Notes of a native son response
Gunnar
“Notes of a Native Son” Essay
James Baldwin uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to convey his attitude toward American race relations in the mid-1950s. Baldwin discusses his personal struggles with racism in the 1950s in the town of Trenton, New Jersey. The strategies Baldwin employees to direct his audience to these struggles with racism is done with a sense of urgency.
He prompts the audience with an intense emotion by using words that express his realizations that racism is real and can affect him in a fatal way. He suggests this by making many statements. In one statement Baldwin makes, he warns that his friend saved him from a violent whipping. He relays that every detail of that night stands out very clearly in his memory. This tells the audience that the event was traumatic and revealing.
He continues with imagery as the story progresses. It takes place in a time of night where “a brown out” is occurring. This shows the setting to be unpleasant, hot and where the masses are most likely already on edge due to the diminished lighting. Again the narrative continues to relay this event as a nightmare symbolizing not a dream which would be pleasant but a horrible, scary, fearful event that could potentially end in tragedy.
As he describes the event unraveling, what began as a normal evening, devolved into a nightmare. Although he ultimately knew that entering the “American Diner” would trigger a negative response, he unconsciously failed to foresee the negative impact that response would have on him.
Through the strategy of imagery, Baldwin sees the masses of humanity moving against him—and they were all white. This then leads the audience to assume that he is at the height of frustration and will retaliate in some fashion. The use of suspense focuses the audience on actions that have not yet unfolded.
With the use of cause and effect, knowing that his reception will be the same as at the diner, he is compelled to enter
“Notes of a Native Son” Essay
James Baldwin uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to convey his attitude toward American race relations in the mid-1950s. Baldwin discusses his personal struggles with racism in the 1950s in the town of Trenton, New Jersey. The strategies Baldwin employees to direct his audience to these struggles with racism is done with a sense of urgency.
He prompts the audience with an intense emotion by using words that express his realizations that racism is real and can affect him in a fatal way. He suggests this by making many statements. In one statement Baldwin makes, he warns that his friend saved him from a violent whipping. He relays that every detail of that night stands out very clearly in his memory. This tells the audience that the event was traumatic and revealing.
He continues with imagery as the story progresses. It takes place in a time of night where “a brown out” is occurring. This shows the setting to be unpleasant, hot and where the masses are most likely already on edge due to the diminished lighting. Again the narrative continues to relay this event as a nightmare symbolizing not a dream which would be pleasant but a horrible, scary, fearful event that could potentially end in tragedy.
As he describes the event unraveling, what began as a normal evening, devolved into a nightmare. Although he ultimately knew that entering the “American Diner” would trigger a negative response, he unconsciously failed to foresee the negative impact that response would have on him.
Through the strategy of imagery, Baldwin sees the masses of humanity moving against him—and they were all white. This then leads the audience to assume that he is at the height of frustration and will retaliate in some fashion. The use of suspense focuses the audience on actions that have not yet unfolded.
With the use of cause and effect, knowing that his reception will be the same as at the diner, he is compelled to enter