Analysis of Between the World and Me
Claim
Strategies
(Pages 5-24)
At the start of the novel, Coates addresses the topic of racism in a broad manner, using the American Dream as a backdrop of the horrors administered to black bodies over time. He shows how the Dream is manipulated to justify the mistreatment of black people, and how it instills crippling fear of the insecurity of one’s own body in African Americans.
Coates places himself right at the beginning in the position of the weak and helpless. By stating “he is afraid”, not only for the security of his own body but more importantly for his son’s, he demonstrates though himself the crippling fear that consumes the daily lives of the African American community in both the past and the …show more content…
This helps the audience attach the familiar ideas of known writers to the ideas Coates displays, which further aides the audience in seeing that even as years pass by, people return to the same, perpetual issues of racism and inequality that still go unsolved to this day.
Although Coates never followed a set religion per say, he finds his own “Mecca” at Howard University. Assuming that Coates’ son grew up with little religious influence, Coates tells his son of this “sacred” place at his university to show that even without religion, Coates still found some type of spiritual guidance in his years of learning. The diversity in the black body, which Coates found in his years in The Mecca, shaped his understanding of the differences between individuals, not just groups of people, thus showing his son that each person is unique with his own past experiences and future …show more content…
In this, Coates felt that true empowerment comes from bonding with others and joining together to create a strong union.
Beginning from this section, Coates begins to utilize the rhetorical device of repetition. He repeats phrases - such as the Dream, poetry, or black - and reintroduces them every time with a new idea attached to them, so as to show the audience his perspective from multiple angles while also making the phrases more memorable and impactful.
Coates tells of how he found journalism as an outlet and a new skill to explore the truth of his black body, which also connects to how he felt about media as a child. As a young boy, he saw false representations of the lives of seemingly perfect people, so as Coates became older, he understood that it is up to him to deliver the truth that he seeks. He shares his growth as a writer, which makes it easier to connect with Coates on a personal level when the audience can see what type of questions he had, since most people desire to understand the fundamental truths behind themselves as
Claim
Strategies
(Pages 5-24)
At the start of the novel, Coates addresses the topic of racism in a broad manner, using the American Dream as a backdrop of the horrors administered to black bodies over time. He shows how the Dream is manipulated to justify the mistreatment of black people, and how it instills crippling fear of the insecurity of one’s own body in African Americans.
Coates places himself right at the beginning in the position of the weak and helpless. By stating “he is afraid”, not only for the security of his own body but more importantly for his son’s, he demonstrates though himself the crippling fear that consumes the daily lives of the African American community in both the past and the …show more content…
This helps the audience attach the familiar ideas of known writers to the ideas Coates displays, which further aides the audience in seeing that even as years pass by, people return to the same, perpetual issues of racism and inequality that still go unsolved to this day.
Although Coates never followed a set religion per say, he finds his own “Mecca” at Howard University. Assuming that Coates’ son grew up with little religious influence, Coates tells his son of this “sacred” place at his university to show that even without religion, Coates still found some type of spiritual guidance in his years of learning. The diversity in the black body, which Coates found in his years in The Mecca, shaped his understanding of the differences between individuals, not just groups of people, thus showing his son that each person is unique with his own past experiences and future …show more content…
In this, Coates felt that true empowerment comes from bonding with others and joining together to create a strong union.
Beginning from this section, Coates begins to utilize the rhetorical device of repetition. He repeats phrases - such as the Dream, poetry, or black - and reintroduces them every time with a new idea attached to them, so as to show the audience his perspective from multiple angles while also making the phrases more memorable and impactful.
Coates tells of how he found journalism as an outlet and a new skill to explore the truth of his black body, which also connects to how he felt about media as a child. As a young boy, he saw false representations of the lives of seemingly perfect people, so as Coates became older, he understood that it is up to him to deliver the truth that he seeks. He shares his growth as a writer, which makes it easier to connect with Coates on a personal level when the audience can see what type of questions he had, since most people desire to understand the fundamental truths behind themselves as