Stereotype In the essay sorry for not being a stereotype by Rita Pyrills and the book the absolutv true diary of a part time indianboth authora deal with discrimination, racism, and the repercussions of stereotypes. Some examples of this are in the absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian junior the protagonist of the book goes to a predominantly white school and his classmates avoid him due to stereotypes about native Americans being aggressive and killers. Even then his classmates still make racist remarks toward him like chief, tonto, and Red skin and they even make racist jokes using those slurs.
Society in today’s world is very alike to society years ago, with different social classes and stereotypes. In “Just walk on by” by Brent staples, a variety of rhetorical devices are used in order to convey the message of how a black man is trying to show society that he is so much more than the color of his skin. The author explains how the character was characterized as violent and dangerous because he was black. Staples continues on a sort of journey with the character to show how he overcomes that stereotype, by whistling classical music to give the idea that he is mature and less threatening. Throughout the piece, Staples uses devices that will help the reader better understand the struggles that the character has to face on a daily basis.
Throughout his essay, Staples is able to make the audience understand what he has to deal with as a black man. Staples does this by using words and phrases such as, “...her flight made me feel like an accomplice in tyranny” and “... I was indistinguishable from the muggers who occasionally seeped into the area…” (542). By writing and describing how he (Staples) feels, the audience is able to get an inside look into how black men are treated and better understand why society’s teachings, play a vital role in how we see each other. Staples’ powerful writing also allows the reader to take a step back and see how as a society, people make judgements on others based on appearance alone.
Author and editorial writer, Brent Staples acknowledges this issue as well as experience many situations in which people distinguish him from others. Brent Staples message in his essay titled “Just Walk On By” is conveyed to the audience through many rhetorical devices in which he suggests that stereotypes of race and gender can impact someone 's life in the easiest ways. Brent Staples use of pathos creates an emotional connection and pulls the reader into his essay, through his anecdotes and diction. His intro paragraph tells an interesting story, in a way that readers often forget what type of passage they are reading. Staples uses of phrases such as “my first victim”, “seemed menacingly close” “picked up her pace” and notably “running in earnest” (1-2).
In his essay entitled Black Men and Public Space (1987), Brent Staples talks about how people will have a common misconception on the black community by thinking that they are all mugger ,rapist or thugs. Staples supports his claim by telling the reader events/ stories that occured to him and talks about how people will assume that he is a danger to society when in reality he isnt. The authors purpose is to inform the reader that his experiences of being stereotyped is to show the reader his point of view when it comes to these types of situations. Staples writes in a formal tone for an intelligent or free minded person.
What is the rhetorical mode? What is it about the essay that demonstrates that it is that mode? In the reading “Just Walk On By” I can totally relate what he's going through as I a black man, I've experienced something very similar, but I feel that the essay’s rhetorical mode is exemplification because he uses specific details, examples, and facts to add interest and to get his thesis/Pov across.
Stereotypes have the power to label someone and rob them of all their hard work or strike fear into others. One such stereotype is that of black men being more dangerous;yet, one black writer voices his opinion on such a stereotype. In the essay “Just Walk On By” by Brent Staples, Staples describes his experience of being a large black man and how it affects the people around him. From people locking their doors to pedestrians crossing the street to avoid a confrontation, people seem to be afraid of Staples just from a glance. Yet Staples does nothing to cause this fear, rather his stereotype is to blame.
Brent Staples, in his literary essay “Just Walk On By”, uses a variety of rhetorical strategies. The devices he uses throughout his essay effectively engage the audience in a series of his own personal anecdotes and thoughts. He specifically shifts the reader 's perspective towards the unvoiced and the judged. Within the essay, Staples manipulates several rhetorical strategies, such as perspective and metaphor, in order to emphasize the damage stereotypes have caused against the mindsets and perceptions of society as a whole. Staples illustrates how the nature of stereotypes can affect how we perceive others around us in either an excessively admirable light or, in his and many other cases, as barbaric or antagonistic.
In the essay “Just Walk on By” by Brent Staples he uses compelling anecdotes of experiences in his life in order to create an emotional appeal that makes us empathize with the endangered black man. Staples opens up the essay with an experience of his. He says “My first victim was a woman- white, well dressed, probably in her early twenties.” He then goes on to explain when he was walking at night in Chicago that same young woman ran away from him.
Analyzing Someone Else’s Experience In Brent Staples essay “Just Walk on By: Black Men in Public Space” and in Judith Cofer’s essay “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” both authors build an argument using their own experience with being stereotyped. These two essays are very effective in proving the author’s argument with real life situations as primary evidence. In Staples essay, he uses his experience as a black male being looked at as a “thug”, “mugger”, or “rapist” and his real life problems that he went through while being stereotyped. In Cofer’s essay, she tells her story of being a Latin American girl and her issues she faced being stereotyped while growing up.
In the reading Just Walk on By by Brent Staples, the topic of racial stereotypes surfaces from the man who gets racially profiled quite often as he explains his personal experiences. The author bluntly tries to pass the message that racially judging people is wrong and explaining how it makes the other party ,african americans, feel. When analyzing Staples’ message his rhetorical strategies play a huge role into how his message is perceived. He uses influential diction allowing each word to give an impact unmatched by any white man who tried to convey a black man’s thought process. Staples also appeals to his credibility with the obvious observation that he is a black man talking about his real life experiences.
His sympathetic persona along with his analogies actively connect the reader to his story, while the strong diction and depressing tone make a strong emotional impact. Unlike most essays, the anti discrimination message can be applied to multiple minority groups and other social issues. As a whole, Brent Staples essay succeeds on all levels as it makes an impactful argument describing how society's view on African Americans as being dangerous violent criminals is truly
In this essay, he demonstrates to the reader using his own experiences, how stereotypes based on sex and skin color can change the mind of one person and how it can influence many other people. Staples fears about how his appearance and his color make people think of him as a harmful person. a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket- he also mentions that he possesses an indulgent
Americans stereotype blacks to be murderers, rapists, or robbers. Brent Staples was conceived to be a robber. He was taken out of his own office because he was mistaken for a burglar (Staples 1). When Americans see black men
It is clear, even to this day, that caucasian men and women typically have higher paying jobs and make more than their coworkers of other races. Society should know by now that everyone doing the same job, should get payed the same no matter if they’re a man, woman, white or hispanic. Lastly, there are many examples of how maintaining stereotypes is hurtful to those who are judged accordingly. A large one in our society is the racism against Muslims. People assume the worst of them because ‘they cause so many terrorist attacks’, however, that isn’t true.
