Mitchell Duneier Sidewalk Quotes

Staples argues that race, gender, and class within the United States are unfair, and his use of imagery throughout his writing helps dictate his opinions. Much of his writing uses specific descriptions that help the reader feel as if he/she were in his shoes. His use of imagery helps set a convincing tone and elicit empathy from the reader as the story continues. The more descriptions he uses in his writing help illustrate the setting to show the reader his environment. As the audience grows closer to piece, and creates an emotional attachment to Staples himself, they begin to understand his perspective on racial tensions and how they continue to be prevalent in our society today. Toward the middle of his story, as he explains the different places he could be discriminated against, he says “elsewhere - in SoHo, for example, where sidewalks are narrow and tightly spaced buildings shut out the sky- things can get very taunt indeed” (Staples 1). This gives the reader the ability to visualize the specific story he is sharing. The words “narrow” and “tightly spaced” help the reader picture an alley. The

Ben Staples is a 22 year old black man who attended the University of Chicago who identifies as a softy. In his essay Just Walk on By he discusses how he was treated by members of the community late at night. Citizens, bouncers, police officers, and doormen all treated him as a threat toward the peace of the neighborhood. He uses vivid descriptions to explain how people made him feel late at night, which helped put the reader understand what he was going through. In the essay Just Walk on By, Brent Staples uses strong ethos and pathos to convey the way that black people are treated in public.

In “Debasing Exchange: Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth,” author Wai-Chee Dimock argues that the society portrayed in the novel, which is a reflection of 19th century upper class New York, revolves around the idea that the business ethics of the economic “marketplace” determines all aspects of the culture. More specifically, this causes all forms of social interactions to be viewed as “currency,” with the precise value of a certain act or relationship determined by whoever possesses the most power. As Dimock herself puts it, “as a controlling logic, a mode of human conduct and human association, the marketplace is everywhere and nowhere, ubiquitous and invisible” (375). While some might wonder whether the marketplace really is the ultimate guiding structure for this particular fictionalized society, Dimock contends nevertheless that this interpretation is a viable one, due to the marketplace’s “ability to reproduce itself,” and thus “assimilate everything… into its domain” (375). I myself find Dimock’s argument both interesting and useful in interpreting The House of Mirth because of the clarity with which she presents the often complicated, critical lens of Marxism.

In Brent Staples’ “Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Space” he forces women to recognize the feeling of estrangement from the surrounding public that he has endured. He first took notice at the age of twenty two, when his own self-judgement resulted from scaring a woman when solely walking at night near his college, the University of Chicago. He maintained his dejected attitude when he wrote that a few years later, his own work mistook him for a thief instead of a journalist. Brent Staples heightened his frustration by mentioning a black male journalist who was blamed as a killer in a murder, instead of the writer reporting it. In portraying two versions of his story, he proves that this was a rather common and difficult occurrence for not only him, but others of his race. To attempt to resolve this, he decided to attempt to cross the street or sing classical songs to portray innocence. In this article, Staples’ forces his audience to encounter the hypocrisy in which all black men are dangerous. He concluded the essay with the realization that you can't change what people think, only attempt to show them who you are. Brent Staples appeals to the audience through his emotionally charged language with the use of his experiences with unconscious prejudice.

Malcolm Gladwell’s piece, “The Science of Shopping”, causes his audience to fear retail anthropologists such as Paco Underhill. On the surface, Gladwell appears to write a short documentary of sorts about the manipulation of businesses and stores. Venturing deeper into the story provides the reader with vision of the importance businesses place on their layouts and strategies. Gladwell continues to assure his point that consumers are not mindlessly obeying what retailors want them to do. Store owners are required to accommodate to how their customers behave, and what their target market wants. Gladwell refers to significant moments with Underhill by directly quoting Paco. He also vividly describes different aspects of Paco’s practice.

In literature and societal interactions African-American people, especially men commonly face scrutiny for their supposed intimidating exterior. In Brent Staples’ 1986 essay “Just walk on by: Black Men and public spaces” featured in Ms.Magazine, Staples critiques the detrimental effects and injustice of perceiving African-American men through an antagonistic lens. In order for Staples’ to effectively gain the attention of the audience he appeals to their emotions by employing anecdotes that highlight marginalization his audience may empathize with and their self interest by mentioning relatable consequences of his oppression. One anecdote Stapes recounts is “On less traveled streets after dark, I grew accustomed to but never comfortable with

Brent Staples “Black Men and Public Space” is a look at how people perceive black people in the 1960s. Staples explains how people would treat him on a day to day basis. Even when he was a child he would be looked at differently because of his color. He quickly establishes ethos, logos and pathos credibility tough the many examples. This article shows the injustices done to him while living in New York. Brent Staples Black Men and Public Space uses pathos, ethos, and logos effectively throughout the essay.

Ascher begins her article with a strong narrative vividly describing a queer exchange between a homeless person, a fearful woman, and an equally frightened infant. Utilizing both contrast and figurative language, Ascher captures the unsettling atmosphere present in the special “transaction”:

As a target of racism and prejudice, Brent Staple wrote Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space. Throughout this essay he explains his personal experience in public spaces and the stereotypes he has faced. Since society has deeply embedded their views of “blacks,” just their presence induces fear and causes unnecessary feelings and emotions to arise. Staples presents no anger in his decision to alter his actions and his appearance to ease those around him despite his skin tone. Societal views on blacks are based on reputations as a whole and not on each individual person, Staples presents this through the uses of point of view, ethos, and pathos.

The main points of the book are divided up,and go month by month.Each month is a new topic.Judith is challenged against her own word of not buying anything for a new year.The book witnesses Levine’s journey from enthusiastic experiment in January to a still game but weary participant by the fall.As favorite luxuries run out and clothes become shabbier,many of her points are intentionally provacative.For instance,not buying makes her feel vulnerable and having to ask for help.”I know I’m not alone in my ambivalence about consuming”After a few months Levine does not have to ask for help anymore.She is used to not buying anything,but it is still hard.At the beginning of her year without shopping,she is in a panic.This is not necessarily a personal panic.”Still I am moved by a sense of personal responsibility,not to say personal panic ,about this big,bad problem and the rapidity with which its is getting worse”’At the end of the book ,her mood changed from “panic”’to prosperity.Panic,Surplus,Consumer Psychology,New and Improved,In/Voulnatary Simplicity,Scarity,Redistribution of Wealth,Structual Adjustments,Memories of Underdevelpment,Security Fraud,Brand America,The Ownership Society and Prosperity.are the fifteen chapters in “Not Buying It”.Within each chapter, we discover,the different difficult trade-offs and tensions in not consuming.By focusing primarily on the personal choices and consequences of not shopping,Levine may be telling us more about the mind-set of American

Dred Scott “A man is a man, until that man finds a plan, a plan that makes that man, a new man.” This quote means if you were a slave with a plan you could be a free man. Born in Southampton, Virginia, in his youth, Dred Scott was known as "Sam." He later changed his name to Dred Scott. He moved with his master to Huntsville, Alabama and later to St. Louis, Missouri.

Mister can relate to this because his mother also did drugs. Mister’s mother could barely take care of herself so of course she could barely take care of her son. When Ishmael left his home so he can be safe, he had some company and so did Mister. Throughout the book, every village that they would get to, one of Ishmael’s friends would be killed or left behind. With Mister, he had Pete by his side the whole time. Mister actually took care of Pete more than himself. Another thing that Ishmael and Mister can relate to is the feeling of when one of their relatives or a close friend gets sick. They were both desperate when they could not do anything to help. Ishmael’s uncle got sick during the war and Ishmael was taking a risk. The risk was that he would go to the city and get food for his uncle. Mister also did the same thing. He would steal from the stores. He even got lucky when he started acting with the employer and telling him why he need so much food. One more similarity would be that Ishmael and Mister were both taken to a place to “help” them out. Ishmael went to rehab and Mister went to foster

From a young age, Walker had a taste for extravagance, and an eye for cultural arts. As a student, Jimmy never excelled, or did exceptionally well. His father, wanting him to follow in his footsteps, wanted him to study law but Jimmy had other ideas in mind. He had a strong passion for the arts, music and composition to be exact. His dream was to perform on Broadway, but that dream was short-lived after he failed to do so, and was sent to school to study law per his father’s request. Jimmy’s father, an immigrant, started out as a carpenter and died an assemblyman. Throughout every triumph and hardship Walker faced, he never neglected to remember the fact that his father, too, thrived on the “American dream”. His story inspired him to launch the campaign, “among his own”. The sole purpose of this campaign was to remind the public that he was just like them because his father, whom he idolized, also fled from poverty and despair. Jimmy had his own political tactics in order to gain respect from the public. It seemed as though he treated the citizens of New York more like an audience, and his politics like a charade. He did whatever he could to please the crowd, whether it was politically ethical or not. He was very flamboyant, and was perceived as a womanizing alcoholic. His actions closely allude to Jay Gatsby’s, in the Great Gatsby. The

In his book Elijah Anderson tries to describe how life is, living in a black poor community in an American town known as Inner-city. In this area everyone is struggling financially and seem distant from the rest of America. The main social class in this town is the “decent” and the “street” families as the community has labeled them. The labeling by the local is as a result of social contest between the inhabitants. The line between a decent and street family is usually very thin, it’s based on a family evaluation of itself labeling itself decent and the other street. The irony is that families bearing a street label may value itself as decent and still valuing other families’ street. However, this labels form the basis of understanding inner-city community lifestyle. The community has many of the white society middle class values but they know the values don’t hold water in the street. They say it does not provide the attitude of a person who can take care of themselves in the street.

Mitchell Duneier, an American sociologist’s professor at Princeton University. He graduated in the University of Chicago, works on the urban ethnography. The author of Sidewalk in 1999, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Price. Sidewalk takes us to a social cultural environment in New York City, some folks see the blocks as a threatening, but it’s a work day after a day for a several poor black men and a few ladies. These poor black men make their livelihood on the sidewalks by selling magazines, jewelry, secondhand good and any kind of books.