Analysis Of Just Walk On By Brent Staples

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A strong message is brought forth by a piece written in the late 1980’s by Brent Staples. In his work, he details the racism that black men faced during the time period. He uses pathos and ethos to get on the side of his readers, thereby conveying his message effectively. Staple’s pathos is backed up by his use of strong diction in his opening paragraphs where he details an encounter with a woman. Here, he uses in-depth description and powerful verbs to make himself appear like a mugger or a rapist. This fictional type of tone allows him to create an interesting opening statement to grab the reader through strong imagery. His next sentence after this is “That was more than a decade ago.” This sentence is meant to jolt the reader back to reality and away from this fiction that he has created. The intriguing start to “Just Walk on By” keeps his readers attentive after his dream-like start to his paper. His persona is not only backed by strong diction, but also through his humor and irony. Staples …show more content…

His use of humor and irony once again make the reader stop and think about what society imposed upon him. Furthermore, his persona also shows him as a forgiving man and even shows his understanding for why things are like they are. He states that “Black men have a firm place in New York mugging literature.” He goes on to site authors like Norman Podhoretz who wrote pieces such as “My Negro Problem -- And Ours,” a piece that recounts the fear that he felt, growing up in terror of black

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