Abstract This paper argues that a rhetorical discourse can be defined as a speech that occurs in response to a situation.The author argues that rhetorical discourse is created for the purpose of inititating change in the very thing that causes the discourse.
From the paper:
" The thing that causes the discourse is known as the rhetorical situation. It follows that without the rhetorical situation there can be no rhetorical discourse and so the basic power of the discourse must come from the situation that created it. "
Abstract This paper discusses the rise of the Klu Klux Klan and how it has influenced the establishment of other hate groups in the United States. It also analyzes the reason why these groups find support from certain sectors in the community. The paper gives a review of historical moments when the Klan was powerful and when it was not, and analyzes the reason for this.
From the paper:
"The Ku Klux Klan adopted its name from the Greek word, ?kuklos,? meaning circle, and the English word, ?clan,? meaning tribe. The Klan's main philosophy was superiority but often, the group used violence and terrorist activity to exercise their sense of superiority over blacks. The Klan strongly opposed any rights that were gained by blacks flowing the Civil War, and harassed blacks that attempted to vote in elections or exercise any other rights."
From the Paper The Ku Klux Klan adopted its name from the Greek word, ?kuklos,? meaning circle, and the English word, ?clan,? meaning tribe. The Klan's main philosophy was superiority but often, the group used violence and terrorist activity to exercise their sense of superiority over blacks. The Klan strongly opposed any rights that were gained by blacks flowing the Civil War, and harassed blacks that attempted to vote in elections or exercise any other rights.
Comparison of two races in the 40's through Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye", looking at Pecola's gradual descent to madness as a result of circumstances of the time.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 6 sources, 2002, $ 45.95
Abstract This paper focuses on racial discrimination in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. There are comparisons of white and black races in different areas, such as family dynamics, economics, etc. The author also discusses on the individual's search for self-identity.
From the Paper:
"Racial discrimination had a great impact on characters, plot, and themes in Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye". Morrison illustrates the effects of prejudice on teen-aged girls throughout an exceptionally segregated period. The parable is weaved through the many woes of a hardworking, African-American family. Pecola Breedlove, the main character, registers the differences between race-separated classes, but longs for just one luxury that is primarily associated with whites; blue eyes. Through this scenario, Morrison explores the effects of the image paradigm held by whites on the self-esteem of the average African-American teen."
Abstract This paper is a historical analysis of affirmative action in the United States. It covers the period from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the leaders involved in the decision to pass this amendment to the Constitution, and the motivation behind this historic decision. It then compares the policies of more recent years, and shows how the intentions of the originators of this Act have been manipulated, and how the group that it was intended to benefit from these actions, are now suffering reverse discrimination.
From the paper:
"The Declaration of Independence states, "all men are created equal." Our Constitution is based on giving each citizen the same equal rights. However, policies have been implemented since 1961 to go against the words of the founding fathers of this country. Affirmative action is, by definition, "a policy or program for correcting the effects of discrimination in the employment or education of members of certain groups" or "encouragement for increased representation of women and minority-group members, especially in employment." Problems associated with affirmative action include reverse discrimination. Also, merit and accomplishments may be replaced by the requirement of a quota for a certain race or gender."
Abstract This paper explores the diffusing of stereotypes in America through exposure and a greater societal understanding. The paper focuses on stereotypes directed at the African-American community and how they have lessened and changed greatly in the last fifty years.
From the paper:
"In the past fifty years we have seen a great change in how stereotypes have presented in the U.S.. In perceiving such racial issues in the black community and elsewhere we find that improvements are being made from the nineteen fifties until the present. With advent of the civil rights movement of the Sixties black stereotypes, for example, have been improving. By analyzing different mediums of stereotyping through the media, films, music and in society there have been tremendous breakthroughs in breaking down barriers."
Tags: African-American, racism, prejudice, media, film
Abstract This essay describes Jackie Robinson's past as a baseball player from the time he first played major league baseball in the United States in 1947. The writer shows that he had no expectations beyond breaking the color barrier so that blacks as well as whites could play baseball.The aim of this paper is to show that Robinson was a quiet role model for the youth of the world for generations to come ? a role model demonstrating that one person can speak up for what he knows to be right, and to have it make a difference.
From the paper:
?Robinson endured many slights and insults while playing professional baseball. When the Brooklyn Dodgers called him up from their farm club, the president of the Philadelphia Phillies announced that their team would not play the Dodgers as long as Robinson was part of the team. The St. Louis Cardinals threatened to strike. Cooler heads prevailed, and Jackie Robinson played ball. (Mims, 1995).?
Abstract This is a paper about the different treatments toward blacks and Native Americans in colonial America by whites. The author looks at the differences and the similarities in the way these two populations were treated.
From the Paper "In dealing with "outsiders", White Europeans who controlled the continent held many similar views. These outsiders included the Native Americans and the African Americans. Both peoples were treated in parallel and in opposing ways by the whites in power. The most obvious way that the two groups were treated the same is that they were dealt with in a very ethnocentric way; whites assumed that they were superior to both groups. Both groups were not dealt with in the same way from the onset. Native Americans, who were living in the country long before the whites, were killed, stripped of their land, and mislead as to their future in the new white world. Africans were brought into the country, a large distinction, because whites needed them here. They were at first used as indentured servants, and it was a gradual change that shifted over to slavery. From there on came restrictive legislature, and a view of them as savages. The two groups were both treated differently by whites in terms of how they were oppressed, but the overriding theme in both cases is that the white Europeans saw both as inferior races."
Abstract This paper is an in-depth examination of the novel,"Uncle Tom's Cabin." The author gives us some background about Harriet Beecher Stowe and puts the novel into historical context. The paper examines the different characters in the novel and discusses what role they played and what they represented in history. Some of the characters discussed include Uncle Tom, Aunt Chloe, Eliza and family, Shelby's Ophelia and Simon Legree. The author uses these characters to give an authentic depiction of the slaves and the whites, both northerners and southerners, and the challenges that they both faced during this period in American history. The authors uses examples from the novel to illustrate his points as to the accuracy of the novel's portrayal of slavery and during the period prior to the Civil War.
From the Paper "The value of the partially white slave is touted again with the Eliza character. She is able to speak clearly and in complete sentences. Described as "beautiful [with] black hair as fine as silk in glossy curls- a delicately formed hand and a trim foot" (Stowe p 5). A blush on her cheek is discernible so this is a clue as to her skin tone as well. Stowe must use this character to solicit empathy from the post Civil War reader regarding the fate of her son. If Aunt Chloe and Uncle Tom's children had been the ones to be sold, sympathy would not have been so easily offered. All mothers regardless of their hue were attached to their children. Uncle Tom's cabin is not able to make this argument. It would not have appealed to the wider audience. Much has been discussed about the African characters but what about the Caucasians. Is the rendering accurate?"
Abstract Despite the 14th Amendment in the American constitution, this paper claims that there is gross inequality in many states when dealing with African-American and Latinos regarding crimes and prosecution. It states that there is solid evidence that Blacks and Latinos commit a higher number of crimes per capita but in addition, critics of our legal system assert that some laws, particularly drug laws, are enforced more vigorously in minority communities. It is also claimed that people of color receive harsher sentences for the same crimes.
From the Paper "America has taken the official stance that all are equal in front of the law for a long time. The 14th Amendment specifically states this. Blas? (2001) quotes a legal expert from Columbia University as he says, "One of the clearest principles of American constitutional law is that race is an inappropriate basis upon which to make official decisions.? The statue of Lady Justice seen on so many courthouses emphasizes this philosophy: she holds the scales of justice blindfolded."
Abstract This paper shows how Frederick Douglass faced many challenges during his lifetime as a slave, growing up in a society that imposed stereotypical guidelines upon him ? he was a slave, therefore he must never learn to read, never live equally as a free man, and certainly never speak out against slavery. By studying Douglass' autobiography "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave", published in 1845, this paper shows how Douglass made it is his life's purpose to find ways to either change laws, which he disagreed with, or to change his own life in spite of the legislation.
From the Paper "The abolishment of slavery was the sole desire and goal of Douglass, especially after he managed to escape from his masters. When he was young, he knew he did not want to remain a slave for life, and this was his lifelong battle. Despite the many cruelties and atrocities that he was witness to, it wasn"t until he was beaten on a weekly basis by Mr. Covey that his spirit became somewhat diminished and broken. He was a field hand for the first time, and wasn"t used to the work. When he would make mistakes, he would be beaten, and he became downtrodden in his quest for freedom. It was a battle with Mr. Covey, to which he had not been broken, that became "the turning-point in my career as a slave". (72) He had succeeded in renewing "the few expiring embers of freedom" and his sense of "manhood". (72) Douglass continued to be a slave for many more years, but all the while plotted his eventual escape."
Abstract This paper presents a review of racism from the time of slavery through the present. Overt racism, institutionalized racism, and legal racism are discussed and the current status of each evaluated.
From the Paper "Over the last century, the rights of minorities in American life have been given greater and greater protections after a period of imposed limitations. The Hispanic population in the Southwest and the Puerto Rican population in areas of the Northeast are also minority groups that do not share fully in the economic promise of American society and that have been discriminated against and made into a near-permanent underclass. Throughout American history, there have been minorities that have immigrated to the United States and that have encountered prejudice and discrimination once they arrived, including the Jews, the Irish, and various Asian groups. One element distinguishes between these groups on the one hand and black Americans on the other, and that element is slavery."
A review of the book "The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion," by Stephen B. Oates that sets the stage for the slave rebellion that shook Southampton County in Virginia on August 22, 1831.
Abstract This paper discusses the book "The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion," by Stephen B. Oates, a tale of what it was to be a slave in the South in the 1800s, and how it drove some blacks to violence and hatred. It analyzes the historical value of the book which is part novel and part biography and looks at the qualities of the main character Nat which make him a leader.
From the Paper "From the opening paragraph, historian and biographer Stephen B. Oates sets the stage for the slave rebellion that would shake Southampton County in Virginia on August 22, 1831. The author shows in graphic detail the abject poverty of the slaves, the cruelty of their owners, and the utter hopelessness of the slaves' situation, from the "pungent" outhouses, to the ramshackle houses of the poor. He is carefully setting the stage to introduce the main character of the book, Nat Turner, famous for fathering a slave rebellion, and for the "justice" meted out after he was caught. The early portion of the book lays the foundation for the rebellion, by explaining how oppressed the blacks were, and how they felt they had no other option than to take the law into their own hands, and revolt. Oates succeeds in laying this foundation well ? making us understand the desperation and disgust that led to these rash measures."
Abstract The paper traces the history of jazz, beginning in the 1920's. It then focuses on the contributions of some of the most notable musicians and composers of the era.
From the Paper "Jazz music is many things to many people. It is the rhythmic beat of a swing band recreated by "Big Bad Voodoo Daddy," or the "Brian Setzer Orchestra." It is Louis Armstrong playing a sweet, soulful trumpet, or Duke Ellington playing the piano in a smoky club in Harlem. "That word jazz is ambitious. Not content with a peer's place in the dictionaries, it has shouldered its way into encyclopedias. Here is the definition given of it in Chambers' 'Encyclopedia': 'Jazz, dance music, generally syncopated, played by a band eccentrically composed. The jazz drummer, a sort of one-man band, provides the characteristic feature of jazz, which is noise. . . . The origin of the word is uncertain. The term has been applied also to noisy proceedings, to loud writing, to eccentric and discordant coloring'" (Osgood 10). Jazz came into the language and the hearts of the American people in the 1920s, and it has never left."
Abstract This story is of how a man deals with racism in his own personal way. The author first describes the meaning of invisibility, which means that he is not a ghost or a transparent skin man but an invisible man by virtue of how others react to him. This invisibility is the symbol throughout the story, as people did not accept his reality; thus, he lived as an invisible man. The writer examines the many examples of symbolism in the story and how the main character overcomes the indifference towards him.
From the Paper "The author has given symbols and examples in a more direct way by describing how his character nearly killed a white man whom he bumped into on the street and continued to attack him and kept insulting him unless the man declined to apologize. However, at this point he realized that the man did not see him as an individual and so the narrator laughingly walked away with the thought that the man was almost killed by a "figment of his imagination" (Bellow; Pg 608- 610)."
An examination of the book "Unruly Women: The Politics of Social and Sexual Control in the Old South," by Victoria E. Bynum, which discusses the life of women in the American South in the 19th century.
Abstract This paper introduces and discusses the book, "Unruly Women: The Politics of Social and Sexual Control in the Old South," by Victoria E. Bynum. Specifically, it looks at why the writer found the book to be interesting and valuable for research on how women lived in the Old South. The writer claims that the book provides insight into the very personal and intimate lives of women that many male historians have not previously documented.
From the Paper ""Unruly Women" is more than just a book about how women lived in the South in the 19th century. It is a graphic history of how husbands, masters, and owners treated their women. It is a tale of women who did not fit in their society, and how society regarded them. It is the story of black women, and white women, and how they considered each other, and interacted with the men in their lives. It is often fascinating, and often disturbing. Bynum has taken a difficult subject, and made the reader want to learn more. Bynum herself says in the Introduction, "Why should historians interested in the dynamics of power and politics in the antebellum South investigate this politically powerless minority of women? This book addresses these questions by examining three broad categories of women who behaved in atypical fashion" (Bynum 1)."
