Farah Stockman Asyndeton Analysis

Farah Stockman- Harvard alum, journalist, and Pulitzer Prize winner- examines the effect busing has on the youth in Boston, a city with continuing racial contradictions she seamlessly integrates into her articles. She uses her platform to push for change for minorities both locally and globally. She shows that while progress is made, work is still needed. She shows that what we see on television is not always reality. She shows that this era has been shaped by the history of desegregation. Farah Stockman, while integrating asyndeton and juxtaposition throughout her writing, relies on thought-provoking and impactful syntax to evoke change not only in her community but throughout America. Farah Stockman uses asyndeton to emphasize the significance

She says, “Dylan Roof, who murdered nine black people in a church, and Rachel Dolezal, who declared herself black on national television…” (“Naming this era…”) while both are unacceptable, Dolezal is inferably the lesser of two evils. She also uses a “then vs now” to say that “In [MLK] Jr’s day, everyone knew that blacks were treated as second-class citizens. Today, half the country complains that being black gets you killed… half complains that it gets you into college.” (“Naming this era…”). This shows that then there was a clear definition of an African American person, now there are endless associations. She also uses juxtaposition to show that America needs to do better “Gun laws in Germany are considered some of the strictest in Europe…there are only 77 handguns in civilian possession in the entire nation of Japan…And in London, police officers don’t even carry guns” (“My friend is…”) This makes the other countries superior because, while we try making ourselves seem identical to other countries by only changing one thing at time, we are still a work in progress. The juxtapositions Stockman uses makes her articles more effective because it highlights the differences between the two elements to further validate her argument. Her writings always come back to the main topic, either busing, racial contradictions, or