9.26.17+and+9.27.17

WU: Inheritance
What is something you have inherited--physically or otherwise-- from someone else in your life? How does this inheritance affect you?

Journal: Unpacking a Quote
As Staples reflects on how his presence affected the woman who ran from him on the street, he describes how it was “in the echo of that terrified woman’s footfalls that [he] first began to know the unwieldy inheritance [he’d] come into--the ability to alter public space in ugly ways”(1). Unpacking: --inherited the knowledge of how others see him as a black man --inherited the fact that he is a black man, something that is not in his control --inherited his appearance and skin color which comes with judgement and stereotypes --he can’t control or “hold onto” what people think about him based on his appearance. He can’t “hold onto” control of his appearance.
 * Period 2:**
 * What does he mean by “unwieldy inheritance”? What has he inherited? **

--imagery--thinking of wielding something and being in control. Opposite flips it and makes you think of someone not in control. --metaphor: his race (and what that comes with) to inheritance
 * What literary device is Staples using when he writes about inheritance? **

--people find him menacing and think of him as dangerous (despite truth) --this changes how others react to him due to fear --when he enters a space it can cause others to feel fear and feel uncomfortable
 * What does Staples mean by “altering public space in ugly ways”? **

--usually has a positive connotation --usually something that we use by choice --being capable of an activity or task --uses this word sarcastically to point out that this “ability” isn’t positive for him. --this ability is “unwieldy”
 * What is significant about the word “ability” in this quote? **

Putting analysis together from "unpacking": Period 2:

As Staples reflects on how his presence affected the woman who ran from him on the street, he describes how it was “in the echo of that terrified woman’s footfalls that [he] first began to know the unwieldy inheritance [he’d] come into--the ability to alter public space in ugly ways”(1). Staples has “inherited” the fact that he is a black man, something that is not in his control, and with that comes judgement and stereotypes. Just as he can’t control or “hold onto” what people think about him based on his appearance, he can’t “hold onto” control of his appearance. Through the imagery of an “unwieldy inheritance” Staples makes his reader think of of what it means to wield something and be in control, and then he creates the opposite to show how Staples can’t “hold on” to the ways that people react to him and how that changes public space...

1) How is Staples “talking back” to single stories and stereotypes? Why did he write this essay?
2) What writing tools (literary devices, diction patterns, essay structure) does he use to frame his argument? Think: imagery, metaphor, symbol, diction patterns, irony, etc. 3) Why does Staples choose to write this piece in the form of an essay? Where do you see the following:
 * 1) A thesis
 * 2) Evidence
 * 3) Analysis

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: To consider... 1)In paragraph 5 Staples says he understands that the danger women fear when they see him “is not a hallucination.” Do you think this means that he views himself as dangerous? Explain?

2) Staples says “I chose, perhaps unconsciously, to remain a shadow--timid, but a survivor” (paragraph 7). What are the usual connotations of “survivor”? Is “timid” one of them? How can you explain this apparent discrepancy? 3) What is the purpose of this essay? Do you think that he (or other African American males) will cease to alter public spaces in ugly ways in the near future? Does he suggest any long term solution for “the kind of alienation that comes of being ever the suspect”? (paragraph 5)

4) What does the author accomplish by using the word victim in the essay’s first paragraph? Is the word used literally? What tone does it set for the essay?

5) Is it the young black man's responsibility to let everyone know he is not a threat (wear a cowbell)? If so, how do we let it be known we are not a threat? If not, whose responsibility is it for ending this kind of prejudice?

6) How relevant is Staples' essay (written/published in 1986) today? Do you think young black men have the same effect on public space in 2011 as Staples' experienced twenty-five years ago?

7) How does Staples consider and appeal to his audience? Does he avoid alienating or accusing his reader? If so, how?

8) Explore the idea introduced in par. 2 and reinforced in the analogy of the hiker's cowbell: that "being perceived as a threat is a hazard in itself".

HW: Craft two themes (central ideas/claims) that Staples makes in his essay. Bring these to class next time.