Nguyen 1 Mila Nguyen Natalie Anklesaria EAC150 4 November 2015 Comparison of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s essay, “In the Kitchen” and Richard Rodriguez’s essay, “Complexion” Even though people say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” society still does it and always will. The essays, “In the Kitchen” written by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and “Complexion” by Richard Rodriguez both talk about society’s tendency to judge individuals based on appearance alone. In Gates’s essay, he describes a political significance to hair by speaking of the “good” and “bad” hair. His attitude towards the “kitchen” is quite negative as he does not like the politics of it. The “kitchen” is the area on the back of the head where the neck meets the shirt collar. The people …show more content…
Rodriguez’s attitude about himself during his childhood was largely influenced by his family, especially his mother. His mother would commonly point out his dark complexion by comparison with the poor and the black. Both authors seem to use similar writing strategies. There are similarities that can be found in the introduction and conclusion of their essays. Besides both author being part of the minority, both essays have very similar writing styles, both use a nostalgic approach for their introduction and both refer to their mothers when describing personal experiences or memories. Nguyen 2 Both Gates and Rodriguez use a similar writing style in their essay. In Gates’s essay, the language of the text falls in between colloquial and formal, with some describing words used informally, such as “Mama” instead of using the formal word, “mother” (Gates 273). …show more content…
Some examples include, “We always had a gas stove in the kitchen, in our house in Piedmont, West Virginia, where I grew up” and “You could smell those prongs heating up” (Gates 273). Likewise, Rodriguez’s essay is written in first person narrative with also the use of “I”. For example, “I think I knew it was his way of admitting pleasure and pride in my academic success. But I didn’t smile” (Rodriguez 488). Gates’s and Rodriguez’s tone are very intimate, there is no spite nor is there any angst in their words. Besides similar writing styles, both authors use a nostalgic recollection of their adolescence for their introduction. Rodriguez begins his introduction by recollecting a childhood memory from when he was seven years old. He talks about the time he was at a public swimming pool with his family (Rodriguez 486). In addition, Gates also reminisces about his childhood in the introduction. He talks about having a gas stove in his kitchen where he grew up (Gates 273). Both authors are nostalgic while being descriptive as well. Nguyen 3 Works Cited Gates Jr., Henry Louis. “In the Kitchen.” Patterns for a Purpose: A Rhetorical Reader. Comp. Barbara Fine Clouse and Kathleen Wall. Canadian ed. Toronto: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 273- 279.
One of the most influential and enlightening scholars in contemporary academics who focuses primarily on African-American issues, both from the past and the present, is undoubtedly Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Born in 1950 and raised in the small, middle-class, 'colored' community of Piedmont, West Virginia, Gates's acclaimed 1995 autobiography, Colored People, brings readers to a place and time in America when both the racial boundaries and the definition of progress were changing weekly. Colored People, however, is not about race specifically. Rather, it is a story which chronicles how his family existed during a unique time in American history -- a time when attempts at desegregation were just beginning. Starting with a preface that takes the form of a letter written to his daughters, Maggie and Liza, and continuing on throughout the rest of the book, Gates -- in spite of the fact that he graduated summa cum laude from Yale and received a Ph.D. from Cambridge University -- writes his autobiography in a conversational tone that is so accessible that it comes off as though he is telling his story to the reader in person and for the first time, thus making us both understand and empathize with it more. Through his story, he provides details about all the characters that influenced his life -- from Uncle Earke the Turkey, who loved to rant about the female sex, to his grandmother Big Mom, who founded the local Episcopal church, onto to his first true love, the little bookworm Linda, and finally Reverend Monroe, who inspired all who came into contact with him -- but he pays special attention to describing his mother. Based off the writing in Colored People, Gates's mother was one of the bravest, accomplished, and most determined ...
between the two authors, they share similarities towards the message they try to send out.
Manuel Munoz discusses topics that may be considered controversial to many people, but this doesn’t stop him from creating brilliant pieces of writing.
Rodriguez’ article seems to have been heavily driven by social and political means. In the beginning
(134,219). The author and main character Rodriguez are one in the same person. At a young age Luis Rodriguez started writing about his life story which becomes a big feat for him because of not getting education in school, gang related problems, and being a leader in school for his fellow classmates. He clearly goes against a stereotype he faces which is Hispanics are illiterate by, writing a book despite getting without help in his circumstances and writing becoming very popular throughout the years. As a result of his hard work he put into his stories and poems, thanks to one of his teachers Mrs. Baez, the stories and poems were edited and sent to many literary contests.
5)The point of view is first person with Melody Narrating it. She refers to herself as “I”
A phrase that most individuals hear while growing up is “do not judge a book by it’s cover”. In many circumstances, this is true. Some people think of a rough scary gang when they see a biker, or the word “nerd” may come to their mind when they see boy with taped glasses reading an encyclopedia. Often times this biker is a wonderful dad and husband and just enjoys motorcycles, or the nerd may be the coolest kid in school. While these are both positive examples of this maxim, there may also be negative instances. One such instance is when examining the character Bud in “Three Ravens on a Red Ground”, a short story featured in Robert Girardi’s A Vaudeville of Devils:
Both stories, Response to Executive Order 9066 and "Mericans", establish a common American Identity theme. The main idea of these two stories is how people may or may not relate to their cultures. Both are narrated by teenage girls, and both establish a common theme that your appearance does not define you.
Society judging, is something we cannot run away from. Society is inevitable. Mary Shelley demonstrated in her novel how society is ignorant, and looks for the easy way of judging things, which is by only knowing the superficial perspectives. The novel of Frankenstein gives a brief message of how society is, and at the same time it gives us a lesson. We should be less ignorant as a society, and take the time to reflect things before we judge
In “Black Men in Public Spaces” the author talks about multiply situation where he was treated different for being an African American. Staples said,” I entered a jewelry store on the city’s affluent near North side. The proprietor excused herself and returned with an enormous red Doberman pinscher straining at the end of a leash” (161.) Then there is “Right Place, Wrong Face, which is focused on and African American man that is wrongly accused of a crime because of his race. White said, “I was searched, stripped of my backpack, put on my knees, handcuffed, and told to be quieted when I tried to ask questions” (229.) The two articles have many similarities. Both articles have two educated African America men who get treated different because of their race. Staples and White both have situations where they are being stereotyped by society because there black
...ce, although both writings are interesting in their own ways, the most interesting aspect of both writings together is that they both have a similar plot and theme. It is rare that two
The two short stories that I am comparing are " My brother’s keeper" by Geoffrey
The complications of "Prufrock" involve from the poem's beginning a more direct transformation of the dramatic monologue than does "Gerontion" when the pronouns that "I" uses suggest the presence of an unspecified listener. In many dramatic monologues the listener is also not specified, and the reader is invited to take over the role of listener in a one-sided conversation. In "Prufrock," however, it is not clear whether a real conversation is being dramatically presented, whether the "I" is having an internal colloquy with himself, or whether the reader is being addressed directly. The "you" that is "I"'s counterpart stands in two places at once, both inside and outside Prufrock's mind and inside and outside scenes that can with difficulty be imagined based on the minimal details provided. The reader's situation resembles the position of the viewer of Velásquez's "Las Meninas," in which a mirror invites an identification with the observers of the scene depicted in the painting while the painting's geometry indicates that the illusion of that identification can be sustained only by ignoring obvious details. Reader and viewer stand both inside and outside the frame of an illusion that cannot be sustained.
Gillespie, Kathleen " A literary Legend Speaks ? Carlos Fuentes at the Askwith Education Forum" 1 de Diciembre de 2003
We have all been taught that a book should not be judged by its cover. In theory, this makes perfect sense. However, in reality, this is not practical and is very difficult at best.