects to others to help prove the theme portrayed throughout the speech.
Trevor Noah is a comedian who was born in South Africa under a system of racial segregation known as apartheid. He wrote the book "Born a Crime" to educate the readers on the struggles that South Africans faced while apartheid governed them. More importantly, he shows how strong, and determined his mother was and all the lessons he learned growing up under her care. Trevor also focuses on the troubles he experienced being born a mixed child, which at the time of apartheid was a crime and illegal. He explains how he had to secretly see his dad (who initially wanted nothing to do with him due to it being a crime) and had to pretend that he had a different mother in public so his parents wouldn't get caught.
Eva Heller Phillips English 4 21 February 2023 Born a Crime Trevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime reveals the true life of what it’s like to live in South Africa as a child that goes against all laws of society: being mixed. Coming from a black mother and a white father was always a struggle for him. He never really got to know his dad and was constantly separated from him, he was bullied, and he never truly fit into any other racial/social group. Noah had many influential factors in his life whether that be a moment such as getting thrown out of a moving car, the influence of being a mixed child, or even his pet dog Fufi who played an important role in his life. Even with all these influential factors in Noah’s life, the one factor that emerges
Introduction Apartheid was an official barrier which separated the different races in South Africa, namely the black South Africans and the white Afrikaans South Africans. Although Apartheid ended 20 years ago when Nelson Mandela was elected president, Apartheid still plays a large role in South African History. Apartheid began long before it was officially named Apartheid in 1948 by the leading political party, National Party. The separation between the black and white people of South Africa began around the time Jan Van Riebeek arrived in the Cape in 1652. Since then the segregation escalated due to events which caused hatred between the two races.
South Africa was divided into 13 nations; the whites, colored, Indians and 10 black African groups. Apartheid was put into place in order to stop contact of different nations to occur, because whenever these nations came into contact, there would be arguments and friction between the few. Apartheid was used to avoid contact between these races as much as possible to create a society without friction or war. These laws were created to ensure people of different groups did not associate with each other, share any public facilities or interact with one another in any way. This was to make sure there was to be no conflict of interest between any parties that come into