Personal Narrative-Aggressive Language

I exist within a precarious, teetering state when it comes to rhetoric and debate. I am a deeply empathetic and opinionated person when it comes to human rights and issues of social justice. But I am also extremely non-confrontational and am often too anxious when it comes to arguments involving spoken word. So I do not- argue, that is. I go into silent, passive-aggressive mode or walk away. Or vaguely acquiesce and go home, forming the argument I wanted to make in my head. Furious with myself for not speaking out, but also being aware of who I am as a person and making peace with my inability to confront someone who has a problematic opinion. Writing, however, is different. I am clumsy with words, when they are most important, in the moment. But getting my opinion across through text is something I do well. The written word allows me to think about what I want to say and how I want …show more content…
Mainly because I do not know the language to use when it comes to empathy. It comes so naturally to some people, and not at all to others. “I don’t know how to explain to you that you should care about other people.” Some arguments, no matter how well crafted, are futile. Trying to have discussions, on whether people deserve to live, is something you cannot express to an uncaring and unwilling party. My audience was the embodiment of privilege: a white, upper-middle class male. An audience that did not accept the advantages that were given to him at birth. The argument was one of human compassion and understanding. Most of us have some form of privilege or another. Acknowledging that and moving forward provides a much deeper perspective. In this context, one that allows us to treat ‘poor people’ as real humans, rather than a problem that needs to be swept away and covered with a shiny new neighborhood. But I am clumsy with words, when words are the most important, and was not able to speak in a language that classmate