Rhetorical Analysis
After watching videos on The Minstrel Show and getting an understanding on what kind of show was it and who made it up. It was an American form of entertainment developed in the 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in make-up or blackface for the purpose of playing the role of black people. I want to understand what was it that brought them humor is and why was it such a show out comedy. Was it inspiration or pure comedy that came to mind when this show was thought about.
It all started in the 1840’s, peaked after the Civil War and remained popular into the early 1900s.The Minstrel Show was white performers would blacken their faces with burnt cork or greasepaint, dress in outlandish costumes, and then perform songs and skits that mocked African Americans. Minstrelsy evolved from several different American entertainment traditions; the traveling circus, medicine shows, shivaree, Irish dance and music with African syncopated rhythms, musical halls and traveling theatre. There were three main stock characters among several that reappeared in minstrel shows throughout the nineteenth century. "Jim Crow" was the stereotypical carefree slave, "Mr. …show more content…
It is one topic that cannot be forgotten about. Being that I am a black, educated man, I feel as if it is imperative for young women and men to be knowledgeable of their history. Living in America today as an African American is a challenge within itself because you are always the target. I also implied that the “Minstrel Show” targets blacks’ intelligence. Insulting an individual’s intelligence is one of the most unforgiveable things you can say or do. The “Minstrel Show” is just a series of short clips that insults and humiliates the African American community. Until, whites have an understanding of the struggles that blacks encountered; whites should not insult the black
After watching videos on The Minstrel Show and getting an understanding on what kind of show was it and who made it up. It was an American form of entertainment developed in the 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in make-up or blackface for the purpose of playing the role of black people. I want to understand what was it that brought them humor is and why was it such a show out comedy. Was it inspiration or pure comedy that came to mind when this show was thought about.
It all started in the 1840’s, peaked after the Civil War and remained popular into the early 1900s.The Minstrel Show was white performers would blacken their faces with burnt cork or greasepaint, dress in outlandish costumes, and then perform songs and skits that mocked African Americans. Minstrelsy evolved from several different American entertainment traditions; the traveling circus, medicine shows, shivaree, Irish dance and music with African syncopated rhythms, musical halls and traveling theatre. There were three main stock characters among several that reappeared in minstrel shows throughout the nineteenth century. "Jim Crow" was the stereotypical carefree slave, "Mr. …show more content…
It is one topic that cannot be forgotten about. Being that I am a black, educated man, I feel as if it is imperative for young women and men to be knowledgeable of their history. Living in America today as an African American is a challenge within itself because you are always the target. I also implied that the “Minstrel Show” targets blacks’ intelligence. Insulting an individual’s intelligence is one of the most unforgiveable things you can say or do. The “Minstrel Show” is just a series of short clips that insults and humiliates the African American community. Until, whites have an understanding of the struggles that blacks encountered; whites should not insult the black