The baddest dog in Harlem - analyse
The baddest dog in Harlem
A brief summary
The text ”the baddest dog in Harlem” starts with the main character is together with some friends outside Big Joes place. Suddenly many police cars arrive in the streets and something is about to happen. The police have been informed of a man who is using an automatic weapon. One of the policemen slips and his gun fires in the direction of the restaurant. This makes everybody think that the shot comes from the building on the other side and they all start shooting at one of the apartments. After some time the policemen goes up to the apartment together with the owner and the main character. They find no suspects only a dog and a baby who both have been killed due to the shooting.
The text is written by Walter Dean Myers. It takes place in 145th street in Harlem. Harlem is a ghetto in New York. In Harlem the people are very poor and not educated. This is also reflected on their language for example “ Ain’t none of them could beat Jack Jackson” Mr. Lynch. He uses both “are not” and “none” in the same sentence, this shows his lack of education. Apart from being poor and not educated, there is also a high rate of criminals in Harlem1. The short story starts with a media res and has a chronological order till the end. “The baddest dog in Harlem” describes an incident over a couple of hours. The theme of the text is police violence and racism. I have chosen police violence because their behaviour is irrational. They don’t think on the consequences of shooting, and are only thinking of killing this “Arab with a automatic weapon” who really isn’t there. Their unconscious didn’t stop the contagious shooting because killing the Arab was more important than human lives. This would definitely not have happened in other parts of New York like Brooklyn. Therefore there are also some racial indications behind their acts.
In the text we meet the Narrator who is a young man between 20-30 years old. I would describe him as very
A brief summary
The text ”the baddest dog in Harlem” starts with the main character is together with some friends outside Big Joes place. Suddenly many police cars arrive in the streets and something is about to happen. The police have been informed of a man who is using an automatic weapon. One of the policemen slips and his gun fires in the direction of the restaurant. This makes everybody think that the shot comes from the building on the other side and they all start shooting at one of the apartments. After some time the policemen goes up to the apartment together with the owner and the main character. They find no suspects only a dog and a baby who both have been killed due to the shooting.
The text is written by Walter Dean Myers. It takes place in 145th street in Harlem. Harlem is a ghetto in New York. In Harlem the people are very poor and not educated. This is also reflected on their language for example “ Ain’t none of them could beat Jack Jackson” Mr. Lynch. He uses both “are not” and “none” in the same sentence, this shows his lack of education. Apart from being poor and not educated, there is also a high rate of criminals in Harlem1. The short story starts with a media res and has a chronological order till the end. “The baddest dog in Harlem” describes an incident over a couple of hours. The theme of the text is police violence and racism. I have chosen police violence because their behaviour is irrational. They don’t think on the consequences of shooting, and are only thinking of killing this “Arab with a automatic weapon” who really isn’t there. Their unconscious didn’t stop the contagious shooting because killing the Arab was more important than human lives. This would definitely not have happened in other parts of New York like Brooklyn. Therefore there are also some racial indications behind their acts.
In the text we meet the Narrator who is a young man between 20-30 years old. I would describe him as very