Analysis Essay Words of My Youth by Joe Mackall

The theme of prejudice is thoroughly examined through out the short story "Mary Moon and the stars". This hard hitting theme conveys the idea that young adults have to make tough decisions even before hitting their adolescent years. These decisions are mostly based on the judgments they choose to make on the people surrounding them. The narrator

As Bell Hooks speaks about in her essay “Learning In The Shadow Of Race And Class,” certain college students, such as herself, appear to have “boundaries” placed upon them that cause great struggle. Typically there is a reason behind these “boundaries,” and in some cases it may be the fault of the person that is enduring these struggles, whether they realize it or not. While Bell is not completely at fault for how she lives her life, the way Bell Hooks was raised helped shape the way she would view her life and the people around her. Bell’s mother’s methods of raising a child are what led her to hate her time in school as much as she did, and how she will live her life afterwards.

Joe was on his way to Eatonville to make a better life for himself, he asked Janie where her parents were and Janie explained that she is married and her husband was out getting a mule for her to plow. Joe expresses that that is not a way for her to be treated and asks her to leave Logan and marry him.

This, however, meant that the Walls children were bullied and talked about everywhere they went because of the clothes they wore, the houses they lived in, and their parents’ odd and dysfunctional ways of life. Their upbringing made it hard for them to adapt to school life and drown out the harsh opinions. At school in Welch, Jeannette was often picked on, kicked, or punched for being different from the rest. Those injuries and scars from childhood would lower their self-esteem and make it even more challenging for them to have a “normal life”, no matter how much they wanted to. Most of the time, rebelling against society’s ideals is not always the best choice for a child because in the end, he or she might experience pains too great for them to deal with at that

A woman stay round uh store till she get old as Methusalem and still can’t cut a little thing like a plug of tobacco! Don’t stand dere rollin’ yo’ pop eyes at me wid yo’ rump hangin’ nearly to yo’ knees!”(78). He keeps saying she is old, when in fact she is actually very beautiful for her age. He wants to tear her down to make himself feel better about himself. Joe only cares about her as a trophy wife, not someone to lean on when the going gets

In chapter 7 when Joe started body shaming Janie, telling her “ nobody in heah ain’t lookin’ for no wife outa yuh. Old as you is”he was trying to bring her down next to people. He started that conversation because he noticed that he is getting old while Jenie is not. After his insult she told him that she is “uh woman in every inch” even though her age is old but she is still looking young. She also told Joe how he is the one who is getting old with “big bellies round here” and looking “lac de change uh life”. This illustrates how Janie got the courage and answered him back to bring him down as he did . Throughout, the book we could see a pattern of Joe trying to bring down Janie's self esteem through the use of diction (dialect). For example earlier in chapter 5 Joe told that “mah wife don’t know nothin” when people of Eatonville wanted her to make a speech as a wife of a mayor. He also said how “ her place is in de home”. This all shows how Joe is telling people that Janie is uneducated and because she is a woman she should not be making speeches. Therefore, in both chapters Joe was bringing her down through his words, next to

This tendency might make for psychological resilience, but it also makes it hard for Appalachians to look at themselves honestly” (Vance, 2016). This reference can be true with many of today’s youth who are stuck in poverty. These particular youth tend to look at issues from a different perspective. They do not want to stress on factors, which they little or no control of the situation. In their mind, they tend to block out and ignore problematic issue, which come their way. They hope the issues of drugs, alcohol, domestic violence, and poverty will eventually handle themselves and go away. The fact is they never go away, and the only way out of this cycle is education, a strong mind, and ultimately removal from the environment, which they grew up in. I know this cycle, and I have lived it. I know what it is to grow up like the author, because I can relate with him almost 100%. I know if it was not for the Army, I could have ended up just like everyone I know back in my hometown. It is hard to stay away from all the negative influences around an individual, but it is even harder not to repeat what was seen as a healthy relationship between a man a and a woman. This is where a strong mind is needed. An individual needs to take in all negative accounts and pledge to themselves not to let those same traits manifest in them, or they might also find themselves in an

that it is wrong to prejudge people in this way even if it is children

James Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son" contains many themes such as social injustice and family values. Underlying all his work are anecdotes of how prejudice affected him both when he witnessed other people making judgments as well as making his own judgments growing up. Baldwin discusses his experiences to show how prejudice can create different perceptions among others.

Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” was written in a time when racism was so strong, it interfered with daily life. During this time of hatred, many things happened that King did not necessarily agree with. King, unlike many other African Americans, decided he would stand for it no longer. When he found a solution he thought would work, it caused conflict between the races and everyone began to fight, for what they believed was right, for their races. In King’s letter, he tries to explain, to his clergymen, what they had done was necessary if anything was going to change for the African American race. He explains, his reasoning through an effective process of writing, by using ethos, pathos, and logos. King uses ethos to show his true leadership to his clergymen, pathos to express his emotions due to the way he and other African Americans were treated and logos by using many supported examples.

People judge others through stereotypical analysis, where untrue, negative thoughts about a person are based on precedent assumptions. The Youngers’ faced these issues when trying to move into a predominantly white neighborhood called Clybourne Park. The family was alienated by the neighborhood in multiple ways. In one particular way, the community board thought that the Youngers’ would make the predominately white, upper-middle-class neighborhood unclean because of them being the only black family to move into the neighborhood. There were times when the Younger family received unwelcoming looks and unfriendly responses from their neighbors. These types of accusations were morally wrong but not unusual for this era. To properly get an analysis

No one can control what family they are born into nor what struggles are destined for them in the future. By the age of nine, my parents could no longer help me with my homework, rather they could only offer a few words of encouragement. The language barrier and cultural clash we experienced as a family put me at a disadvantage compared to other children my age.

In this chapter, Mrs. Williams explores society 's failure to deal straightforwardly with the practice of exclusion. This is something that infects everyone, from the very old to the very young, and Mrs. Williams does a great job of pointing these things out. As I proceeded to read this piece, I found myself being able to relate and agree with a lot of the things Mrs. Williams spoke on. The truth of the matter is the fact that society puts emphasis on things that do not really matter and not enough emphasis on things that really matter is a big problem in today 's world. We are currently living in a society that attempts to hide things from our youth as if this is benefiting them. "Protecting our

There is repetition in this speech to emphasize King’s point. Some of the phrases that were repeated were “We cannot be satisfied as long as”, “Some of you have”, “Go back to”, and finally “I have a dream”. He uses these phrases to build on a point that there is injustice that needs to be fixed.

Instead minorities are strained mentally and economically. They must face backlash from the public, “getting passed over for jobs… or shut out of housing” all of which strikes a chord and increases the stress of daily life (Martin). The neighborhoods in which these poorer classes are left to congregate in are normally dirty and unsafe. Chiquita Turner a thirty-two year old who lives in one such neighborhood “is aware of at least three crack houses nearby, and regularly encounters debris, glass, broken metal, and other remnants of car accidents and break ins” (Seervi). This neighborhood in which she lives is one filled with fear and unrest, a neighborhood ruled by violent crime. It is this unsafe feeling that, “prevents people from walking around or doing other outdoor exercise”, chaining people to their homes (Seervi). Young children are forced to grow up in neighborhoods surrounded by “violence, gangs, drug addicts, or homeless on the street” (Seervi). Any of which can become negative influences on their lives and allow them to fall into bad lifestyles, thus perpetuating the negative cycle. These neighborhoods are no place for children or people alike to live. Yet, it is all they can afford due to racial and social biases associated with skin