On Being The Target Of Discrimination Analysis

Ralph Ellison, author of On Being the Target of Discrimination, did an excellent job describing the daily life of an African American child during the segregation era. This text has powerful lessons that he went through that shape the story into what it is today. On Being the Target of Discrimination is a narrative essay that relies on pathos to persuade its primary audience of white people in America how racism affects a kid’s childhood. The author had a very clear image of how he wanted to present the sole purpose of this text which was by presenting lessons the main character experienced.
There are some things, particularly audience and word choice that overlap together in a way that make you think of the text in another dimension. They …show more content…
The author made it into the way that is reason for the text and the lessons imbedded in it connected. One of the main reasons why the purpose was how racism shaped young ones in America. You can link these two ideas together once you realize that that was how the real situation was back in that era. “… it was better to take self-selected risks and pay the price than be denied the joy or pain… by those who begrudged your existence,” is an excellent representation of the emotions children felt. Another huge point in this text was that how were they going to gain experience if they were not allowed to participate in any daily activities such as a conversation with other children that were not black. Like the text said, “… this was a most important experience… because up to now the prevailing separation of the races had made it impossible to learn… with boys who lived on the white side of the color line.” This quotation is the reason why the audience, purpose, and many others are linked to white people in America because it showed the deprivation that was happening to the …show more content…
As mentioned before, this text has emotional lessons that connect to the purpose of it all. It starts out as a small child in school and it later progresses into a more mature scenario which means it has a very personal touch to it. The author touched on some very key points as he grew up. For example, “It got to you first at the age of six…”, “… you learned that you would attend a school located far to the south…”, “joy of trips to the city’s zoo…”, “… your father’s coffin placed in the ground…”, etc. These major events in his timeline shaped him into who he is in the text. The story arrangement of this text helps us comprehend how once again racism affects every single individual in a different