Stereotypes In 'Just Walk On By'

Staples utilizes the three main rhetorical devices, pathos, ethos, and logos all to give the reader an insight into the life of a black man in society. By using these rhetoric techniques, Staples can produce reactions from the reader and accomplish his goal of bringing the reader to his level and allow them to empathize with him. By being able to use these rhetorical techniques and pulling the reader into his piece, he can accomplish his overall goal of the piece and make the audience see that even though society claims against it, there is still racism today and that it is not obvious to us because it has become a part of our

The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.

Tom Robinson, a black man living in very racist times, also had it hard. He was being accused of something he didn’t do that would have serious consequences if found guilty, like raping Mayella Ewell. Metaphorically speaking some people may find Tom to be more of a

In his essay, “Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space”, Brent Staples uses the rhetorical strategies of anecdote and diction in order to convey his message that due to racial discrimination black people (mainly men) have to change the way they naturally conduct themselves in public for they run the risk of something terrible happening to them. Staples uses anecdotes to bring in the personal side of the message to the audience. Staples creates a persona of innocence and almost alienation in his writing. Anecdotes such as his both instances in which he accidently scared women on walks and the time in which he and another reporter were mistaken for murder suspects or robbers are used to show real life proof of his message. That it is reality and not just a concept based off of racism.

And this is a great example of symbolism. Mr.Twain represents Mr. Sherburn and the mob is the rest of the audience who is hateful and bigoted and also that deny the African American people to receive equal rights. And through Symbolism we see that Mr.Sherburn is right about the mob and their lack of courage. He explains how all of them are pitiful and how they are all cowards. And this is true for them and the people in real life who hunt, mistreat, and even kill African American people they are all cowards, they don’t have honor.

In his essay entitled Black Men and Public Space (1987), Brent Staples talks about how people will have a common misconception on the black community by thinking that they are all mugger ,rapist or thugs.Staples supports his claim by telling the reader events/ stories that occured to him and talks about how people will assume that he is a danger to society when in reality he isnt. The authors purpose is to inform the reader that his experiences of being stereotyped is to show the reader his point of view when it comes to these types of situations.Staples writes in a formal tone for an intelligent or free minded person.

Racism is one of the most important social and national issues that face the word. As resistance literature is decrying oppression, injustice, terrorism and violations of the people rights , it also decries racism .Ralph Ellison is one of the writers of the resistance literature , who is fighting against racism though his writings. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison , represents resistance literature and its important issues which is racism ; through racial polices and the loss of individual identity. The novel starts with the narrator who is college-educated black man struggling to survive and succeed in a racially divided society that refuses to see him as a human being, he introduces himself as an "invisible man" which is the title of the novel . He was invisible not because of any thing medical but because of the people who refuse to see him " I am invisible understand, simply because people refuse to see me "(Ralph Ellison .7)and consider him as something that not existed because of his black color skin and the racial relationship between the white people of America and the black ones.

My point of view in that part makes me think of the situation, what would I do if I really meet a big tough black man on the street, when I am alone. I'm pretty sure I would run. However, reading the next part of the essay positively affects my attitude to the further part. I start to feel that black people seem scary because I believe so. People usually create their own illusions.

From beginning to end in Toni Morrison’s short story, “Recitatif”, and Brent Staples’ essay, “Black Men and Public Spaces”, both authors explore the idea of single stories and the impact of racial stereotypes on individuals. Through Staples’ use of crime-based diction and Morrison’s use of imagery, these authors show how preconceived notions that society communicates about racial differences can affect one’s thoughts and actions. In “Black Men and Public Spaces” Staples often portrays his frustration with being a victim of the racial stereotype that all black men are seen as dangerous. As he walked at night behind a woman in the street and she began to hurry away, he “...first began to know the unwieldy inheritance [he’d] come into… It was clear that she thought herself the quarry of a mugger, rapist, or worse”(Staples 1).

In Jims attempt to speak it is very hard to understand. Throughout the book Jim is hard to understand, Twain creates this in articulate diction in order to show Jims incompetence, this is supposed to be humorous because it shows Jims lack of knowledge. Jim is not the only black person to speak this way. Throughout the novel Twain creates multiple other characters which are slaves who also speak with this incompetent diction. At the end of the novel when other slaves at Aunt Polly’s house speak they articulate with the same hard to understand manner.

He studied the way blacks and whites acted towards each other, and he also studied how African Americans treated each other. Black Like Me is a very interesting book that describes the hatred John Howard Griffin received as he poses as a black man traveling on racial segregated busses. I feel that this book is very shocking because it entails the truth of the way blacks were treated.

In his essay, Coates refuses the idea of “hope” and delivers his message like a statistic report. He often uses personal anecdotes to make his messages more personal, thus enabling his readers to place themselves in the person’s shoes. Then Coates would go on and recount the gruesome or horrid mistreatment that person has gone through regardless how hurtful or painful these stories are. Furthermore, he substantiates his claims with painful statistic reports and numbers – numbers that pierces the black readers like swords. Tahiti Anyabwile in his essay “A Call for Hope in the Age of Mass Incarceration” states that “Coates fails his readership and fails to represent something vital about African Americans – his writing lacks hope”.

The author has symbolically, yet vividly described to the readers the socio economic conditions of the black community. In spite of being intelligent and wise, they were never good enough to enjoy an equal status in society.This is seen when the author wrote about the audience 's reaction when the protagonist says the words social equality during his speech," Sounds of displeasure filled the room. They shouted hostile phrases at me"(Ellis). The African-Americans were looked down upon and had to shed their own blood, kill their own fellow-men, face humiliation, and had to be ready to accept whatever was tossed to them. Perhaps animals were in a better place, thus indicating the cruel color conflicts that existed in the segregated South.