BIO / context
James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987)
Acclaim for his work across several mediums, including essays, novels, plays, and poems.
Disillusioned by American prejudice against Black people, as well as wanting to see himself and his writing outside of an African-American context, he left the United States at the age of 24 to settle in Paris.
It was Baldwin's friend from high school, Sol Stein, who encouraged Baldwin to write an essay collection reflecting on his work thus far. Baldwin was reluctant, saying he was “too young to publish my memoirs.”. Finally, Notes of a Native Son was published in 1955
Thesis in chapter 14
“The syllable hurled behind me today expresses, above all, wonder : I am a stranger here. But I am not a stranger in America and the same syllable riding on the American air expresses the war my presence has occasioned in the American soul.”
→ Switzerland, his presence is not “threatening”, he’s not seen as dangerous and is not being segregated he’s only being told that he’s black, hence why “the syllable hurled” because it’s out of the ordinary to say that word as they never saw a black person, “fait-tâche”,
→ America his presence is disrupting people “the war my presence occasioned in the American soul”, in addition to that, this word is so present everywhere it's natural hence why he implies that the syllable is “riding on the American air”.
Dehumanization & otherness
Theme “stanger”: title
Otherness :
Always strangers: “But there is a great difference between being the first white man to be seen by Africans and being the first black man to be seen by whites”
Racist difference white & black → building of USA
For baldwin it’s an instinct of self protection “This smile-and-the world smiles-with-you routine”
Paragraph 13: dehumanization
“other children, having been taught that the devil is a black man, scream in genuine anguish as I approach.”
“I was simply a living wonder”
“black men were not really men but cattle”
Style
Baldwin’s voice Cf: activity on “Write in the style of James Baldwin”
rhetorical appeals → convince (argument) & persuade (feelings)
construction: personal example, thesis, broadens to America, conclusion
Closeness with the reader: irony, sarcasm
Comparaison
BETWEEN HAITI AND AMERICA → Compares both while expressing a feeling of jealousy and sorrow “I am told there are Haitians able to trace their ancestry (…), but any American Negro wishing to go back so far will find his journey through tie abruptly arrested by the signature on the bill of sale which served as the entrance paper for his ancestor.” BETWEEN AMERICA AND THE SWISS VILLAGE → calls his experience a “dreadful abyss” and links it with his experience of America “the streets of the city in which I was born” : both experiences where the same as the n-word has been said to him in both places, yet they don’t hold the same hurtfulness : “Neger !” with an e is the German for Negro, is it said by children “the children who shout Neger” who symbolizes innocence, this can lead us to believe that this word is not used in a harmful way but more in a curious, or perhaps to point out the obvious different between their and his skin color. “Nigger !” with an i and two g’s is the American way of saying it, it is said by american children “ and those who shouted Nigger !” :American children are being raised into being racist: symbolizes hatred. →German n-word hurts because the American word still echoes through him and for the American word, it hurts because of his experience with racism in America.
Rhetorical apeals
Ethos, logos, pathos
Ethos = credibility →Switzerland, lived in America as a black man → lived the situation he describes ⇒ “I reacted by trying to be pleasant-it being a great part of the American Negro's education (long before he goes to school) that he must make people like him”
Logos = Arguments →precise examples, thesis in the middle of the essay, Argument: humanity / white men don’t want to be in the black men place: “the promptness with which they decided that these black men were not really men but cattle” proves that American racism is hatred because they make up stories about black man
Pathos = emotions → ask for empathy as a person and as a christian, emphasize about the dehumanization with the description, use of shocking words and ideas: “Some thought my hair was the color of tar, that it had the texture of wire, or the texture of cotton. It was jocularly suggested that I might let it all grow long and make myself a winter coat.”
Message & target
Message & purpose: Racism from the point of view black and white announced in his thesis and conclusion: “This world is white no longer, and it will never be white again” white Americans cannot continue to think this way → gives counter examples (Swiss village) to support his point (may show the evolution of racism from innocence to hatred) Targets everyone:
- Black people: sends a message of hope for change and
pride “the American Negro problem is not merely shameful” + not alone
- White people: moral lesson, change the mindset
regarding racism, convincing through ethos, logos, pathos, trying to educate the future generations
BIO HISTORICAL CHARACTER
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Transcript
BIO / context
James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987)
Acclaim for his work across several mediums, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. Disillusioned by American prejudice against Black people, as well as wanting to see himself and his writing outside of an African-American context, he left the United States at the age of 24 to settle in Paris. It was Baldwin's friend from high school, Sol Stein, who encouraged Baldwin to write an essay collection reflecting on his work thus far. Baldwin was reluctant, saying he was “too young to publish my memoirs.”. Finally, Notes of a Native Son was published in 1955
Thesis in chapter 14
“The syllable hurled behind me today expresses, above all, wonder : I am a stranger here. But I am not a stranger in America and the same syllable riding on the American air expresses the war my presence has occasioned in the American soul.”
→ Switzerland, his presence is not “threatening”, he’s not seen as dangerous and is not being segregated he’s only being told that he’s black, hence why “the syllable hurled” because it’s out of the ordinary to say that word as they never saw a black person, “fait-tâche”, → America his presence is disrupting people “the war my presence occasioned in the American soul”, in addition to that, this word is so present everywhere it's natural hence why he implies that the syllable is “riding on the American air”.
Dehumanization & otherness
Theme “stanger”: title Otherness : Always strangers: “But there is a great difference between being the first white man to be seen by Africans and being the first black man to be seen by whites” Racist difference white & black → building of USA For baldwin it’s an instinct of self protection “This smile-and-the world smiles-with-you routine” Paragraph 13: dehumanization “other children, having been taught that the devil is a black man, scream in genuine anguish as I approach.” “I was simply a living wonder” “black men were not really men but cattle”
Style
Baldwin’s voice Cf: activity on “Write in the style of James Baldwin” rhetorical appeals → convince (argument) & persuade (feelings) construction: personal example, thesis, broadens to America, conclusion Closeness with the reader: irony, sarcasm
Comparaison
BETWEEN HAITI AND AMERICA → Compares both while expressing a feeling of jealousy and sorrow “I am told there are Haitians able to trace their ancestry (…), but any American Negro wishing to go back so far will find his journey through tie abruptly arrested by the signature on the bill of sale which served as the entrance paper for his ancestor.” BETWEEN AMERICA AND THE SWISS VILLAGE → calls his experience a “dreadful abyss” and links it with his experience of America “the streets of the city in which I was born” : both experiences where the same as the n-word has been said to him in both places, yet they don’t hold the same hurtfulness : “Neger !” with an e is the German for Negro, is it said by children “the children who shout Neger” who symbolizes innocence, this can lead us to believe that this word is not used in a harmful way but more in a curious, or perhaps to point out the obvious different between their and his skin color. “Nigger !” with an i and two g’s is the American way of saying it, it is said by american children “ and those who shouted Nigger !” :American children are being raised into being racist: symbolizes hatred. →German n-word hurts because the American word still echoes through him and for the American word, it hurts because of his experience with racism in America.
Rhetorical apeals
Ethos, logos, pathos
Ethos = credibility →Switzerland, lived in America as a black man → lived the situation he describes ⇒ “I reacted by trying to be pleasant-it being a great part of the American Negro's education (long before he goes to school) that he must make people like him” Logos = Arguments →precise examples, thesis in the middle of the essay, Argument: humanity / white men don’t want to be in the black men place: “the promptness with which they decided that these black men were not really men but cattle” proves that American racism is hatred because they make up stories about black man Pathos = emotions → ask for empathy as a person and as a christian, emphasize about the dehumanization with the description, use of shocking words and ideas: “Some thought my hair was the color of tar, that it had the texture of wire, or the texture of cotton. It was jocularly suggested that I might let it all grow long and make myself a winter coat.”
Message & target
Message & purpose: Racism from the point of view black and white announced in his thesis and conclusion: “This world is white no longer, and it will never be white again” white Americans cannot continue to think this way → gives counter examples (Swiss village) to support his point (may show the evolution of racism from innocence to hatred) Targets everyone:
- Black people: sends a message of hope for change and
pride “the American Negro problem is not merely shameful” + not alone- White people: moral lesson, change the mindset
regarding racism, convincing through ethos, logos, pathos, trying to educate the future generations