He uses alliteration and repetition to continue his argument throughout. hile doing this his word choice is very intellectual with words containing more than two syllables. He uses this word choice to convey the power of language. He does this because as a Black man, he wants the white world to see different context is possible. In this respect, he establishes his argument by applying a strong tone along with his word usage. This style is effective because while it is strong it is also communicating to every person who respects language.
He concludes powerful language can be difficult to attain in a society not made for you and this can halt progress. He brings up a valid point. Yes, language is powerful but it is also segmented. Not just in nationality but in race. He regrets his people have not received adequate education. "The brutal truth is that the…...

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Works Cited

Baldwin, James. "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?"

New York Times on the Web 29 July 1979. 20 Dec. 2004  http://partners.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin-english.html

African-American Vernacular English can be described as an assortment of American English that is mostly used by urban-working class and mostly bi-dialectical middle-class black Americans. The language is also commonly known as Black Vernacular English or Black English. In some cases, particularly outside the academic community, it is referred to as Ebonics given its distinctive features and similarities with other non-standard English varieties. The similarities with other varieties are evident when compared to various standard and non-standard English languages that are commonly used in the United States and the Caribbean. In the past few years, African-American Vernacular English has been the subject of various public debates and attracted considerable attention among sociolinguists. This paper examines the development of this language, its distinctive features, cultural context, and socio-economic implications of the use of African-American Vernacular English.
oots of African-American Vernacular English

The history and origin of African-American Vernacular English and other varieties associated…...

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References

Fisher, D. & Lapp, D. (2013, May). Learning to Talk Like the Test: Guiding Speakers of African

American Vernacular English. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(8), 634-648.

Harris, Y.R. & Schroeder, V.M. (2013, January 24). Language Deficits or Differences: What We

Know about African-American Vernacular English in the 21st Century. International Education Studies, 6(4), 194-204.

Once they arrived, they were brought to a slave market and usually auctioned off to the highest bidder just as cattle and horses were auctioned off. he slaves then spent their lives of servitude helping white farm and plantation owners in their agricultural operations. he slaves weren't typically compensated and lived in deplorable conditions. Slavery helped many white land owners become rich, and the southern colonies, which turned into the southern states, remained slave states, while those in the north became know as free states, where slavery was not legal. his dichotomy of cultures, between the northern and southern states, eventually led to further economic and cultural rifts leading up to the Civil War in 1860.
During the Civil War, the northern states allowed blacks to serve in the Union Army. Southern states, eager to fight for their way of life and economic interests, were against the abolition of slavery.…...

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The English Colonies were set up as resource providers for the English Monarchy and economy in Europe. Products like cotton, tobacco, and other crops were planted and harvested in the rich soils of the colonies. The land and plantation owners were eager to cut costs, and with the African slave trade to places like the Caribbean and southern Spanish colonies booming, black slaves were an abundant and relatively cheap labor resource, especially for the farms and plantations in the southern colonies. Unlike the southern colonies, the northern colonies' economies began to differentiate themselves as producers of manufactured goods as well as services. In this way, even though slavery was legal in all of the English Colonies, the northern colonies had less of a demand for black slaves than the southern ones.

Operationally, slaves were brought in primarily from West African locales to work in agriculture-related servitude. Many of the slaves were separated from their families and many died during the long voyage via slave ship to the English Colonies. Once they arrived, they were brought to a slave market and usually auctioned off to the highest bidder just as cattle and horses were auctioned off. The slaves then spent their lives of servitude helping white farm and plantation owners in their agricultural operations. The slaves weren't typically compensated and lived in deplorable conditions. Slavery helped many white land owners become rich, and the southern colonies, which turned into the southern states, remained slave states, while those in the north became know as free states, where slavery was not legal. This dichotomy of cultures, between the northern and southern states, eventually led to further economic and cultural rifts leading up to the Civil War in 1860.

During the Civil War, the northern states allowed blacks to serve in the Union Army. Southern states, eager to fight for their way of life and economic interests, were against the abolition of slavery. This is not to say that the Civil War was fought on the question of whether black slavery should be legitimized, but slavery, as an economic mechanism, had much to do with the build up to war that had been occurring for nearly a century previous. After the Civil War, slavery was abolished. But though the institution of slavery was outlawed, the cultural and social norms were still left intact. Across the country, Jim Crow laws were left on the books that held blacks as second-class citizens with fewer rights than whites. Even after the reconstruction period, blacks had a hard time assimilating into mainstream American culture, and were economically and socially disadvantaged because of their history.

A appreciate the fact that this English course also included sections on writing effective narrative papers. I found narrative papers to be fun to write because they involve storytelling and rich descriptive language. I feel more creative writing narrative papers, which is why I prefer writing them, as opposed to research papers. When we write narrative papers, I can draw from personal experience, which makes the writing process easier than it is during the process of writing a research paper. Also, the techniques of writing narrative papers differ from the techniques of writing research and persuasive papers. Organization and focus is important, but the paper can be less formal in a narrative essay.

A found literary analysis papers to be among the most difficult to write. I found it very helpful to encounter some of the common techniques for approaching literary criticism. Learning about the different formats such as MLA was…...

Blacks in Blues Music
Biographer Lawrence Jackson wrote that author Ralph Ellison was exposed to the blues and classical music from an early age, eventually playing the trumpet and pursuing a degree in music at Tuskegee (McLaren Pp). hen he moved to New York to pursue his writing career, Ellison was exposed to the musical developments in jazz and often attended the Apollo Theater, the Savoy Ballroom, and Cafe Society Downtown, and although he admired such figures as pianist Teddy ilson, Count Basie and Duke Ellington, he did not particularly admired Dizzy Gillespie's Bebop, considering its use of Afro-Cuban influences as a "strategic mistake" (McLaren Pp). Ellison, writes Jackson, was more concerned with the "homegrown idiom" (McLaren Pp). That homegrown idiom that Ellison referred to was the blues, a music born in the fields of the South by black workers who used their African musical heritage to give birth to a…...

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Work Cited

McLaren, Joseph. "Ralph Ellison: Emergence of Genius."

Research in African Literatures; 12/22/2004; Pp.

Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans. W.W. Norton & Company.

1983; pp. 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 336, 338.

Black Arts
Known as the "artistic sister of the Black Power movement," Black Arts refers to the collective expressions of African-American culture during the 1960s and 1970s. Corresponding with the climax of the Civil Rights movement and the self-empowerment of the African-American community, the Black Arts was a politically charged yet aesthetically ripe collection of visual, performance, music, and literary art forms. Amiri Baraka is credited widely with the genesis of the Black Arts movement. The assassination of Malcolm X is said to have inspired Baraka to move to Harlem and delve into the transformative power of art for emboldening the black community (Salaam). Even when he was still known as LeRoi Jones, Baraka had been involved in the publishing industry, and had worked as a poet, arts critic, and playwright. His founding of the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School (BARTS) is the "formal beginning" of the movement, which Baraka himself dubbed…...

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Works Cited

"The Black Arts Movement." Retrieved online:  http://www.blackpast.org/aah/black-arts-movement-1965-1975 

"A Brief Guide to the Black Arts Movement." Poets.org. Retrieved online:  http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-black-arts-movement 

Neal, Larry. "The Black Arts Movement." The Making of African-American Identity, Vol. 3, 1917-1968. Retrieved online:  http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai3/community/text8/blackartsmovement.pdf 

Salaam, Kaluma Ya. "Historical Overviews of the Black Arts Movement."  http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/blackarts/historical.htm

It is also more likely to create a constructive rather than a destructive outcome, it is a process of conflict resolution that may aim to arrive at the truth of a given situation rather than simple victory for one side and it is the only technique of struggle that is consistent with the teachings of the major religions (eber and Burrowes, n.d.).
Nonviolent action is a method by which people who reject passivity and submission, and who see struggle as necessary, can have their conflict without violence. Nonviolent acts are not seen as an attempt to steer clear of or ignore conflict. They are one reaction to the problem of how to act effectively in politics, particularly how to wield powers effectively. It consists of acts of protest and persuasion, noncooperation and nonviolent intervention designed to undermine the sources of power of the opponent in order to bring about change…...

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Works Cited

Burstein, Stanley M. And Shek, Richard. 2005. "World History Ancient Civilizations." Texas:

Holt, Rinhart and Winston

Jones, Chris. 2008. "Analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail."

Web. 27 April 2010.

English 1540 EL 10 Take-Home Exam:
Please read the short essay called "Something from the Sixties" reproduced for you below. Feel free to make notes as you read if this helps you to understand it. Then, complete the following questions in complete sentences and paragraphs.

Something from the Sixties

About five o'clock last Sunday evening, my son burst into the kitchen and said, "I didn't know it was so late!" He was due at a party immediately -- a sixties party, he said -- and he needed something from the sixties to wear. My son is almost fifteen years old, the size of a grown man, and when he bursts into a room glassware rattles and the cat on your lap grabs on to your knees and leaps from the starting block. I used to think the phrase "burst into the room" was only for detective fiction, until my son got his growth.

He…...

Scout and Jem are likewise tormented by their classmates because of their father's courageous decision to defend an obviously innocent man. Scout already hates school and feels like a persecuted mockingbird in its controlled, conformist environment. She would rather be playing with her brother and her best friend Dill. School is yet another example of the ways in which society can be cruel and persecutory of people who are 'different.'
Scout is not above hurting other people, however. When she is humiliated by her teacher because she explains why a poor boy named Walter cannot afford even to borrow money for lunch and her teacher reprimands her, Scout turns against Walter by beating him up during lunchtime. Before she is saved by Boo, she is frightened of him and she and her friends make up stories about him, because they fear what they do not understand. It is this misunderstanding…...

In this light. Dee represents the most successful fulfillment of the material side of the American Dream (Whitsitt). On the other hand, she is unsuccessful at preserving what is most beautiful about her culture by no longer honoring it in any practical sense. In this, she represents the tragedy of loss in terms of meaning, culture, and heritage in blind pursuit of material gain and social success.
The Red Convertible" by Louise Erdrich

The story by Louise Erdrich similarly demonstrates a dichotomy between the past, the potential of the future, and the scars that cannot be healed as a result of trauma and tragedy. The American Dream and its destruction in this story is represented by two brothers and their initially healthy relationship (boosh). As young men, Henry and Lyman are happy-go-lucky and somewhat irresponsible. Their relationship is healthy and close, represented by a red convertible that they buy restore, and…...

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Sources

Powell, Rachel. Character Analysis and Symbolism in Alice Walker's Everyday Use. Dec 03, 2007. Associated Content.  http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/462096/character_analysis_and_symbolism_in.html?page=2&cat=38 

Sboosh Academic Article Library. Loss of Innocence in Louise Erdrich's the Red Convertible. 2008. http://www.sboosh.com/articles/201_1/Loss-of-Innocence-in-Louise-Erdrich-the-Red-Convertible/

Walker, Kristen. Symbolism in the Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich. Jul 15, 2008. Associated Content.  http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/815075/symbolism_found_in_the_red_convertible.html?page=2&cat=37 

Whitsitt, Sam. In Spite of it all: A reading of Alice Walker's "Everyday Use." African-American Review, Fall, 2000. Database: FindArticles.  http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2838/is_3_34/ai_67413399/pg_12

African-American Vernacular English
There are a couple of theories as to the origin of African-American Vernacular Englsh (AAVE). Some linguists believe that the language derives from est African languages. This dialect theory is based on the knowledge that most African-Americans who were brought to the United States from Africa had to learn how to speak English by ear. The may have picked up some of the English words incorrectly and incorporated the incorrect words in their language. Another theory is called the Creole Hypothesis. This theory bases its origin on the thought that slaves developed the language themselves. The slaves, who came from many different countries in Africa formulated AAVE so that they may talk amongst themselves. They developed with is called a pidgin by combining words from their own language with new words from America. They used grammar and speech patterns that were known to them from their own…...

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Works Cited

Jackson, Jenny Ebonics and Gullah, One and the Same? (http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~petersj4/jenny.htm)

Labov, William Academic Ignorance and Black Intelligence (Labov (http://www.arches.uga.edu/~bryan/AAVE/).

Rickford, John. "Creole Origins of AAVE  http://www.stanford.edu/~rickford/papers/CreoleOriginsOfAAVE.html 

Where Did It Come at (http://www.arches.uga.edu/~bryan/AAVE/).

In addition, they were often enslaved by fellow blacks, capitalizing on the white man's desires, and so, another misconception about slavery is demolished, races did not band together; they worked against each other when enslaving their neighbors.
Slavery ended due to several instances, such as nations becoming larger and larger, taking over more territory, and thus reducing the areas available for slave capture. These areas tended to be small and weak, and when they were taken over, they were no longer acceptable for slave capture (Sowell 115). Serfdom, a popular agricultural solution in Europe, tended to supplant slavery, ending it there, as well. A true philosophy of ending enslavement began in Britain in the 18th century, before that, most civilizations did not view slavery as a problem at all. In fact, the people who first objected were extremely conservation religious members of society, but this is often overlooked or ignored.…...

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References

Sowell, Thomas. Black Rednecks and White Liberals. San Francisco, Encounter Books, 2005.

lack Elk Speaks: being the life story of a holy man of the Oglala Sioux
This book is about the life and development of an Indian medicine man, lack Elk. From a historical perspective the life of lack Elk is significant as he was present at the famous he attle of the Little ig Horn and he survived the Wounded Knee Massacre1890. lack Elk is also an important figure as he represents the Sioux people as a holy man or medicine man. The cultural as well as the spiritual aspects of the story of lack Elk also provides the modern reader with insight into the culture of the American Indian.

This book also has a message for the modern person living in a world such as ours, where war, poverty and other problems such as climate change have caused humanity to look at other cultures and views of life for inspiration…...

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Bibliography

Black Elk Speaks: being the life story of a holy man of the Oglala Sioux. Web. 7 Nov.

2011. ( http://www.humanresonance.org/black_elk.pdf).

Black Girl by Patricia Smith and Aurora Levin's Morales' Child of the Americas
Comparison between What it's Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Smith and Aurora Levin's Morales' Child of the Americas

Issues of race and racism coupled with those of culture and multiculturalism, in the society constitute one of the problem areas in which different groups of people have had to deal with, some of them having to face the issues on a day-to-day basis. In light of this, various literary works have been produced with the view of expressing the existence of such problems and finding ways in which these issues can be handled (Gale Group, 2003). Such literary works come in the form of poems which include the likes of "Child of the Americas" written by Aurora Morales and "What it is like to be a Black Girl" by Patricia Smith, works which form the basis…...

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References

Gale Group (2003) Twentieth Century Literary Criticism Annual Cumulative Title Index, Volumes 1-130, Connecticut, Cengage Learning

Reilly, K et al. (2003) Racism: a global reader. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe

San Juan, E, (2004) Working through the contradictions from cultural theory to critical practice. Bucknell University Press

Strachan, J.R & Terry, R.G (2000) Poetry: an Introduction, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

I had no idea that black people were brutally assaulted for just sitting on the wrong bench or that the police were part of the problem at that time.
The new appreciation for the factual understanding of what the American civil rights era was about scared me in some ways because it reminded me that human beings have a certain natural capacity for illogical group loyalties and prejudices. It is something that I also recognize in my country of origin and also between different Asian races of people as well. The course also changed my view of the way that white and black Americans may view one another. Even in today's era of civil rights, racial equality, and appreciation for cultural diversity, there must be some resentment remaining in many black Americans, especially those who remember life in the U.S. before the 1960s.

2.

To be perfectly honest, I think society still…...