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Rhetorical Analysis Of A Talk To Teachers

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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. 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 …show more content…

At the beginning of his speech, he conveys emotion through telling his own story and putting the audience in his shoes. He states “On the one hand he is born in the shadow of the stars and stripes and he is assured it represents a nation which has never lost a war. He pledges allegiance to that flag which guarantees "liberty and justice for all." He is part of a country in which anyone can become President, and so forth”. This shows the audience how African American children feel when living in a country made on the premise of equality, but feeling anything but equal to their Caucasian peers. He uses the audience's emotional vulnerability to make his argument stronger and more convincing. Another strategy used it appealing the audiences logical side. Baldwin uses this strategy primarily at the end of his speech to share the consequences of segregation. This can be seen in the last line of the speech when he states “America is not the world and if America is going to become a nation, she must find a way-and this child must help her to find a way-to use the tremendous potential and tremendous energy which this child represents. If this country does not find a way to use that energy, it will be destroyed by that energy”. This logically explains the rout the United States will take if it keeps on discriminating against African Americans, especially when it comes to education. He challenges his

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In Baldwin’s essay he shows a complex perspective. In the beginning he is optimistic but as it continues he turns more and more pessimistic. He realizes everything isn’t as good as he thought it was and becomes angry and bitter. While the tone remains straightforward and calm, the mood is slightly angry. Baldwin doesn’t want pity either, but he does want the reader to understand the trials and tribulations he had to go through because of racism.

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Written at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, Baldwin chronicles his views on white oppression, as well as the violence and political attacks on black citizens. Baldwin argues the lack of black identity, and the things that hold black citizens back from achieving their full potential. Baldwin explores the complexities of both race relationships and familial relationships. Concerning his relationship with his father, Baldwin admits toward the beginning of the story "We had got on badly, partly because we shared, in our different fashions, the vice of stubborn pride" (p.587). With this statement, Baldwin clearly sees the link between himself and his father.

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It is mainly about his relationship with his father and how after his father passed away he realized how his anger and rage, which was depicted as a disease, was legitimate. His father was a paranoid, bitter old man who had a very profound hatred of white people. He used to warn his son that they were “not to be trusted.” Baldwin never understood his father’s hatred for white people; he did not understand that because his father was of the first generation of African Americans to be free that he faced a lot of racism growing up. They never understood why this bitter old man hated the white race so much; all they knew was that his hatred consumed him so much that in the end it was what killed him.

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Living a harsh and strained early life, Baldwin decided to tell his story and the story of other African Americans through literature. In Baldwin’s view, “Education is indoctrination if you're white - subjugation if you're black.” Baldwin, who experienced mass violence and racial hatred, did not want innocent blacks going to school to endure racial hatred and discrimination. He wanted a society with freedom and equality, as he tried to persuade individuals through his inspiring literary works. Despite all his efforts, American society still discriminated blacks in education.

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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

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Blacks and whites, males and females seek an equal opportunity for achieving happiness, security, liberty, land and success. Furthermore, Baldwin -states, “…domestically, we take no responsibility for (and no pride in) what goes on our country…” Here Baldwin specifically uses the word “domestically” to connect and unite his readers, as is to say “America” (all Americans black and white) take responsibility for what is going on in our country, his audience could no longer blame someone else for the problems, but is confronted with the harsh reality while he casts the blame on his neighbor, his neighbor casts the blame back on him, which solves

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Baldwin was a part of a great movement, a movement that never seemed to stop. He never had time to catch up with his partners and rest before the next event. He recalls one time specifically with Martin Luther King, Jr., and writes, “I had not seen Martin in quite some time, and I looked forward to seeing him in a setting where we might be able to talk a little bit before he had to dash off and grab some sleep before catching the next plane. For years, most of us had seen each other only at airports, or, wearily, marching, marching” (133-134). As a civil rights activist, it was hard to be able to discuss things with other activists because each had his own tasks to take care of and could not stay in one place for too long.

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According to Wikipedia it states ]”The book was eagerly consumed by whites looking for answers to the question: What do blacks really want? Baldwin's essays never stopped articulating the anger and frustration felt by real-life black Americans with more clarity and style than any other writer of his generation. This indicates that through the works of James Baldwin he had reached out by expressing how many black Americans are feeling and give a viewpoint of a black American and how they were treated which let Americans question what do blacks want. Another contribution James Baldwin had

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Theses rhetorical strategies make his argument affective because he makes a connection with the audience, not only blacks but all minorities going through the

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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.

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