Friday, January 8, 2010
Outliers Precis #1
Friday, January 1, 2010
Argumentative Precis #1: "The Dark Side of White" by Gregory Rodrguez 12/28/09
Gregory Rodriguez's December of 2009 LA Times editorial address the phenomenon of non-white ethnic groups whose intent is to assimilate to the dominating "whiteness" in America which costs their own cultural values. Rodriguez mentions an interview in which the conclusion came about that everyone who isn't black has the potential to "be white", meaning not to be considered part of the minority group. "Over the decades", as he puts it, "new immigrants to these shores were obliged to fit themselves into this black/white racial scheme", most of whom of course, "chose to identify themselves with the group that had full rights." The inconsiderate nature of government and the spiteful ways of society are then brought to realization as Rodriguez discusses the movement of the Census Bureau, in 2010, to no longer ask a question about ancestry or ethnic ties for those who identify themselves racially as black or white; leaving those who title themselves as Latino or Asian, however, to be able to identify themselves by ethnic subgroup or national origin (Chinese, Japanese, Mexican American, Cuban). A select few of certain ethnic groups, in the article's example, American-Arabs, find it unfair because by government and society they claim not to be "treated as white", yet they don't qualify to reap the benefits of the minority group. The happening is a conundrum. As America attempts to racially generalize, the chasms by color lines of its members are in fact made greater.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Favorite Passage of NOFD
Page 388, Fredrick talking to ships of the Chesapeake Bay- favorite.
This passage revealed the most to me; it was a pure reflection of the author's thoughts at the time. Studying syntax in class, I was able to depict the difference in sentence structure and pace in comparison to the rest of the text. A syntactical genius, Douglass did not only display the words said to the ships, but the thought process behind them. The thought process is like rummaging through a huge, unorganized file cabinet at the speed of light, meeting different conclusions and ideas in a mix of sentiments- no consistency. In contrast to writing at a structured pace and tone to give a text a certain flow as mature writers would usually do, Douglass instead promotes abrupt sentences, shifts in pace and emotion to capture that same inconsistency in thinking. It made the passage more real, and that's why this excerpt, above all, is my favorite.