Jina
Jina Hamad
AAS 224: Black Monsters
Paper #2
3/29/13
Rhetorical Strategies Emphasize African American Identity
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison outlines the plight of an African American individual to find his personal identity in a world where the white man or Caucasian individual dominates the social strata. This novel incorporates numerous rhetorical strategies to highlight the struggle of African American people to attain a significant and admirable identity. The strategies used include powerful imagery with respect to the image of the African American man, specific diction that relates the relationship that exists between the domineering white class and African Americans, and even Marxist allusions to the workplace that emphasize the broad spectrum of Caucasian dominance. Throughout this novel, the African American man who lives beneath the ground struggles to find his true identity. Other characters throughout the novel contribute to this struggle, and give him an idea of what their character is in comparison to his own. One example of such a character is Dr. Bledsoe, who speaks these words to the narrator,
“I’s big and black and I say ‘Yes, suh’ as loudly as any burrhead when it’s convenient, but I’m still the king down here. . . . The only ones I even pretend to please are big white folk, and even those I control more than they control me. . . . That’s my life, telling white folk how to think about the things I know about. . . . It’s a nasty deal and I don’t always like it myself. . . . But I’ve made my place in it and I’ll have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am.” (Ellison 142-143)
By close reading this quotation, the rhetorical strategies used to emphasize the identity of Dr. Bledsoe as an African American man, and the general plight of African American individuals, can be recognized. The first rhetorical strategy used is Dr. Bledsoe’s use of broken English. He says, “I’s” instead of “I
AAS 224: Black Monsters
Paper #2
3/29/13
Rhetorical Strategies Emphasize African American Identity
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison outlines the plight of an African American individual to find his personal identity in a world where the white man or Caucasian individual dominates the social strata. This novel incorporates numerous rhetorical strategies to highlight the struggle of African American people to attain a significant and admirable identity. The strategies used include powerful imagery with respect to the image of the African American man, specific diction that relates the relationship that exists between the domineering white class and African Americans, and even Marxist allusions to the workplace that emphasize the broad spectrum of Caucasian dominance. Throughout this novel, the African American man who lives beneath the ground struggles to find his true identity. Other characters throughout the novel contribute to this struggle, and give him an idea of what their character is in comparison to his own. One example of such a character is Dr. Bledsoe, who speaks these words to the narrator,
“I’s big and black and I say ‘Yes, suh’ as loudly as any burrhead when it’s convenient, but I’m still the king down here. . . . The only ones I even pretend to please are big white folk, and even those I control more than they control me. . . . That’s my life, telling white folk how to think about the things I know about. . . . It’s a nasty deal and I don’t always like it myself. . . . But I’ve made my place in it and I’ll have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am.” (Ellison 142-143)
By close reading this quotation, the rhetorical strategies used to emphasize the identity of Dr. Bledsoe as an African American man, and the general plight of African American individuals, can be recognized. The first rhetorical strategy used is Dr. Bledsoe’s use of broken English. He says, “I’s” instead of “I