Malcolm Forbes once said “diversity: the art of thinking, independently together.” This conveys the idea of Zadie Smith’s personal narrative Speaking in Tongues about embracing ones equivocal character. Smith applies the use of symbolism, ethical appeal and conflict of man vs. self to persuade her audience that fitting in a society does not have to mean losing one’s language, or cultural background, rather fitting in can simply mean flexibility towards one’s belief. Embracing the spectrum of speaking in tongues can lead to a rewarding experience. Smith describes different viewpoints to relate to various readers by using the technique she tries to convince them to use.
Beginning her speech by stating the conflict she faces within herself of
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Smith introduces writers in her piece to persuade the audience to be in comfort with different languages as these well eminent authors have proven to be. “Obama can do young Jewish male, black old lady from the South Side, white woman from Kansas….” This outstanding proficiency by having countless voices has led Obama to relate to all of his listeners, building their trust towards his presidency. Stepping out of his boundaries, still holding on to his previous cultural identity, Obama has become one of the most successful speakers of his time. Additionally Shakespeare was one of the most famous artists who brilliantly portrayed himself as a variety of divergent characters and people admired his work. “To pin him down to a single identity would be an obvious diminishment” Frank O’ Hara is a poet, who Smith also mentions as someone with freedom. She states the writing written on O’ Hara’s gravestone “Grace to be born and live as variously as possible.” By mentioning how strong of an impact living variously had on O’ Hara, she tries to cajole her audience to openly adopt that lifestyle. Smith identifies these well known writers to reveal to her readers the affect of having an equivocal interpretation of the
Cultural diversity is an important element. Often times we acknowledge cultural diversity but we don’t quite understand it simply because we do not live it. With this novel, readers can understand cultural
The writing styles of Truth’s speech and King’s letter are similar, because both use metaphors and rhetorical devices to convey their thoughts to the reader. King’s letter is more extensive because he was well educated. Truth was not as educated as King and her speech reflects it in her
Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong somewhere? Do you know what it feels like to be told you don’t belong in the place of your birth? People experience this quite frequently, because they may not be the stereotypical American citizen, and are told and convinced they don’t belong in the only place they see as home. In Gloria Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Anzaldúa gives the reader an inside look at the struggles of an American citizen who experiences this in their life, due to their heritage. She uses rhetorical appeals to help get her messages across on the subliminal level and show her perspective’s importance. These rhetorical appeals deal with the emotion, logic and credibility of the statements made by the author. Anzaldúa
“I was afraid to ask him to help me to get books; his frantic desire to demonstrate a racial solidarity with the whites against Negroes might make him betray me” (Wright 146) “It was not a matter of believing or disbelieving what I read, but of feeling something new, of being affected by something that made the look of the world different.” (Wright 150) Wright’s constant drive to read eventually leads him to a prodigious way of processing certain thoughts, and cultivates his writing skills, deeming to be a virtual gateway for his freedom. “Steeped in new moods and ideas, I bought a ream of paper and tried to write; but nothing would come, or what did come was flat beyond telling.” (Wright 151) “In buoying me up, reading also cast me down, made me see what was possible, what I had missed. My tension returned, new, terrible, bitter, surging, almost too great to be contained.” (Wright 151)
In Fredrick Douglas’s excerpt. "Learning to Read and Write," he describes the variousway and teachers that assisted him to succeeding how to read and write. He did this despite nothaving a teacher, as his mistress that he lived with for seven years forbidden to help Fredrick anyfurther. This essay is rich with well-executed literary tools that serve the real struggle Fredrickendured in succeeding how to read and write, as well as trying to survive in this time period. It isa very personal excerpt of a troubling time in his life, but also shows how a man was capable ofbecoming the man that he became and a writer with profoundly coherent thoughts. Through theuse of logos, pathos, ethos, and kairos, Fredrick Douglas exhibits his ability to eloquentlyexpress himself and his personal strife.Ethos is ever-present in this essay as Douglas describes that he was interested in learning.For example, when he would be sent off for errands he would carry extra bread with him enoughto share with the "hungry little urchins," in return would give him more valuable "bread ofknowledge" which meant he w...
A stunning realization for Richard Wright in his autobiography Black Boy was the multifaceted uses of language; his words could offend, console, enrage, or be a fatal weapon. In Wright’s unceasing quest for knowledge, he discovers a strange world that makes him feel that he had “overlooked something terribly important in life.” He conveys his amazement at the literary realm through his metaphorical language and curiosity depicting his point of view.
Language is a skill that, if used properly, can open up a variety of opportunities in life. Throughout the readings of “Homemade Education” by Malcolm X and “Living with Dyslexia” by Gareth Cook, we see many difficulties and challenges that people overcome when they are put in the face of language. Like many things, there are many different aspects that shape the way we understand the art of language. Throughout culture, perspective, and language we see all the components that make language so powerful. It is made very clear, that language has the power to promote the shaping of one’s identity.
James Baldwin was born in Harlem in a time where his African American decent was enough to put more challenges in front of him than the average (white) American boy faced. His father was a part of the first generation of free black men. He was a bitter, overbearing, paranoid preacher who refused change and hated the white man. Despite of his father, his color, and his lack of education, James Baldwin grew up to be a respected author of essays, plays, and novels. While claiming that he was one of the best writers of the era could be argued either way, it is hard to argue the fact that he was indeed one of the most well-known authors of the time. One of his intriguing skills as a writer is his ability to intertwine narration and analysis in his essays. James Baldwin mixes narration and analysis in his essays so well that coherence is never broken, and the subconscious is so tempted to agree with and relate to what he says, that if you don’t pay close attention, one will find himself agreeing with Baldwin, when he wasn’t even aware Baldwin was making a point. Physical placement of analytical arguments and analytical transitions, frequency and size of analytical arguments, and the language used within the analytical arguments are the keys to Baldwin’s graceful persuasion. Throughout this essay, I will be using Baldwin’s “Notes of a Native Son” for examples. “Notes of a Native Son” is an essay that Baldwin wrote which focuses primarily on his life around the time his father died, which also happens to be the same time his youngest brother was born.
When a writer starts his work, most often than not, they think of ways they can catch their reader’s attention, but more importantly, how to awake emotions within them. They want to stand out from the rest and to do so, they must swim against the social trend that marks a specific society. That will make them significant; the way they write, how they make a reader feel, the specific way they write, and the devotion they have for their work. Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgard Allan Poe influenced significantly the American literary canon with their styles, themes, and forms, making them three important writers in America.
Thomas Carlyle expresses culture as: “the process by which a person becomes all that they were capable of being.” By unifying people, culture empowers us to be everything we can be. World-renowned author and activist, and possibly the most inspirational woman of all time, Maya Angelou, both explains and proves this idea in “Champion of the World,” an excerpt from her collection of memoirs: “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” Through the use of many types of rhetoric, she illustrates how cultural identities can unite us and bring out many emotions in us, bad and good. She demonstrates her purpose: how culture gives us an identity, and brings us together to grow in places we could not alone. She uses syntax, diction, tone, and other rhetorical
While writing about the dehumanizing nature of slavery, Douglass eloquently and efficiently re-humanize African Americans. This is most evident throughout the work as a whole, yet specific parts can be used as examples of his artistic control of the English language. From the beginning of the novel, Douglass’ vocabulary is noteworthy with his use of words such as “intimation […] odiousness […] ordained.” This more advanced vocabulary is scattered throughout the narrative, and is a testament to Douglass’ education level. In conjunction with his vocabulary, Douglass often employed a complex syntax which shows his ability to manipulate the English language. This can be seen in Douglass’ self-description of preferring to be “true to [himself], even at the hazard of incurring ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur [his] own abhorrence.” This is significant because it proves that Douglass can not only simply read and write, but he has actually obtained a mastery of reading and writing. This is a highly humanizing trait because it equates him in education level to that of the stereotypical white man, and how could one deny that the white man is human because of his greater education? It is primarily the difference in education that separates the free from the slaves, and Douglass is able to bridge this gap as a pioneer of the
As every well-read person knows, the background in which you grow up plays a huge role in how you write and your opinions. Fuller grew up with a very strict education, learning multiple classic languages before she was eight years old. Fern grew up with writers all throughout her family and had a traditional education and saw first hand the iniquities of what hard-working had to contend with. Through close analysis of their work, a reader can quickly find the connections between their tone, style, content, and purpose and their history of their lives and their educational upbringing.
Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Joseph Terry. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc, 2001. 123-154.
Across the Universe of Time: Shakespeare’s influence on 21st century society. It is harder to imagine a more universal writer than William Shakespeare. Rarely, if ever, is one of his many plays not being performed anywhere in the world and similarly rare is the tertiary English student who has not examined his work at length. His plays, sonnets and poems are common fodder for high school English departments across the globe.