Summary Of My Lagoon Shook By James Baldwin

Both James Baldwin and Melba Beals are well experienced in living in a society where whites are viewed as superior to people of color, and they both know how it felt to feel ashamed in their own skin. In Baldwins letter "My Dungeon Shook" he writes to his nephew about succeeding in such an unfair world. In Melba's "Warriors Don't Cry" she tells her harrowing experiences as she tries to pursue the integration of Central High School as a member of the Little Rock Nine. Melba's experiences and the unfair world Baldwin describes have many similarities and it shows how society's treatment of others can dramatically affect someone's

The message Stephen King is trying to convey with, “ My Creature from the Black Lagoon,” is that the effect of fantasy is based on the viewer. In the writing King talks about how children are more affected by horror movies and fantasy than adults, because they have a much more capable imagination. On the flip side of this coin King talks about how adults are affected by things like Disney movies. What you can interpret from this information is that life affects us in such a way that we are no longer capable of letting the movie trick us. The tone used in this writing is determined, as he is determined to let the movie trick him, as it did when he was young.

Knowing that Baldwin was a black man from Harlem, one can assume he had put up with discrimination. He describes his relationship with his father saying, “I had not known my father very well” and this explains why he never learned to deal with hatred, and let it eat him up like it did to his father. His father was also very religious, and consequently, Baldwin saw Christianity, in which he grew up, as a mechanism by which African Americans channeled their desire for revenge against white oppressors. By describing his background in this fashion, he is able to gain empathy, credibility, and a large sense of ethos from his readers. Baldwin’s pathos is seen in his pure unadulterated hatred of white people.

He says that his father’s way of handling African Americans was a way of the past and that people didn't do that anymore. This gives the views of the generation, and how they often viewed racism towards African Americans. All these views from white citizens give the reader a second side to see and a way to understand how people felt about the racial tensions of that time and what contributed to

Being an upstander when someone is prejudged based on their appearance can impact their life. Looks can deceive people and change their perspective on who that person really is. People can prejudge as quick as the snap of a finger. In the book Warriors Don't Cry, the segregationists prejudged African Americans intelligence to the extent where the whites rioted against the integration of the school Central High. Shouting chants like “Two, Four, Six, Eight….

Baldwin recounts his father’s death as it was the birthdate of his father’s youngest child and his birthday; however his father and him hardly had any relationship to which he now regrets, he shares how he now understands his father: “I had had the time to become aware of the meaning of all my father’s bitter warning, had discovered the secret if his proudly pursed lips and rigid carriage: I had discovered the weight if white people in the world” (Baldwin 90). Baldwin develops this idea by describing his estranged relationship with his father and contributing his conflicting attitude to his growing paranoia using an instance where he warned him about his kind white teacher and friends: “Some of them could be nice, he admitted, but none of them were to be trusted and most of them were not even nice” (Baldwin 94). He implies his fathers death to be a result of the restrictions and limitations African Americans faced and how stereotypes dictated the way they were perceived which made Baldwin’s father paranoid;

In James Baldwin’s essay, “A Talk to Teachers”, he addresses the teachers around the world. He argues that the purpose of education is to equip students with the ability to look at the world for themselves. Clearly, Baldwin’s most significant rhetorical move to persuade the reader is his use of ethos, pathos, and repetition. Throughout Baldwin’s essay, he encourages changes in education for blacks, but he does so using ethos and pathos.

Baldwin’s solution for black people is for them to create their own identity and take a stab at achievement regardless of the social requirements or constraints set before them. For, “You can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world calls a nigger". I was fascinated by the comparison of “Letter to My Son” by Ta-Nahisi Coates to that of Baldwin’s. Although they both bring forward the same topics and issues faced by the black community, however they both do not view the problem in the same way, as far as proposing a solution is concerned. For example, Baldwin proposed a solution in which he urges the black community through his nephew to recognize the shameful acts of injustice in America, and express acceptance with love towards the whites even though they may not do the same in

In the essay “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin, he expresses feelings of hate and despair towards his father. His father died when James was 19 years old from tuberculosis; it just so happens that his funeral was on the day of the Harlem Riot of 1943. Baldwin explains that his father isn’t fond of white people due to the racist past. He recalls a time when a white teacher brought him to a theater and that caused nothing but upset with his father, even though it was a kind act. Many events happened to Baldwin as a result of segregation, including a time where a waitress refused to serve him due to his skin color and Baldwin threw a pitcher of water at her.

Rhetorically Analyzing A Talk to Teachers A talk to teachers, written by James Baldwin, criticises the education system in the mid-1900s by directly sending a message to teachers about the flaws in the system. He argues that race should not hinder equality or the quality of education a child receives. Baldwin uses tone and diction that highlights the importance of his message. In addition, he uses several persuasion tactics to convince his audience of his ideas.

In A Letter to My Nephew, James Baldwin, the now deceased critically acclaimed writer, pens a message to his nephew, also named James. This letter is meant to serve as a caution to him of the harsh realities of being black in the United States. With Baldwin 's rare usage of his nephew 's name in the writing, the letter does not only serve as a letter to his relative, but as a message to black youth that is still needed today. Baldwin wrote this letter at a time where his nephew was going through adolescence, a period where one leaves childhood and inches closer and closer to becoming an adult.

Racism and racial inequality was extremely prevalent in America during the 1950’s and 1960’s. James Baldwin shows how racism can poison and make a person bitter in his essay “Notes of a Native Son”. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” also exposes the negative effects of racism, but he also writes about how to combat racism. Both texts show that the violence and hatred caused from racism form a cycle that never ends because hatred and violence keeps being fed into it. The actions of the characters in “Notes of a Native Son” can be explain by “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”, and when the two texts are paired together the racism that is shown in James Baldwin’s essay can be solved by the plan Dr. King proposes in his

He says rebelling will not change anything and all his nephew will need is patience. Throughout the letter, Baldwin states important information and many situations such as how African Americans were treated and how many of situations and elements were approached throughout that time period. Religion was a big part of Baldwin life and incorporated it through his hardships. The title of the letter written to his nephew also tied into how he felt during that time period. Through this short story, Baldwin and all the elements in the story identify a dilemma that the story conveys, and helps to illustrate and reinforce the issue that is going on during this

Although it hadn't always been clear to him before, he was now seeing the result of unequal treatment of blacks by whites. Because Baldwin knew blacks and whites should have been treated as equals, he understood where his father's anger had come from. Although it hadn't always been there, Baldwin realized that he was beginning to feel the same anger his dad had felt. Hatred, after all, wasn’t just a poison. It was something that helped him understand his father more and realize that he is now like his

In James Baldwin's short story, Sonny’s Blues, the reader should understand and visualize the historical context in order to understand the world being presented. The reader has to comprehend the harsh life of a male African-American who struggles with his dreams and drug addiction sometime around early 1957. I will discuss Baldwin's writing style, the life/value of an african american's life during this time, and the relationship between Sonny and his brother. Baldwin’s short story illustrates the hardships a person faces while searching for themselves in a world full of people or obstacles that stand in their way. Some of these obstacles are self inflicted, present from the beginning of their existence or appear as though they are random.