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James Baldwin's Essay 'The New Lost Generation'

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Tyler Broome AP Language and Composition Crutcher 10/7/16 “The New Lost Generation” by James Baldwin Novelist James Baldwin, in his essay, “The New Lost Generation,” describes living in the post war generation. During this time society was filled with attitudes of anger, hatred, and pain. Throughout the text he describes the relationship he had with his best friend who eventually killed himself. He adopts a hopeful the empty tone to convey the feelings his best friend felt during his life. James Baldwin uses words such as “frightened”, “baffled”, and “betrayed” (pg. 665) along with many other words to describe his frustration towards the people in both countries and their treatment of African Americans. He describes people in America
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I agree with James Baldwin’s argument, because like me, he sees sit in protest as something that shouldn’t be labeled passive, but something that should be seen as an act of bravery he explains this by saying: “I don’t agree that it is necessarily passive. I think it demands a tremendous amount of power, both in one’s personal life and in terms of political or polemical activity, sometimes to sit down and do nothing-or seem to do nothing” (Baldwin). The sit in movement as I see were black taking action and demanding what they want in a country that has oppressed them for hundreds of years. An example of the power of the sit in movement is The Greensboro Protest of 1960 when four students from black Agricultural and Technical College of North

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Baldwin claimed that this form of oppression left African Americans with two options - to accept the fact that they were dispensable members of society and bottle up their anger, or to “become a kind of criminal”, one that “has turned away from this country forever” and decided to “live outside the law”. Either way, African Americans learn to develop hatred toward America and augment “this country’s tremendous reservoirs of bitterness” which Baldwin believes will eventually lead to turmoil and the downfall of our “unified”

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If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is? By James Baldwin explains to the reader what black English is and where black English comes from. Baldwin writes about how humans use language as a means of controlling the world around them. Baldwin explains that people may speak the same language in one area of the world, but then people who speak the same language elsewhere are no longer speaking the same language. Baldwin using French as an exampling, Baldwin compares french-speaking people from Quebec to people who live in Paris.

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Throughout this essay James Baldwin uses characterization to show his father’s

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Sydney Erb Ms. Sonnenberg English 2 (H), Period 6 19 December 2023 James Baldwin Introduction James Baldwin was one of the most influential writers of our time. Baldwin was a famous writer who wrote forty-two books, two plays, and around thirty-six essays. He left a mark on the literary world with his powerful words and thought-provoking ideas. Born in 1924, Baldwin grew up in poverty in Harlem, New York with his mother, stepfather, and five siblings. The Harlem Renaissance, an era where the African American community expressed themselves through art, music, and literature, started gaining attention while Baldwin was growing up.

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Along with Baldwin’s opinions, he includes several historical facts that support his reasoning for being on the forefront of fighting for civil rights. The first situation he describes is when his friend Tony Maynard was falsely accused of a crime and put in jail. Lewis M. Steel, the man who tried Tony’s case wrote in an article that “Maynard had been wrongfully accused of a 1967 shotgun killing in Greenwich Village, convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to ten to twenty years. Using a shotgun as the murder weapon was completely out of character for this stylish man with an artist’s sensibility” (Steel). When Baldwin heard about this, he became more angry with the Americans than before, increasing the oppression of the African-Americans.

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Though many changes have transpired in America since the days of slavery, adversity, absence of chances and issues such unfairness and prejudice, which proceeds to gradually develop and encounter by a few, regularly thwarts one from prevailing. The topics of injustice and racism were greatly discussed in all the three letters from James Baldwin, Dr. Martin Luther King and Ta-Nehisi Coates. I thought all three letters were very powerful pieces, as they were beautifully written, reflective and moving. “My Dungeon Shook” by James Baldwin is a captivating read, it entails the social struggles faced in the US by African Americans and white stereotypes of black identity.

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What is the most impressive of humanity’s inventions? Many give credit to fire, machines, or medicine, claiming that our society could not function without them. Yet, none of these would be half as useful without another invention– language. As James Baldwin says in his essay, language is identity. Although other qualities may define who a person is, language and speech show this to others.

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Arguing his failure derives from the era’s hatred for Baldwin’s race. Concluding his desire to deny societal preference to reminisce by swearing repression on his own past, “it shall remain horrible for exactly what it was”, he insists if it is not assessed honestly (Baldwin 5-7.) Closing the forenote thanking his

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One will constantly face temporary conflict throughout life, but ultimately they can overcome through a will to on and pursue what makes oneself happy. Baldwin was able to create a picture in the reader's mind due to his personal relation to his characters, he was able to understand the harsh times for an African-American male. It also reflects on the care that siblings have for one another and how even though they have good intentions, they can't always help their loved one follow a positive

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Diamond Williams Professor Wolfe LIT2001 3 January 16 Fiction Analysis “Sonny’s Blues” is a short story written by James Baldwin that reflects on the ongoing struggles between failure and atonement amongst two brothers. The older brother who is also the narrator, gives us insight on the struggles in Harlem, and the life he had with his drug addicted younger brother, Sonny. As we follow the narrator, we later discover who Sonny really is. Published in the mid nineteen hundreds, the burdensome of living in Harlem in “Sonny’s Blues” reflects the life that James Baldwin endured.

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America the free, land of opportunity--but only if you fit a specific mold. Slaves, especially women, were certainly not included. Even after their emancipation, African Americans struggled with exclusion, whether it be direct, indirect, political, social or other. James Baldwin, an African American man, contrasts the types of oppression he, and others, have faced in “A Letter to my Nephew” , drawing parallels from slavery to the discrimination of the 60’s. He explains how many think blacks must assimilate into “white” culture, but, in reality, it must be those who think that way who must escape from the mentality of needing to assimilate.

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From the short story “A Letter To My Nephew” is about James Baldwin warning his nephew James about the life of a young African American boy. Through out the story the author tells his nephew that in order to survive in such an environment, his nephew James and the other African American kids in his generation will have to be strong, and to not let how the white people treat them effect them. Baldwin asserts that because his nephew "is black, and for no other reason," American society has deemed him worthless, set limits to his ambitions, and conditioned him to "make peace with mediocrity. " The establishment has placed boundaries on what he can do, where he can live, and whom he can marry. Though these assertions will no doubt be called exaggerations by white America, every African American needs to only focus on themselves and to not let how others judge them by the color of their skin destroy their ego.

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Baldwin uses an advanced vocabulary throughout the essay, but only uses slang terms when referring to African Americans. By using phrases like “But if I was a "nigger" in your eyes”, he shows the audience what the words culturally imply such as stupidity and ignorance. Since this is

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2048 Words | 9 Pages

In fiction, the narrator controls how the audience connects to and perceives the various characters in a story. A good author can manipulate the narration to connect the audience to certain characters and deepen the reader’s understanding of their conflicts. In “Previous Condition” and “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin illustrates themes of loneliness and isolation in the pursuit of finding a space that feels like home. Although this theme is clear in both stories, Baldwin is able to portray it very differently in each story through the relationship he allows the reader to the characters struggling with these feelings. While “Previous Condition” provides a more intimate relationship to the narrator, “Sonny’s Blues” is able to deliver an additional level of understanding by telling the story through Sonny’s brother, therefore disconnecting the reader in a way that forces him or her to share the characters’ feelings of isolation and confusion.

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