Rhetorical Analysis Of Just Walk On By Brent Staples

Staples starts off his article with an intriguing line: “My first victim was a woman” (Staples para 1). This is a great example of a startling statement hook that interests the reader right away and makes them want to read more. The first paragraph begins by revealing a personal story from the past, of a woman in the park. Telling this story, allows the audience to understand his point of view and see what he has experienced. He organizes the sentences and paragraphs perfectly, as he switches between the past and the present very efficiently. Staples uses the paragraphs effectively to switch between personal stories and serious logical points as shown when he states: “I moved to New York nearly two years ago” (Staples para 4) versus the start of the next paragraph, “Black men have a firm place in New York mugging literature” (Staples para 5). The logic behind it is to keep the audience entertained while he inserts his arguments and logical points. By doing this, he manages to get his points across while keeping it an interesting story that people want to read.

In “Just Walk on By” by Brent Staples, the author uses pathos and ethos to get across his message on how subconscious racism and prejudice is still prevalent in today’s society. His main focus is the stereotypes, and the struggles as a result of those stereotypes, that black men have to deal with in society consistently that can affect daily life in ways that many don’t tend to consider.

Staples explained what he went through when he was in Chicago, New York, and Pennsylvania. He tells us a story about why people looked at him in a different way and how they acted towards him because of his skin color. Staple’s voice showed strong emotions of frustration and anger in his story. His tone is very serious and calm. In his essay “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power To Alter Public Space” He uses diction, figures of speech, and syntax. He wants everyone that is reading to feel and try to get the reader to see what he went through and how bad it was to get around town.

Racial Formation in the United States by Michael Omi and Howard Winant made me readjust my understanding of race by definition and consider it as a new phenomenon. Through, Omi and Winant fulfilled their purpose of providing an account of how concepts of race are created and transformed, how they become the focus of political conflict, and how they shape and permeate both identities and institutions. I always considered race to be physical characteristic by the complexion of ones’ skin tone and the physical attributes, such as bone structure, hair texture, and facial form. I knew race to be a segregating factor, however I never considered the meaning of race as concept or signification of identity that refers to different types of human bodies, to the perceived corporal and phenotypic makers of difference and the meanings and social practices that are ascribed to these differences, in which in turn create the oppressing dominations of racialization, racial profiling, and racism. (p.111). Again connecting themes from the previous readings, my westernized influences are in a direct correlation to how to the idea of how I see race and the template it has set for the rather automatic patterns of inequalities, marginalization, and difference. I never realized how ubiquitous and evolving race is within the United States.

Staples successfully begins by not only admitting the possible faults in his practiced race but also by understanding the perspective of the one who fear them. Black males being opened to more violence because of the environment they're raised in are labeled to be more likely to cause harm or committing crime towards women but Staples asks why that issue changes the outlook of

Even in modern society, the simplest of things can shift the delicate atmosphere. A black man entering a room, or any space, full of white people, can automatically transform the ambiance. This ‘ability’ may not be a desired effect, but in certain situations, it becomes inevitable. Through the use of different rhetorical devices, Brent Staples is able to demonstrate his realization of his “ability to alter public space in ugly ways” simply because of his race and stature in his essay, “Black Men and Public Space.” Staples uses the rhetorical techniques ethos, logos, and pathos in order to get on the “same side” as the reader while still presenting the essence of his argument. The author is able to sympathize with his “victims” and justify their feelings, appealing to ethos. He also analogies and details about his background, such as his doctorate in psychology, and the fact that he was a reporter to appeal to logos. Additionally, by using vivid imagery and creative diction, he engages the reader by use of pathos, evoking the emotions of the reader. With the use of rhetorical devices, Staples is able to effectively describe his experiences of being perceived as a criminal, solely based on his “unwieldy inheritance” (205), while, additionally, extending this concept to be true throughout society.

There are a few rhetorical strategies the author uses that help him get his point across. He uses his experiences throughout the majority of the passage in short bursts to reaffirm the notion that he was a kind and sensitive man. Staples uses this strategy to set the tone he often encountered when he says, “I could cross in front of a car stopped at a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk of the driver- black, white, male, or female- hammering

Through out history society has created many stereotypes and assumptions based on race and nationality to confine us into categories. The reality is not every individual fits a specific category because we are unique even within the same ethnicity group. In “On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black Person” Allison Joseph illustrates some speech stereotypes that come hand in hand with her racial background and how even people from the same racial background and house hold don’t all sound a like. The author portrays that race and linguistic has a huge impact on our daily life and how society sees her different to others. Also, her own identity is being put in to question base on a linguistic stereotype. Furthermore, base on ones racial orientation society already have a certain expectation of what they assume the person is capable of and an expectation of how one acts like. When we put stereotypes on individuals we discrediting the individuals identity, we are making those people part of a group base on a assumption and stereotypes can not be used to describe a who group because not everyone fits into a certain category.

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.

Brent Staples is an author and editorial writer for the New York Times. His writing is mostly on political issues, cultural issues and controversies including races. In one of his essay written in 1986 which was published in Ms. Magazine “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space,” Brent Staples explains about his personal experience being black in an American society. Author wants his reader to understand that we are living in a culture with is constantly becoming violent and dangerous. Staples in his essay is gathering sympathy from his audience. He explains his thesis throughout the essay describing different incidents which took place in his life. Staples wants his audience to know how racial stereotypes has affected him as well as many other peoples like him and forced him to change so that he is not misunderstood by people and can prove himself fearless for others.

In Brent Staples’ essay, “Just Walk on By” the author describes his experiences, feelings, and reactions towards the discrimination he has faced throughout his life as a black man. Staples describes several different personal experiences of when he felt that he had been judged or discriminated against by other people based on the color of his skin and how that contributed to his overall appearance. Staples has continuously been perceived as a danger or criminal simply because of his skin color, leading him to have to deal with many uncomfortable situations. The author has even gone so far as to take precautions when he is on the street just so that he will not be

The incorporation of pathos in an argument can form a strong structured reading or a make the reader feel emotionally taken advantage of. In Hooks argument she uses pathos effectively, without exploiting readers of her article. She states, "estrangement from nature and engagement in mind/body splits made it all the more possible for black people to internalize white-supremacist assumptions about black identity" (973). Hooks uses this sentence to appeal to those who have experienced a loss of identity to feel for the blacks. Also, the citation brings a desirable topic up of unity within different race and cultures, which adds more reason for the reader to be persuaded to her side of the argument: the emotional pull of how blacks were treated even away from their normal ways of living.

People are shaped in all different sizes. Men have this symbol or meaning being presented to women. Fear is filled in the air as a woman sees a man approaching them. In “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space” written by Brent Staples, explains how society works when there a woman all alone at night sees a colored man near her on the streets. Throughout the essay, the reader can indicate that women are easily scared when a man approaches them thinking that they will be attacked at any point or something awful will happen to them. Staples uses personal anecdote and allusion to prove his point that people judge others by appearance and not for who they are.

“Using motivation to overcome barriers… theme of black life in America, as it is for other groups contending with negative stereotypes” (p. 108), the aforementioned quote is an impeccable main overview of the novel Whistling Vivaldi by Claude M. Steele. Steele is a renowned social psychologist that, in this novel, centralizes on stereotype threats and its effects in society. Steele defines stereotype threat as a standard predicament of life that are intersubjective upon social groups based on identity (p.5). In Whistling Vivaldi, by Claude M. Steele, the topic of discussion included stereotype threats against certain identity groups and its potential effects among these groups.

“How to tie your shoes” published by Terry Moore on May 2011 at a Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) presentation, humorously reveals how people have tied their shoes one way for such a long period of time, that they forget that there are other “stronger” ways to do so. Moore explains to the influential audience, how one little change can lead to other possible improvements and new paths by changing up our daily routines. Moore demonstrates new improvements by using his credibility and common ground to show that a small advantage can yield tremendous results someplace else. Moore was able to recognize how he, too has been tying his shoes wrong for the majority of his life. He establishes ethos by appealing to his credibility and