A Young Black Man's Trouble-Personal Narrative

This is a fictional autobiography written by James Weldon Johnson and it is told from the first-person perspective of an unnamed male narrator. Even though the narrative was written in 1912 it was reissued in 1927 and is considered one of the most distinguished works of the Harlem Renaissance. The struggle that the narrator seems to have with his identity throughout the novel seems to connect best with the idea of double consciousness that we covered in class by W. E. B. Du Bois. This situation is however a bit different given the narrators biracial qualities. His physical characteristics allow him to pass as a white man even though he is actually African American. The novel takes a social stance and shows how the narrator, in order to avoid violent racism and oppression, decides it best to conceal his blackness.

A sentence from someone may mean one thing, but an action can have a million different meanings behind it so which one would you judge a person from? Many people experience fear and are scared to face them, so instead of standing up against it they just decide to be a new person. Their minds are manipulated to not face their anxiety and are frightened about what will happen to them. People think that being fearful of something and to overcome it is a difficult task. People often mistaken their strength to fight their fear and decide to give up. Both stories, “Quicksand” and “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man” share the common theme of how they use fear as an excuse to escape to a new world, they become a different person and get rid of

Racial reconciliation can be defined as the bringing together of different races; or in other words, embracing diversity. The value of it in my life is immeasurable. I have been extremely blessed to grow up in a time and culture where I personally don’t experience much racism; where I am not held back from pursuing my dreams and passions just because of the color of my skin. It is absolutely crazy to think that if I was born sixty or seventy years ago, my life would be completely different just for the sheer fact that I’m Asian.

Slavery was abolished after the Civil War, but the Negro race still was not accepted as equals into American society. To attain a better understanding of the events and struggles faced during this period, one must take a look at its' literature. James Weldon Johnson does an excellent job of vividly depicting an accurate portrait of the adversities faced before the Civil Rights Movement by the black community in his novel “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.” One does not only read this book, but instead one takes a journey alongside a burdened mulatto man as he struggles to claim one race as his own.

stubbornness leads to the death of his own son and wife. When he realized he had been wrong

The narrator of The Autobiography grows up his whole life thinking that he is white. It is not until one fateful day in school where a teacher indirectly tells him that he is black that he finds out. This revelation, which he himself describes as “a sword-thrust” (Johnson 13), suggests a transformation, a great change, a development in the Ex-Colored Man’s racial consciousness in the future. However, as M. Giulia Fabi says, “[The ECM’s] proclaimed loyalty to his ‘mother’s people’ is continuously undercut by his admiration for and identification with mainstream white America” (375). She also indicates how when contrasted with previous passers, “the Ex-Colored Man’s oft-noted cowardice,

gotten the best of him in the long run. Before making that decision to break down his forces he

The novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man by James Weldon Johnson shows a story of a man with mixed blood of white and coloured. Throughout the story, the man is conflicted with his heritage, sometimes accepting his coloured heritage and at other times rejecting his coloured heritage and passing himself off as a white man. The main character travels all around the United States and Europe while observing how whites and coloureds behave separately and with each other. The nameless man goes through tough times and prosperous times his whole life and comes out with quite a few revelations.

I think Corey was shy, and he didn’t want to let his team down, I think with the pressure on Corey, it made him more nerve and shy

His older brother found out he was just like him which he wanted him to be nothing like. A drug dealer up to no good.

rebelliousness was another sure thing that caused him to believe in himself too much. He got

He's hits were pretty on point but he didn't know what was in store for him later in the game.

The main idea of my story, “An autobiography of an ex-colored man”, is about a young man who is mixed between African american and White. He doesn't know that he is mixed until his principle ask all the white children to stand in the middle of class and when he proceeded to stand the principal told him to sit because he was Black. After this dreadful day of discovering that he was part African American, the young boy started to view the world a lot different as he aged. The author uses pathos and ethos to really get the main idea across. The author uses pathos by expressing the feelings of the boy as he was discovering how the world treated African Americans.

His whole demeanor changed again, he seemed to be exhausted and was pronounced the winner.

He wasn 't happy about that. Already six-foot-four and socially awkward, he was an intimidating figure, and people tended to shunt him from one place to another. He 'd grown frustrated and angry, and later described himself as a "walking time bomb." If only someone had known then how to defuse his rage. Instead, the people around him seemed to ensure that it would grow worse.